Imports and Exports of Hazardous Waste: Implementation of OECD Council Decision C(92)39 Concerning the Control of Transfrontier Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations

The rule identifies the wastes, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), that are subject to a graduated system (green, amber, red) of procedural and substantive controls when they move across national borders within the OECD for recovery. (EPA may, in the future, identify wastes under other statutes that are subject to the OECD Decision). It seeks to make the transactions fully transparent and to prevent or minimize the possibility of such wastes being abandoned or otherwise illegally handled. These requirements will apply only to U.S. exporters and importers of RCRA hazardous wastes destined for recovery in OECD countries (except for Canada and Mexico; waste shipments to and from these countries will continue to move under the current bilateral agreements and regulations). Those U.S. exporters and importers transacting hazardous waste movements outside the scope of today's rule will remain subject to EPA's current waste export and import regulations at 40 CFR part 262, subparts E and F. This rule does not increase the scope of wastes subject to U.S. export and import controls; it does, however, modify the procedural controls governing their export and import when shipped for recovery among OECD countries. Today's rule will assist in harmonizing the new OECD requirements, reducing confusion to U.S. importers and exporters and increasing the efficiency of the process.