40 CFR § 227.12 - Insoluble wastes.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t40/s227.12"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "40 CFR § 227.12 - Insoluble wastes."
title_number: 40
title_name: "Protection of Environment"
section_number: "227.12"
section_name: "Insoluble wastes."
chapter_name: "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY"
subchapter_number: "H"
subchapter_name: "OCEAN DUMPING"
part_number: "227"
part_name: "CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF PERMIT APPLICATIONS FOR OCEAN DUMPING OF MATERIALS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "33 U.S.C. 1412 and 1418."
regulatory_source: "42 FR 2476, Jan. 11, 1977, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "227"
---
# 227.12 Insoluble wastes.
(a) Solid wastes consisting of inert natural minerals or materials compatible with the ocean environment may be generally approved for ocean dumping provided they are insoluble above the applicable trace or limiting permissible concentrations and are rapidly and completely settleable, and they are of a particle size and density that they would be deposited or rapidly dispersed without damage to benthic, demersal, or pelagic biota.
(b) Persistent inert synthetic or natural materials which may float or remain in suspension in the ocean as prohibited in paragraph (d) of § 227.5 may be dumped in the ocean only when they have been processed in such a fashion that they will sink to the bottom and remain in place.