Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Part V - Hazardous Wastes and Hazardous Materials
Subpart 1 - Department of Environmental Quality-Hazardous Waste
Chapter 25 - Landfills
Section V-2503 - Design and Operating Requirements

Universal Citation: LA Admin Code V-2503

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

A. Any landfill that is not covered by LAC 33:V.2503.K or 4512.A must have a liner system for all portions of the landfill (except for existing portions of such landfill). The liner system must have:

1. a liner that is designed, constructed, and installed to prevent any migration of wastes out of the landfill to the adjacent subsurface soil, or groundwater or surface water throughout the active life (including the closure period) of the landfill. The liner, at a minimum, must consist of a synthetic liner laid on top of a permanent barrier at the bottom and along the sides of the landfill. The liner must be constructed of materials that prevent wastes from passing into the liner during the active life of the facility. The liner must be installed to cover all surrounding earth likely to be in contact with the waste or leachate. The liner must be:
a. constructed of materials that have appropriate chemical properties and sufficient strength and thickness to prevent failure due to pressure gradients (including static head and external hydrogeologic forces), physical contact with waste or leachate to which they are exposed, climatic conditions, the stress of installation, and the stress of daily operation;

b. placed upon a foundation or base capable of providing support to the liner and resistance to pressure gradients above and below the liner to prevent failure of the liner due to settlement, compression, or uplift;

c. be resistant to the action of the elements, contents placement (including equipment used to place contents), and chemical action of the contents by means protecting the integrity of the barrier; and

d. the permanent barrier shall be at least 3 feet of recompacted clay with a permeability of 1 x 10-7 cm/sec or less and so designed and operated as to prevent endangering any fresh-water aquifer by the migration of contaminants from the facility, or equivalent system acceptable to administrative authority; and

2. a leachate collection and removal system immediately above the synthetic liner that is designed, constructed, maintained and operated to collect and remove leachate from the landfill. The administrative authority will specify design and operating conditions in the permit to ensure that the leachate depth over the liner does not exceed 30 centimeters (1 foot). The leachate collection and removal system must be designed and operated to function without clogging through the scheduled closure of the landfill and constructed of materials that are:
a. chemically resistant to the waste managed in the landfill and the leachate expected to be generated; and

b. of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressures exerted by overlying wastes, waste cover materials, and any equipment used at the landfill.

B. Unless the permittee demonstrates to the administrative authority that the first permeable zone in which groundwater monitoring would occur is not a potable water aquifer, a leachate detection system shall be provided. A permanent barrier of at least 3 feet of recompacted clay with a permeability of 1 x 10-7 cm/sec or less shall be installed below the leachate detection system, which is located immediately under the liner system as required by LAC 33:V.2503.A unless an equivalent system is acceptable to the administrative authority.

C. The owner or operator of any replacement landfill unit is exempt from LAC 33:V.2503.L if:

1. the existing unit was constructed in compliance with the design standards of Section 3004(o)(1)(A)(i) and (o)(5) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and

2. there is no reason to believe that the liner is not functioning as designed.

D. The owner or operator must design, construct, operate, and maintain a run-on control system capable of preventing flow onto the active portion of the landfill during peak discharge from a 24-hour, 25-year storm.

E. The owner or operator must design, construct, operate, and maintain a run-off management system to collect and control at least the water volume resulting from a 24-hour, 25-year storm.

F. Collection and holding facilities (e.g., tanks or basins) associated with run-on and run-off control systems must be emptied or otherwise managed expeditiously after storms to maintain the design capacity of the system. Collected material must be disposed of properly.

G. If the landfill contains any particulate matter which may be subject to wind dispersal, the owner or operator must cover or otherwise manage the landfill to control wind dispersal. Wetting of the landfill for control of particulate matter is not allowed unless the landfill is equipped with a leachate collection system equivalent to LAC 33:V.2503.A.2.

H. The administrative authority will specify in the permit all design and operating practices that are necessary to ensure that the requirements of this Section are satisfied.

I. If noxious gases are generated, (or have the potential to be generated), the administrative authority may specifically require a gas collection and control system.

J. Accumulated rainfall and groundwater must be removed from the active portions of landfills in a timely manner.

K. Materials That May Be Landfilled

1. Materials that may be landfilled using clay encapsulation in compliance with the permit, any order of the assistant secretary, and state or federal regulations, if they meet the following criteria:
a. the material does not contain free liquid, except for laboratory packs;

b. the content of the metals listed in LAC 33:V.4903.D as amended does not exceed 50 percent;

c. the free cyanide content does not exceed 500 ppm;

d. the phenol concentration does not exceed 5 percent;

e. the PCB content does not exceed 50 ppm;

f. any leachate that would be produced can be handled by the facility with existing technology;

g. halogenated solvents content does not exceed 5 percent, i.e., waste streams numbers F001, F002, K016, K019, K029, K030, K085, K095, K096, P028, U025, U037, U044, U048, U070, U071, U072, U076, U077, U078, U079, U080, U083, U084, U131, U184, U207, U208, U209, U210, U226, U227, and U228;

h. nonhalogenated solvents content does not exceed 10 percent, i.e, waste streams numbers F003, F004, F005, F009, K025, U019, U056, U159, U220, and U239;

i. the material is not a confined gas;

j. it is not an infectious waste as defined in LAC 33:V.109;

k. it is not an ignitable waste as described in LAC 33:V.4903.B;

l. it is not a corrosive waste as characterized by the pH limits in LAC 33:V.4903.C;

m. it is not a reactive waste as described in LAC 33:V.4903.D;

n. it is not a radioactive waste as defined by the Radiation Protection regulations (LAC 33:XV); and

o. it is not a listed hazardous waste as defined in LAC 33:V.Chapter 49 and it is not banned from land disposal as set forth in LAC 33:V.Chapter 22.

