Effective March 1, 2014, it would be the first such regulation since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia currently does not regulate disposal of waste lubricants, according to the ministrys explanatory memorandum of the draft. Used nation-wide for heating, as a fuel, added in the marine fuels or used as soaking and coating elements in production of construction materials, the waste lubes combust or evaporate in the atmosphere, contaminating it with different elements and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, vanadium or mercury.

Such activities are prohibited by the custom unions technical regulation, which was adopted last December.

The memorandum lists activities that would be prohibited by the Russian bill, including drainage [of waste oil] into the waterways, soil and in the communal sewage networks, its delivery to landfills, or mixing it with haloid-organic materials. It also forbids mixing it with oil and other finished products such as black oil or diesel fuel, or its combustion in power generation units.

Russia would have to take a number of actions before the bill could take effect, including adjustment of tariffs and customs, and elimination of import duties on equipment necessary for collection and utilization of waste lubes. These incentives will promote efficiency of small businesses to organize nationwide networks for collection and recycling of waste lubricants, oils and special liquids, the memorandum said.

The draft also proposes that waste oil collection point activities be licensed. At the collection points, all used oils will be accumulated and separated into four risk grades.

Compliance with the technical regulations of used lubricant treatment would become the responsibility of Rosstandart (Russias agency for technical regulation and metrology) and Rosprirodnadzor (the state agency for supervision of the management with the nature).

For more on the adoption of the custom unions technical regulation for waste oil treatment see the May 29 Lube Report article.