EPA ID number lookup and application guide for facilities
An EPA ID number identifies a hazardous waste handler or site. See who needs one, how to find an existing number and where to file Form 8700-12.
In hazardous waste compliance, an EPA ID number identifies a RCRA hazardous waste handler or site. Large and small quantity generators must obtain one on EPA Form 8700-12 and send the completed form to the authorized state agency, or to the EPA regional office if the state is not authorized for RCRA Subtitle C.
First, check whether the facility already has a number. Very small quantity generators have a federal exception, but state requirements can be stricter.
Who needs an EPA ID number?
Federal regulations require large quantity generators (LQGs) and small quantity generators (SQGs) of hazardous waste to obtain an EPA ID number. EPA sets that requirement out on its notification and form page. Start with the facility's generator category. Producing some waste does not, by itself, mean the business needs a federal number.
Very small quantity generators, or VSQGs, do not need an EPA ID number under the federal notification requirement. But the federal exception will not help if the state wants a number anyway. EPA says authorized states can impose more stringent ID requirements, and that VSQGs should check state rules on the generator FAQ.
EPA issues these numbers to facilities on a by-site basis. A company's number doesn't cover every location. If several structures count as one site, one number can cover them. A separate location needs its own check. The same FAQ explains the site-specific approach.
How to look up an existing EPA ID number
Use the section titled "How to Look Up a Site ID Number" on EPA's official form page. It points you to the search tool for a facility's site ID number.
For an EPA ID search, use this sequence:
- Open the official page and follow its site-ID lookup link.
- Look for the facility's existing record.
- Compare the record's facility identity and location with your site.
- If the match is uncertain, ask the responsible agency before you request a new number.
Name alone is not enough. EPA's by-site rule makes the location part of the check. A search with no clear result does not prove that the site has never had a number.
Is an FRS ID the same as a RCRA ID?
An FRS ID is not a RCRA ID. EPA's Facility Registry Service uses a Registry ID, also called an FRS ID, as a unique identifier across EPA systems. That is a different identifier from the hazardous-waste program number. See EPA's FRS query guidance.
For a hazardous-waste facility ID number lookup, follow EPA's RCRA site-ID route. Don't copy a registry number just because it sits on an EPA facility record. Check which program the identifier belongs to before you use it on a notification.
An EPA waste number is not the site number either. Under 40 CFR 260.10, an EPA hazardous waste number is the number EPA assigns to a listed hazardous waste or to a hazardous characteristic, so it identifies the waste rather than the handler. The same section defines an EPA identification number as the number assigned to a generator, transporter, and treatment, storage or disposal facility. It does not add a filing duty beyond the LQG and SQG rule above.
How to get an EPA ID number
The starting document is EPA Form 8700-12, the Site Identification Form. Use the current form and instructions from EPA, then follow the receiving agency's submission requirements.
Check the existing site record first
Complete the lookup before you start an EPA ID number application. If the record is for a former owner, an inactive site or a location change, ask the responsible authority what to do with it. Neither requesting a new number nor reusing the old one is automatic. Keep the existing record when you contact the agency, and say what changed at the site.
Find the correct receiving authority
EPA directs Form 8700-12 to the authorized state agency. Where a state is not authorized to implement RCRA Subtitle C, the receiving authority is the EPA regional office. EPA headquarters is not the universal destination. Follow the submission guidance on EPA's form page.
Ask that authority which submission route it accepts. Another state's process is not yours.
Check whether electronic submission is available
MyRCRAid is reached through RCRAInfo, and electronic submission is not available everywhere. EPA says it is available in states that have opted into the system. Check with the state agency before you choose that route, using EPA's electronic-reporting guidance.
A RCRAInfo account does not replace the notification. Follow the receiving authority's instructions for submitting Form 8700-12. Ask that authority about processing time and how to confirm the assigned number. Don't plan on instant online issuance.
Need a temporary EPA ID number?
Check the issuing authority's instructions for your waste and location. A temporary-ID procedure is not something you can treat as a national rule.
For California, consult DTSC's temporary federal EPA ID resources and its hazardous waste ID application overview. DTSC also provides a temporary state-ID portal. Work out whether you need a federal EPA ID or a California state ID before you choose a route.
Keep notification separate from permit paperwork
Form 8700-12 is the site-identification notification. It is not the Part A permit application. EPA lists that permit form separately as Form 8700-23 on its forms and instructions page. The same page also places Form 8700-12, Hazardous Waste Report Form 8700-13A/B and Form 8700-23 in one packet. Those forms are not interchangeable.
RegAffairs AI's EPA ID answer covers the definition, the application route and the existing-number lookup.