DOT  SEWAGE SLUDGE -- TERMS OF ART

   HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE -- FERTILIZER -- SOIL AMENDMENT?   =        
                                              HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
September 11, 1986  Applicability of RCRA to POTWs Receiving RCRA Hazardous
Waste, "Generally, sewer line influents to POTWs will fall under the domestic sewage
exclusion of 40 CFR 261.4(a) (1) and therefore are not considered to be "hazardous
waste" under RCRA.  However, waste received at a POTW by truck, rail or by a
dedicated pipe (i.e., where the waste does not mix with domestic waste in the pipe
before entering the POTW) is not covered by the domestic sewage exemption.  If that
waste is a listed hazardous waste or exhibits a hazardous waste characteristic, the
POTW is required to obtain a RCRA permit for the treatment,  storage and disposal of
such waste.
www.deadlydeceit.com/exclusions.html

EPA's horror stories debunking program indicated other Agencies knew
there would be a lot of deaths: "(14) BLM policy opposing use of biosolids on
Federal lands: equating it(s) use to hazardous waste dumping and landfilling
raising SUPERFUND liability concerns."
http://www.penweb.org/issues/sludge/101.htm

EPA's Alan Rubin keeps insisting that there is nothing hazardous about sewage
sludge, especially as it pertains to shipping it from a point source of pollution to the
farm where it becomes a non-point source of pollution. Due to the infectious nature of
sludge it is a hazardous substance under the RCRA and a pollutant under the CWA,
which makes it a hazardous material under the DOT regulations.

As a DOT qualified Intermodal hazardous materials transportation trainer, I mentioned
this to Rubin, who had to find a way to get around the law. Rubin wen straight to the
Director of the Hazardous Materials Standards who apparently failed to asked the
appropriate questions before he answered Rubin. Rubin forgot to tell the Director that
sludge was shipped as an agricultural product (i.e. fertilizer or soil amendment). Not
only that, but it is a pollutant under the CWA, which makes it a marine pollutant.
Sludge can not be treated to where it no longer poses a hazard. It is highly likely that
Rubin wrote the draft of this letter, The Director repeats Rubin's assertion that sewage
and sewage sludge are considered to be household hazardous waste.  They both
knew that exclusion didn't apply if the sewage was shipped by truck. Sewage sludge is
generated by a treatment plant which at a minimum makes it a pollutant under the
CWA and a solid waste under the RCRA.
Infectious agents make it a hazardous waste under the RCRA and DOT.
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
Sec. 173.140  Class 9--Definitions.

For the purposes of this subchapter, miscellaneous hazardous
material (Class 9) means a material which presents a hazard during
transportation but which does not meet the definition of any other
hazard class. This class includes:
(a) Any material which has an anesthetic, noxious or other similar
property which could cause extreme annoyance or discomfort to a flight
crew member so as to prevent the correct performance of assigned duties;
or
(b) Any material that meets the definition in Sec. 171.8 of this
subchapter for an elevated temperature material,
a hazardous substance,
a hazardous waste, or
a marine pollutant.



Sec. 171.8  Definitions and abbreviations


Agricultural product means a hazardous material, other than a
hazardous waste, whose end use directly supports the production of an
agricultural commodity including, but
not limited to a fertilizer,
pesticide, soil amendment
or fuel. An agricultural product is limited to
a material in Class 3, 8 or 9, Division 2.1, 2.2, 5.1, or 6.1, or an
ORM-D material.

Etiologic agent. See Sec. 173.134 of this subchapter.
Sec. 173.134  Class 6, Division 6.2--Definitions, exceptions and packing group
assignments.

(a)
Definitions. For the purposes of this subchapter, the categories
of materials that constitute Division 6.2 are defined as follows
:
(
1) An infectious substance means a viable microorganism, or its
toxin, that causes or may cause disease in humans or animals, and
includes those agents listed in
42 CFR 72.3 of the regulations of the
Department of Health and Human Services and any other agent that causes
or may cause severe, disabling or fatal disease. The terms infectious
substance and etiologic agent are synonymous
.


Hazardous material means a substance or material, which has been
determined by the Secretary of Transportation to be capable of posing an
unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in
commerce, and which has been so designated. The term includes hazardous
substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, and elevated
temperature materials as defined in this section, materials designated
as hazardous under the provisions of Sec. 172.101 of this subchapter,
and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and
divisions in part 173 of this subchapter.

Hazardous waste, for the purposes of this chapter, means any
material that is subject to the Hazardous Waste Manifest Requirements of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency specified in 40 CFR part 262.

Marine pollutant, means a material which is listed in appendix B to
Sec. 172.101 of this subchapter (also see Sec. 171.4) and, when in a
solution or mixture of one or more marine pollutants, is packaged in a
concentration which equals or exceeds:
(1) Ten percent by weight of the solution or mixture for materials
listed in the appendix; or
(2) One percent by weight of the solution or mixture for materials
that are identified as severe marine pollutants in the
appendix.
http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=820057372
392+18+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve