![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090510050554im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Mercury Laws and Regulations
Safe Mercury Management Information
SMM HomeState Legislation and Regulations
How does EPA regulate mercury in waste?
Many states have enacted legislation and written regulations with the goal of reducing mercury emissions to air, land and water. These actions cover a range of topics, including banning the sale of certain mercury-containing products, enacting product-labeling legislation, establishing disposal bans and establishing education and collection programs for mercury and mercury-containing products.
State regulations for mercury use and release can be more stringent than federal regulations. We recommend that you contact the appropriate state environmental office for more information regarding how mercury might be regulated in your state. The state environmental agencies provide links to various state and regional environmental offices with information regarding mercury regulation in their jurisdictions.
The links below may take you out of the EPA.gov domain and to external links. 
National Laws and Regulations
Mercury-contaminated hazardous wastes can be specifically regulated under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) through a number of different regulations, including:
- Hazardous Waste Identification Regulations (40 CFR Part 261): Classification of solid wastes as hazardous wastes is based on exhibited hazardous waste characteristics and/or on inclusion of the waste on a list of hazardous waste developed by EPA. Once a waste has been identified as hazardous, it must comply with all applicable Federal regulations regarding its management.
- Universal Waste Regulations (40 CFR
Part 273): Streamlined collection requirements for certain
wastes including batteries, lamps, and pesticides. Discarded mercury-containing
equipment was added to the federal list of universal wastes
in August 2005.
- Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) Regulations (40 CFR Part 268): Regulations to minimize hazards from the land disposal of hazardous wastes by setting treatment standards for mercury in hazardous wastes that must be achieved before land disposal. Other LDR-related regulations that may be of interest include the national treatment variance for radioactively contaminated batteries and standards for contaminated debris and soil.
Hazardous Waste Identification Regulations
Did you know?
Under RCRA, the management of household hazardous waste is primarily regulated by state, tribal and local governments. Learn more...
A waste is identified as hazardous if it exhibits any of the four hazardous waste characteristics (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity). A waste is also identified as hazardous if it appears on any of the four lists of hazardous wastes developed by EPA. You may find that some mercury wastes are identified as hazardous by these regulations.
If mercury levels in a waste exceed the Toxicity Characteristic Leach Test (TCLP) level of 0.2 mg/L for mercury, then the waste is identified as a hazardous waste based on the toxicity characteristic. EPA assigns a separate unique mercury waste code based on the type of hazardous waste identified. A specific "D" waste code for a waste which exhibits the toxicity characteristic (TC) for mercury is D009. See 40 CFR 261.24.
Certain mercury-containing wastes are identified as hazardous wastes based on whether they are listed as hazardous in whole or in part because of the presence of mercury. See 40 CFR 261.30 through 261.33. Wastes which are listed as hazardous because of mercury include:
| Waste Code | Description |
|---|---|
| K071 | Brine purification muds from the mercury cell process in chlorine production, in which separately pre-purified brine is not used |
| K106 | Wastewater treatment sludge from the mercury cell process in chlorine production |
| K175 | Wastewater treatment sludge from the production of vinyl chloride monomer using mercuric chloride catalyst in an acetylene-based process |
| P065 | Mercury fulminate |
| P092 | Phenylmercury acetate |
| U151 | Mercury |
Remember
- Once a waste is identified as a hazardous waste, it is subject to all applicable Federal regulations regarding its management.
- An official compendium of analytical and sampling methods available for use in determining the presence of mercury in waste can be found in SW-846. These approved tests are used to comply with RCRA regulations.
Universal Waste Regulations
The universal waste regulations streamline collection requirements for certain hazardous wastes in the following categories: batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment (e.g., thermostats) and lamps (e.g., fluorescent bulbs). The rule is designed to reduce hazardous waste in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream by making it easier for universal waste handlers to collect these items and send them for recycling or proper disposal.
You can find the universal waste regulations at 40 CFR Part 273.
And don't forget the state regulations, especially regarding universal wastes! States can make the regulations more stringent and add more universal wastes. So, check with your state for the exact regulations that apply to you.
