July 30, 2015 -- The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is announcing that a preliminary meeting has been scheduled for 2 p.m. August 26, to discuss proposed amendments to Title 128 – Nebraska Hazardous Waste Regulations. A copy of NDEQ's presentation is attached at the bottom of this page.

NDEQ is inviting hazardous waste generators, managers and the interested public to participate in this outreach process.

The proposed regulation changes would amend Title 128 in three areas:

• Adopt federal revisions to the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) in Title 128, chapter 2. These revisions continue to encourage the recycling and reclamation of hazardous secondary materials while ensuring that these activities do not create human health or environmental risks.
• Adopt federal provisions related to public participation in the permitting of hazardous waste management units. The provisions, found in 40 C.F.R. Part 124, are needed to maintain state equivalency with the federal program and are no more stringent than federal requirements. The main differences from current state requirements are a pre-application public meeting and creation of an information repository for some permit applicants.
• Adopt federal revisions to the export provisions of a 2008 rule which streamlined the management requirements for recycling of used cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and glass removed from CRTs. Nebraska adopted the 2008 rule and must adopt the revisions to maintain state program equivalency.

The August 26 meeting will be held in Room 424 on the fourth floor of NDEQ’s Lincoln office at 1200 N Street, Lincoln. Those who are not able to attend the meeting in person may participate by telephone conference call at (888) 820-1398. Please connect prior to 2 p.m. and enter attendee code 9932065# when prompted.

The focus of the first meeting will be regulatory concepts and impacts. A second meeting will be held at a later date to discuss proposed regulatory language.

For additional information or to share your input in advance of these meetings, please e-mail NDEQ at ndeq.waste@nebraska.gov or call 402-471-0270