News Releases - 1997

New Law Could Save Illinois Businesses Millions of Dollars by Ending Special Handling of Most Nonhazardous Solid Wastes

Springfield, Ill. -- In an action to reduce regulatory burdens on Illinois industry, Gov. Jim Edgar has signed into law House Bill 2164, amending the Illinois Environmental Protection Act to exclude most nonhazardous and nonliquid industrial-process and pollution-control wastes from the definition of special waste. Effective immediately, businesses that certify they are following the new law's requirements may dispose of these wastes as ordinary municipal wastes under the following conditions:

Generators must determine that qualifying wastes have never exhibited characteristics of or been listed by the EPA as hazardous wastes; that they are not liquid wastes; and that they do not contain asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), or auto fluff (contaminated materials resulting from the recycling and shredding of vehicles).

According to Bill Child, chief of the Illinois EPA's Bureau of Land, the new law stems from improved disposal facilities and Agency initiatives to eliminate obsolete regulations. "Since 1993, all Illinois landfills have been upgraded to meet the most stringent standards ever, allowing them to take solid, nonhazardous special wastes with little danger of groundwater contamination. Yet businesses still had to segregate and transport those kinds of wastes separately and maintain records of their disposal," he said.

"And where did most of those wastes go? Alongside businesses' ordinary wastes in the same landfill trench. That didn't make sense; we recognized that; we consulted the business community; and we asked for the law to be modernized to fit current conditions," Child said.

"The solid portion of nonhazardous special waste generated yearly by Illinois business and industry is about 3 million cubic yards. That's a lot of waste: Stacked 300 feet high, it would fill six football fields. Considering it costs 10 times as much to dispose of special waste as it does municipal waste, the potential savings can run into tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Those cost reductions are almost sure to benefit small and medium-size businesses the most," Child said.

Generators must describe the process that produced the waste, and include relevant material safety data sheets and results from analytical testing (or an explanation why testing was not needed). Certifications must be signed, dated and retained for three years following termination of the process that produced the waste. New certifications are required for each change in process or raw materials. Certifications must be provided when requested by the Illinois EPA, the waste hauler, or the facility receiving the waste.

The excluded wastes no longer require manifests (documents that track their journey from generator to receiving facility); they need not be transported by special-waste haulers; and receiving facilities need not have special-waste authorization. However, Child warned, wastes that cannot have their special designation removed through the new generator-certification process must continue to be manifested and managed accordingly.

Child also noted the new law provides stiff penalties for false certification. Anyone who knowingly and falsely certifies that an industrial-process or pollution-control waste is not a special waste commits a Class 4 felony for a first offense, and a Class 3 felony for any subsequent offense. In addition to other penalties prescribed by law, anyone convicted of a Class 4 felony is subject to a fine not to exceed $50,000 for each day of the offense. A Class 3 felony carries a maximum fine of $250,000 for each day the offense continues.

An industrial-process waste is one generated directly or indirectly in the manufacture of a product or the performance of a service. Examples include chemical catalysts, paint sludges, incinerator ash, metallic dust sweepings and off-specification, contaminated or recalled wholesale or retail products.

A pollution-control waste is one generated directly or indirectly in the removal of contaminants from air, land or water. Examples include wastewater treatment plant sludges, baghouse dusts, landfill waste, scrubber sludges and chemical spill cleanings.

In addition to these wastes, the containers that once held them may also be excluded from the definition of special waste (and disposed of as municipal waste) provided the container no longer contains a liquid, all wastes have been removed by means appropriate for the material and the container, any remaining residue is less than one inch thick, and any inner liner has been removed and managed as special waste.

Specific questions regarding special waste disposal in Illinois may be directed to 217-524-3300.