In a hazardous-waste storage area, you may find that employees transfer hazardous wastes from one container to another. Or perhaps tanks used to store hazardous wastes are pumped out prior to transporting for off-site disposal. Chances are, your hazardous-waste storage area was designed or modified to keep the storage of hazardous wastes away from potential discharge conduits. If it has floor drains in the immediate vicinity or inside a curbed area itself, however, then a spill or release of a hazardous waste could cause damage to plumbing systems, interfere with wastewater treatment plant operations or cause fires, explosions, generation of toxic gases or other adverse chemical reactions. EPA has determined that floor drains in hazardous waste storage areas discharging to sewers, drywells, or other uncontained locations are prohibited because the presence of a floor drain would violate the RCRA requirement that all facilities must be designed, constructed, maintained and operated to minimize the potential for a release of hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents to the environment (40 CFR 264.31).