Appendix 7

• Author: Susan M. McMichael
• Pages: 387-389

Page 387

Appendix 7

Time Line of Key Regulatory History & Litigation

(Radioactive Mixed Waste)

Year Event

1976 RCRA adopted, amending the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Congress denes solid waste and hazardous waste to exclude AEA-regulated materials. 42 U.S.C. §6903(27).

1980 The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (LLRWPA) adopted.

The LLRWPA is passed to encourage states to develop adequate disposal capacity for commercial low-level

radioactive waste. 42 U.S.C. §§2021(b)–(d).

1981 EPA Issues Memo Regarding RCRA Jurisdiction.

EPA associate administrator concludes that the agency “probably does not generally have jurisdiction over

mixed waste, but it might be ‘desirable’ to regulate chemical waste tainted by small amounts of nuclear

materials or to prohibit the mixing of chemical and nuclear waste.” Memorandum from Frank A. Shepard, Adm’r

for Legal Counsel, to Anne Gorsuch, EPA Adm’r (Aug. 6, 1991).

1982 DOE Order 5480.2.

DOE publishes Order 5480.2 (1982), setting forth DOE’s plans to manage hazardous and mixed waste. The

Order states that DOE will follow the RCRA regulations “to the extent practical.”

1984 LEAF.

Court held that RCRA applied to DOE’s hazardous waste and was not exempt categorically for nuclear weapon

plants operated under the AEA. Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation v. Hodel, 586 F. Supp. 1163, 14 ELR

20425 (E.D. Tenn. 1984).

1985  DOE Issues Proposed By-product Rule.

DOE proposed to interpret “by-product material” to include not only radioactive elements, but also any

waste stream from the process of making special nuclear material, even if the stream included hazardous

waste. 50 Fed. Reg. 45736 (Nov. 1, 1985). As proposed, transuranic (TRU) mixed waste would have been

removed from RCRA regulation. See State of New Mexico v. Watkins, 969 F.2d 1122, 1128, 22 ELR 21262 (D.C.

Cir. 1992).

 LLRWPA amended.

The LLRWPA is amended to address the lack of development of disposal sites for commercial low-level

radioactive waste. 42 U.S.C. §§2021(b)–(j).

1986 EPA Claries RCRA Jurisdiction.

EPA issued public notice to clarify that RCRA jurisdiction covers mixed wastes, and required states to include

mixed waste in RCRA base authorization. 51 Fed. Reg. 24504 (July 3, 1986). EPA stated that 1986 was “[the

agency’s] rst ocial pronouncement to the general public that RCRA permitting requirements are applicable

to radioactive mixed waste.” Clarication of Interim Status Qualication Requirements for the Hazardous

Components of Radioactive Mixed Waste, 53 Fed. Reg. 37045, 37046 (Sept. 23, 1988).

1987 DOE Claries By-Product Rule (10 C.F.R. 962.3).

DOE claries that the denition of “by-product” does not apply to the entire waste stream, but instead to the

actual radionuclides. DOE’s rule provides that RCRA would have authority to regulate the hazardous portion of

the waste stream. 52 Fed. Reg. 15937 (May 1, 1987).