Does EPA currently collect manifests?
No. The federal regulations do not require the routine submission of manifests to EPA, except when there are problems with a shipment which the generator and receiving facility cannot reconcile. Moreover, the hazardous waste regulatory program has been largely delegated to the state level, so most day-to-day implementation and inspection activities are carried out by “authorized states”, rather than by EPA. However, about 30 states do routinely collect manifests, and these state programs now enter the data contained in these paper manifests into their databases for tracking purposes. The data is used by the states for estimation of hazardous waste management capacity, compliance targeting and enforcement, program management, and generation of revenue.
