EPA Said To Consider Lifting RCRA Waiver For Treated Drilling Waste

摘要

EPA and states appear poised to weigh the question of whether a decades-old waiver excluding the majority of oil and gas production wastes from handling and other requirements under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) applies to wastewater that has been treated for disposal to surface water or recycling. State and industry sources say that if EPA makes a determination mat some treated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing is no longer considered an exempted waste under RCRA, it could result in significantly stricter permitting requirements for disposal - an approach that environmentalists are seeking in part to require regulators to consider potential seismic risks from underground injection of the wastes, industry's preferred disposal method.