Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Chapter 391-3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Subject 391-3-4 - SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Rule 391-3-4-.05 - Criteria for Siting

Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 391-3-4-.05

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024

(1) The following criteria must be met for a site proposed as a solid waste handling facility:

(a) Zoning. The site must conform to all local zoning/land use ordinances. Written verification must be submitted to the Division by the applicant demonstrating that the proposed site complies with local zoning and land use ordinances, if any. This verification shall include a letter from the local governmental authority stating that the proposed site complies with local zoning or land use ordinances, if any. This verification shall be provided at the time of submission of a permit application and reaffirmed by the governmental authority prior to permit issuance.

(b) Disposal Facility Siting Decision. Whenever any county, municipality group of counties, or authority begins a process to select a site for a municipal solid waste disposal facility, documentation shall be submitted which demonstrates compliance with O.C.G.A. 12-8-26(a), and whenever the governing authority of any county or municipality takes action resulting in a publicly- or privately-owned municipal solid waste disposal facility siting decision, documentation shall be submitted which demonstrates compliance with O.C.G.A. 12-8-26(b).

(c) Airport Safety:
1. New MSWLF units or lateral expansions of existing units shall not be located within 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of any public-use or private-use airport runway end used by turbojet aircraft or within 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) of any public-use or private-use airport runway end used by only piston-type aircraft.

2. Owners or operators of existing MSWLF units, that are located within 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) of any public- use or private-use airport runway end used by turbojet aircraft or within 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) of any public- use or private-use airport runway end used by only piston-type aircraft must demonstrate that the units are designed and operated so that the MSWLF units do not pose a bird hazard to aircraft.

3. Owners or operators proposing to site new MSWLF units and lateral expansions within a five-mile radius of any public-use or private-use airport runway end used by turbojet or piston-type aircraft must notify the affected airport and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

4. The owner or operator must place the demonstration in paragraph 2. of this section in the operating record and notify the Director that it has been placed in the operating record not later than October 1, 1993.

5. For purposes of this section:
a. "Public-use airport" means an airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities.

b. "Private-use airport" means an airport that is not open to the public and which may not be used without prior permission of the airport owner and which has restrictions other than the physical capacities of available facilities and such airport is shown on the Sectional Aeronautical Charts published by the U.S. Department of Commerce for Atlanta, Jacksonville, or New Orleans, which charts are dated at least one year prior to the submission of a MSWLF permit or major permit modification application.

c. "Bird hazard" means an increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants.

(d) Floodplains. A solid waste handling facility located in the 100-year floodplain shall not restrict the flow of the 100-year flood, reduce the temporary water storage capacity of the floodplain, or result in a washout of solid waste so as to pose a hazard to human health and the environment. The owner or operator must place a demonstration of compliance in the operating record and notify the Director that it has been placed in the operating record.
1. For purposes of this section:
a. "Floodplains" means the low land and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including flood-prone areas of offshore islands, that are inundated by the 100-year flood.

b. "100-year flood" means a flood that has a 1-percent or greater chance of recurring in any given year or a flood of a magnitude equalled or exceeded once in 100 years on the average over a significantly long period.

c. "Washout" means the carrying away of solid waste by waters of the base flood.

(e) Wetlands. A solid waste handling facility shall not be located in wetlands, as defined by the U.S. Corps. of Engineers, unless evidence is provided to the Director, by the applicant, that use of such wetlands has been permitted or otherwise authorized under all other applicable state and federal laws and rules. The owner or operator must place a demonstration of compliance in the operating record and notify the Directory that it has been placed in the operating record.

(f) Fault Areas.
1. New landfill units and lateral expansions of existing landfills shall not be located within 200 feet (60 meters) of a fault that has had displacement in Holocene time unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the Director that an alternative setback distance of less than 200 feet (60 meters) will prevent damage to the structural integrity of the landfill unit and will be protective of human health and the environment.

2. For the purposes of this section.
a. "Fault" means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any material a long which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to that on the other side.

b. "Displacement" means the relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.

c. "Holocene" means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present.

(g) Seismic Impact Zones.
1. New landfill units and lateral expansions shall not be located in seismic impact zones, unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the Director that all containment structures, including liners, leachate collection systems, and surface water control systems, are designed to resist the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material for the site. The owner or operator must place the demonstration in the operating record and notify the Director that it has been placed in the operating record.

2. For the purposes of this section:
a. Seismic impact zone means an area with a ten percent or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.

b. Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90 percent or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site -specific seismic risk assessment.

c. Lithified earth material means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth surface.

