Which of the following wastes are NOT hazardous solid waste as per Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA)?
A. Arsenic treated wood
B. Agricultural waste returned to the soil as fertilizer
C. Fly ash, Scrubber sludge
D. Petroleum-contaminated media and debris
E. Used chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Correct option is B

Introduction

• The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976, is the principal U.S. federal law governing solid and hazardous waste management from generation to disposal.
• While Subtitle C imposes strict "cradle-to-grave" controls on hazardous waste, the statute and its regulations also carve out a series of specific exclusions under 40 CFR §261.4, where certain solid wastes are deemed not to be hazardous waste.
• These exclusions arise from public-policy considerations, statutory mandates (such as the Bevill and Bentsen Amendments), regulation under other programs, or the impracticability of regulation, and they apply even when a waste would otherwise meet a listing or exhibit a hazardous characteristic.
  

Information Booster

• The correct answer is  all five wastes are NOT classified as RCRA hazardous solid waste, because each is specifically excluded under 40 CFR §261.4.
  
• EPA excludes certain solid wastes from the definition of hazardous waste; if a material meets an exclusion, it cannot be a hazardous waste even if it technically meets a listing or exhibits a characteristic. Mapping each item:
  · A. Arsenic-treated wood — Excluded under §261.4(9). When end-users discard CCA-treated wood used for its intended purpose (decks, fence posts), it is exempt from hazardous-waste rules even though it would likely fail the Toxicity Characteristic for arsenic
  · B. Agricultural waste returned to soil as fertilizer — Excluded under §261.4(2). Agricultural wastes from crop or animal farming (including manures) that are returned to the soils as fertilizers are deemed not to be hazardous waste.
  · C. Fly ash, scrubber sludge — Excluded under §261.as fossil-fuel combustion waste. Coal ash has been exempt from RCRA hazardous-waste regulation since 1980 under the Bevill Exclusion.
  · D. Petroleum-contaminated media and debris — Excluded under §261.4
  · Petroleum-contaminated media and debris that fail the Toxicity Characteristic for codes D018 through D043 only, and are subject to corrective-action regulations under Part 280, are excluded.
  · E. Used CFC refrigerants — Excluded under §261.4 (12), provided the refrigerant is reclaimed for further use