BIFs That May Be Exempt from RCRA Regulations

For various reasons (for example, to encourage people to recycle wastes and to avoid duplicate regulations), some BIFs are exempt from RCRA regulations (refer to 40 CFR 266.100). The following BIFs may be exempt from the RCRA regulations:

• Units that burn used oil for energy recovery
• Units that burn gas recovered from hazardous or solid waste landfills for energy recovery
• Units that burn hazardous wastes that are exempt from RCRA regulations
• Units that burn hazardous waste created by conditionally exempt small quantity generators (VSQGs) (which we discussed earlier in the course)
• Coke ovens that burn certain tank tar sludges from coking operations
• Certain smelting, melting, and refining furnaces that process hazardous waste solely for metals recovery
• Certain other industrial metal recovery furnaces
• Owners and operators who burn hazardous material that they generate themselves are exempt from these RCRA regulations. They must burn the material in an onsite boiler or furnace that is exempt under the small quantity burner exemption (refer to 40 CFR 266.108).

It is important to refer directly to the code when you are trying to determine if the regulations apply to your specific hazardous material (refer to 40 CFR 266.100).

To learn more about RCRA visit our RCRA Hazardous Waste Safety Online Training web page.