WSR 17-06-016

WITHDRAWAL OFPREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY

[Filed February 21, 2017, 10:42 a.m.]

The department of ecology (ecology) is withdrawing its notice of rule making (preproposal statement of inquiry CR-101 form) filed February 17, 2016, AO 16-03, WSR 16-05-098.

In the rule-making notice, ecology proposed to amend chapter 173-303 WAC, Dangerous waste regulations, by adopting four Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hazardous waste regulations, along with some state-initiated changes.

Then in September 2016, EPA promulgated the Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Final Rule (81 F.R. 85732). Ecology determined that the generator improvements rule should be adopted at the earliest opportunity, along with new EPA regulations revising export-import rules and establishing an electronic manifest system. One reason for including these new rules in this rule making is because EPA requires states to adopt mandatory rules within a given time frame. Also, the generator improvement rule is beneficial to generators by providing regulatory flexibility and making the regulations more user-friendly.

Ecology wants to continue the rule-making process for the previous four EPA rules and state-initiated rules as listed in the original CR-101, and expand the rule making to include the new EPA rules. Therefore, ecology is withdrawing our original notice of rule making and immediately refiling a notice of rule making expanding the scope to include the generator improvement rule, export-import revisions and electronic manifest system, along with the rules listed in the first CR-101.

For more information, contact Robert Rieck at (360) 407-6751 or Robert.rieck@ecy.wa.gov. Additional information is found at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/hwtr/laws_rules/DWRegs/1603ov.html.