EMPTY THREATS

The empty drum rabbit hole has opened, ready to hop in?

I bet you missed the first comment period in the Empty Hazardous Waste Drums, Notice of Advanced Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in the federal register on August 11, 2023. I did! I have a life too. I was up at our St. John's Cathedral Boys School Reunion, camping with my classmates, in Alberta’s Banff National Park. 

Well, if you didn’t know, on September 5th the EPA extended its Comment Period until November 22, 2003, which means you only have a few days left to comment. And it doesn’t look good. As usual, the Feds or at least the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going in the back door. They are trying to frame this as new requirements on drum reconditioners. However, since they have only identified 181 reconditioners in the country, it is clear EPA's intention to regulate the reconditioners, just as much as the hazardous waste generators who supply them with their product.

It’s kinda like Tyson chicken saying they’re raising the price that they sell chicken to the grocery store for, but they are not raising the price that consumers pay for it. Generators will be required to make up the slack. In other words, the drum reconditioners are not going to take your drums, unless they meet the new requirements.

It is quite clear the EPA’s plan was to portray the new empty drum rule about the drum reconditioner facilities, which I believe has little to do with their intent, as they eventually, freely and unabashedly admit in the federal register. 

“The EPA is evaluating the generation, transportation and management of used containers, (through this ANPRM)... to prevent future damage to human health and the environment from all entities involved in the used container lifecycle.”

 You should read it and make your thoughts known to the EPA before they promulgate this new requirement. How? By closely monitoring the federal register (Sign up for free! NOW!) for the Proposed Rule comment period. This is when you will have the opportunity to comment on the actual RCRA Empty Drum Rule. EPA is mandating major changes across the manufacturing and transportation spectrum.

Don't miss it again, or like I did, head to Canada.

Robert J. Keegan
Publisher and President
Hazardous Materials Publishing Company
Transportation Skills Programs Inc.
Text to 610-587-3978
Email- hazmat.tsp@gmail.com

THE PERFECT CUP OF JOE

There are 7 steps to making perfect coffee.

Step 1

Fresh roasted beans, less than 2 weeks old. Blonde roast coffee's shorter roasting time traps more of the bean’s flavor and bitterness. 

Step 2

Water to coffee bean ratio from 1:18 for bold to 1:16 for mild, respectfully. 

Step 3

Grinding determines suspended solids. Excessive grinding can create too much surface area.

Step 4

 Pre-Rinse filter. Running hot water through the filter to release any fiber particles and pre-warm the coffee pot. 

Step 5

Before first full pour, Bloom your grounds with hot water by thoroughly soaking your dry grounds for 60 seconds to release carbon dioxide (CO2) bubbles.

Step 6

Use a coffee kettle with a small spout. Agitate for bolder flavor. 

Step 7

Pour until the filter is three quarters full from center to rim. Second, pour from rim to center. Remove the filter promptly. Enjoy!

THE PERFECT DOT HAZARDOUS MATERIAL AND EPA WASTE SHIPMENT

Step 1

     Classify your material’s numerical hazard class, packaging group and subsidiary hazard class labels using DOT 49 CFR 173.2 and…

173.2a.

Step 2

Identification, once the material is classified, then identify under one of the four proper shipping names; Pure chemical, End-use, Specific N.O.S. or Generic N.O.S. in 172.101(c) and 172.200.

Step 3

Select the correct packaging using the Special Provisions in 172.101(h) and Packaging Authorization in 172.101(i).

Step 4

 Mark, label and placard the proper shipping names and the UN identification numbers, then follow up with the diamond shaped hazard class labels and placards as foretold in 172.300, 172.400 and 172.500 respectively.

Step 5 

Fill out the shipping description on the hazardous materials shipping paper and sign the shipper certification as required by 172.200 Shipping Papers.

Step 6

Emergency response information for the hazardous material shipment. Make up your own form, use a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), or any document to cross-references the required information, in 172.600.

Step 7

 The most important step to a perfect hazardous material or waste shipment; the four levels of training, testing and certification required for all hazmat employees: General Awareness, Function Specific, Safety, and Security Training in 172.700.

I would definitely make that perfect cup of coffee before preparing the perfect hazmat shipment. If you have any questions, concerns, comments or input, we are always willing to listen. Hazmat.tsp@gmail.com.

The Hazardous Materials, Substances and Wastes Compliance Seminars start September 27, 2023, sign up now to avoid a price increase. 

Also available for pre-order, the New 2023/2024 Hazardous Materials, Substances and Wastes Compliance Guide, Coming September 2023. 

Robert J. Keegan

Publisher and President 

Hazardous Materials Publishing Company.

Transportation Skills Programs, Inc.

hazmat.tsp@gmail.com

Text 610-587-3978

WHO ARE YOU?

In the late 1970’s the United States Congress in the Environmental Conservation and Recovery Act, (RCRA) and the British rock and roll band “The Who” were both asking the same question. 

WHO ARE YOU?

