EPA REGULATIONS

Under State and Federal hazardous waste regulations, businesses can no longer dispose of spent fluorescent lights and other lights containing mercury (LCM's) as unregulated municipal refuse because of their hazardous mercury content.

In the united states approximately 650 million fluorescent lights are replaced annually, resulting in more than 28,000 pounds of mercury entering our environment. According to the US EPA, spent Fluorescent Lamps are the second largest source of mercury in municipal refuse and one of the easiest to eliminate.

Before these regulations, lamps were disposed of in our landfills and municipal incinerators, ultimately contaminating our environment.

As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) commitment to reinvent environmental regulations, the Agency recently issued the "Universal Waste Rule." This rule is designed to reduce the amount of hazardous waste items in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, encourage recycling and proper disposal of certain common hazardous wastes, and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses that generate these wastes. By reducing administrative requirements, this rule is expected to save companies more than $70 million per year in compliance costs and reduce the amount of time spent on paperwork requirements by over 500,000 hours per year. Administrative reductions also would help encourage collection and recycling programs, thereby reducing the amount of these common hazardous items that are thrown into the trash by households and small businesses.

Removing these materials from municipal landfills and incinerators will prevent a potential threat to public health and the environment. This rule was promulgated by EPA as an amendment to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. States that are authorized to implement the RCRA program are strongly encouraged to adopt this rule.

To read in full the Universal Waste Rule go to http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WASTE/1999/July/Day-06/f16930.htm.

To access the National Electrical Manufacturers Association website including additional information on the requirements of individual states go to http://www.lamprecycle.org.

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