Waste Regulations Vary By Location: Is Your Business Following Your State’s Disposal Requirements?

Once you’ve deemed excess waste as hazardous by following the detailed criteria developed by the EPA, there’s only one thing left to do: get the hazardous waste off of your property. Commercial hazardous waste transportation is often easier said than done.

Removing hazardous waste from your facility or business is not as easy as loading the material onto a truck and dropping it off at your nearest dump site. Federal regulations are abundant when it comes to the removal of hazardous waste, and rules may vary further depending on your location.

The EPA encourages individual states to structure their own hazardous waste programs based on their specific needs. This enables different locations within the United States to include general provisions regarding specific rules. Unfortunately for retailers and manufacturers, these individual provisions can cause a lot of stress and confusion when working in various different states. To help guide you through these processes, we have outlined what you need to know about hazardous waste disposal regulation variations:

Why do waste requirements vary by state?

Every state is required to abide by federal guidelines, however some states stick to the federal RCRA minimum, while others add additional rules about how waste should be handled, transported and disposed. Classification of waste as well as the requirements about the amount generated vary according to each individual state’s personal needs depending, and these are known as provisions.

Certain states also require biennial or annual reporting of all hazardous waste activities your business has taken part in, which could include all levels of generators and TSDFs. Reporting is necessary as provisions vary from state-to-state and enable regulators to ensure hazardous waste is properly handled in all locations.

How can I find out more about my State’s requirements?

The EPA provides a plethora of resources about hazardous waste disposal and how it varies by state. On a federal level, there are three simple categories for waste disposal: very small, small, and large quantity generators.

This concept of just three categories seems simple enough, however certain states have been authorized to set up generator categories that slightly differ from the federal EPA guidelines. There are only a handful of states that have a set of rules different than the federal generator categories. These include California, Washington DC, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Washington.

To find out more about the rules within your area, the EPA provides resources for every state’s specific hazardous waste and nonhazardous waste regulations.


If you are feeling unsure about these regulations or having difficulty figuring out if your business is following along with your state’s regulations, contact one of the hazardous waste specialists at Clean Management Environmental Group, Inc. We are happy to answer all of your business’ hazardous and non hazardous waste related questions. Give us a call at 800-538-8131.


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