Hazardous Waste Federal Rules Alignment 2021

Adopted rule

Rulemaking contact: Ellie Brown, 503-229-6742  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authorizes the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to operate the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste program in lieu of EPA. Oregon must periodically review and adopt new or amended federal rules to retain this federal authority. DEQ last updated its rules in July 2017. In that rulemaking, DEQ incorporated by reference most federal rules enacted through June 30, 2015.

In this rulemaking, the Environmental Quality Commission adopted rules to align DEQ's hazardous waste rules with the federal rules. This rulemaking incorporated a previously adopted, but subsequently amended federal rule, and incorporated new federal rules that had not been previously adopted into Oregon rules. These changes will enable Oregon to ask EPA to continue authorizing Oregon to operate its RCRA hazardous waste program in lieu of EPA. To ensure DEQ issues fair and appropriate civil penalties for non-compliance of the adopted rules, DEQ also included proposed changes to Division 12 enforcement rules with this rulemaking.