Materials and Waste EXEMPT by EPA from Consideration as "Hazardous Waste"*
- Produced water
- Drilling fluids
- Drill cuttings
- Rig wash
- Drilling fluids and cuttings from offshore operations disposed of onshore
- Geothermal production fluids
- Hydrogen sulfide abatement wastes from geothermal energy production
- Well completion, treatment and stimulation fluids
- Basic sediment and water and other tank bottoms from storage facilities that hold product and exempt waste
- Accumulated materials such as hydrocarbons, solids, sand and emulsion from production separators, fluid treating vessels and production impoundments
- Pit sludges and contaminated bottoms from storage or disposal of exempt wastes
- Work over wastes
- Gas plant dehydration wastes, including glycol-based
compounds, glycol filters, filter media, backwash and molecular sieves - Cooling tower blowdown
- Spent filters, filter media and other deposits removed from piping and equipment prior to transportation
- Hydrocarbon-bearing soil
- Pigging wastes from gathering lines
- Wastes from surface gas storage and retrieval,
except for non-exempt wastes listed below - Constituents removed from produced water
before it is injected or otherwise disposed of - Liquid hydrocarbons removed from production stream but not from oil refining
- Gases from the production stream, such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide and volatilized hydrocarbons
- Materials ejected from a producing well during the process known as blowdown
- Waste crude oil from primary field operations and production
- Light organics volatilized from exempt wastes in reserve pits or impoundments or production equipment
- Liquid and solid wastes generated by crude oil and crude tank bottom reclaimers
*Source: Federal Register, Thursday, March 29, 1990, p. 11, 798-11, 877.
Materials and Waste NOT EXEMPT by the EPA*
- Unused fracturing fluids or acids
- Gas plant cooling tower cleaning wastes
- Painting wastes
- Oil and gas service company wastes, such as empty drums, drum rinsate, vacuum truck rinsate, sandblast media painting wastes, spent solvents, spilled chemicals and waste acids
- Vacuum truck and drum rinsate from trucks and drums transporting or containing non exempt waste
- Refinery wastes
- Liquid and solid wastes generated by crude oil and tank bottom reclaimers
- Used equipment lubrication oils
- Used hydraulic fluids
- Waste solvents
- Waste in transportation pipe line-related pits
- Caustic or acid cleaners
- Boiler cleaning wastes
- Boiler scrubber fluids, sludges and ash
- Incinerator ash
- Laboratory wastes
- Pesticide wastes
- Radioactive tracer wastes
- Sanitary wastes
- Drums, insulation and miscellaneous solids
- Waste compressor oil, filters and blowdown
The following OCD regulated facilities especially may be subject to hazardous waste rules on and after September 25, 1990:
- Oil and gas services companies having wastes such as vacuum truck rinsate.
- Crude oil treating plants and tank bottom reclaimers with liquid and solid wastes remaining after oil treatment and removal
- Pipelines having waste in transportation pipeline-related pits
*Source: Federal Register. Wednesday, July 6, 1988, p.25, 446-25, 459.
