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How to Classify Industrial and Hazardous Waste

Requirements for those who generate or manage hazardous waste in Texas.

To know whether you are regulated under state or federal waste rules, follow these steps:

  1. Determine if you have a solid waste.
  2. Determine what type of solid waste you have:
  3. Find out if you may request a waste classification variance.
  4. Prepare for a TCEQ waste audit. (This step will occur even if a permit is not required).
  5. Are you exempt from permitting?

Determine if you have a solid waste.

Solid waste is defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §261.2 and 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §335.1 (131). If your waste meets the definition of a solid waste, you will have to determine what type of solid waste you have.

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Is the solid waste a hazardous waste?

Hazardous waste is defined as any solid waste listed as hazardous or possesses one or more hazardous characteristics as defined in federal waste regulations .

See Classifying and Coding of Industrial and Hazardous Waste (RG-022) for more information.

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Is the solid waste an industrial waste?

Industrial waste is waste that results from or is incidental to operations of industry, manufacturing, mining, or agriculture. Industrial waste may be hazardous or nonhazardous. Nonhazardous industrial waste has three classifications.

See Classifying and Coding of Industrial and Hazardous Waste (RG-022) for more information.

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Is the solid waste a municipal solid waste?

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is waste resulting from or incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, and recreational activities. MSW includes garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and all other solid waste other than industrial waste.

For more information regarding municipal solid waste, please see the municipal solid waste index.

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Request a waste classification variance.

The TCEQ may grant variances from the waste classification rules (30 TAC Chapter 335 Subchapter R ) on a case-by-case basis.

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Prepare for a TCEQ waste audit.

To ensure proper classification and coding of waste in Texas, we randomly audit a number of waste stream notifications each year. When a generator receives a request for information for the purpose of an audit, the information that a generator has gathered to classify and code his waste stream must be submitted to the TCEQ.

Generators should keep documentation that provides a basis for a waste classification determination. The documentation should clearly describe the rationale for the waste classification, and should include documentation of analyses and process knowledge as appropriate.

Generators must complete the  Industrial Waste Classification Audit Check Sheet (TCEQ-20957) as part of the waste audit process. If the analytical information is provided as part of the waste classification audit, generators must also complete the Laboratory Data Quality Assurance/Quality Control Report Checklist (TCEQ-20958).

See Classifying and Coding of Industrial and Hazardous Waste (RG-022) for more information.

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