RCRA TSD
RCRA TSD is the federal list of permitted and interim status facilities that handle hazardous waste by treating, storing or disposing of it (E1527-21, Table 2). The federal standards for these facilities apply to those that do one of three defined things with hazardous waste. Which of the three matters, because post-closure care and its notices do not apply to every facility.
What puts a property on this record
Part 264's standards "apply to owners and operators of all facilities which treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste, except as specifically provided otherwise in this part or part 261 of this chapter" (40 CFR 264.1(b)). The regulation defines the activities in 40 CFR 260.10:
- Treatment is a process, neutralization included, meant to alter a hazardous waste's character or composition for one of several listed ends.
- Storage is holding hazardous waste temporarily, until it is treated, disposed of or stored elsewhere.
- A disposal facility is "a facility or part of a facility at which hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on any land or water, and at which waste will remain after closure", a corrective action management unit excepted (40 CFR 260.10).
A facility is all contiguous land, with its structures and improvements, used in treating, storing or disposing of hazardous waste, and land used in managing hazardous secondary materials before reclamation (40 CFR 260.10).
Part 264 leaves some handlers out, among them a generator whose on-site accumulation complies with 40 CFR 262.14 to 262.17 (40 CFR 264.1(g)(3)). It does not apply to a person in a state with an authorized program, with three listed exceptions (40 CFR 264.1(f)).
Except as 264.1 provides otherwise, the closure sections apply to all hazardous waste management facilities. The post-closure care sections apply to all hazardous waste disposal facilities and to the other units listed in 264.110(b) (40 CFR 264.110). The financial requirements for closure and post-closure care exempt states and the Federal government (40 CFR 264.140(c)).
What a listing shows, and what it does not
The regulation does not say which facilities are on the record. The standard's table describes the source as lists of permitted and interim status facilities (E1527-21, Table 2). An interim status facility follows part 265 until its permit application is decided, with an exception (40 CFR 264.3). A facility may do more than one of the three.
For a disposal unit, the owner or operator must send a survey plat to the local zoning or land use authority and to the Regional Administrator, no later than it submits the certification of closure. The copy filed locally must carry a prominent note stating the obligation to restrict disturbance of the unit (40 CFR 264.116). Within 60 days after closure of the first disposal unit is certified, and again after the last, a notation is recorded on the deed, or another instrument normally examined in a title search, to "in perpetuity notify any potential purchaser of the property" that the land was used to manage hazardous wastes and that its use is restricted (40 CFR 264.119(b)).
Part 264 does not say that a release occurred at a facility because the facility is covered; releases and corrective action are dealt with in subpart F (40 CFR 264.90, 264.101).
In a Phase I ESA
RCRA treatment, storage and disposal facility records are a standard government record source, with an approximate minimum search distance of 0.5 mile (0.8 km); the table's note says formerly active sites should be researched as well as active ones. The standard does not allow this distance to be reduced (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2).
If the subject property or an adjoining property is listed, the standard says the pertinent regulatory files should be reviewed, to help the professional judge whether the listing means a recognized environmental condition (REC), a historical or controlled one, or a de minimis condition at the subject property. The report explains a decision not to review; records from another source may be reviewed instead (E1527-21, 8.2.3.1, 8.2.3.2).
For the subject property, the answer turns on which activity took place and over what area, and what the closure documents and the title record show: the closure plan, the certification of closure, and for disposal units the plat and deed notation (see activity and use limitations). If the file shows a release has occurred, then unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, the REC is listed in the Conclusions, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 12.7, 12.8). If it shows operations without a release or likely release, the report says what the file establishes.
For a nearby facility, the standard's nonmandatory appendix lists factors for likely presence at the subject property that include where the source lies and the topography, geology and hydrogeology (E1527-21, 3.2.73, X4.1); see likely release and likely presence and adjoining or nearby property.
For every listing of the subject property or of another site inside the search distance, the report must give the professional's judgment on what the listing means for the analysis of recognized environmental conditions at the subject property, and one statement may cover several sites (E1527-21, 8.1.10).
What the federal rule says
Properties for which there are records of federally-permitted, tribal-permitted or registered, or state-permitted or registered waste management activities.
40 CFR 312.26(c)(3), edition revised as of July 1, 2025
No paragraph of 40 CFR 312.26(c)(1) to (3) names treatment, storage and disposal facilities; the rule gives one-half mile for permitted landfills and solid waste management facilities, and lets the professional modify a search distance with the rationale documented (40 CFR 312.26(c)(3)(ii), (d)). The standard gives 0.5 mile and excludes this record from reduction (E1527-21, 8.2.2). The rule lets the procedures of E1527-21 be used to comply with its sections 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11(a)).
Where the record is kept
EPA RCRAInfo, plus the administering state agency's permit and inspection files. The survey plat and the record of wastes disposed of go to the local zoning authority and the Regional Administrator (40 CFR 264.116, 264.119(a)).
This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.
Classifying a finding
Situations in which this record type bears on the answer: