Author: Julia Norris

7 Important Highlights From the Proposed Photovoltaic Modules Regulations

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Julia Norris

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) held a public informational seminar on March 25, 2019 to present draft regulations that would revise California’s Universal Waste Program to include waste photovoltaic modules (PV modules), commonly known as solar panels. The informational session offered the opportunity for public discussion prior to the beginning of the formal rulemaking process.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, California is the largest consumer of PV modules in the United States. With the increase in demand for renewable energy sources over the past 10 years has come the increase in PV module wastes generated. The manufacture of new PV modules and generation of waste modules is expected to continue increasing. State incentives and mandates for renewable energy use are planned to roll out through 2030. Some PV modules are hazardous since they contain heavy metals, like cadmium, lead, and arsenic, that are above toxicity threshold concentrations.

On October 1, 2015, SB 489 (Monning, Chapter 419) was enacted to add section 25259 to Health and Safety Code, Division 20, Chapter 6.5, Article 17, which allows the DTSC to adopt rules to designate end-of-life photovoltaic modules that are identified as hazardous waste as a universal waste and subject those modules to universal waste management.

Highlights from the Proposed PV Module Rules:

DTSC plans to offer alternative management strategies for hazardous waste solar panels by including them in the Universal Waste regulations.

Clearly label each PV module or container of PV modules with the phrase: “Universal Waste PV Module(s).”

Handlers of universal waste PV modules are prohibited from disposing of PV module waste. They can send them to the waste destination facility.

Handlers of universal waste PV modules are prohibited from diluting or treating PV modules except when they’re responding to accidental releases or conducting treatment, which is specified in chapter 23.

Handlers who accept and accumulate PV modules must notify the DTSC by writing 30 days prior to accepting the waste.

Handlers who generate more than 5,000 kg or accept more than 100 kg of waste PV modules must report it in writing to the DTSC by February 1 of the following year.

Waste transporters are prohibited from moving more than 100 kg of PV modules unless they are contained to prevent releases.

The DTSC plans to issue a public notice on the rulemaking package on April 19, which will start the formal rulemaking process. A public hearing will be held in June, and the final regulations will be prepared in October.

Adapted from:

Photovoltaic Modules (PV modules)-Universal Waste Management Regulations, California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Informational Seminar for Proposed Photovoltaic Modules Regulations, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Chosu Khin, Ph.D.

Julia Norris is a California-based Certified Hazardous Material Manager, Certified Professional Environmental Auditor, and senior environmental protection specialist with 19 years of professional experience. She has expertise in a wide range of technical areas, including regulatory compliance auditing, air emissions inventories, SPCC Plans, drinking water sampling plans, SWPPPs, wastewater pretreatment programs, solid waste characterization studies, pollution prevention planning, hazardous material/waste management, storage tank management, and NEPA analysis.

EPA Unveils Its PFAS Action Plan: What You Need to Know

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Julia Norris

The EPA recently launched its Action Plan for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are a large class of manufactured chemicals that are very effective in several industrial applications, but have also posed risks to human health through drinking water sources around the United States.

The Action Plan mainly uses the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to address the dangers of PFAS. The agency said it considered 120,000 public comments on what the Action Plan should include and how it should be implemented.

“It took groundbreaking efforts to develop this plan,” EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said. “This is the first time we have utilized all of our program offices to deal with an emerging chemical of concern. It is the first time we have put together a multi-media, multi-program national research and risk communication plan to address a challenge like PFAS.”

The EPA said it will also start researching whether at least some of these chemicals should be regulated under other laws, such as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Superfund, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

The Risks of PFAS

PFAS were introduced in the 1940s and have several applications, including providing fabrics with stain and water resistance and giving nonstick properties to cookware. The durability of PFAS that has made it a desirable chemical contributes to its abundance in the environment and human body. Two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), can cause cancer and reproductive, developmental, kidney, liver and immunological effects (PFOA) and thyroid hormone disruption (PFOS) in laboratory animals.

Although it can occur in multiple ways, including through soil and food consumption, the biggest concern of PFAS is its presence in drinking water. That’s why the primary goal of the Action Plan is to “initiate steps to evaluate the need for maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS.”

Implementing the PFAS Action Plan

The finalization of MCLs for PFOA and PFOS can take from five to 10 years. It could be several years after that before drinking water systems would be mandated to meet the MCL.

