HW Program announcements

 

February 20, 2024 update

New rules effective January 29, 2024!  –  Click here to go directly to the summary of changes.

May 1, 2023

 

Proposed rule changes and public hearing notice– Public hearing June 2, 2023

March 9, 2023

 

New guidance VIDEO on electronic item universal waste, new guidance on alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Click here for the FAQ and guidance documents page.

March 3, 2023

 

New guidance on electronic item universal waste has been posted. Click here for the FAQ and guidance documents page.

November 9, 2022

 

New guidance has been posted on the following topics:

  • Quick reference guides for Large Quantity Generators
  • Pharmaceutical waste management and the pharmaceutical sewer ban
  • Lithium-ion batteries
  • Land Disposal Restriction (LDR) compliance

Click here for the FAQ and guidance documents page.

October 3, 2022 update

Proposed rule changes and public hearing notice– Public hearing November 9, 2022.

 

June 14, 2021 update

New rules effective June 7, 2021!  –  Click here to go directly to the summary of changes.
Webinars and resources on new rules: pharmaceuticals rule, UW rules

January 14, 2021 update

 

Proposed rule changes and public hearing notice

July 8, 2020 updates

 

1. EPA has added a termination date of August 31, 2020 to its temporary COVID-19 enforcement policy. Click here for details on the policy and termination date. The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) Hazardous Waste (HW) Program will follow EPA guidance regarding enforcement discretion when hazardous waste generator operations are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Generators should contact EPA Region 9 and HDOH immediately if operations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic may create an acute risk or an imminent threat to human health or the environment. (Contact 1. Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office – (808) 586-4249, after hours (808) 247-2191; AND 2. HW Program – (808) 586-4226 and ask for Tom.)

Violations can be self-reported to HDOH HW Program by e-mailing [email protected].

 

2. New guidance document: How to cite Hawaii Administrative Rules chapters 11-260.1 to 11-279.1. This guidance will remain posted on the main rules page.

 

3. Video of Q&A on June 25, 2020 rule updates. Note: The answer to the last question on the video is that used FDA-approved OTC nicotine replacement gums, patches, and lozenges are not hazardous waste.

June 25, 2020 updates, including new rules effective June 25

 

1. Updated Hawaii hazardous waste regulations effective June 25, 2020!
The changes include the delisting of FDA-approved over-the-counter nicotine gums, patches, and lozenges. The rest of EPA’s pharmaceutical rule is NOT adopted by the State of Hawaii at this time.

Click here to go to the hazardous waste program rules page for more information, including rule chapter guidebooks. We recommend you bookmark this page for future use.

These changes to Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) chapters 11-260.1 to 11-279.1 were proposed in December 2019 with a public meeting and public comment period in January 2020. Click here for a detailed list of changes to the regulations. Significant changes have been made to chapters 11-260.1 to 11-265.1, HAR.  No significant changes to waste- and facility-specific regulations (chapter 11-266.1), land disposal restrictions (chapter 11-268.1), the hazardous waste permitting program (chapters 11-270.1 and 11-271.1), universal waste regulations (chapter 11-273.1), or used oil regulations (chapter 11-279.1) are included in this rulemaking.

 

2. Join me (Noa) for an online Q&A session on the rule changes at 9am on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 by clicking the following link: Join Teams Live Event 6/30 9am
You should be able to participate using any internet browser. If you do not have Microsoft Teams, after clicking the link you may need to select “Watch on the web instead.”

I will briefly review the list of changes made and then take questions. You will need to type your questions into the chat box, so come prepared!

 

3. E-manifest announcement
The RCRAInfo industry application has  a new tab called “Reports/Extracts”

There have been requests for reports and extracts of manifest information and EPA has released the first report, the Manifest Summary Report and the first extract the Manifest Summary Extract.

