HSM 2015 versus 2018 - What is your facility subject to?

By Jordan Coulam, Environmental Specialist

Hazardous secondary materials (HSM) are a secondary material (spent material, by-product, or sludge) that, when discarded, would be identified as hazardous waste under RCRA unless the HSM exemption found in 40 CFR §261 is utilized. By recycling or reclaiming these waste streams as HSM, facilities can save considerable amounts on hazardous waste disposal. Additionally, HSM classified materials do not count towards your hazardous waste generation total, allowing facilities to potentially operate as a smaller generator category than they would if all their waste was classified as hazardous waste.  In 2018, EPA revised its HSM rule, which could reduce costs for facilities further, but some state standards still adhere to the more stringent 2015 version.

If your state has adopted the 2018 HSM rule, your facility’s HSM handling costs may have decreased due to the transfer-based exclusion. This means third-party reclaimer certification is no longer required.

The 2018 HSM rule is the current standard, and it is less stringent than HSM 2015. However, certain states (Louisiana and Nebraska) still abide by the 2015 rule. 

Major differences include:

1. Under the 2015 rule, materials must be sent to a facility that is a RCRA permitted recycler or has a verified recycler variance. Under the 2018 rule, facilities can send to a RCRA permitted recycler or make “reasonable efforts” to audit their vendor. This expands the number of facilities that HSM can be sent to, and possibly reduces the cost of RCRA waste handling.

2. Exports of RCRA waste are permitted under the 2018 rule but not under the 2015 rule, pending the requirements in 40 CFR 261.4(a)(25). 

EPA revised the HSM rule again in 2024 to address generator handling, pharmaceutical classification, and notification standards. The primary difference in the 2024 rule was the integration of e-Manifest. However, no states have adopted the rule unless administered by the EPA. These states include Alaska and Iowa.

For a full map of state-by-state adoption of the EPA HSM rules, see the EPA website: https://www.epa.gov/e-manifest/map-state-adoption-and-authorization-status-hazardous-waste-electronic-manifest-rules 

Have questions about HSM handling, or other RCRA compliance requirements? The Toolkit team is happy to help.