17.3 Manifests, TSDF, Accumulation, and the Household Exclusion

Residential exclusion is not a commercial free pass

Quick Answer: Household waste is not RCRA hazardous waste (40 CFR 261.4(b)(1)). Household waste means material derived from households, including single and multiple residences. EPA's July 2000 memorandum clarifies that this exclusion applies to waste generated by either contractors or residents performing lead-based paint activities (abatement) or renovations in residences. Wastes from non-residential renovations or abatement — a child-occupied facility that is not a household, a commercial building — may still be subject to full RCRA. If the exclusion does not apply and TCLP lead is ≥ 5.0 mg/L, manage as D008 hazardous waste: EPA ID, Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, licensed transporter, licensed TSDF, land-disposal restrictions, and Part 262 accumulation limits (LQG 90 days, SQG 180 days, VSQG quantity cap). Dumping and open burning of residential LBP waste are not allowed. States may be stricter — always follow the authorized state.

Section 17.2 told you when chips are D008. This section tells you when federal RCRA does not apply that code to a residence, and what the generator must still do when it does apply.

What 261.4(b)(1) and the 2000 memo actually say

261.4(b)(1) is an exclusion from the definition of hazardous waste, not an exclusion from being waste. The solid waste is real. Subtitle C (manifests, TSDFs, accumulation clocks) does not attach if the waste is household waste.

The regulation's definition of household waste includes garbage and trash derived from households, and it names single and multiple residences (and other household-type living quarters). The lead-specific interpretation is the 2000 EPA memorandum on the regulatory status of waste generated by contractors and residents from LBP activities: contractor debris from residences is still household waste when it is the same kind of LBP waste a resident would generate. EPA's current lead FAQ repeats the rule in one paragraph: the exclusion applies to waste generated by either contractors or residents performing LBP abatement or renovations in residences; wastes from non-residential renovations may still be subject to RCRA hazardous-waste requirements.

Exam traps:

1. Contractor waste from a house is not automatically Subtitle C just because a certified firm generated it. The 2000 memo exists to kill that myth.
2. A school or commercial daycare is not a household. Calling it target housing or a COF under 745.223 does not import the household exclusion. Those Part 745 labels decide who must use certified abatement, not whether RCRA Subtitle C applies.
3. Exclusion is not dumping. EPA: contractors may take residential lead-containing renovation/abatement waste to a MSWLF or municipal combustor; dumping and open burning are not allowed.
4. States may be stricter. California and other authorized programs can require hazardous-waste management of LBP debris even when federal household exclusion would have applied. The authorized state's rule wins on that site. Do not tell a California owner that EPA's memo is a waiver of DTSC.

Worked example — occupied two-flat. The firm abates windows in both units of a pre-1978 two-flat. Federally, contractor-generated LBP waste from those residences is household waste under the 2000 memo. Bag it, keep children off it, haul it contained to a lawful municipal solid-waste destination unless the state is stricter. Do not open-burn the sashes in the alley. Do not leave the chip bags in the courtyard dumpster without a lid.

Worked example — commercial daycare COF. Same firm, same methods, in a storefront daycare that meets the COF definition but is not a household. The 2000 memo's residence sentence does not apply. Characterize. If TCLP lead is ≥ 5.0 mg/L, it is D008 and the rest of this section's generator duties attach — unless a different lawful exclusion exists, which 'we also work on houses' is not.

When D008 applies: EPA ID, manifest, transporter, TSDF, LDR

If the household exclusion does not apply (or the state does not recognize it) and the waste exhibits the toxicity characteristic (TCLP ≥ 5.0 mg/L lead), manage it as hazardous waste D008:

1. Hazardous-waste determination (262.11) — Section 17.2 already did this work.
2. Generator category (262.13) for the site's monthly hazardous-waste generation: VSQG, SQG, or LQG.
3. EPA identification number (262.18) — required for SQG and LQG. Do not ship on a borrowed number from last year's job unless that number is actually this generator's.
4. Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest (Part 262 Subpart B) — the tracking form from generator to transporter to designated facility.
5. Licensed / registered hazardous-waste transporter (Part 263).
6. Licensed TSDF (treatment, storage, or disposal facility) permitted under Parts 264/265 (or the authorized-state equivalent) to accept D008.
7. Land disposal restrictions (Part 268) — D008 cannot be land-disposed unless it meets LDR treatment standards or a lawful LDR variance. The TSDF typically performs treatment; the generator still has LDR notification and record duties.

Accumulation time depends on generator status under Part 262 (current federal numbers):

Do not invent a 90-day clock for a VSQG, and do not give an LQG 180 days because the crew is still on another floor. Exceeding the time or quantity condition can make the site a storage facility that needed a permit. Authorized states can shorten these clocks.

Who is the generator? The person whose act first causes the waste to become subject to regulation. On a contracted abatement, that is typically the abatement firm, not the toddler in the unit. Do not assign generator status to the occupant as a trick to skip a manifest on a commercial D008 load.

Field duties that never turn off

Whether the load is excluded household waste or manifested D008:

• Keep waste inside containment until packaged (Section 17.1).
• Do not dump it. Do not open-burn it. EPA is explicit for residential LBP waste; open burning is also a 745.227(e)(6) prohibited paint-removal method, which is a separate rule that still shows the Agency's view of burning lead film.
• Do not put lead wash water in a storm sewer.
• Do not reuse excavated soil as residential or COF topsoil (745.227(e)(7)(i)(B)).

Records. 745.227(i): all reports or plans required in 745.227 shall be maintained by the certified firm or individual who prepared them for no fewer than 3 years, and copies go to the building owner. The abatement report itself (745.227(e)(10)) does not list 'manifest' as a numbered element, but waste-disposal documentation — TCLP results, manifests, landfill or TSDF receipts, LDR notices — belongs in that project file. Hazardous-waste generators separately keep signed manifests and determination records for at least three years under Part 262. Put the waste paper with the abatement report so an inspector, the owner, and a later buyer can see where the chips went.

Worked example — Friday on a commercial job. TCLP on the chip drums is 12 mg/L. The helper wants to run them to the municipal transfer station because yesterday's residential job used that route. Yesterday's route was the household exclusion. Today's building is not a residence. Call the hazardous-waste transporter, complete the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest, send the drums to a D008-capable TSDF, and start the accumulation clock from the day those drums became waste on site.

Supervisor decision test before the truck leaves. (1) Is this a residence (federal household exclusion may apply to contractor or resident LBP waste) or a non-household COF/commercial site (full RCRA if D008)? (2) What does the authorized state require — including California-style overlays that are stricter than EPA? (3) If D008 applies, do I have EPA ID, manifest, licensed transporter, licensed TSDF, LDR, and the correct 90 / 180 / VSQG accumulation rule? (4) Is anyone about to dump, burn, or storm-drain this load? (5) Will the 3-year file contain the tickets?

Official sources: 40 CFR 261.4(b)(1) (household waste exclusion); EPA memorandum, Regulatory Status of Waste Generated by Contractors and Residents from Lead-Based Paint Activities Conducted in Households (July 2000); EPA, How should lead-containing wastes from RRP renovations be handled and disposed? (contractors or residents in residences; non-residential may be full RCRA; no dumping or open burning; MSWLF or municipal combustor); 40 CFR 261.24 (D008, 5.0 mg/L); 40 CFR 262.14, 262.16, 262.17, 262.18 (VSQG / SQG 180 days / LQG 90 days; EPA ID); 40 CFR 745.227(e)(7)(i)(B), (e)(10), (i) (no residential/COF topsoil reuse; abatement report; 3-year retention).