Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 17, September 10, 2024
(a)
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of
this section, the regulations in this subpart apply to owners or operators of
facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. The owner or
operator must satisfy the requirements identified in paragraph (a)(2) of this
section for all wastes (or constituents thereof) contained in solid waste
management units at the facility, regardless of the time at which waste was
placed in such units.
(2) All solid
waste management units must comply with the requirements in § 264.101. A
surface impoundment, waste pile, and land treatment unit or landfill that
receives hazardous waste after July 26, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as a
"regulated unit") must comply with the requirements of §
§ 264.91
through 264.100 in lieu of § 264.101 for purposes of detecting,
characterizing and responding to releases to the uppermost aquifer. The
financial responsibility requirements of § 264.101 apply to regulated
units.
(b) The owner or
operator's regulated unit or units are not subject to regulation for releases
into the uppermost aquifer under this subpart if:
(1) The owner or operator is exempted under
§ 264.1; or
(2) The owner or
operator operates a unit which the Department finds:
(i) Is an engineered structure,
(ii) Does not receive or contain liquid waste
or waste containing free liquids,
(iii) Is designed and operated to exclude
liquid, precipitation, and other run-on and run-off,
(iv) Has both inner and outer layers of
containment enclosing the waste,
(v) Has a leak detection system built into
each containment layer.
(vi) The
owner or operator will provide continuing operation and maintenance of these
leak detection systems during the active life of the unit and the closure and
post-closure care periods, and
(vii) To a reasonable degree of certainty,
will not allow hazardous constituents to migrate beyond the outer layer of the
containment prior to the end of the post-closure care period.
(3) The Department finds, pursuant
to § 264.280(d), that the treatment zone of a land treatment unit that
qualifies as a regulated unit does not contain levels of those constituents by
an amount that is statistically significant, and if an unsaturated zone
monitoring program meeting the requirements of § 264.278 has not shown a
statistically significant increase in hazardous constituents below the
treatment zone during the operating life of the unit. An exemption under this
paragraph can only relieve an owner or operator of responsibility to meet the
requirements of this subpart during the post-closure care period; or
(4) The Department finds that there is no
potential for migration of liquid from a regulated unit to the uppermost
aquifer during the active life of the regulated unit (including the closure
period) and the post-closure care period specified under § 264.117. This
demonstration must be certified by a qualified geologist or geotechnical
engineer. In order to provide an adequate margin of safety in the prediction of
potential migration of liquid, the owner or operator must base any predictions
made under this paragraph on assumptions that maximize the rate of liquid
migration.
(5) The owner or
operator designs and operates a pile in compliance with §
264.250(c).
(c) The
regulations under this subpart apply during the active life of the regulated
unit (including the closure period). After closure of the regulated unit, the
regulations in this subpart:
(1) Do not apply
if all waste, waste residues, contaminated containment system components, and
contaminated subsoils are removed or decontaminated at closure;
(2) Apply during the post-closure care period
under § 264.117 if the owner or operator is conducting a detection
monitoring program under § 264.98; or
(3) Apply during the compliance period under
§ 264.96 if the owner or operator is conducting a compliance monitoring
program under § 264.99 or a corrective action program under §
264.100.
(d) Regulations
in this subpart may apply to miscellaneous units when necessary to comply with
§
§ 264.601 through 264.603.
(e) The regulations of this subpart apply to
all owners and operators subject to the requirements of § 100.10(d) of
these regulations, when the Department issues either a post-closure permit or
an enforceable document (as defined in § 100.10(d)) at the facility. When
the Department issues an enforceable document, references in this subpart to
"in the permit" mean "in the enforceable document."
(f) The Director may replace all or part of
the requirements of §
§ 264.91 through 264.100 applying to a
regulated unit with alternative requirements for groundwater monitoring and
corrective action for releases to groundwater set out in the permit (or in an
enforceable document) (as defined in § 100.10(d)) where the Director
determines that:
(1) The regulated unit is
situated among solid waste management units (or areas of concern), a release
has occurred, and both the regulated unit and one or more solid waste
management unit(s) (or areas of concern) are likely to have contributed to the
release; and
(2) It is not
necessary to apply the groundwater monitoring and corrective action
requirements of §
§ 264.91 through 264.100 because alternative
requirements will protect human health and the environment.
