Code of Colorado Regulations
1000 - Department of Public Health and Environment
1007 - Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
6 CCR 1007-3 - HAZARDOUS WASTE
Part 263 - HAZARDOUS WASTE - STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO TRANSPORTERS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
Subpart E - Closure of a Transfer Facility
Section 6 CCR 1007-3-263.41 - Closure

(a) The owner or operator of the transfer facility shall ensure that the facility will be closed in a manner which satisfies the closure performance standards of § 265.111 and the decontamination standards of § 265.114. All closure activities must be completed within 90 days after receiving the final volume of hazardous wastes at the facility.

(b) Notification and certification. Within 60 days of completion of closure of the transfer facility, the owner or operator must submit to the Department, by registered mail, a certification that all hazardous wastes have been removed from the facility, properly disposed of, and that the facility has been closed in accordance with the performance standards of § 265.111 and § 265.114.

Statement of Basis and Purpose Part 263 - Transporter Regulations

Purpose

The fundamental purpose of these regulations, which are promulgated pursuant to C.R.S. 1973, 25-15-302(2), is to establish the responsibilities of transporters of hazardous waste in the handling and transportation of that waste in order to ensure protection of public health and safety and the environment

Additionally, regulations concerning hazardous waste transporters are a necessary and required component in conducting a hazardous waste management program; the State intends to obtain EPA authorization for a hazardous waste management program pursuant to C.R.S. 1973, 25-15-302. Such full state authorization to conduct the hazardous waste regulatory program can be granted only upon the determination that the State program is equivalent to that of the EPA.

Basis

These regulations are based upon a "cradle-to-grave" system of regulation of hazardous waste. Under this system, hazardous waste is tracked and regulated from the point of generation through storage and transportation to the point of treatment and/or disposal. In this manner, a major portion of the hazardous waste generated in the State is regulated and accounted for, thereby minimizing the potential for public health and environmental problems resulting from improper management, handling, transportation and disposal of these wastes. The great potential for public health and environmental problems, including hazards associated with fire, explosion, direct contact, and air, surface water and groundwater contamination resulting from inadequate management of hazardous wastes has been documented at hundreds of sites throughout the nation and has spurred the development of hazardous waste regulations pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976; Public Law 94-580.

These regulations are based, for the most part, on those developed by the EPA under Subtitle C of RCRA. This was done for the reasons discussed below. Because the Federal hazardous waste regulations are comprehensive and technically complex, it was felt that adopting the Federal format and amending specific sections to the needs of the State, as opposed to developing State regulations "from scratch", would save substantial amounts of time and financial resources. Also, it was felt that the process of determination of initial program equivalency would be greatly simplified through adoption of the Federal format. Further, because the Federal regulations are presently subject to frequent amendment, adoption of the Federal format greatly enhances maintaining equivalency of the State regulations to the Federal program.

As stated above, much of the scientific basis for these regulations was developed in the course of EPA research and investigations over a period of several years. Therefore, all information utilized by EPA in developing and proposing these regulations, including that referenced in the Federal Register Volume 45, Number 98, May 19, 1980 p. 33066 et seq. is hereby incorporated in this statement by reference.

The basis for these regulations was further developed through a series of twelve public meetings at which comments were received from interested parties. Accordingly, certain changes from the Federal regulations have been incorporated in these regulations where it was deemed advisable as a result of public comment and study of the issues, in order to tailor the regulations more to Colorado's needs. Such departures from the approach taken in the Federal regulations are discussed in this document under the pertinent topics.

The Regulations

Notification

In order for hazardous waste to be tracked from point of origin through transportation to point of disposal, all parties must be identifiable within the tracking system. Accordingly, all potential transporters of hazardous waste located within the State, who have not been assigned an EPA Identification number, must notify the Department and receive an EPA identification number prior to transporting these wastes.

Manifest System

The essential element in this hazardous waste tracking system is the manifest. The manifest contains pertinent information concerning the wastes which are being transported off-site. All the parties involved with a particular waste shipment are responsible for signing and dating the manifest. The transporter is specifically responsible for delivering the hazardous waste to the facility designated by the generator on the manifest. It is the transporter's responsibility to sign and date the manifest which acknowledges acceptance of the hazardous waste from the generator. A signed copy must be returned to the generator for his/her records. Upon delivery of the waste to another transporter or to the designated facility, the transporter must obtain the signature of that transporter or of the owner or operator of the designated facility, retaining one copy and transmitting the remaining copies to the accepting transporter or facility.

The remaining copy, with all signatures is sent back to the generator. In this manner, each party has a record of the transaction and the generated wastes can be accounted for in transport and disposal. This manifest accounting system greatly decreases the opportunity and likelihood for illegal dumping and release to the environment at any of the stages of handling these wastes and so protects the public from potential exposure to these wastes.

Those standards applicable to water (bulk shipment) transporters in the Federal regulations have been deleted, due to the impossibility of such transportation in Colorado.

Hazardous Waste Discharges

These regulations deal with the Transporter's responsibilities in the event of a transportation incident involving the discharge of hazardous waste. In order to protect human health and the environment the transporter must take appropriate immediate action such as containment of the discharged material and notification of local authorities. Such immediate containment measures may prevent the release of the waste to proximate surface water, and immediate notification of local emergency response personnel is necessary to initiate prompt response actions.

In addition to the reporting requirements in the Federal regulations, the State requires the Transporter to notify the Department of the ultimate disposition of any discharged hazardous waste. This requirement is to ensure that discharged hazardous waste is properly cleaned up and disposed.

Under these regulations it is the transporter's responsibility to clean up discharges of hazardous waste in a timely manner or take actions required or approved by the Department, local officials, or Federal officials so that the hazardous waste discharge no longer presents a hazard to human health or the environment. These regulations have been changed to require the transporter to clean up discharged hazardous waste in a timely manner.

Both the Transporter and the Generator regulations include certain hazardous material regulations which have been adopted from the Department of Transportation (DOT). These regulations concern, among other things, labeling, marking, placarding, using proper containers, and reporting discharges. These regulations have been adopted in order to protect human health and the environment in the transportation of hazardous waste.

The Board's adoption of these transportation regulations ensures consistency with the requirements of DOT.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has assumed jurisdiction over State transportation of hazardous materials from the DOT, and is currently in the process of promulgating regulations concerning the transportation of hazardous wastes. Efforts are being made to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding concerning enforcement of applicable hazardous waste transportation regulations between the Department and the PUC.