New Hazardous Waste e-Manifest Fee Rule

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Starting June 30, 2018, hazardous waste receiving facilities (treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) on the federal level) will be charged a fee for each manifest under the new e-Manifest User Rule. The e-Manifest User Fee Rule was signed by EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, on December 20, 2017 and published in the Federal Register (FR) on January 3, 2018. The rule becomes effective on June 30, 2018, when the EPA anticipates launching a new hazardous waste electronic manifest system, “e-Manifest,” which is being established according to the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act (e-Manifest Act). Passed by congress in 2012, the e-Manifest Act authorized the EPA to develop and implement a national electronic manifest system. The Act also required that the costs of development and operation of the system be covered by user fees.

The e-Manifest User Fee Rule describes the methodology the EPA will use to determine and revise these user fees. The EPA believes e-Manifest will ultimately reduce the burden associated with preparing shipping manifests by enabling the transition from a paper-intensive process to an electronic system.

Who does this rule effect?

• Hazardous waste generators,
• Hazardous waste transporters,
• Owners or operators of federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) TSDFs, and
• Corresponding entities that handle state-only regulated wastes subject to tracking with the RCRA manifest.

Although the EPA has placed the burden of paying these user fees on the TSDFs and other receiving facilities, it is likely that TSDFs and other receiving facilities will pass part of the fee costs through to the generators and transporters.

e-Manifest Incentives

While the EPA will still be accepting manifests submitted in paper, the e-Manifest user fee rule has placed incentives on moving from paper to electronic manifests.

• Fee costs: Paper submissions will cost up to 5 times more than electronic manifest submissions
• Raising paper manifest fees if electronic manifest use does not reach 75% in 4 years
• Phase out of facilities’ mailed paper submissions 3 years after system launch.

In the final rule, the EPA stated its intention to curtail the use of paper manifests by June 30, 2023, 5 years after system launch. At the 5-year mark, the EPA plans on evaluating whether to enact a paper ban.

What are the fees?

The EPA estimated the following fees in the first year:

Paper manifests:

• $20 per mailed manifest.
• $13 per image upload.
• $7 per data file upload.

Electronic manifests

• $4 per submission.

For more information, see the Final rule in the Federal Register, or on the EPA website.

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