[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 24]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR260.31]

[Page 22-23]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 260_HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GENERAL--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart C_Rulemaking Petitions
 
Sec. 260.31  Standards and criteria for variances from classification 
as a solid waste.

    (a) The Administrator may grant requests for a variance from 
classifying as a solid waste those materials that are accumulated 
speculatively without sufficient amounts being recycled if the applicant 
demonstrates that sufficient amounts of the material will be recycled or 
transferred for recycling in the following year. If a variance is 
granted, it is valid only for the following year, but can be renewed, on 
an annual basis, by filing a new application. The Administrator's 
decision will be based on the following criteria:
    (1) The manner in which the material is expected to be recycled, 
when the material is expected to be recycled, and whether this expected 
disposition is likely to occur (for example, because of past practice, 
market factors, the nature of the material, or contractual arrangements 
for recycling);
    (2) The reason that the applicant has accumulated the material for 
one or more years without recycling 75 percent of the volume accumulated 
at the beginning of the year;
    (3) The quantity of material already accumulated and the quantity 
expected to be generated and accumulated before the material is 
recycled;
    (4) The extent to which the material is handled to minimize loss;
    (5) Other relevant factors.
    (b) The Administrator may grant requests for a variance from 
classifying as a solid waste those materials that are reclaimed and then 
reused as feedstock within the original production process in which the 
materials were generated if the reclamation operation is an essential 
part of the production process. This determination will be based on the 
following criteria:
    (1) How economically viable the production process would be if it 
were to use virgin materials, rather than reclaimed materials;
    (2) The prevalence of the practice on an industry-wide basis;
    (3) The extent to which the material is handled before reclamation 
to minimize loss;
    (4) The time periods between generating the material and its 
reclamation, and between reclamation and return to the original primary 
production process;
    (5) The location of the reclamation operation in relation to the 
production process;
    (6) Whether the reclaimed material is used for the purpose for which 
it was originally produced when it is returned to the original process, 
and whether it is returned to the process in substantially its original 
form;
    (7) Whether the person who generates the material also reclaims it;
    (8) Other relevant factors.
    (c) The Regional Administrator may grant requests for a variance 
from classifying as a solid waste those materials that have been 
reclaimed but must be reclaimed further before recovery is completed if, 
after initial reclamation, the resulting material is commodity-like 
(even though it is not yet a commercial product, and has to be reclaimed 
further). This determination will be based on the following factors:
    (1) The degree of processing the material has undergone and the 
degree of further processing that is required;
    (2) The value of the material after it has been reclaimed;
    (3) The degree to which the reclaimed material is like an analogous 
raw material;
    (4) The extent to which an end market for the reclaimed material is 
guaranteed;
    (5) The extent to which the reclaimed material is handled to 
minimize loss;

[[Page 23]]

    (6) Other relevant factors.

[50 FR 662, Jan. 4, 1985, as amended at 59 FR 48041, Sept. 19, 1994]