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06/01/2005 04:26 PM	To

James Michael/DC/USEPA/US@EPA, GailAnn Cooper/DC/USEPA/US@EPA

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Subject

(151162620) F019 Comment Submission

	

11a. Mr.

12. Last Name

Moeser

13. First Name

W. Charles

14. Job Title

Sr. Manager, Industrial Waste Compliance & Environmental Communications

15. Organization

DaimlerChrysler Corporation

16. Address

CIMS 482-00-61, 800 Chrysler Drive

17. City

Auburn Hills

18. State

Mi

19. Zip Code

48326

20. Telephone

248-576-5501

21. Fax

248-576-7369

22. E-mail

wcm1@dcx.com

23. Question/Comments

Please find attached a letter addressing F019 and the recent data 

release.  A copy is also in the mail and sent by email.

Dear Mr. Michael:

Re: Comments of DaimlerChrysler Corporation (DCC) Regarding EPA’s
Possible 

Amendment to the Hazardous Waste Listing F019 Posted on OSWER’s
Website on 

April 22, 2005

DCC would like to take this opportunity to thank EPA for its efforts in 

trying to resolve the longstanding problem our industry has had with the


hazardous waste code F019 and to submit the following comments in
regards 

to the F019 issue in general and on EPA's latest data release (April 22,


2005).  

F019 Applicability to the Automotive Industry

Originally, EPA published an interim final regulation listing
“wastewater 

treatment sludges from electroplating operations” as EPA hazardous
waste 

F006.  The hazardous constituents for which this waste was listed were 

cadmium, chromium, nickel, and complex cyanide. 

EPA believed wastewater treatment sludges from the chemical conversion 

coating of aluminum would not be expected to contain hazardous levels of


cadmium and nickel and hence listed these wastewater sludges separately
as 

EPA Hazardous Waste F019 with the hazardous constituents being
hexavalent 

chromium and complex cyanide.  The exception to this was the wastewater 

sludges from the chemical conversion coating of aluminum from zirconium 

phosphating in aluminum can washing when such phosphating is an
exclusive 

conversion coating process.

In an attempt to resolve confusion over the scope of F006 and F019, EPA 

issued an interpretive rule in 1986.   In that interpretive rule EPA
left 

the F019 designation unchanged and stated that chemical conversion
coating 

processes are not covered under F006. EPA has continued to conclude that


automotive zinc phosphating of aluminum is covered under hazardous waste


code F019.  It would have been more appropriate, with the information 

provided to EPA by the automotive industry, for EPA to conclude that
this 

waste code was never intended to apply to the zinc phosphating process
as 

used by the automotive industry in the United States.  

The unintended consequence of this interpretive rule is that aluminum is


the only metal whose wastewater treatment sludges from chemical
conversion 

coating are considered hazardous which would prove to cause future 

unanticipated problems for the automotive industry as they had not yet 

(but would start soon) to lighten their vehicles to increase fuel
economy 

through the use of aluminum. 

Various automotive manufacturers and trade associations have made
numerous 

attempts over the last seven to eight years to try to resolve the 

applicability of the F019 designation in the automotive industry.  Some
of 

these efforts include participating in developing an expedited delisting


process and then participating in such a process as well as ongoing 

meetings/tours to make sure that the agency has a clear understanding of


the automotive phosphating process. 

Delisting and the continual testing to support the delistings has been 

very expensive for the automotive industry.  It has funneled money away 

from other activities that could actually have an impact on reducing
real 

environmental concerns.  The delisting process has also occupied a 

substantial amount of time and resources from both State and Federal 

agencies.   

Comments On EPA’s April 22, 2005 Data Release

DCC has only delisted one plant and the data used was included in the 

April 22, 2005 data release for review.  This data is voluminous and was


not initially provided in a user friendly format.  While DCC continues
to 

examine this data to determine it's accuracy, we and other automotive 

companies who have multiple delistings, expended a substantial amount of


time initially to analyze the data for the delisting, subsequent
sampling 

and analysis to support a continued delisting status. 

EPA has derived the list of constituents of concern was derived by 

including chemicals that were detected from the delisting petitions in 

either of the total or TCLP fractions. This approach resulted in a list
of 

fifty-five (55) constituents of concern which do not constitute real 

environmental leaching concerns.  The zinc phosphating processes in 

automotive assembly plants do not use hexavalent chromium or complex 

cyanides, the two Appendix VIII constituents that were the sole basis
for 

the F019 listing.  Those zinc phosphating processes are thus outside the


intended scope of “chemical conversion coating” as implied in the
original 

F019 listing, and the resultant wastewater treatment sludges should not 

have been included in the 1980 listing.

Another concern is that EPA intends to use data from 1988 to justify 

applying a thirty (30) year landfill life to run the DRAS model. 
DCC’s 

wastewater sludges are disposed in state-of-the-art, modern landfills
that 

have liners and leachate collection systems.  This data should be
updated 

to reflect current disposal programs by the automotive industry.

Possible Resolutions

The problem should be addressed at its root cause, and that the F019 

listing should be amended to exclude all wastewater treatment sludges
from 

zinc phosphating of automotive bodies in assembly plants because 

hexavalent chromium or complex cyanide are not used in the zinc 

phosphating process.  Such an amendment would be consistent with the
1990 

amendment of the F019 listing, and would put the automotive industry on
an 

equal footing with the aluminum can industry in terms of regulatory
relief.

As an alternative, DCC suggests EPA start with a list of chemicals that 

accurately reflects the accumulated knowledge gained from the current 

delistings for the automotive plants.  While the original EPA assumption


for F019 would only have included hexavalent chromium and complex 

cyanides, the above approach would still limit the number of chemicals
to 

a range of 4 to15 instead of the current 55 chemicals.  DCC finds it 

difficult to reconcile EPA’s initial constituent list of fifty-five
(55) 

chemicals with the original F019 listing that was supposed to focus on 

hexavalent chromium and complex cyanide.

DCC appreciates the opportunity to comment on EPA’s efforts to develop
a 

solution to the F019 problem for the automotive industry. We would urge 

EPA to expedite the resolution of this issue as soon as possible due to 

the ongoing costs associated with managing this waste stream as an F019
or 

as required in the delisting process.   If you have any questions please


do not hesitate to contact me at 248-576-5501.

Sincerely,

/s/

W. Charles Moeser

Sr. Manager, Industrial Waste Compliance 

DaimlerChrysler Corporation

CIMS 482-00-61

800 Chrysler Drive

Auburn Hills, Mi 48326

wcm1@dcx.com 

cc:  VIA EMail

   Debra Rowe - DCC, Environmental Affairs

   Terry Behrman – Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers

   Gail A. Cooper - EPA, Office of Solid Waste

   Mr. Robert W. Dellinger, Director, EPA, Office of Solid Waste

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