The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) was passed by Congress to accomplish among other things, ending
our reliance on land disposal of hazardous waste. Known for the 3-R's -- REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE -- the RCRA's primary
goal was to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated in the first place. Contrary to what many believe, the RCRA
did not seek to create a recycling scheme that allowed hazardous wastes to be used in fertilizer, but rather the RCRA was
passed with the express purpose of ending this method of disposal. The RCRA as passed in 1976 is known as the "soft
hammer".
In 1984, dissatisfied with EPA's progress, Congress passed the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA).
Under this new mandate EPA was directed to identify which wastes were hazardous and to do so within a specified period of
time. As part of the process EPA was also directed to establish a treatment standard for each waste and an appropriate
disposal method. In the event that no treatment standard could be set, land disposal would be prohibited.
Congress allowed for exceptions to be made to the rule -- provided that an affirmative finding of safety could be
made -- on a site-by-site basis (variance) or by proving the waste was no longer hazardous (delisting). Wastes that
are granted delistings are required to be disposed in a Subtitle D landfill.
HSWA is known as the "hard hammer" and rules that are promulgated under HSWA authority become effective in states immediately.
On the other hand rules promulgated under RCRA authority are not effective in states until adopted by the states.
In January 1985, just months after the passage of HSWA and contrary to it, the EPA adopted a loophole allowing the use
of hazardous waste in fertilizer. The agencies' logic was that because these wastes are diluted with fertilizer materials
they are safer than wastes being directly applied to the land. The rule required only that the waste-derived
fertilizer have a market, i.e., people willing to buy them, and meet treatment standards for disposal in
Subtitle C landfills. In promulgating the rule, the EPA chose to refer to hazardous wastes as "recyclable materials" to avoid
"stigmatization". The first of many misrepresentations made by the EPA on behalf of the industry.
It was during the promulgation of this rule in 1988 that K061, a listed hazardous waste generated by steel mills, was
granted an exclusion from all hazardous waste regulations when used in fertilizer, including the establishment of a treatment
standard. In other words, K061 was allowed to be disposed in an "as is" condition: straight from the generator, straight
to the ground.
K061 characterizes as hazardous for 13 toxic metals -- lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, thallium, beryllium, barium,
antimony, chromium, nickel, selenium, silver and zinc -- but is regulated for only 7 of them under Washington State's Commercial
Fertilizer Act of 1998 and only 5 under the EPA's Zinc Fertilizer Rule.
More history coming soon...
