[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 29, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29132-29133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13408]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6984-6]
Voluntary Guide: Waste Transfer Stations: A Manual for Decision-
Making
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; release of draft document for public comment.
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SUMMARY: EPA, with assistance from the Solid Waste Association of North
America Focus Group and the National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council Waste Transfer Station Working Group, has developed a draft
voluntary guide Waste Transfer Stations: A Manual for Decision-Making
(EPA 530-D-01-001). The purpose of the Manual is to promote the use of
best practices in transfer station siting, design, and operation to
maximize the facilities effectiveness and efficiency, while minimizing
their impact on the community. The Manual is designed to assist
facility owners and operators; state, local, and tribal environmental
managers; and the public evaluate and choose protective practices for
the siting, design, and operation of municipal solid waste transfer
stations. Before publishing this report in final form, EPA is inviting
public comment.
The Manual is divided into four chapters: Introduction, Planning
and Siting a Transfer Station, Transfer Station Design and Operation,
and Facility Oversight. An appendix provides a quick reference guide
and comparative index of all state transfer station regulations,
including the applicable regulatory citations. The Manual is designed
to complement, not supersede, existing state, local, and tribal solid
waste management programs.
A companion citizen's guide, Waste Transfer Stations: Involved
Citizens Make the Difference (EPA530-K-01-003), has also been
published. This guide is designed to complement the Decision-Making
Manual by providing key information citizens need to become involved in
the waste transfer station siting, design, and operation decision-
making processes. It describes ways in which community members can
become actively involved in minimizing a waste transfer station's
impact while enhancing its value to the community.
In recent years the nationwide trend in solid waste disposal has
been toward the construction of larger, more remote regional landfills.
Driving this trend are a number of financial considerations which are
heavily influenced by regulatory and social forces. The passing of the
federal municipal solid waste landfill criteria in 1991 (Solid Waste
Disposal Facility Criteria; Final Rule. 56 FR 50978; October 9, 1991)
established new design requirements for municipal waste landfills that
significantly add to the construction and operation costs. As older
landfills near urban centers reach capacity and begin closing, cities
must decide whether to construct new complaint landfills or to seek
other disposal options. Many small communities, facing a similar
decision, find the cost of upgrading existing facilities or
constructing new landfills to be prohibitively high, and opt to close
existing facilities. The economies of scale enjoyed by the large remote
facilities keeps per ton tipping fees low, which further promotes the
practice of long distance waste transfer. For these reasons, many
cities and towns are utilizing transfer stations as a component of
their waste management system.
DATES: Submit comments on or before August 27, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Commentors must send an original and two copies of their
comments referencing docket number F-2001-WTSN-FFFFF to: RCRA Docket
Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. Hand delivery of comments should be made the RCRA
Information Center in Arlington, Virginia at the address below.
Comments may also be submitted electronically through the Internet to:
[email protected]. Comments in electronic format should also be
identified by the docket number F-2001-WTSN-FFFFF. All electronic
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file without the use of special
characters and any form of encryption.
Commenters should not submit electronically any confidential
business information (CBI). An original and two copies of CBI must be
submitted under separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document Control Officer,
Office of Solid Waste (5305W) U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios Building, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Public comments and supporting materials are available for viewing
in the RCRA Information Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway I,
First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. The RIC
is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal
holidays. To review docket materials, it is recommended that the public
make an appointment by calling 703-603-9230. The public may copy a
maximum of 100 pages from any docket at no charge. Additional copies
cost $0.15 per page. The index and some supporting material are
available electronically.
The official record for this section will be kept in paper form.
Accordingly, EPA will transfer all comments received electronically
into paper form and place them in the official record, which will also
include all comments submitted directly in writing.
EPA responses to comments, whether the comments are written or
electronic, will be developed during the finalization of the Decision-
Making Manual. EPA will not immediately reply to commentors
electronically other than to seek clarification of electronic comments
that may be garbled during the transmission or during conversion to
paper form, as discussed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information and copies of
the Decision-Making Manual, contact the RCRA Hotline at 800-424-9346 or
TDD 800-553-7672 (heating impaired). In Washington, DC, metropolitan
area, call 703-412-9810 or TDD 703-412-3323. A limited number of paper
copies of the Decision-Making Manual are available on a first-come
first-serve basis. An electronic copy of the Decision-Making Manual in
PDF file format can be obtained from the EPA Internet site at:
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/transfer.
Questions of a technical or policy nature regarding the Decision-
Making Manual may also be directed to Steve
[[Page 29133]]
Levy at 703-308-7267, or e-mailed to his e-mail address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the companion citizen's guide,
Waste Transfer Stations: Involved Citizens Make the Difference (EPA530-
K-01-003), is also available in hardcopy (from the RCRA Hotline) or
electronically from the internet site mentioned above.
Thea McManus,
Acting Director, Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste Division, Office
of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 01-13408 Filed 5-25-01; 8:45 am]
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