Some U.S. manufacturers voluntarily phased out production of PFOA and PFOS starting in 2000.

Other long-term actions under the EPA’s plan, which will take more than two years to implement, include:

Taking steps to propose classifying PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances through federal statutory mechanisms, such as the Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), TSCA and EPCRA.
Establishing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS at contaminated sites.
Creating toxicity values or oral reference doses (RfDs) for GenX chemicals (hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) dimer acid and its ammonium salt) and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS).

Short-term actions under the plan include:

Establishing analytical methods and tools for understanding and controlling PFAS risk.
Developing Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) under TSCA, which require EPA notification before chemicals are utilized in new ways that could result in human health and ecological concerns.
Taking enforcement steps to help manage PFAS risk.

Reactions From the Industry

The industry is generally optimistic about the EPA’s new Action Plan. 3M, which introduced PFOS chemicals in the 1940s and took part in the phaseout in 2000, said that it welcomed the plan.

“We support regulation rooted in the best-available science and believe that this plan may help prevent a patchwork of state standards that could increase confusion,” 3M said in a statement.

However, some environmental groups think the Action Plan provides little action and is mainly for show.

“EPA has been promising to address the serious public health threat posed by PFAS chemical exposures for almost twenty years,” Rob Bilott, an attorney who has represented clients with PFAS claims, said in a statement released by the Environmental Working Group. “The last ‘action plan’ was released a decade ago—in 2009. Unfortunately, despite the promising public relations messaging released in connection with EPA’s latest PFAS ‘Action Plan,’ EPA is still not actually taking any concrete action on PFAS.”

Adapted from: EPA floats ‘groundbreaking’ PFAS plan, Enviro.BLR.com.

New Rule for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Julia Norris

Once upon a time, EPA attempted to make pharmaceutical waste a universal waste. This proposal and draft rule (which attempted to make management of pharmaceutical waste less onerous for healthcare facilities) died on the vine and will likely never be finalized by EPA. Just in time for the holidays, however, EPA changed its strategy and published the final “Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine” on December 11, 2018. According to the EPA press release, “This final rule establishes cost-saving, streamlined standards for handling hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to better fit the operations of the healthcare sector while maintaining protection of human health and the environment.”

If you represent a healthcare facility, you already understand why pharmaceutical waste management is high on your environmental liabilities list. There are approximately 30 commercial chemical products listed on the RCRA P and U hazardous waste lists that have pharmaceutical uses. Generation of even a small amount of P-listed waste (1 kg or 2.2 lbs) requires operation as a large quantity generator. Additionally, the use of popular “reverse distributors” (companies that take unused pharmaceuticals back to manufacturers for credit) has been murky at best. Ask many nurses what they do with unused or dropped medication, and the answer is frequently to flush it or put it in the sharps container (we know, we have asked many). Pharmaceutical technicians are charged with rotating stock, removing expired medications, and then figuring out what to do with expired medication. It can all be a lot for a healthcare facility to handle, especially with rules that were never written with the healthcare facilities in mind.

EPA is seeking with these new management standards to correct some of that confusion. Some facts about the new management standards:

The final standards apply to healthcare facilities and reverse distributors that generate and manage hazardous waste pharmaceuticals. This rule also applies to anyone who generates or manages discarded FDA-approved over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies (i.e., patches, gums and lozenges).

The final standards do not apply to pharmaceutical manufacturers (unless they act as reverse distributors), production facilities or other generators of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals.

Under the final standards, generators of hazardous pharmaceutical wastes will manage their hazardous waste pharmaceuticals under subpart P of part 266 in title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), instead of the standard RCRA generator regulations found in part 262.

The final standards are tailored to how reverse distributors operate and will replace the standard generator regulations for the accumulation and management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals at reverse distributors.

The final standards exempt FDA-approved over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies from regulation as a RCRA hazardous waste.

This final rule will be effective at the federal level six months after the rule is published in the Federal Register. Authorized states are required to adopt this final rule and to modify their RCRA programs in order to retain their authorized status because this rule is more stringent than current RCRA generator regulations.

View a summary of the final rule.

View a pre-publication version of the final rule.

EPA is holding three webinars to discuss the contents of the final rule (they are all the same, just on different days). The webinars, which are free and open to the public, are scheduled for February 14, March 4 and March 14. Visit the EPA website to register to attend one of the webinars.