As for the band and its raunchy songs, for anyone under 60 years old it’s the band’s music they use in the crime scene investigator TV show “CSI” and its CSI spinoffs.  Back in the day,  the band’s songwriter Peter Townsend apparently felt like he was being seen as a sellout by the up and coming Punk rock bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Ironically, the opposite was true, as The Who and The Clash toured together in 1983. 

Congress was not so profane, at least not in reference to hazardous waste under RCRA. Congress deferred the Treatment Storage and Disposal (TSDF) hazardous waste site permitting requirements to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Overwhelmed by the prospect of issuing hundreds of thousands of TSDF permits, EPA made the decision that if a hazardous waste generator could meet certain conditions, that generator would not be required to designate their facility as a full TSDF.             

THE CONDITIONS FOR EXCEPTION

These “conditions for exception” are found in Part 262 of 40 CFR.

The three exceptions are as follows, Very Small Quantity Generators (VSQG) conditions for exception, from TSDF permitting, in 40 CFR  262.14, 

Small Quantity Generators (SQG) conditions for exception from TSDF permitting are in 262.16 and the Large Quantity Generators (LQG) conditions for exception from TSDF permitting are in 262.17.

The beauty is, to receive one of these TSDF permitting exceptions is that all you have to do is notify EPA that you are meeting certain requirements or “conditions”. How often? Never, if you are a VSQG, every two years if you are a LQG and every four years if you are a SQG.

Conditions for exception could include getting a site EPA ID Number, marking containers with the words “HAZARDOUS WASTE”, an indication of hazard, the state start time in certain cases and federal on-site 90/180 day hazardous waste storage start times. In addition these conditions include specific training and inspection requirements.

 Based on your facility status, your conditions for exception may require preparing a Facility Contingency, Preparedness and Prevention Plan under 40 CFR 262.260  which in turn must be submitted to the Local Emergency Planning Committee, Police departments, Fire departments, Hospitals and any Emergency response teams that might be called upon to provide emergency services.

INDEPENDENT REQUIREMENTS

These exceptions do not come without regulations, which can be found in 262.10 Independent requirements”. Independent requirements are regulations that must be met by everyone. That is why they are referred to as independent requirements, they must be met independent of whether you are excepted from getting a TSDF permit or not.

The three most important Independent requirements are; Hazardous waste determination in 262.11(a), that means tracking solid waste for hazardous waste, then Hazardous waste determination recordkeeping in 262.11(f), recording the information that was used for your hazardous waste determination. Finally, completing the Generator category determination in 262.13, to determine generator status. 

That is not the end of it, independent of whether you decided to take one of the exceptions or not, large and small quantity generators must always ship their hazardous waste on the EPA hazardous waste manifests, under the 49 CFR Department of Transportation (DOT) Hazardous Material Regulations and meet EPA semi-annual reporting requirements, as these are all independent requirements. 

The biggest difference between independent requirements and “conditions for exception ” occurs during the enforcement process. That is that if you fail to meet an “independent requirement” your company would be cited for that one violation.

 However, if you fail to meet just one of the conditions for exception , let’s say forgetting to mark the start date on a container of hazardous waste in the Central Accumulation Area (CAA), EPA could cite your facility for illegally storing hazardous waste without a TSDF permit. The small and large quantity independent regulations come with their own unique requirements, so the first question to ask yourself is, “Who Are You?”

Order your New 2022/2023 Hazardous, Materials, Substances and Wastes Compliance Guide and get your people signed up for a seminar. Reserve now!

Thank you!

Robert J. Keegan

Publisher and President

Hazardous Materials Publishing Company

Transportation Skills Programs Inc. 

610-683-6721

DIAL “C” for Murder

MOTIVE, OPPORTUNITY, INTENT

As I start to put this to paper, I am concerned about my wife’s well being and my own incarceration. Erin’s mysterious and unexplained poisoning death could be bad for both of us. For her obviously, me possibly.

MOTIVE
When the police believe there has been a murder, they always suspect the partner or spouse first. They know most couples have motive for murder, money, relatives, casually discarded laundry and Häagen-Dazs equity, just to name a few. 

OPPORTUNITY
Investigators will then try to determine if the suspect had an opportunity. I spend every minute of every day with my wife, unless she is at work, food shopping, cooking, cleaning, cutting grass, taking care of her mother and father or doing any other physical labor on our log cabin farmhouse and its manicured acres of fields, trails, streams, meadows, ponds and outbuildings.

INTENT
As any homicide detective worth their gold shield knows a good frame up requires proof of the suspects intent. See, my problem is that recently I have been researching poisons on the internet.  

OK, I did plan to use one or two of them, as examples in this blog about problems with Toxic or Poisonous materials under the 49 CFR Department of Transportation (DOT), Section 173.132 Division 6.1 Toxic and 29 CFR Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Appendix A to Section 1910.1200 Health Hazards. Poisons fascinate me. Not in a macabre way. What I find so interesting about poisons, is the amount of certain mixtures containing poison, that would have to be ingested, before they would likely kill you.

