Do states follow the federal requirements for the management of containers used to store or accumulate hazardous waste? Yes. Why? Because they have to. Do some states have container rules that are stricter than the federal rules? Yes. Why? Because they can. Under RCRA, a state’s hazardous waste provisions must be as strict as the federal requirements, and they are allowed to be stricter. A number of states have developed their hazardous waste container management standards by simply incorporating the federal RCRA rules, by reference, into their own state hazardous waste regulations or by reiterating the federal rules in their state rules.
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If you’re in one of those states, the container regulations are pretty straightforward; you just follow the federal requirements. Many states, however, use the federal rules as the basis for their container rules and add their own requirements.
When hazardous waste container rules of a state include the federal rules as well as stricter variations of federal rules and/or additional state requirements, the state container rules will be overall stricter than the federal container regulations, thereby increasing the regulatory responsibilities of the handler of the hazardous waste container.