Frequent Questions about the Hazardous Waste Manifest Form
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- Please clarify where the importer and foreign generator’s information must be entered in the generator identification block.
- Are generators required to use all six copies of the manifest?
- If a generator has more than six waste codes for a particular waste, may they use Item 14, “Special Handling Instructions and Additional Information,” for the additional federal codes?
- Some states have developed abbreviated manifest forms for some of its state-only hazardous waste. How will state-only waste manifests be affected by the new rule?
- How should hazardous waste handlers using the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest comply with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) October 19, 2009 final regulation clarifying the requirements for entering certain emergency response service provider information on shipping papers?
Question: In the case of hazardous waste imports, the regulation at Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in section 262.60(b)(1) requires a person to enter the importer’s name, address, and EPA Identification number, as well as the foreign generator’s name and address, in the generator identification block of the manifest. The new form contains two distinct address fields (i.e., the “Generator’s Name and Mailing Address” and “Generator’s Site Address”) within the generator identification block, but the rule does not designate either field for the importer and foreign generator’s information. Please clarify where the importer and foreign generator’s information must be entered in the generator identification block.
Answer: EPA recommends the following approach in entering on the manifest the appropriate importer and foreign generator information. The importer’s address should correspond to the importer’s corporate office where signed copies of the import manifests are collected and managed. The foreign generator’s address should correspond to the actual physical site address from which the import shipment originated. Therefore, the importer’s name and mailing address should be entered into the “Generator’s Name and Mailing Address” field, and the foreign generator’s information should be entered into the “Generator’s Site Address” field of the generator identification block.
Question: Are generators required to use all six copies of the manifest? Realistically, generators may only need four (4) copies of the manifest to track intra-state shipments, but the copy distribution scheme in the margins of the new form identifies a use for all six copies.
Answer: No. The copy distribution scheme in the form margins is advisory, and the marginal entries do not impose any new requirements to submit copies to generator or destination states. Copy submission requirements are governed by state law only, and if states do not require the submission of manifest copies, those copies that are earmarked to states can be discarded or used in lieu of other copies.
Question: According to the instructions for Item 13 of the new manifest regarding the waste code fields, up to six federal and state waste codes may be recorded in the spaces provided. See 40 CFR Part 262, Appendix, Instruction 13. If a generator has more than six waste codes for a particular waste, may they use Item 14, “Special Handling Instructions and Additional Information,” for the additional federal codes?
Answer: Although it was the intent of the rule to try to minimize the practice of entering any and all possible waste codes that might be implicated for a waste stream, we believe generators will use Item 14 to list items of significance to them, such as waste profile data and Emergency Response manual codes. So, if a generator wishes to include additional waste codes in Item 14, they can do so. However, states cannot use Item 14 to mandate the inclusion of additional waste codes beyond the "six per waste stream" that are required in Item 13. Please be aware that the manifest serves as a transportation tracking document rather than a full report of all waste codes. Therefore, the limitation of waste codes applicable to the manifest does not apply to other reporting documents that are federally required by EPA. Therefore, generators and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities are not excused from the reporting requirements of the “mixture and derived-from” rule, the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR), nor any other waste.
Question: Some states have developed abbreviated manifest forms for some of its state-only hazardous waste. How will state-only waste manifests be affected by the new rule?
Answer: The new manifest form and continuation sheet are 6-part forms, and States must use the new form for federal and state-only waste shipments. Thus, states cannot require use of a 2-part or 4-part manifest for its state-only wastes, and waste handlers can discard any remaining copies of the federal manifest that are not used for a shipment.
Question: How should hazardous waste handlers using the RCRA Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest comply with the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) October 19, 2009 final regulation clarifying the requirements for entering certain emergency response service provider information on shipping papers?
Answer: EPA and DOT believe that hazardous waste handlers can comply with the October 19, 2009 regulation by entering this additional emergency response information in Item 14 of the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, or as appropriate, after the specific hazardous waste descriptions listed in Item 9b.
Highlights of the October 19, 2009 Final Regulation
On October 19, 2009, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the DOT published a final rule to clarify the requirements governing certain emergency response information services that are provided by arrangement with hazardous materials offerors (shippers). See 74 FR 53413. The October 19, 2009 final rule amends the provisions of the hazardous materials regulations (HMRs) which currently require offerors of hazardous materials to provide written emergency response information about their shipments and more particularly, to list an emergency response telephone number that can be answered immediately and at all times by a person who is knowledgeable about the material being shipped and its hazards. See 49 CFR section 172.604(a). Since hazardous wastes regulated under Subtitle C of the RCRA are also hazardous materials subject to the HMRs, EPA’s 40 CFR Part 262 regulations addressing the Hazardous Waste Manifest were developed to implement the RCRA transportation requirements and to conform with the HMRs. In particular, the current manifest regulations and manifest form prescribed by EPA in 40 CFR Part 262 require the emergency response telephone number for a hazardous waste shipment to be entered in Item 3 of the Hazardous Waste Manifest Form. See 40 CFR section 262.20(a)(1) and Instructions for Item 3 (Emergency Response Phone Number) of Form 8700-22 in the Part 262 Appendix.
The October 19, 2009 DOT regulation was adopted to deal with the special circumstances under which an offeror contracts with and uses the services of an emergency response information provider (ERI provider) to comply with section 172.604 of the HMRs. This is permissible under the HMRs if the ERI provider has up-to-date information on the hazardous material and if the ERI provider is capable of and has accepted responsibility for providing detailed emergency response information applicable to the hazardous material. See 74 FR 53413 at 53414. According to the DOT, the use of ERI providers by offerors for compliance with the HMRs has increased, but it has also resulted in some problems, particularly when a shipment is handled by several entities before reaching its final destination. In such a case, a subsequent offeror may rely on and enter on a shipping paper the emergency response information (including the ERI provider phone number) provided by a previous offeror, but the previous offeror may not be identified on the shipping paper. Without the name of the offeror who made the original arrangements with the ERI provider, it may not be possible for the ERI provider to access and communicate the information specific to the material in the event of an incident. This could result in a delay or even an improper response due to the lack of accurate and timely emergency response information. 74 FR 53413 at 53415.
