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In addition to secondary wastes, the report examines the regulatory requirements associated with trial burns at the incinerator facilities. Trial burns are used to ensure that 99.9999 percent of the toxic agents will be destroyed during regular operations. The time required to complete a trial burn, submit results, and obtain authorization for full operation can be very lengthy due to the time required to actually conduct the burn and the large amount of data that must be submitted and analyzed. However, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs the disposal operations, these trials can potentially be avoided through the submission of data from a trial burn conducted in a sufficiently similar incinerator burning the same agent.
The committee found that because a trial burn has occurred for each type of incinerator with each agent, enough data exists to avoid further trial burns in many cases. The report recommends using this process of data submission in lieu of a trial burn to the fullest extent possible. The committee also recommends that the CMA should try to provide funding to state authorities for third-party analysis of trial burn data to shorten the time necessary for approval.
| Contact: Paul Jackson news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 The National Academies Source:Eurekalert |