Legislation & Regulation

EPA launches electronic hazardous waste tracking system

Photo: Adobestock

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, has launched the hazardous waste electronic manifest system (e-Manifest). The system is designed to improve access to higher quality and timelier hazardous waste shipment data and save industry and states valuable time and resources estimated at $90 million annually.

As of June 30, users must submit all manifests, whether paper or electronic, to EPA’s e-Manifest system. There are several ways to submit manifests to EPA, ranging from mailing conventional paper to full electronic delivery. Receiving facilities will pay a fee that varies based on how the manifest is submitted.

The e-Manifest system, authorized by the 2012 e-Manifest Act, enables electronic tracking of hazardous wastes and serves as a national reporting hub and database for all hazardous waste manifests and shipment data. Complete transition to electronic manifests will be phased in.

“EPA is very excited to partner closely with the waste management industry to bring much needed efficiency and modernization to how companies track and manage wastes, and how they work with government agencies,” Alexandra Dunn, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office, says. “We are confident that updating these systems will yield a reduction of regulatory burden, saving time and resources and improving protection of human health and the environment.”

The agency will also re-evaluate whether additional security measures are necessary for a small subset of manifest data about certain acute hazardous wastes. Facilities that receive manifested waste between June 30 and Sept. 1 will now have until Sept. 30 to send paper manifests to EPA.