WTS noted with interest that USEPA issued a memorandum regarding the Incineration Market backlog on August 10, 2021. We have attached the same for your viewing here. Please note the following highlights:
- USEPA: “EPA is issuing this memorandum to identify existing regulatory options to address the short-term challenges resulting from the backlog of containerized hazardous waste needing incineration.”
- USEPA: “In our discussions with representatives from the commercial incinerator industry, they cited a number of contributing factors for the backlog including labor shortages affecting both transportation and the incinerators due to the COVID-19 pandemic; winter storms that caused shutdowns in the southern United States; shutdowns for both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance; and increased manufacturing (and resulting increase in waste generation) as the economy recovers from the pandemic.”
- WTS: There is NO regulatory relief being offered/granted to generators. The memorandum references the need to file extension requests as we have previously communicated.
- USEPA: Twenty states have received requests for extensions.
- USEPA: Backlog not expected to go away until after “March 2022”- USEPA received this date from the TSDF community.
WTS: We are not certain how accurate that timeframe is.
WTS will continue to monitor this situation and communicate with all of our relevant stakeholders.
