Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Experimental practices are design,
construction, and operation methods and techniques that are not expressly
authorized by, and whose employment cannot be demonstrated by the applicant to
be in compliance with, Section
813.112
or 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811, 812, and 814. Experimental practices may be
implemented only at permitted landfills.
b) Pursuant to Section 28.1 of the Act
[415 ILCS
5/28.1] and Subpart D of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104, any
person may, at any time, petition the Board for an adjusted standard to any
standard in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811, 812, or 814 in order to engage in an
experimental practice at a permitted landfill in accordance with the
requirements of this Section.
c)
The petition for adjusted standard must contain the following information in
addition to that required by Subpart D of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104. However, if
the applicant believes that any of the information required by this Section is
inapplicable, the applicant may so state provided that the petition contains an
explanation of the inapplicability.
1) A
narrative description of the experiment, describing the necessity of this
experiment and an assessment of the expected outcome of this
experiment;
2) A list of all
standards in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811 that must be adjusted in order to conduct
the experiment and a reason why each standard must be adjusted;
3) A description of the monitoring program
(see 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811) to be implemented during the experiment;
4) Criteria for evaluating the experimental
practice. The criteria must be specific enough to allow the Agency to evaluate
the performance of the experimental practice from the monitoring results
pursuant to subsection (f)(1) of this Section;
5) A description of the methods to be
implemented and the total costs to restore the facility to compliance with all
standards in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811, 812, or 814 if the experiment is determined
to be a failure. The methods must be feasible with existing methods in use;
and
6) The time period requested in
which to conduct the experiment and documentation to show that this is the
shortest practical time period in which success or failure can be
determined.
d) The Board
will review all petitions to conduct experimental practices submitted in
accordance with subsection (b) of this Section, Section 28.1 of the Act [415
ILCS 5/28.1], or Subpart D of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104 and an Agency
recommendation regarding the experimental practice under the following
assumptions:
1) There is no way in which to
conduct the experiment in compliance with all requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code
811, 812 or 814;
2) The experiment
will be conducted in as short a time as possible if the information submitted
in the petition and the Agency recommendation are not in conflict;
3) A monitoring plan to evaluate the
experiment will be implemented; and
4) The site of the experiment will be
restored to meet all requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811, 812, or 814, should
the experiment fail.
e)
Implementation of the Experimental Practice.
Upon approval of the experimental practice pursuant to
subsection (d) of this Section by the Board, the operator must file an
application for significant modification of the permit with the Agency pursuant
to Subpart B of Section 813. The application must contain the following
information:
1) Detailed designs of
all items to be constructed for use during the experiment;
2) The monitoring plan to be implemented
during the experiment;
3) A plan
for decommissioning and closing the experiment;
4) A time schedule for constructing the
necessary items and closing, removing, and stabilizing the area upon completion
of the experiment;
5) An emergency
cleanup plan describing the methods to be used to restore the facility to
compliance with all standards in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811 if the experiment is
unsuccessful;
6) Cost estimates and
financial assurance (see Subpart G of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 811) in an amount equal
to the costs necessary to restore the facility to compliance with Chapter I of
35 Ill. Adm. Code.
f)
Evaluation of Experimental Practice.
1) After
completion of the experiment, all monitoring data must be submitted to the
Agency for evaluation of the experimental practice in accordance with the
evaluation criteria included in the adjusted standard petition in accordance
with subsection (c)(4) of this Section. The Agency must determine if the
experimental practice is acceptable for implementation pursuant to Section 39
of the Act [415 ILCS
5/39] , and the following additional criteria:
A) An experimental practice must be
considered acceptable for implementation if the monitoring results meet or
exceed the evaluation criteria included in the adjusted standard petition in
accordance with subsection (c)(4) of this Section; and
B) If the experiment does not cause or
contribute to a violation of the Act [415 ILCS 5 ] or Chapter I of 35 Ill. Adm.
Code.
2) Upon completion
of the experiment and an Agency determination that the experimental practice is
acceptable for implementation, the Agency must return the financial assurance
instrument to the operator and, must approve permit modifications allowing the
operation of the experimental practice. If the experimental practice is
determined to be unacceptable for implementation, then the Agency must return
the financial assurance instrument when the facility has been restored to
comply with Chapter I of 35 Ill. Adm. Code.
