HSM Recycling Legitimacy

Under the Revised Definition of Solid Waste, facilities that recycle or reclaim hazardous secondary materials must document the legitimacy of these activities under the Generator-Controlled Exclusion in part (1)(d)(xxiii) of Tennessee Rule 0400-12-01-.02 or the Transfer-Based Exclusion in part (1)(d)(xxiv) of 0400-12-01-.02. The documentation must show how the recycling meets all three of the legitimacy factors listed in part (5)(d)1 of Tennessee Rule 0400-12-01-.01 and how the legitimacy factor in part (5)(d)2 of Rule 0400-12-01-.01 was considered (revision effective June 19, 2018).

Three legitimacy factors to be met in TN Rule 0400-12-01-.01(5)(d)1:

1. The recycling process must involve a hazardous secondary material that provides a useful contribution to the recycling process or to a product or intermediate of the recycling process.

2. The recycling must produce a valuable product or intermediate.

3. The generator and the recycler must manage the hazardous secondary material as a valuable commodity when it is under their control.

One legitimacy factor that must be considered in TN Rule 0400-12-01-.01(5)(d)2:

1. The product of the recycling process does not:

a. Contain significant concentrations of any hazardous constituent found in appendix VIII of paragraph (30) of TN Rule 0400-12-01-.02 that are not found in analogous products: or

b. Contain concentrations of hazardous constituents found in appendix VII of paragraph (30) of TN Rule 0400-12-01-.02 at levels that are significantly elevated from those found in analogous products: or

c.  Exhibit a hazardous characteristic (as defined in paragraph (3) of TN Rule 0400-12-01-.02) that analogous products do not exhibit.

Documentation of legitimacy must be maintained on site and for a period of three years after recycling and reclamation operations have concluded. TDEC has developed a template for this legitimacy documentation, adapted from the U.S. EPA format for documenting legitimacy.