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Keywords

statuteregulationhazardous wastesolid waste

trialhazardous wastesolid waste

Related Cases

Safe Food and Fertilizer v. E.P.A., 350 F.3d 1263, 57 ERC 1694, 358 U.S.App.D.C. 416, 34 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,006

Facts

Zinc fertilizers can be produced from either virgin materials or recycled byproducts. The EPA ruled that Subtitle C of RCRA would not apply to recycled materials used to make zinc fertilizers or the fertilizers themselves, provided they met certain handling and contaminant concentration conditions. Petitioners, opposing this rule, argued that both the materials and the fertilizers should be classified as 'hazardous wastes' under RCRA, necessitating regulation.

Zinc fertilizers can be produced either from virgin materials or recycled byproducts of certain industrial processes.

Issue

Whether the recycled materials used to produce zinc fertilizers are considered 'solid waste' under RCRA, and whether the EPA's exemption for these materials is valid.

The issue is whether the materials in question are 'solid waste.'

Rule

A material is classified as 'hazardous waste' under RCRA if it is a 'solid waste' and is 'hazardous' as defined by the statute. The EPA concluded that materials meeting specified conditions are not 'discarded' and therefore not 'solid waste.'

A material is a 'hazardous waste' under RCRA if it is a 'solid waste' as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 6903(27) and is 'hazardous' as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 6903(5).

Analysis

The court analyzed the EPA's interpretation of 'discarded' and found it reasonable, as the agency determined that materials treated as valuable products and managed accordingly should not be classified as waste. The court noted that the EPA's identity principle, which treats indistinguishable materials as products, was a valid approach. However, the court expressed concern over the specific exemption level for chromium, which appeared to be higher than levels found in virgin fertilizers.

The EPA's explanation is that market participants treat the exempted materials more like valuable products than like negatively-valued wastes, managing them in ways inconsistent with discard, and that the fertilizers derived from these recycled feedstocks are chemically indistinguishable from analogous commercial products made from virgin materials.

Conclusion

The court denied the petition for review but remanded the case to the EPA for clarification regarding the exemption level for chromium, while affirming the EPA's other determinations.

We therefore remand to the agency for an explanation as to whether the differences that its rule allows are irrelevant when considered in light of possible effects on human health or the environment.

Who won?

Environmental Protection Agency; the court upheld the EPA's rule regarding the classification of recycled materials as not being 'solid waste' under RCRA.

Petition denied; case remanded.

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