RIN Data

Statement of Need: The regulation is necessary to establish the standards and procedures under which hazardous waste handlers will be authorized to use electronic manifests in lieu of the existing paper manifest forms. The current regulations only allow the use of prescribed paper forms which must be carried physically with the waste shipment, signed by hand with each change of custody, and filed among each waste handler's operating records. This regulation will remove impediments in the current regulations to using electronic manifests, and it will specify the conditions under which electronic manifests may be obtained, completed, electronically signed, and transmitted, so that the electronic manifests may be used and accepted as the legal equivalent of the current paper forms.

Summary of the Legal Basis: There is currently not in place a statute or court order which requires EPA to adopt the electronic manifest regulation. However, members of Congress are currently considering a Bill that would mandate the development of an electronic manifest system by EPA, and such a Bill, if enacted during the 109th Congress, could include a regulatory deadline for promulgating a regulation authorizing the use of electronic manifests. Whether or not there is such a statutory mandate, EPA could develop a regulation addressing the e-Manifest under the authority of RCRA Section 3002(a)(5), which authorizes EPA to promulgate regulations establishing standards for generators of hazardous waste, including standards on "the use of a manifest system and any other reasonable means necessary to assure that all such hazardous waste generated is designated for treatment, storage, or disposal in and arrives at" permitted facilities.

Alternatives: Based on comments submitted on the proposed rule, and additional stakeholder input received at public meetings, EPA's preferred alternative is now the development of a consistent, national e-Manifest system that would be developed and operated under a Federal contract funded by user fees, and hosted on EPA's Central Data Exchange reporting system. Other alternatives include a national system that would be developed entirely privately; a decentralized option like the one suggested in the proposed rule, under which various private entities would develop numerous e-Manifest systems adhering to standards announced by EPA; and a no action alternative, under which all manifesting would continue only with paper manifests.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: The estimated 1st year or start-up costs for a national e-Manifest system are projected to be in the range of $3.98 million to $5.32 million. Annual operation and maintenance (O&M) costs for such a system are projected in the range $2.03 million to $2.48 million. Economic benefits from such a system include net savings to manifest users and to State RCRA agencies of about $100 million per year, assuming that 75 percent of manifests can be completed electronically. These projected savings can also be expressed as a net unit savings of $23 to $40 per manifest. Non-economic benefits expected from the e-Manifest include: Better quality and more timely waste shipment data; nearly real time shipment tracking capabilities for users; enhanced inspection and compliance monitoring capabilities for regulators; more rapid notification and response to problems or discrepancies with waste shipments; more efficient or "one-stop" submission of manifest data to EPA and States; and new possibilities to manage manifest data and to simplify or consolidate existing systems for reporting and tracking manifest and biennial report data.

Risks: This action addresses administrative requirements for tracking hazardous waste shipments and does not involve the control of "risks" in the sense that RCRA regulations typically address the risks posed by the management of hazardous wastes. There is not a formal risk assessment developed for this action. Since the e-manifest regulation could authorize the use of an information technology (IT) system that would be developed to create and transmit electronic manifests, there would be information system management risks and information security risks associated with developing and operating such an IT system. EPA will assess and manage these information technology and security risks as part of the Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) process that governs the management of EPA's IT investments.