Depending on who’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS) you believe, caffeine could be shipped as a 6.1 Poison. For the average person 10 grams of caffeine is lethal. Then if you consider the average cup of coffee has about 100 mg of caffeine, not being a mathematician or murderer, I believe you would have to drink approximately 75 to 100 cups of coffee before you would reach its LD50 or lethal dose. That's a lot of cream and sugar!

I say likely because LD50’s are based on only 50% of the test animals dying within 14 days, not all of them. I’m sure the other 50% of the test animals, quote “the 15 day survivors”, are not going to be doing real well, nor do I believe that anyone is standing by to Medevac them to the nearest veterinary hospital. They all die. 

It is not uncommon for some mixtures of poisons, that testers find that they cannot introduce enough of the mixture into the test animal's digestive system, without killing them, to complete the actual test for poison. 

So, here is the key when identifying Poison or Toxic Division 6.1 materials under DOT. Pure chemicals have already been tested, so they shouldn’t be retested. Mixtures of poisons must be tested or shippers are authorized to use mathematical formulas and concentrations, outlined in 49 CFR Paragraph 173.132(c). 

I say caffeine could be shipped as a poison, as some SDSs state it is a poison and others say it’s not. SDSs are not reliable when shipping DOT hazardous materials because OSHA does not require testing, only available information, as stated at the start of Appendix A to 1910.1200 Hazard Communication for completion of Safety Data Sheets (SDS). 

I’m not sure if this is a really good blog. But, it does make a pretty convincing alibi. Just remember you also have “motive”, by law, to attend a Hazardous Materials, Substances and Wastes Compliance Seminar and the “opportunity”, as our 2022 / 2023 Live Online Training Seminars start up again in 2 weeks. So sign up now, than at the very least you can show your “intent” was to comply.

The new copies of the 2022 / 2023 Hazardous Materials, Substances and Wastes Compliance Guide will start shipping at the end of September. Don’t wait to get your copy, order now!

Robert J Keegan

Publisher and President

Hazardous Materials Publishing Company

Transportation Skills Programs Inc.

hazmat.tsp@gmail.com

Text 610-587-3978 

OUTLAW

I’m an outlaw, I don’t follow the rules and I love danger. I teach domestic transportation, environmental and worker protection regulations concerning dangerous chemicals. 

In Detroit, at the end of my seminar, a participant approached me. He explained that he had earned his PhD in Communication. Unlike myself, he, who had mastered the art of communication, got straight to the point. After mentioning his credentials, he looked me directly in the eye and unmercifully said “I want to tell you before I leave that you broke every rule that I was taught about communication at Harvard.” Just barely finishing high school, having low self-esteem and still in the company of a few lingering longtime attendees, I felt humiliated. 

Then before turning on his heels and walking out of the meeting room, still shaking his head, he said “ I just can't figure out how it works so well for you.” I often think of that day, and how what he said about my unconventional teaching style was true. But, I think it’s gotten worse or should I say better.

Recently, I noticed a mistake when displaying the Department of Transportation (DOT), hazardous material proper shipping name “Hazardous Waste Liquid, N.O.S”. Which is a domestic only shipping name. Names that are authorized for domestic use only, are notated with a D in column number 1 of the 49 CFR 172.101 Hazardous Materials Table. They are also assigned NA identification numbers as opposed to names authorized both domestically and internationally which are assigned with UN numbers.

Methanol appears in the 172.101 Hazmat Table twice, first with the letter “I” in column number 1 and then a second time with the letter D. There are two differences between shipping “Methanol” internationally or domestically; domestically “Methanol” is shipped only as a Class 3 flammable liquid with one label, whereas “Methanol” internationally is also classified as a Division 6.1 poison with two. The second would be that “Methanol” gets the UN1230 identification number for its international description whereas the domestic shipment would display the NA1230 Identification number.

Much like Methanol, shipments of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hazardous waste on waste manifests that meet no other hazard class definition, under the DOT would be required to be described differently if one shipment were domestic and the other were international.

“NA3082, Hazardous Waste Liquid, N.O.S., 9, PG III, (lead), (D008)” when shipped domestically.  “UN3082, Waste, Environmentally Hazardous Substance Liquid, N.O.S., 9, PG III (lead), (D008)” when shipped internationally.

The mistake in my presentation slide for the shipping name “Hazardous Waste Liquid, N.O.S. was it displayed UN3082, not NA3082,

A domestic shipping name with an international identification number. I couldn’t understand why no one had mentioned this mistake before. I chalked it up to the fact that we had been going for a while, very close to our lunch break and I had reached a point in which my attendees had long passed their desire to absorb any more information, regardless of how important.

Saying nothing, I quickly moved on to my next slide.

Of my worst proclivities, I am extremely lazy and forgetful. At the next seminar upon seeing the improper slide again, I decided to expose my mistake to the group, which instantly brought their attention back to my presentation. In which I now attribute it to much like a car wreck where as much as we don’t want to, we all look.

I have not changed the slide, the mistake or its revelation, but used it unscrupulously to my full advantage.  Duplicitous, devious and deceitful. Yeah.

But it works for me!

Robert J Keegan
Publisher and President
Hazardous Materials Publishing Company
Transportation Skills Programs Inc.