Used Oil Disposal Regulations in Texas

Used Oil Regulations In Texas

Many different types of Texas companies generate waste oil and are therefore subject to all relevant storage, transportation and disposal regulations for used oil. Companies who fail to do this can face still environmental fines and penalties, and additional related liabilities.

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Used oil can be generated by a wide variety of businesses including manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, industrial services, construction, printing and many others. There’s a common misconception that environmental and hazardous waste management regulations in Texas only apply to manufacturers, but that’s not the case. These rules apply to all businesses that generate waste used oil. These businesses are referred to as “generators” of waste oil.

Waste oil can be generated from a wide variety of processes, including vehicle and equipment maintenance and even manufacturing processes.

Below are the primary federal and state waste oil regulations that generators must follow, with added notes where applicable::

40 CFR 279.22 – Label containers with the words “USED OIL”.

Waste container considerations:
- Make sure they are in good condition and not leaking.
- Perform cleanup in case of a spill.
- If shipping waste oil, ensure that the container container is DOT and UN approved for containing and shipping oil.

40 CFR 265.173 – Keep containers closed except when filling.

40 CFR 279.10(b), 30 TAC 335.2, 40 CFR 279.21 – Manage oil mixtures as a hazardous waste if any hazardous fluids mixed with the used oil (CESQG are exempt from this regulation).

Depending upon the added hazardous constituents, the overall waste may or may not actually be hazardous.
Testing may be required with an accredited 3rd party environmental testing lab.
Common contaminates include water, coolant, solvents and even paint.

30 TAC 324.4(2)(C), 40 CFR 279 – Use a TCEQ/EPA registered transporter to remove used oil (unnecessary if self transporting one 55-gallon drum or less to a generator aggregate point or an approved management facility).

Typically only small local oil recyclers will accept loads from non licensed transporters. Larger recyclers and “TSDF” facilities will often refuse such shipments.

30 TAC 324.11 As a generator, avoid self-transporting more than one 55-gallon drum of used oil to an authorized disposal/recycling facility at any time.

In addition, used waste oil isn’t considered an industrial waste, and therefore doesn’t count towards generator waste status (i.e.: Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (CESQ), Small and Large Quantity waste generators), so long as the waste oil is recycled by an approved and licensed oil recycler. In these cases, waste oil can be shipped using a Bill of Lading (“BOL”) rather than on a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest form. (although this form can be used too).

By Russell Carr|2017-12-17T22:31:17-05:00November 28th, 2016|Hazardous Waste Management, Texas Environmental Regulations, Texas Hazardous Materials Regulations|Comments Off

About the Author: Russell Carr

How A Sales Guy Transformed Into An Environmental, Health & Safety Expert & Advocate For Small Businesses I've spent my entire 30+ year career working within the manufacturing and “industrial services” sectors. The first 15 years of my career focused on sales of hazardous materials related products and services to the manufacturing sector, then for the last 16+ years transitioned into entrepreneurship, founding 3 small industrial services related contracting businesses. As you’ll see below, running these companies eventually lead me to found yet a 4th business, but more on that in a minute…. Here’s a brief description of the first 3 companies: Berg Environmental Services, Inc.: hazardous waste disposal & transportation services, founded in August of 2003 3rd party wind energy operations & maintenance services provider to utility scale wind farms throughout the US, founded in September 2007 3rd party oil & gas exploration & production services provider, founded in August of 2011 Each of these companies operated in extremely dangerous working conditions and exposed my employees to a wide range of serious health & safety hazards on a daily basis. To complicate matters, 2 of the companies also exposed the environment to significant potential harm. In other words, I learned very early the critical importance of managing environmental, health and safety issues so as to ensure the safety of our employees and the environment, as well as minimizing related risks. But I also learned how incredibly difficult and challenging this endeavor can be due to the wide range of complicated and continually changing environmental, health and safety rules and regulations that impacted the companies. To summarize the challenges: First I had to determine which regulations applied to each company, then I had to build compliance programs to meet those regulations, and finally I had to ensure that the programs were being managed and followed by our staff on a daily basis. All while trying to run and grow 3 profitable businesses…. It was overwhelming and I always struggled to keep up. To make matters worse, throughout this time I also witnessed the devastating price that companies, management and ownership can pay for failing to manage EHS compliance. This included seeing one of my hazardous waste management clients get sent to jail over environmental issues, another client’s management team threatened with jail time, a direct competitor get fined $378,000 by OSHA fine after an employee was nearly killed, and many others face major fines and penalties. Full disclosure, one of my companies got fined by OSHA at one point, & another was cited by TCEQ, so I know how it feels. In summary, I learned first hand how incredibly difficult it is for small companies to manage EHS compliance due to a common lack of the critical expertise, time and resources that are needed to keep up, and how this situation then ends up exposing them to these potentially catastrophic risks that can literally destroy lives and businesses. This later inspired me to found my 4th company, Berg Compliance Solutions in 2012, which is dedicated to helping other small businesses, and business owners, to manage EHS compliance and risk. Education BA, Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, December, 1990. Summary of Professional Experience & Qualifications: 30+ years serving the manufacturing & industrial services sectors 30+ years of sales and marketing experience 16+ years as small business owner & entrepreneur: Founded and operated 4 small businesses since 2003. Environmental, Health & Safety Compliance & Program Related: 19 plus years of hazardous waste management including EPA, TCEQ & RCRA regulations 8 years of DOT/FMCSA compliance experience, including hazardous materials transportation 8 years of combined experience implementing and managing OSHA health and safety compliance programs for 2 high risk energy services businesses Successfully implemented and gained ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Service) Certification for wind energy maintenance business. Regulatory Enforcement Related Experience: Served as expert witness in criminal environmental compliance enforcement cases Superfund-CERCLA OSHA enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in following industries: industrial services, manufacturing & construction. TCEQ enforcement inspections, investigations and resolution in manufacturing.