To address this problem, the October 19, 2009 final rule announced several regulatory changes that were effective on November 18, 2009. First, the final rule amends 49 CFR section 172.201(d) to state that if the telephone number of an emergency response information telephone number service provider is entered on a shipping paper, then the shipping paper must also identify the person (by name or contract number) who has the contractual agreement with the service provider. 74 FR 53413 at 53422. In addition, the final rule amends 49 CFR section 172.604(b) to require that “the name of the person identified with the emergency response telephone number must be entered on the shipping paper immediately before, after, above, or below the emergency response telephone number unless the name is entered elsewhere on the shipping paper in a prominent, readily identifiable, and clearly visible manner that allows the information to be easily and quickly found.” Id. at 53423.
Compliance Using the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest
With respect to the Hazardous Waste Manifest, EPA has adopted a Uniform Manifest format that went into effect nationally on September 5, 2006. The Uniform Manifest includes a specific data field denoted as Item 3 of the form for entering the emergency response telephone number for hazardous waste shipments. This was included on the Uniform Manifest format to harmonize the manifest requirements with the HMRs. When an emergency response phone number applies to all the waste descriptions listed in Item 9b of the manifest, then that emergency response phone number should be entered in Item 3. However, as the instructions to Item 3 indicate, in those instances where there is more than one emergency phone number applicable to the different wastes listed in Item 9b, then the emergency phone number specific to each waste should be entered after each waste’s description in Item 9b. See Appendix to Part 262, Item 3 instructions.
The HMRs provide that a Hazardous Waste Manifest may be used as the required hazardous materials shipping paper for hazardous waste shipments if the conditions set out in 49 CFR section 172.205 are met. Section 172.205(b) requires that a shipper or generator prepare the manifest in accordance with EPA’s manifest regulations at 40 CFR Part 262. In addition, section 172.205(h) provides that a hazardous waste manifest must contain all of the information required by Subpart C of Part 172. Since the new requirement of 49 CFR section 172.201(d) is codified in Subpart C, a manifest must contain the identity of the person having a contractual agreement with an ERI provider in order for the manifest to contain all of the required Subpart C information.
Where a hazardous waste generator or offeror uses the phone number of an ERI provider to comply with the requirement to enter an emergency response phone number on the manifest, there are several ways that the offeror may complete the manifest to comply with the October 19, 2009 final DOT rule and the current manifest requirements.
- First, if the generator/offeror is the original generator/offeror that contracted with the ERI provider, and the generator’s or offeror’s name is displayed in Item 5 (Generator’s Name and Mailing Address) of the manifest, then no additional information need be included on the manifest to satisfy the requirements of the new DOT rule. Since the original generator/offeror entity that contracted with the ERI provider is already identified clearly in Item 5, this information does not need to be repeated elsewhere on the form.
- Second, if a hazardous waste is re-shipped by a subsequent offeror, and this offeror chooses to complete a manifest that uses the phone number of the previous offeror’s ERI provider to comply with the requirement to enter an emergency response phone number, then the subsequent offeror must include on the manifest the name or contract number of the original offeror. If the emergency response phone number applies to all the hazardous wastes described in Item 9b of the manifest, then the original offeror’s name or contract number should be listed in Item 14 (Special Handling Instructions and Additional Information) with a clear indication that this is the offeror name or contract number associated with the phone number shown in Item 3. If there are different emergency response phone numbers associated with specific wastes described in Item 9b of the manifest, then the emergency response phone number and the original offeror name or contract number that corresponds with each specific waste should be clearly displayed after each waste’s description in Item 9b. Continuation sheets (Form 8700-22A) may be used if additional space is required to list all the affected waste streams and their waste-specific emergency response phone number information.
- Third, if the subsequent offeror contracts with its own ERI provider and lists the phone number of this ERI provider in Item 3, then no additional offeror or contract number information need be entered elsewhere on the manifest, as long as the name of the subsequent offeror is the offeror named in Item 5 of the manifest prepared by the subsequent offeror.
The current layout of the Uniform Manifest and space restrictions on the form do not permit a generator or offeror to enter the original offeror name or contract number immediately before, after, above, or below the emergency response phone numbers that are listed in Item 3 of the current manifest form. This appears to be the preferred location for entering this information under the October 19, 2009 final rule. However, in the case of the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, EPA and DOT believe that if this information is supplied in the manner discussed above, then the requirements of the new DOT rule are met. The final rule states that the information may appear elsewhere on a shipping paper in a prominent, readily identifiable, and clearly visible manner that allows the information to be easily and quickly found. The procedures described here for entering this information on the hazardous waste manifest will ensure that this standard is met.
EPA does not now plan any specific revisions to the manifest form to address this issue. We believe that hazardous waste generators and offerors can comply with the new DOT rule in the manner discussed above, without the necessity of a change to the manifest form. The Uniform Manifest was substantially revised in 2006, and the Agency put in place a fairly exhaustive registration process for authorized printers based on the current national manifest format and standards. At such time as EPA finds it appropriate to revise the form and instructions to address this and other substantive changes to the HMRs, EPA will announce a rulemaking to address those changes and a process for re-registering printers to print any new format that may be adopted.