RCRA - Storage/Disposal Details 

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations in 40 CFR 279 covering the storage and disposal of used oil that are addressed in this section of the tour include the following:

• Definition of Used Oil (Mixtures, Exemptions)
• Storage of Used Oil
• Disposal of Used Oil

EPA considers that any oil that was refined from crude oil or any synthetic oil and that is used and as a result of use is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. EPA distinguishes between used oil and waste oil. For example, bottom waste generated from an oil storage tank cleanout or virgin oil spill residue may be contaminated with impurities, but because they have never been used, they do not meet the definition of used oil. Two other distinctions regarding used oil that you may encounter at your campus' power plant include mixtures of used oil with hazardous wastes, and solid wastes, both of which are further described below. Many states also have their own used oil regulations.

If the hazardous waste is listed, then the mixture of used oil and hazardous waste must be managed according to the hazardous waste rules. If the hazardous waste is characteristically hazardous, then two possibilities exist for managing the mixture of used oil and characteristically hazardous waste:

• If the hazardous waste is hazardous solely because it is ignitable and the resulting mixture is not ignitable, then the mixture can be managed as used oil. For example, used oil displaying toxicity characteristic for lead is mixed with an ignitable hazardous waste. Providing the mixture is no longer ignitable, this mixture may be managed as used oil. If the mixture is ignitable, then it must be managed as a hazardous waste and not as used oil.

• If the hazardous waste exhibits one or more characteristics of hazardous waste other than ignitability, the resultant mixture must not display any characteristics if it is going to be managed as used oil. For example, used oil displaying toxicity characteristic for lead is mixed with a hazardous waste that is characteristically reactive. In order for this mixture to be managed as used oil, it must be void of both the lead characteristic and the reactive characteristic.

Used oil mixed with solid waste or material contaminated with or containing used oil is regulated under the RCRA used oil regulation in 40 CFR 279. If the used oil has been properly drained or removed from the mixture; that is, there are no visible signs of free-flowing oil, then in almost all cases the solid waste is no longer subject to regulation as used oil. If, however, the solid waste is burned for energy recovery, then it is still subject to regulation as used oil. The drained used oil, of course, is regulated by 40 CFR 279.

Used oil containing less than 50 ppm of PCBs is subject to 40 CFR 279 provided that no dilution has occurred. Used oil with greater than or equal to 50 ppm is regulated under TSCA, 40 CFR 761.

While several types of exemptions from the used oil regulations exist (such as distillation and tank bottoms used for asphalt paving and roofing, crude oil pipelines, petroleum refineries), the key exemption potentially applicable to a power plant's operations is the exemption for wastewater. Basically, any small spills, leaks, or drippings from machinery, pumps, and other similar equipment during normal operations that enter the wastewater treatment system during washing or draining is exempt from used oil management regulations; rather, it is regulated by the Clean Water Act. Used oil that might be recovered from wastewater, however, must be managed according to the used oil requirements in 40 CFR 279.

The RCRA requirements for storing used oil are straightforward, "borrowing" some requirements from the RCRA hazardous waste rules for container management. In short, the requirements for storing used oil are as follows:

• The used oil must be stored in tanks, containers or other units subject to regulation under 40 CFR 264, 265, or 280. These may include aboveground tanks, underground tanks (USTs), or lined surface impoundments.
  
• Tanks or containers must be in good condition; meaning, free of any visible spills, leaks, structural damage or deterioration.
  
• Tanks, containers and fill pipes used to transfer used oil into USTs must be clearly labeled as "Used Oil," to prevent inadvertent mixing of used oil with hazardous waste or other materials.
  

Note: A generator who is also a burner of off-specification used oil must equip burner storage areas with secondary containment, as follows (in accordance with 40 CFR 279.64):

• Containers storing used oils must be in dikes, berms or retaining walls and a floor, which must cover the entire area within, or an equivalent secondary containment systems; and the entire containment system must be impervious.
  
• Aboveground storage tanks (existing and new) must have secondary containment that consists of dikes, berms, or retaining walls and a floor (except for, in the case of an existing tank, where the tank meets the floor) that covers the entire area, or an equivalent secondary containment system; and the entire containment system must be impervious.

There is no time or quantity limitation imposed on generators of used oil because, given that used oil is a marketable commodity, EPA is trying to provide an incentive for generators to send used oil out for recycling. If your power plant generates used oil that is sent off-site for recovery, the transporter used to transport the used oil must have an EPA identification number.

Options for used oil disposition include: sending the used oil off-site to a facility authorized to process or re-refine the used oil; burning used oil as a fuel; marketing the used oil. Each is described below.

In most cases, a generator of used oil sends the used oil off-site to a facility permitted to handle the used oil (much like a hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF)). The generator must make sure the used oil is transported using a transporter that has an EPA identification number.

Used oil that meets the specification criteria in 40 CFR 279.11 is not regulated by the burner standards in 40 CFR 279. Off-specification used oil can be burned for energy recovery in only the following three devices: industrial furnaces (only 12 specific furnaces that are listed in 40 CFR 260.10), boilers that meet the criteria listed in 40 CFR 260.10, and permitted hazardous waste incinerators.

A used oil marketer is defined by EPA as one who either (1) directs a shipment of off-specification used oil from their facility to a used oil burner; or (2) first claims that used oil that is to be burned for energy recovery meets the used oil fuel specifications set forth in 40 CFR 279.11. In essence, then, there are off-specification used oil marketers and specification (or on-specification) used oil marketers and the requirements for the two vary.

If a used oil marketer has not already done so, it must obtain an EPA identification number by notifying the EPA of its used oil activity in a written letter that includes the marketer's name, the owner of the marketer, address of the marketer, name and phone number for a point of contact, and the type of used oil activity.

Off-specification used oil may only be shipped to a used oil burner who has an EPA identification number and who burns the used oil in approved industrial furnaces or boilers. The marketer of off-specification used oil must keep a record (e.g., log, invoice, manifest, bill of lading, etc.) of each shipment of used oil to a used oil burner that identifies the following:

• Name and address of transporter delivering the used oil to the burner
• Name and address of the burner who will receive the used oil
• EPA identification numbers of both the transporter and the burner
• Quantity of used oil shipped
• Date of shipment

On-specification used oil may be shipped to a regulated used oil burner, as well, providing the oil has been analyzed to demonstrate it's "on specification." The marketer of specification used oil must keep a record of each shipment of used oil to an on-specification used oil burner that identifies the following:

• Name and address of the facility receiving the used oil
• Quantity of used oil shipped
• Date of shipment
• Cross-reference to the record of used oil analysis or other information used to make the determination that the oil meets the specification

For the complete text of the used oil regulations (40 CFR 279), click here: