End of Year Hazardous Waste Checklist: 6 Things to Cross Off Before 2015

Hazardous Waste Generator Checklist For the New Year

The new year is fast approaching, which means hazardous waste generators (and also, treatment, storage, and disposal facilities) across the nation are trying to get everything order for the arrival of 2015.

Some questions that the coming new year might prompt are: Do you have your records in order for state hazardous materials (HAZMAT) reporting? Are there any spills in the facility that need response? After calculating your generated waste for the year, will your generator status need to be altered? These are just a few of the questions you might ask yourself.

There are many concerns you must to deal with as a generator of hazardous waste. So we’ve compiled this checklist to help you cross off everything you need in order to get into the new quarter worry-free and with a clear conscience.

Here are some considerations your company may have before heading into the new year:

Annual Reporting (On a state-by-state basis)

1. If your company is a Large Quantity Generator (LQG) and incorporated in a state that requires annual reporting, do you have all of your records from the 2014 calendar year on-site and ready to send? A full list of states that require more than the federal RCRA minimum of biennial record-keeping can be found here.

End-of-Year Disposal

2. Do you have any outstanding waste that needs to be disposed of?

Spill Response Care

3. Are there any waste or chemical spills in your facility that need cleaning up before the new year?

Facility Check

4. Is your facility in good operating order? If so, would you ready for a surprise EPA inspection?

Satellite Accumulation Waste

5. Do you have waste in a satellite accumulation zone that is past its legal storage date? If so, you’ll need to either move the waste, or send it off to a waste disposal facility.

Change of Generator Status

6. Do you need to change your generator status? If you consistently generated more or less waste per month this year, you could be eligible for a different generator status. The full list on different levels of hazardous waste generators may be found here.

These are just six things that you might need to take care of before 2015. But if you can cross these off your list, you’re looking good to go into the new year without any worries and without a hiccup.

Photo credit: Nina Vucetic via compfight