California withdraws proposed emergency action involving auto shredder operations

Sept. 9, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) withdrew its proposed emergency action that targeted automobile shredding operations in the state. The decision came after a comment period that ran from Aug. 31 through Sept. 7.

According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), Washington, the DTSC withdrew the action in light of “overwhelming concerns expressed by all sectors of the metal recycling industry, including ISRI, which submitted comments on behalf of its members Sept. 7.”

In a post on LinkedIn announcing the development, ISRI President Robin Wiener writes that the DTSC’s proposed emergency action “would have been detrimental to the state’s recycling industry by wrongfully classifying shredders as hazardous waste treatment facilities. The effects of such a rule would have had devastating impacts on tens of thousands of jobs supported by the recycling industry and caused significant ripple effects throughout the U.S. manufacturing supply chain and in local governments and communities throughout California.”

She adds that ISRI and its West Coast chapter advocated on behalf of recyclers throughout California, “presenting the facts which disputed DTSC’s untenable claim that metal processing operations conducted by shredding facilities create an emergency situation. Our comments also highlighted the many inaccuracies in DTSC’s claim that the emergency regulations were merely intended to 'align' the state’s regulation of shredding facilities with the federal regulatory scheme.”

Wiener also thanked the steel industry, which backed and assisted its advocacy efforts, for its support, noting the work of Philip K. Bell and Eric Stuart of the Steel Manufacturers Association in particular.