2. Permittees may request approval for landfilling of wastes which do not meet the criteria on a case-by-case basis. Such a request must include specific data on how such waste does not meet the criteria, documentation on why high technology destruction/detoxification is not practicable, and provide risk assessment information as to why such landfilling will not endanger public health or the environment.

3. The administrative authority may authorize changes, up to double the specified value, on the following materials listed in LAC 33:V.2503.J.1: metals, free cyanide, phenol, halogenated solvents, and nonhalogenated solvents.

L. The owner or operator of each new landfill unit on which construction commenced after January 29, 1992, each lateral expansion of a landfill unit on which construction commenced after July 29, 1992, and each replacement of an existing landfill unit that was to commence reuse after July 29, 1992, must have installed two or more liners and a leachate collection and removal system above and between such liners. Construction commences is as defined in LAC 33:V.109.Existing Facilities.

1. The liner system must include:
a. a top liner designed and constructed of materials (e.g., a geomembrane) to prevent the migration of hazardous constituents into such liner during the active life and post-closure care period; and

b. a composite bottom liner consisting of at least two components. The upper component must be designed and constructed of materials (e.g., a geomembrane) to prevent the migration of hazardous constituents into such component during the active life and post-closure care period. The lower component must be designed and constructed of materials to minimize the migration of hazardous constituents if a breach in the upper component were to occur. The lower component must be constructed of at least 3 feet (91 cm) of compacted soil material with a hydraulic conductivity of no more than 1 x 10-7 cm/sec. The administrative authority may require additional liner design requirements based on the location of the landfill in relation to drinking water aquifers.

2. The liners must comply with LAC 33:V.2503.A.1.a-d.

3. The leachate collection and removal system immediately above the top liner must be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to collect and remove leachate from the landfill during the active life and post-closure care period. The administrative authority will specify design and operating conditions in the permit to ensure that the leachate depth over the liner does not exceed 1 foot (30 cm). The leachate collection and removal system must comply with LAC 33:V.2503.L.4.c-d.

4. The leachate collection and removal system between the liners (and immediately above the bottom composite liner in the case of multiple leachate collection and removal systems) is also a leak detection system. This leak detection system must be capable of detecting, collecting, and removing leaks of hazardous constituents at the earliest practicable time through all areas of the top liner which are likely to be exposed to waste or leachate during the active life and post-closure care period. The requirements for a leak detection system in this Section are satisfied by installation of a system that is, at a minimum:
a. constructed with a bottom slope of 2 percent or more;

b. constructed of granular drainage materials with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10-2 cm/sec or more and a thickness of 12 inches (30.5 cm) or more; or constructed of synthetic or geonet drainage materials with a transmissivity of 3 x 10-5 m2/sec or more;

c. constructed of materials that are chemically resistant to the waste managed in the landfill and the leachate expected to be generated and are of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressures exerted by overlying wastes, waste cover materials, and equipment used at the landfill;

d. designed and operated to minimize clogging during the active life and post-closure care period; and

e. constructed with sumps and liquid removal methods (e.g., pumps) of sufficient size to collect and remove liquids from the sump and prevent liquids from backing up into the drainage layer. Each unit must have its own sump(s). The design of each sump and removal system must provide a method for measuring and recording the volume of liquids present in the sump and of liquids removed.

5. The owner or operator shall collect and remove pumpable liquids in the leak detection system sumps to minimize the head on the bottom liner.

6. The owner or operator of a leak detection system that is not located completely above the seasonal high water table must demonstrate that the operation of the leak detection system will not be adversely affected by the presence of groundwater.

M. The administrative authority may approve alternative design or operating practices to those specified in LAC 33:V.2503.L if the owner or operator demonstrates to the administrative authority that such design and operating practices, together with location characteristics:

1. will prevent the migration of any hazardous constituent into the groundwater or surface water at least as effectively as the liners and leachate collection and removal systems specified in LAC 33:V.2503.L; and

2. will allow detection of leaks of hazardous constituents through the top liner at least as effectively.

N. The double liner requirements set forth in LAC 33:V.2503.L may be waived by the administrative authority for any monofill under the following circumstances:

1. the monofill contains only hazardous wastes from foundry furnace emission controls or metal casting molding sand, and such wastes do not contain constituents which would render the wastes hazardous for reasons other than the Toxicity Characteristic in LAC 33:V.4903.E (Hazardous Waste Numbers D004 through D017 only); and

2. the monofill meets the criteria of either LAC 33:V.2503.M.2.a or b below:
a. the monofill:
i. has at least one liner for which there is no evidence that such liner is leaking;

ii. is located more than 1/4 mile from an underground source of drinking water (as that term is defined in LAC 33:V.109); and

iii. is in compliance with generally applicable groundwater monitoring requirements for facilities with permits;

b. the owner or operator demonstrates that the monofill is located, designed, and operated so as to assure that there will be no migration of any hazardous constituent into groundwater or surface water at any future time.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:2180 et seq.

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