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Hazardous waste transporters are exempt from storage facility permit requirements so long as they observe the limits on storage time and han- dling. Transfer facilities fall into three main categories: An exempt transfer facility operated by a registered transporter,' A transfer facility operating under the au- thority of a RCRA permit,sand A transfer facility operating under the au- thority of a Standardized Permit. Figure 1 depicts the differences and highlights what each is authorized to do. By definition, only a facility or the portions of a permitted facil- ity that are related to the transportation of haz- ardous wastes can be operated as an exempt transfer facility, i.e. permitted or exempt.a When the wastes remain in the containers in which they were shipped in and are at the transfer fa- cility for 6 days or less (10 days if the property is zoned for industrial land use, or with some re- strictions, agricultural use), the requirements that apply to owners and operators of Hazard- ous Waste Transfer, Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities10 do not apply. The following paragraphs summarize, in more detail, the differences between the facilities op- erating transfer facilities. Exempt Transfer Facilities A transporter operating a transfer facility is ex- empt from the requirements regarding waste storage, provided that specified conditions are met.11 The conditions are identified in law and regulation. One of those conditions is that, only a registered transporter may operate an exempt transfer facility. The exempt transfer facility is the place a transporter may consolidate or trans- fer shipments to different vehicles in order to re- direct them to their final destination. A transfer facility operated by a transporter is not subject to the requirements regarding a permit for waste storage if during the normal course of transporta- tion all of the following conditions are met: • Wastes are held for less than 6 or 10 days; and • Manifested packages or containers are transferred from one vehicle to another (section 66263.18 (a)); and • The packages or containers are the same packages and containers that the wastes arrived in; and No additional handling (i.e. bulking) takes place (section 66263.18(b)). State law authorizes only the transfer of pack- aged or containerized hazardous wastes at ex- empt transfer facilities. Wastes must remain in the containers that they arrive in. The containers must remain closed and cannot be opened for sampling or other handling. Wastes cannot be consolidated into larger containers. Wastes may only be held on vehicles, loading docks or in storage areas that are operated by the trans- porter. Waste may only be held for less than 6 days or 10 days depending on the local zoning; commercial / mixed use and industrial / agricul- tural, respectively. The following paragraphs summarize and clarify, terms that are used in Cal. Code Regs., title 22, section 66263.18. These terms are the basis for the exemption from storage requirements, that are provided to transporters provided wastes are handled as specified. The phrase "Vehicle to another" 12 means that manifested shipments of wastes must be stored in the container that the wastes arrived in and can only be taken from one vehicle and placed on another vehicle without any handling occur- ring. 13 7 Cal. Code Regs., title 22 section 66263.18 8 Cal. Code Regs., title 22, chapters 14 and 15, 9 Health & Saf. Code, section 25123.3(a)(3) 10 Cal. Code Regs., title 22, sections 66264.1(g)(9) & 66265.1(d)(12) 11 Health & Saf. Code section 25123.3(b) & Cal. Code Regs., title 22, section 66263.18 12 Cal. Code Regs., title 22, section 66263.18(a) 13 Although the language implies that wastes must be moved from one vehicle to another vehicle, legislative history and existing practices challenge this interpre- tation. Language contained in the Information Digest and Statement of Reasons for RCRA Authorization (R-95-83), page 29, second paragraph, states that subsection (a) of this section is equivalent to the fed- eral regulation under 40 CFR section 263.12 that re- quires that waste be stored in containers. `The primary change in this subsection from the federal language is regulatory language designed to prevent any mixing, pumping, alteration of packaging or han- dling of the waste which may lead to discharge of the waste to the environment. As such, wastes must re- main in the containers that they arrived in while stored at the transfer facility and be loaded on to another ve- hicle in the same containers."