(h) Unstable areas.
1. Owners or operators of new landfill units, existing landfill units, and lateral expansions located in an unstable area must demonstrate that engineering measures have been incorporated into the landfill unit's design to ensure that the integrity of the structural components of the landfill unit will not be disrupted. The owner or operator must place the demonstration in the operating record and notify the Director that it has been placed in the operating record. The owner or operator must consider the following factors, at a minimum, when determining whether an area is unstable:
a. On-site or local soil conditions that may result in significant differential settling;

b. On-site or local geologic or geomorphologic features; and

c. On-site or local human-made features or events (both surface and subsurface).

2. For the purposes of this section:
a. "Unstable area" means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terrains.

b. "Structural components" means liners, leachate collection systems, final covers, run- on/run- off systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation of the landfill that is necessary for protection of human health and the environment.

c. "Poor foundation conditions" means those areas where features exist which indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of a landfill unit.

d. "Areas susceptible to mass movement" mean those areas of influence (i.e., areas characterized as having an active or substantial possibility of mass movement) where the movement of earth material at, beneath, or adjacent to the landfill unit, because of natural or man-induced events, results in the downslope transport of soil and rock material by means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include, but are not limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil fluction, block sliding, and rock fall.

e. "Karst terrains" means areas where karst topography, with its characteristic surface and subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terrains include, but are not limited to, sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.

(i) Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas. A new municipal solid waste landfill or lateral expansion of an existing municipal solid waste landfill shall not have any part of such site located within two miles of any area that has been designated by the Director as a significant groundwater recharge area unless such municipal solid waste landfill will have a liner and leachate collection system. In the case of a regional landfill which accepts solid waste generated outside the counties or special districts constituting the region or a municipal solid waste landfill which accepts solid waste generated outside the county in which the landfill is located, no part of such site shall be within any area that has been designated as a significant groundwater recharge area.

(j) Hydrogeological Assessment. A hydrogeological site investigation shall be conducted with the following factors, as a minimum, evaluated:
1. Distance to nearest point of public or private drinking water supply: all public water supply wells or surface water intakes within two miles and private (domestic) water supply wells within one-half mile of a landfill must be identified;

2. Depth to the upper most aquifer: for landfills, the thickness and nature of the unsaturated zone and its ability for natural contamination control must be evaluated;

3. Uppermost aquifer gradient: for landfills, the direction and rate of flow of groundwater shall be determined in order to properly evaluate the potential for contamination at a specific site. Measurements of water levels in site exploratory borings and the preparation of water table maps are required. Borings to water are required to estimate the configuration and gradient of the uppermost aquifer;

4. Topographic setting: features which shall be provided include, but are not limited to, all upstream and downstream drainage areas affecting or affected by the proposed site, floodplains, gullies, karst conditions, wetlands, unstable soils and percent slope;

5. Geologic setting: for landfills, the depth to bedrock, the type of bedrock and the amount of fracturing and jointing in the bedrock shall be determined. In limestone or dolostone regions, karst terrain shall not be used for waste disposal. This consideration does not preclude the siting of landfills in limestone terrains, but rather is intended to prevent landfills from being sited in or adjacent to sink-holes, provided, however, that the demonstration required by subparagraph (h) has been made.

6. Hydraulic conductivity: evaluation of landfill sites shall take into consideration the hydraulic conductivity of the surface material in which the wastes are to be buried, as well as the hydraulic conductivity of the subsurface materials underlying the fill;

7. Sorption and attenuation capacity: for landfills, the sorptive characteristics of an earth material and its ability to absorb contaminants shall be determined; and

8. Distance to surface water: municipal solid waste landfills shall not be situated within two miles upgradient of any surface water intake for a public drinking water source unless engineering modifications such as liners and leachate collection systems and ground-water monitoring systems are provided.

(k) New MSWLF units shall not be located within two miles of a federally restricted military air space which is used for a bombing range unless the MSWLF was permitted and operational on July 1, 1997.

(2) Construction/Demolition waste landfills must comply with the siting criteria specified in "Criteria for Performing Site Acceptability Studies for Solid Waste Landfills in Georgia", Circular 14, Appendix B.

(3) Industrial waste landfills permitted to receive only a single type industrial waste (monofill) or receive only a single industry's waste, must comply with the siting criteria specified in "Criteria for Performing Site Acceptability Studies for Solid Waste Landfills in Georgia", Circular 14, Appendix A. Commercial industrial waste landfills must meet the same siting criteria as municipal solid waste landfills.

(4) A site assessment report addressing the criteria listed above shall be prepared by a geologist registered in Georgia or a geotechnical engineer registered in Georgia and submitted to the Division for review at the time of submitting a permit application. The site assessment report shall be prepared in accordance with Circular 14, 1991, (amended 1997) as published by the Georgia Geologic Survey, Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

(5) Monitoring wells and borings shall be constructed by a driller having a valid and current bond with the Water Well Standards Advisory Council.

(6) CCR units must meet the siting criteria in 391-3-4-.10.

O.C.G.A § 12-8-20 et seq., as amended.

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