AM-92-58 EPA’S LISTING DETERMINATION FOR THE PETROLEUM REFINING INDUSTRY

Description:

In March of 1989 the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failure to make listing determinations for specified wastes as require by section 3001 of the Hazardous Solid Waste Amendments of 1984. Section 3001 requires EPA to determine whether or not a waste should be listed as hazardous under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and therefore subject to hazardous waste management requirements. After two years of negotiations between EPA and EDF, a settlement agreement was reached. The resulting consent decree set out an extensive series of deadlines for proposing and promulgating RCRA listing rules, and for completing certain studies and reports. This paper focuses on the requirements of the consent decree which affect the petroleum refining industry.