Here are a few regulatory updates for you to consider:
e-Manifest
- Please keep in mind that effective December 1, 2025 all Hazardous Waste Export shipments will be subject to the e-Manifest Rules. For “paper copies” this means that the Exporter of Record must submit their manifest of record directly to the USEPA’s e-Manifest portal and pay the subsequent fees. The Exporter needs to submit the manifest within 30 days after it is transported to the U.S. point of Export. Also note that the final transporter on the export shipment will be submitting a signed copy of the manifest as well as any continuation sheets to the Exporter of Record, who again is responsible for submitting the documents to the USEPA RCRA e-Manifest portal. Generators will need to access the executed manifest copies from their individual portals.
- As USEPA has stepped back on the “new” 4 page manifest document (as we have previously reported), which was scheduled to contain dedicated Export information areas, note the following for Export shipments: the Consent Numbers for all manifested waste streams need to be recorded in the Special Handling Instructions and Additional Information field (Item 14) and if necessary the Exporter’s EPA ID Number needs to be noted here as EXPORTER EPA ID#XXXXXXXXXXXX
- Also effective December 1, 2025, all generators (other than VSQG) must submit any and all Exception Report directly (electronically) through the e-Manifest system rather than to state agencies as previously done.
- As a reminder, if an executed copy of the manifest has not been submitted to the portal within 45 days of the day the waste was accepted by the initial transporter of record, LQGs must inquire of the transporter or the TSDF on the status of the shipment. This inquiry should be documented. If an executed copy of the manifest has not been submitted with 60 days of the date the waste was accepted by the initial transporter, LQGs and SQGs must submit an Exception Report.
- Finally, and of significant interest, is that EPA is CONSIDERING (nothing firm, planned or scheduled!) sunsetting the use of all paper copies of manifests in the coming years. This would force all generators to exclusively use the total electronic system, which still represents a very small and minor percentage of the ~2,000,000 manifests processed each year. We expect EPA to begin to discuss a Proposed Rule in this regard sometime in 2026 and we will obviously be monitoring the situation and advising accordingly.
Management Method Codes
- As we have previously reported, USEPA developed a system of new and more robust Management Method Codes for Storage and Transfer (H141) referred to as “S” codes. These codes were made available on January 1 2025 but we have not seen widespread use of them since. However, on January 1, 2027 the existing H141 code will no longer exist for both e-Manifest and the Biennial Report so we do expect to see an uptick in use of the S codes in the coming year. The Codes reflect more detail on how the waste will be ultimately managed once transferred from the original accepting facility. H141 may still be used until January 1, 2027.