This report and extract provide facility, manifest, and waste line information for manifest meeting the user selected criteria.  The user must specify the entity type that the site(s) will be acting as (generator, initial transporter, designated facility, or alternate designated facility), a date range for either the shipped, received, certified, or last updated date, and one or more site ids.  Optionally, the user may specify which manifest statuses to include (all statuses will be included by default).

For more information on e-manifest, click here.

 

4. EPA Enforcement Alert on RCRA Air Emissions
June 16, 2020 EPA Enforcement Alert
This Alert provides information to the regulated community on frequently cited compliance issues associated with air emissions from hazardous waste, recent enforcement case settlements, EPA inspection approaches, facility best practices, as well as the importance of carefully considering both the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements when addressing organic air emissions.

May 26, 2020 update – COVID-19 temporary guidance regarding generator signatures on manifests

Click here for EPA’s additional guidance regarding generator signatures on manifests. This guidance refers to and incorporates the COVID-19 enforcement memo discussed below.

March 27, 2020 update – COVID-19 & hazardous waste generators

The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) Hazardous Waste (HW) Program will follow EPA guidance regarding enforcement discretion when hazardous waste generator operations are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. See the EPA COVID-19 memo, with particular attention to sections I.A. general conditions and I.D.4. regarding hazardous waste generators.

Generators should contact EPA Region 9 and HDOH immediately if operations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic may create an acute risk or an imminent threat to human health or the environment. (Contact 1. Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office – (808) 586-4249, after hours (808) 247-2191; AND 2. HW Program – (808) 586-4226 and ask for Tom.)

Violations can be self-reported to HDOH HW Program by e-mailing [email protected].

August 21, 2019 updates – Pharmaceuticals rule

Sewer ban effective today

Effective today, August 21, 2019, the sewer ban prohibits all healthcare facilities and reverse distributors from discharging any hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to a sewer system that passes through to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW; see 40 CFR §266.505). This is the only provision of EPA’s “Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine” rule effective in Hawaii. Other provisions of the rule do not become effective until they are adopted in state law.

Save the date – Public presentation September 20

The Hazardous Waste Program is planning a presentation on the federal rule “Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine” for September 20, 2019, 9-11am. Confirmation and details to follow. Note that the sewer ban is the only provision of the federal rule effective in Hawaii. Other provisions of the rule do not become effective until they are adopted in state law. This presentation will cover the federal rule only.

More information on the federal rule

40 CFR §266.505 prohibits all healthcare facilities and reverse distributors from discharging any hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to a sewer system that passes through to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). This includes hazardous waste pharmaceuticals that are also controlled substances under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulations and collected household pharmaceuticals (see 40 CFR §266.506). Although the sewer prohibition applies to healthcare facilities and reverse distributors with respect to hazardous waste pharmaceuticals, EPA strongly discourages sewering of any pharmaceutical in any setting (with few exceptions, such as sterile water, 0.9 percent sodium chloride (saline) and Ringer’s lactate solution).

 

 

 

 

Ban on sewer disposal of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals goes into effect August 21, 2019

As many of you probably know, EPA finalized its “Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine rule,” a.k.a. “The Pharmaceuticals Rule,” on February 22, 2019.

The only part of the rule adopted under federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) authorities is a prohibition on sewering of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals that applies to all healthcare facilities,** including very small quantity generators. The sewer ban becomes effective nation-wide on the effective date of the federal rule, August 21, 2019 [see the new 40 CFR section 266.505]. EPA discourages sewer disposal of any pharmaceutical waste by any entity, although the legal ban will only apply to hazardous waste pharmaceuticals and healthcare facilities.

**Definitions of “healthcare facility,” “pharmaceutical,” and “hazardous waste pharmaceutical” are found in the new 40 CFR section 266.500.

The rest of the rule does not become effective in the State of Hawaii until the provisions are adopted into State regulations. This long and complex rule will be a future topic of discussion.

For more information, including a copy of the rule and a link to a recorded EPA webinar summarizing the various provisions, go to: https://www.epa.gov/hwgenerators/final-rule-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals-and-amendment-p075