{"abstract":"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to grant, with conditions, US Ecology Nevada Inc.'s (USE) petition for a site-specific treatability variance from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment standards. USE's petition is for treatment and disposal of elemental mercury waste generated from retorting high mercury waste in accordance with the LDR technology-based standard of RMERC. The EPA believes that the petition demonstrates that the LDR standard for placing elemental mercury generated from RMERC back into commerce for reuse is inappropriate and the treatment variance is sufficient to minimize threats to human health and the environment posed by land disposal of the waste. If the variance is granted, the existing LDR treatment standard of RMERC will continue to apply to high mercury hazardous wastes, but the elemental mercury generated from this process will be treated and land disposed subject to specified conditions at both Bethlehem Apparatus in Hellertown, Pennsylvania and USE's Beatty, Nevada, Subtitle C treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility where treated mercury wastes will be disposed in a designated monofill.","action":"Proposed rule.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY","name":"Environmental Protection Agency","id":145,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/environmental-protection-agency","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/145","parent_id":null,"slug":"environmental-protection-agency"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2026/02/06/2026-02346.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":268,"title":40}],"citation":"91 FR 5400","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":"2026-03-09","correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"Comments must be received on or before March 9, 2026.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038","FRL-8504-02-OLEM"],"dockets":[{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"Final HgS Variance Rpt - 09.22.25 with PL Signature Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0011"},{"title":"USE-BA Hg DET Petition (Tables and Figures Incl) - 11.2.20","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0010"},{"title":"USE Hg DET Petition 6.30.21","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0009"},{"title":"Summary of HgS experiments conducted by Republic-US Ecology 2025-12-22 clean","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0008"},{"title":"US Ecology's 2025 Mercury Variance Submission Transfer from DET to SSTV Request Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0007"},{"title":"RSGs Response to EPA 2022 DET NOD 2.26.24 Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0006"},{"title":"Revised US Govt to US Ecology Mercury Petition May 9, 2022","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0005"},{"title":"8504-02-OLEM US Ecology Proposed Rule 20260129 Signed","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0004"},{"title":"Agency Comments on US Ecology Mercury Petition QAPP Final Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0003"},{"title":"EPA Additional Data Request and Response to US Ecology Mercury Petition February 14, 2022","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0002"}],"agency_name":"EPA","documents":[{"comment_count":14,"comment_start_date":"2026-02-06","updated_at":"2026-03-10T01:56:19.417-04:00","comment_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0001","allow_late_comments":false,"id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0001","comment_end_date":"2026-03-10","regulations_dot_gov_open_for_comment":false}],"supporting_documents_count":10,"id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038","title":"US Ecology Nevada, Inc. High Mercury Subcategory Land Disposal Restrictions Variance"}],"document_number":"2026-02346","effective_on":null,"end_page":5408,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"explanation":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2026/02/06/2026-02346.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/06/2026-02346/us-ecology-nevada-inc-high-mercury-subcategory-wastes-land-disposal-restrictions-variance","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-02346?publication_date=2026-02-06","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2026-02-06/2026-02346/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":9,"page_views":{"count":450,"last_updated":"2026-04-03 16:15:03 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-02-06/pdf/2026-02346.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-02346.pdf?1770299113","publication_date":"2026-02-06","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2026/02/06/2026-02346.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{"2050-AH21":{"issue":"202504","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/2050-AH21/response-to-petition-for-site-specific-variance-for-elemental-mercury-wastes-d009-and-u151-under-the","title":"Response to Petition for Site-Specific Variance for Elemental Mercury Wastes (D009 and U151) Under the Land Disposal Restrictions","xml_url":"http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202504&RIN=2050-AH21&operation=OPERATION_EXPORT_XML","priority_category":"Other Significant"}},"regulation_id_numbers":["2050-AH21"],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"supporting_documents":[{"title":"Final HgS Variance Rpt - 09.22.25 with PL Signature Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0011"},{"title":"USE-BA Hg DET Petition (Tables and Figures Incl) - 11.2.20","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0010"},{"title":"USE Hg DET Petition 6.30.21","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0009"},{"title":"Summary of HgS experiments conducted by Republic-US Ecology 2025-12-22 clean","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0008"},{"title":"US Ecology's 2025 Mercury Variance Submission Transfer from DET to SSTV Request Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0007"},{"title":"RSGs Response to EPA 2022 DET NOD 2.26.24 Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0006"},{"title":"Revised US Govt to US Ecology Mercury Petition May 9, 2022","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0005"},{"title":"8504-02-OLEM US Ecology Proposed Rule 20260129 Signed","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0004"},{"title":"Agency Comments on US Ecology Mercury Petition QAPP Final Redacted","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0003"},{"title":"EPA Additional Data Request and Response to US Ecology Mercury Petition February 14, 2022","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0002"}],"comments_count":14,"agency_id":"EPA","comments_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=50&so=DESC&sb=postedDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038","supporting_documents_count":10,"docket_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038","document_id":"EPA-HQ-OLEM-2025-2038-0001","regulation_id_number":null,"title":"US Ecology Nevada, Inc. High Mercury Subcategory Land Disposal Restrictions Variance","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2026-03-11T08:55:02Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":true,"signing_date":null,"start_page":5400,"subtype":null,"title":"US Ecology Nevada, Inc. High Mercury Subcategory Wastes Land Disposal Restrictions Variance","toc_doc":"US Ecology Nevada, Inc. High Mercury Subcategory Wastes Land Disposal Restrictions Variance","toc_subject":null,"topics":[],"type":"Proposed Rule","volume":91}