Latest Trends in the State Adoption of Aerosol Can Rule

By [ Kevin Gibney ]
08/11/2020

On February 7, 2020, EPA’s Aerosol Can Final Rule went into effect, officially adding hazardous waste aerosol cans to “universal wastes” regulated under title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 273. This change is expected to promote the recycling of aerosol cans, ease regulatory burdens on retail stores and others that discard aerosol cans and create a projected annual cost saving of $5.3 million to $47.8 million. Most states must take proactive action to adopt the rule and the exact process and timing varies by state. The RCC has a matrix tracking state adoption and the current status of states is summarized below.

California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Utah already considered aerosols to be universal waste and under the Aerosol Can Rule, are allowed to keep these programs in lieu of adoption. Texas and New Jersey listed aerosol paints and oil finishes as universal waste prior to the federal final rule but were not referenced in the rule and as a result will need to publish amendments to their universal waste rules to include aerosol cans.

Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin have not yet publicly shared timelines for the adoption of the Aerosol Can Rule. While some of these states may have not addressed adoption of the rule to focus on other priorities, the main cause of delay can be assumed to be the state regulatory processes that must be followed internally before publishing an official adoption proposal.
Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wyoming have publicly announced a timeline for adoption of the Aerosol Can Rule. These adoption dates vary, with a majority expecting the adoption and effective date to occur in early to mid-2021. These dates may change if these states decide to include the Aerosol Can Rule in existing adoption dockets.

Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico have adopted the Aerosol Can Rule either by reference or with minimal changes.
Please note that this adoption analysis is accurate as of the publishing of this blog post. To see the latest information on state adoption of the Aerosol Can Rule, visit the Retail Compliance Center’s Aerosols as Universal Waste State Tracking Matrix.

Latest Trends in the State Adoption of Aerosol Can Rule

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