TSCA COMPLIANCE PROGRAM POLICY No. 6-PCB-6
Allocation of Enforcement
Liability for Violations of the One-Year Disposal Deadline for
PCB Articles or PCB Containers
TSCA Section: 6(e)
ISSUE:
How does the EPA allocate enforcement liability among persons who
violate the requirement that PCB articles and PCB containers be
disposed of within one year after being placed into storage.
Policy:
EPA will allocate enforcement liability for a failure to dispose
of PCB waste within one year after it is placed into storage
between the generator and the ultimate disposal facility based on
the contribution by either party to the violation. A generator
delivering PCB waste to a disposal facility later than 90 days
before the end of the one-year disposal deadline will be held
liable if the disposal facility can not dispose of the waste in
time. A disposal facility receiving the PCB waste later than 90
days before the end of the one-year deadline will not be held
liable if the PCB waste is disposed of within 90 days.
Discussion:
Section 40 CFR §761.65(a) limits storage of PCBs designated for
disposal to one year. This requirement also states that "any
PCB article or PCB container stored for disposal before January
1, 1983, shall be removed from storage and disposed of...within
one year from the date it was first placed into storage."
The one-year time limit is intended to insure prompt disposal of
PCBs removed from service. However, the requirement does not
preclude some waste generators or intermediate waste handlers
from storing the waste for long periods of time (up to 12 months)
before releasing it for ultimate disposal. As a result,
facilities which receive the waste for ultimate disposal may not
have sufficient time to dispose of the waste within the one-year
time limit.
EPA will allow facilities receiving waste a year after being put
into storage by the generator an additional 90 days after receipt
to dispose of the wastes without incurring enforcement liability.
Because representatives of the two approved, landbased commercial
incinerators have provided technical data showing that PCB waste
is disposed of within 90 days after receipt by the facility, EPA
has determined that ninety days is sufficient lead-time for the
disposer to receive and dispose of PCB waste. Therefore, if a
generator delivers waste to a disposal facility with ninety days
or more remaining in the one-year deadline, the disposer is
responsible for destroying the material before the deadline. The
liability shifts to the generator if the material is delivered to
the disposal facility with less than ninety days remaining in the
one-year allowed for disposal after storage. The disposer,
however, will share in the liability if he does not dispose of
the waste within ninety days from the date it is received at the
disposal facility.
EPA will utilize the scale below to allocate liability between
the generator and disposer.
| WHEN DELIVERED TO DISPOSER | WHEN DISPOSED | GENERATOR | LIABILITY DISPOSER | |
| I | More than 90 days before 1 yr. | after 1 yr. deadline | none penalty | entire |
| II | 90 days before 1 yr. | within 1 yr. | none | none |
| III | 60 days before 1 yr. | 1 mo. late | 1/3 penalty | none |
| IV | 30 days before 1 yr. | 60 days late | 2/3 penalty | none |
| V | last day | 3 mos. late penalty | entire | none |
| VI | after 1 yr. | within 90 days of receipt | entire penalty | none |
| VII | after 1 yr. | after 90 days of receipt | entire penalty | entire penalty |
See Also: TSCA Compliance
Program Policy 6-PCB-7
References :
Key Words:
PCBs, ultimate disposal facility, disposal deadline.
SIGNED 8/16/83:
A. E. Conroy II, Director
Compliance Monitoring Staff
Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances.