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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing US Ecology's request for a site-specific variance for a new Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment technology that stabilizes elemental mercury extracted from high-level mercury-containing wastes through a process of conversion to mercuric sulfide followed by double encapsulation and monofil disposal. Upon completing review of a petition and decision for approval or denial of the petition, EPA provides public notice for comment in the Federal Register of the intent to approve or deny it. If EPA publishes a notice for approval of the petition, EPA will concurrently propose to revise the regulations to include the variance. Due to reduced demand for mercury, which has been accelerated by the Mercury Export Ban Act (MEBA) and, subsequently, the Lautenberg Act, the LDR treatment standard for high level mercury-containing wastes no longer reliably results in returning recovered mercury to the marketplace. The treatment technology described in the variance request would offer a permanent disposal solution for the expanding stores of elemental mercury wastes across the U.S.