Hazardous waste fee collection

Section 455B.424 of the Iowa Code requires small and large quantity generators, and anyone that treats, stores, disposes of or transports hazardous waste in Iowa, to complete a Hazardous Waste Fee Form for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and pay the appropriate fee. DNR says a facility receives the form because the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates it under the hazardous waste management section of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

In a Phase I ESA

Section 455B.424 requires generators, and anyone that treats, stores, disposes of or transports hazardous waste in Iowa, to complete this form; the pages read describe no record or list of who filed. It sits beside the federal generator records described on the RCRA Generators page. This handbook does not pair a single Iowa list with the state hazardous waste facility record type, because DNR says the State of Iowa does not currently administer the federal RCRA Subtitle C program. DNR says that program is managed by EPA Region 7, in Kansas City, Kansas. DNR points to EPA Region 7's RCRA web page for more information on the program.

Four Iowa details shape how to read the fee records.

• Fees rest on EPA data. DNR says the fees entered on the form are based on data provided by EPA, and that contact updates, address corrections and generator status changes are made on EPA's Notification of RCRA Subtitle C Activity (EPA Form 8700-12), mailed to EPA Region 7.
• The smallest generators do not file. DNR says Very Small Quantity Generators, facilities generating less than 220 pounds in all months of a calendar year, are not required to report activities or pay a generator fee. The absence of a fee record does not show that no hazardous waste was generated.
• The fee follows the size. Small Quantity Generators, generating between 220 and 2200 pounds in any calendar month, pay $25.00. Large Quantity Generators, generating more than 2200 pounds in any calendar month, pay $250.00. Tonnage fees, set by the amount of hazardous waste generated, come on top; 567 IAC 149.3(1) lists exemptions from them, and DNR says there is no exemption from the base generator fee. Fees are due if the facility operated for any portion of the previous calendar year, by April 15 each year.
• Storage changes the role. DNR says every site that generates hazardous waste is required to have an EPA ID number, and that a generator that stores hazardous waste on site for more than 90 days becomes an "operator" of a hazardous waste storage facility.

DNR also says copies of the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest are not required to be submitted to the State of Iowa. So a facility's manifests may not be in DNR's file.

Where to look a site up

The pages read link no DNR list of generators or fee payers. The federal generator records are described on the RCRA Generators page. The fee form itself is the Hazardous Waste Activities Form (Form 179), linked from DNR's Fees page.

Getting the file

DNR's Records Center, at 6200 Park Ave, Suite 200, Des Moines, is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except state holidays. DNR's Open Records Request page says requests to inspect public records go to the Office of the Chief Information Officer through the Iowa Information and Public Records Request Portal, and may also be made in person at a record center, by email to dnr.records.request@dnr.iowa.gov, or by mail.

Sources

Iowa Department of Natural Resources pages, read October 12, 2026:

• Fees, last modified April 21, 2026.
• Hazardous Waste & Contaminated Sites, last modified September 21, 2026.
• Open Records Request, last modified March 13, 2026.