Tennessee
Hazardous Waste Management Permits (TSD facilities)
Tennessee Hazardous Waste Management Permits
In Tennessee a hazardous waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal (TSD) facility must hold a hazardous waste permit from the Waste Management Branch of the Division of Land Protection, in the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). The requirement covers any person owning or operating a new or existing facility that treats, stores or disposes of a hazardous waste.
In a Phase I ESA
This is the Tennessee record of permitted hazardous waste facilities. It sits beside the federal records described on the RCRA TSD page. ASTM E1527-21 lists state hazardous waste facility records among its standard sources. This handbook does not pair a single Tennessee list with that type; this is one of the Tennessee records that bear on it. The distances the standard sets for each kind of record are on the search distances page.
- The application is a site history in two parts. Part A identifies the facility, its owner and operator, the processes used to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste and their design capacity, and the hazardous wastes to be managed. TDEC says a business with more than one facility files a Part A for each site. Part B is a narrative that includes a waste analysis plan, a contingency plan, a facility closure plan, closure costs and financial assurance, and consideration for the protection of ground water and surface water.
- Permits turn over. TDEC says the normal duration of a permit is not to exceed 10 years or the expected operating life of the facility, whichever is less. A long-lived facility may have more than one permit to read.
- Closed units stay in the system. TDEC's fee rules reach facilities conducting corrective action and post-closure under permits, orders or other enforceable documents, and it charges annual fees for post-closure and corrective action related activities. A facility that no longer handles waste can still be under one of those documents. See RCRA Corrective Action.
- Some treatment needs no permit. TDEC lists persons covered by permits-by-rule, RCRA exemptions such as Very Small Quantity Generators and farmers, and persons who treat or contain waste during immediate response to a discharge.
What the record shows
TDEC describes the three kinds of facility this way:
| Kind | TDEC's description |
|---|---|
| Treatment | Uses processes such as incineration or oxidation to alter the character or composition of hazardous wastes |
| Storage | Temporarily holds hazardous wastes until they are treated or disposed of |
| Disposal | Permanently contains hazardous wastes. TDEC says the most common type is a landfill. |
TDEC says a permit is written to address the specific geography of the facility, the types of hazardous waste management units and the specific waste streams, and that it can include facility-specific requirements such as groundwater monitoring. The Division has the right to inspect a facility at a minimum of every two years. TDEC issues public notices when it receives an application, when it drafts a permit and when it makes the final decision.
The rules TDEC cites are Rule 0400-12-01, Hazardous Waste Management Regulations, with the facility standards at .06 and .07, and Rule 0400-12-02, Commercial Hazardous Waste Management Facilities.
Where to look a site up
The pages read name no TDEC list of permitted facilities. The Waste Management Branch page links a page of hazardous waste pending permit documents and the branch's public notices. Part A asks for the facility's EPA identification number, so use that number when asking TDEC about a facility.
Getting the file
For applications and assistance, TDEC says to call the Division of Land Protection at 615-532-0780 and ask for the Hazardous Waste Permitting Program, or to email Solid.Waste@tn.gov. TDEC's Public Records Request page carries the department's records request route. TDEC notes that a business can claim confidentiality only at the time the application is submitted, so ask whether any part of an application was claimed confidential.
Sources
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation pages, read October 7, 2026:
- Hazardous Waste Permit, last modified April 28, 2026.
- Tennessee Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal (TSD) Facilities, last modified July 9, 2026.
- Tennessee Hazardous Waste Management, last modified September 23, 2026.
- Tennessee Waste Management Branch, last modified September 23, 2026.
- Public Records Request, last modified November 3, 2025.