Substantive Vs. Procedural: Top Ten Hazardous Waste Violations
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like it has really been a while since I last blogged. I hope everyone had a good holiday/new year and that we all can be ready to jump into 2013. In an attempt to start things strong, I want to write another post about something I learned at the RCRA training seminar in December.
I have written in the past about different things that are often viewed as “common hazardous waste violations.” You may remember the post about Hazardous Waste Reduction Plans or the one about Avoiding Weekly Hazardous Waste Inspection Violations. Today, however, I want to discuss the US EPA’s list of the top 10 violations. In particular, I will write about whether the issues are substantive or procedural and what those classifications mean.
To begin, we need to identify the difference between these types of requirements:
- Substantive Requirements – Either provide material reduction in risk or materially increase environmental protection.
- Procedural Requirements – Have an indirect impact on risk reduction but are significant in terms of regulatory agency assessment of compliance.
Both types are important and neither can be ignored if you and your company want to ensure EPA and RCRA compliance.
So now we can look at how the top ten violations can be seperated into these two categories.
Substantive Violations from the EPA Top 10 Waste Violations
- Lack of proper waste determination
- Container violations
- Inadequate aisel space
- Incompatible wastes in close proximity
- Inadequate inspections*
- Inadequate training*
Procedural Violations from the EPA Top 10 Waste Violations
- Inadequate inspections*
- Inadequate training*
- Accumulation time exceedances
- Satellite container issues
- location, volume, marking
- Inadequate contingency plan
- LDR notice issues
As you can see, inadequate inspections and inadequate training can fall under both categories. This means they can both provide material reduction in risk or materially increase environmental protection and be significant in terms of regulatory agency assessment of compliance. Perhaps the most important take-away from this post is that while common violations can fall into two categories, both must be considered and followed in order to ensure RCRA complience.
For more information about common violations, look for our Top 10 Hazardous Waste Violations eBook coming soon.
