Universal Waste
Resource Locator Universal wastes are hazardous wastes that are more common and pose
a lower risk to people and the environment than other hazardous wastes.
Federal and state regulations identify universal wastes and provide simple
rules for handling, recycling, and disposing of them. Examples of universal
wastes include:
- spent batteries,
- waste pesticides,
- used fluorescent lamps, and
- used mercury-containing thermostats.
The actual list of universal wastes in your state may include these
items and/or different wastes.
All universal wastes are hazardous wastes and, without the new rules,
they would have to be managed under the same stringent standards as other
hazardous wastes. Also, universal wastes are generated by a wide variety
of people rather than by the industrial businesses that primarily generate
other hazardous wastes.
As with hazardous waste generators, businesses that generate universal
wastes are divided into categories, depending on the quantity of universal
waste they accumulate. Most states recognize two categories:
- Small quantity handler of universal waste (does not accumulate 11,000
pounds or more).
- Large quantity handler of universal waste (accumulates 11,000 pounds
or more).
Like in most federal environmental legislation, EPA encourages states to
develop and run their own hazardous waste programs as an alternative to
direct EPA management. With universal waste rules, more state-specific
differences exist than with most other environmental regulations because:
- State adoption of the 1995 federal universal waste rule is optional
because the rule is less stringent than the previous hazardous waste
requirements under RCRA.
- States can create different standards (except for batteries due to
the Battery Act ),
but they have to be equivalent to the federal regulations (i.e., they
must provide equivalent protection, cannot regulate fewer handlers,
etc.)
- States may adopt the entire rule or certain provisions, which are:
- General provisions
- Provisions for batteries, pesticides, thermostats, and lamps
(states do not have to include all of them).
- Provisions allowing the addition of new universal wastes in
states.
The universal waste rule went into effect immediately in states and territories
that are not RCRA-authorized including Iowa, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The
purpose of this on-line tool is to provide quick access to:
- state regulations for universal wastes,
- contacts at state environmental agencies that can answer your questions,
and
- resources that can help achieve compliance.
Use the pulldown or
the sensitive map to find out more about the regulation of universal wastes
in your state.
Click on a state's initials:
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