Texas Universal Wastes: What you need to know

Universal waste rule: 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) 335.261 and 30 TAC 335.262

Crushing lamps: 30 TAC 335.261(e)

Petitions: 30 TAC 335.261(c)

Paint and paint-related waste (PPRW) rules: 30 TAC 335.262

Definition: 30 TAC 335.262(b)

Management: 30 TAC 335.262(c) and 30 TAC 335.262(d)

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Office of Compliance and Enforcement

See ADDRESSES & CONTACTS for addresses and telephone numbers.

See national section for basic information and federal regulations.

• Rules. Texas adopts by reference the federal regulations for universal waste, including those for the regulation of mercury-containing equipment, and added state provisions that replace references to federal regulations and definitions with references to applicable Texas regulations and definitions. Texas also adds requirements for petitioning Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to add a hazardous waste or a category of hazardous waste to the universal waste rule. The state took the federal universal waste rules for lamps one step further by adding state provisions to allow lamps to be crushed in compliance with the universal waste rule. The state also allows universal waste regulation of PPRW that would otherwise be regulated under the state hazardous waste rules.

• Administration and enforcement. TCEQ's Office of Compliance and Enforcement administers and enforces the universal waste rule in Texas.

CRUSHING LAMPS

30 TAC 335.261(e)

Lamps may be crushed provided it is done in a crushing system that meets the following control conditions:

• An exposure limit of no more than 0.05 milligrams of mercury per cubic meter is ...