Guide
Three rulebooks: DC, Maryland and Virginia
The District, Maryland and Virginia each run their own hazardous waste program: DOEE, MDE and Virginia DEQ. All three build on the federal empty-container rule, and a used tote counts as waste only until it meets it.
Who regulates what, by jurisdiction
A metro area that crosses a river and a state line has to be read three ways. The federal rule in 40 CFR 261.7 is the same everywhere. Who administers it, how a generator is classed and where the paperwork goes are not.
| Where the site is | Agency | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | DOEE Hazardous Waste Branch | A facility that generates hazardous waste, universal waste or used oil needs an EPA identification number from DOEE. |
| Maryland | MDE | Rules are in COMAR 26.13. Maryland does not recognize the federal very-small-quantity generator category and uses its own small quantity and fully regulated generators. |
| Virginia | Virginia DEQ | DEQ runs the program, with separate requirements pages for large quantity generators, episodic generation and VSQG consolidation. |
The District: DOEE
A site in the District that produces hazardous waste is a generator, and DOEE's Hazardous Waste Branch issues its EPA identification number. The branch accepts registration payments by check or by credit card with an EPA ID, and the registration page says how.
The District has little yard space and a lot of public property. Government and utility users hold 62% of the land zoned for production, distribution and repair, so many tote-emptying sites are yards and depots where the generator is an agency. The rule is the same either way.
Maryland: MDE
Maryland keeps its hazardous waste rules in COMAR 26.13, and MDE enforces them. The detail that surprises people who work across the line: Maryland does not use the federal very-small-quantity generator category. It uses its own classes, small quantity and fully regulated, so a site that is a very small generator in Virginia may not be in Maryland.
For a lab on the I-270 corridor or a brewery in Prince George's County, that decides which records a generator keeps. MDE publishes a compliance guide, linked below.
Virginia: DEQ
Virginia DEQ runs the Commonwealth's hazardous waste program. Its pages split the requirements by generator type: large quantity generators, episodic generation, and VSQG consolidation. Northern Virginia sites, from Loudoun to Fairfax, answer to DEQ rather than to a county office.
Episodic generation is the page to read before a one-time clean-out, because it covers waste produced outside normal operations. Ask DEQ whether your clean-out counts, before the totes pile up and not after.
Where a used tote stops being waste
In all three jurisdictions the tote becomes ordinary packaging when it is RCRA empty. The RCRA empty guide gives the test. A tote that is not empty, or that held an acute hazardous waste and is not rinsed, is still waste, and it needs a licensed hazardous-waste hauler. We take no request for it.
Check with your hauler and with DOEE, MDE or Virginia DEQ before you ship. This is general guidance. It is not legal advice, and the generator carries the determination.
Keep reading
- Empty CheckEnter last contents, tote size, specific gravity and heel depth. Get the 40 CFR 261.7 verdict and the next step for the tote.
- RCRA emptyWhat 40 CFR 261.7 says for containers over 119 gallons: one inch or 0.3% by weight, worked out for 275 and 330 gallon totes.
- AreasThe counties and cities in the Washington, DC metro that this site writes about, from Ashburn to Landover, with the agency and rules for each.
Sources
- Register as a hazardous waste generator (DC DOEE)
- Maryland hazardous waste generator compliance guide (MDE)
- Hazardous waste program (Virginia DEQ)
- 40 CFR 261.7, Residues of hazardous waste in empty containers (Cornell LII)
- Production, distribution and repair land use report (DC Office of Planning)
Last reviewed . General guidance, not legal advice.