Land Disposal Restrictions for Mercury-Containing Wastes
We regulate how hazardous wastes are managed and disposed under a program known as the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) program. The LDR program works specifically to minimize potential environmental threats resulting from land disposal of hazardous waste. The LDR program achieves this by establishing hazardous waste treatment standards that make the waste safe for land disposal. The LDR regulations contain treatment standards for the RCRA hazardous waste codes, including those identified as hazardous because of mercury.
The LDR regulations categorize mercury wastes as low mercury wastes, high mercury wastes, or elemental mercury wastes.
- Low Mercury Waste: Low mercury wastes are those hazardous wastes containing less than 260 mg/kg of total mercury. Current regulations require that these wastes be treated to a certain numerical level, i.e., 0.20 mg/L, measured using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) for mercury residues from retorting, and 0.025 mg/L TCLP for all other low mercury wastes. These concentrations are generally met by stabilization/solidification treatment.
- High Mercury Waste: High mercury wastes are those that are characteristically hazardous and that contain greater than 260 mg/kg total mercury. Because of this high concentration of mercury, they are generally required to undergo roasting or retorting defined, in part, as: "Retorting or roasting in a thermal processing unit capable of volatilizing mercury and subsequently condensing the volatilized mercury for recovery." The residuals from the roasting or retorting process are then subject to a numerical treatment standard (if the residues meet the definition of "low mercury subcategory").
- Elemental Mercury: Characteristic hazardous elemental mercury wastes (RCRA hazardous waste code D009) are required to be roasted or retorted, if they contain greater than or equal to 260 mg/kg total mercury. Because the uses for elemental mercury in products are declining, stockpiles of excess commodity (bulk) mercury currently exist. If these stockpiles are deemed to be wastes, then they are subject to the retorting or roasting standard. Waste streams of elemental mercury contaminated with radioactive materials are required to be treated by amalgamation, defined as: "Amalgamation of liquid, elemental mercury contaminated with radioactive materials utilizing inorganic agents such as copper, zinc, nickel, gold, and sulfur that results in a non-liquid, semisolid amalgam and thereby reducing potential emissions of elemental mercury vapors to the air."
The following table summarizes the treatment standards for mercury wastes by waste code.
We recently published a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to make available to the public two studies conducted on treatment of mercury wastes. The studies were initiated to assess treatment and disposal alternatives to the current mercury retorting requirement. We have concluded from these studies that a change in the LDR treatment standard for mercury is not warranted at this time. The notice also provides information on how to submit a petition for a site-specific variance from the treatment standards in the current LDR regulations.
National Treatment Variance for Radioactively Contaminated Batteries
On October 7, 2002, we granted a national treatability variance from the LDR treatment standards for radioactively contaminated cadmium-, mercury-, and silver-containing batteries by designating new treatment sub-categories for these wastes in response to a rulemaking petition from the Department of Energy. We found that the former treatment technologies for these hazardous wastes were technically inappropriate, because any recovered metals would likely contain residual radioactive contamination and not be usable. Therefore, we designated macroencapsulation prior to land disposal as the new treatment standard for these batteries. This variance will allow safe disposal of the radioactively contaminated batteries. Macroencapsulation is also the required treatment for K175 mercury-bearing wastes and is an alternative treatment standard for hazardous debris.
LDR Standards for Contaminated Debris and Contaminated Soil
If your mercury-containing waste meets the definition for contaminated
debris at 40
CFR 268.2,
it can comply with either the debris Land Disposal Restrictions
(LDR) standards (40
CFR 268.45)
or with the LDR standard that applies to the waste that has contaminated
the debris (40
CFR 268.40).
The following memorandum discusses issues pertaining to the treatment
and disposal of mercury-containing debris. Memo
on Treatment Standards for Mercury-Containing Debris, October 23,
2003 (8 pp, 24K, About PDF). Of special note is a discussion on intact containers.
Under the definition for debris,
"intact containers of hazardous waste that are not ruptured and that retain at least 75% of their original volume"are excluded from the debris definition. Examples of intact containers can include fluorescent lamps, thermometers and dental amalgam collection devices.
If your waste of concern is soil contaminated with mercury, you must comply with the LDRs at 40 CFR 268.49.