Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
Each composting facility subject to licensing under sections
2 and
3 or section
6 of this Chapter must comply with the
following operating requirements. The composting facility must be operated and
maintained in a manner that assures it will meet the approved design
requirements; will not contaminate ground or surface water; will not
contaminate the ambient air; will not constitute a hazard to health or welfare;
will not create a nuisance; and will meet the standards in 06-096C.M.R. ch.
400(4). Facilities with an existing solid waste composting license are required
to operate in compliance with the provisions of this section.
A.
Operations Manual. All
composting facilities must be operated in accordance with a Department-approved
operations manual that incorporates the operating requirements of its license
and these rules. This manual must be available for inspection by Department
staff during normal business hours. The facility's operations manual must be
updated to keep current with revisions at the composting facility.
The operations manual must include the information that would
enable supervisory and operating personnel, and persons evaluating the
operation of the facility, to determine the sequence of operation, policies,
procedures, monitoring, maintenance, inspection, and legal requirements that
must be followed for safe and environmentally sound operation on a daily and
yearly basis. The composting facility must be operated and maintained in a
manner that assures it will meet the approved design requirements, will not
contaminate ground or surface water, contaminate the ambient air, constitute a
hazard to health or welfare, create a nuisance, and will meet the standards in
06-096C.M.R. ch.400(4). The manual must address all items contained in this
section including the environmental monitoring plan, if required by the
Department, and the odor control plan.The manual must also include a copy of
the facility license, any amendments and revisions to that license, and a copy
of the applicable sections of the most recent Solid Waste Management
Regulations.
B.
General Operations
(1)
Personnel: The operation of the composting facility must be under
the overall supervision and direction of a person qualified and experienced in
the operation of that type of facility or, in the case of an innovative design,
be adequately trained by responsible personnel in the operation of the
facility. The facility operator must take whatever measures are necessary to
familiarize all personnel responsible for operation of the facility with
relevant sections of the operations manual.
(2)
Equipment:Equipment must be
sufficient to meet the requirements, and the operator must provide for the
routine maintenance of equipment.
(3)
Environmental Monitoring:If
required by the Department, the operator must implement the approved
environmental monitoring program, including any required waste
characterization.
(4)
Fire
Protection: The operator shall prevent and control fires at the
composting facility by complying with at least the following:
(a) Arrange for a nearby fire department to
provide emergency service whenever called;
(b) Develop and implement a plan to prevent
spontaneous combustion in wood waste, residual and compost piles, as
applicable; and
(c) Provide and
maintain sufficient on-site equipment, such as detachable fire extinguishers,
for minor fires.
NOTE: Facilities should develop a fire and rescue plan in
conjunction with the local fire department.
(5)
Vector Control: The on-site
population of disease vectors must be minimized to protect public
health.
(6)
Dust
Control: The operator must control dust generated by the
facility.
(7)
Storage
(a) Raw materials, wastes, secondary
materials, residue, including compost screenings, and finished compost, must be
stored on the site such that they remain suitable for the intended use and may
not be stored at the facility for more than 2 years;
(b) Materials with a carbon to nitrogen ratio
(C:N) of less than 20:1 or that may contain constituents that may leach into
groundwater may not be stored on in situ soils; and
(c) Wastes, secondary materials and residue,
including non-compostable compost screenings, may not be stored at the site for
more than 2 years.
(8)
Facility Maintenance and Litter Control: The operator must provide
for routine maintenance and general cleanliness of the entire facility site,
including control of windblown litter.
(9)
Leachate Control: The
facility must contain, collect and treat all leachate and stormwater runoff
mixed with leachate.
(10)
Sedimentation and Erosion Control: The facility must control
sedimentation and erosion during construction and operation of the
facility.
(11)
Residue
Disposal: The facility must provide for the routine disposal of residue,
including non-compostable compost screenings, from the composting
operation.
C.
Access to Facility
(1) The
operator must maintain suitable barriers or fencing and gates to prevent
unauthorized persons access to the site. The facility gate may be unlocked or
open only when an authorized person is on duty. The operator must prominently
post limitations and conditions of access at each entrance to the facility,
including, if applicable, the hours of operation.
(2) The operator must provide and maintain in
good repair access roads at the facility site.
(3) The operator must post appropriate signs
and/or other means necessary to indicate clearly where waste is to be unloaded
and where the separate storage areas within the facility are located.
(4) Adequate space must be maintained to
allow the unobstructed movement of emergency personnel and equipment throughout
operating areas of the facility.
D.
Acceptance and Distribution of Solid
Waste
(1) The composting facility may
only accept wastes for which it has been specifically designed and permitted by
the Department. Incoming wastes must undergo a visual inspection and, if
appropriate, analysis to ensure that only wastes allowed by the facility
license are accepted at the facility. All other wastes must be removed and
handled at an approved facility.
(2)
Waste Disposal:The operator
must have procedures in place, prior to the start of operation, for disposal of
residue, bypass and other solid waste, including non-compostable compost
screenings, generated by the composting facility, including contingency
procedures for implementation during emergencies and shutdown periods. The
operator must also maintain a valid contract with a solid waste facility which
has Department approval to accept the waste.
(3) The facility may not incorporate painted
wood, treated wood, plywood, chipboard, plastic, wood with fasteners, nails,
glue, adhesives, resins, paint or coatings, or wood that is otherwise
contaminated into the composting process. All such wood, if received at the
facility, must be stored separately from wood used as amendment in the
composting process and disposed in an approved solid waste disposal
facility.
E.
Odor
Control
(1) For facilities other than
those that compost wastewater treatment sludge from publicly owned treatment
works and facilities that compost septage:
(a) The facility must be operated to prevent
nuisance odors at occupied buildings.
(b) Facility personnel must immediately
contact the Department's Solid Waste Management Division to report odor
complaints received by the facility. The Department, after investigation, will
determine whether the facility has caused a nuisance odor at an occupied
building. Facility personnel must, within 30 days of a Department determination
of an off-site odor nuisance, report to the Department's Solid Waste Management
Division, in writing, causes of odor generation and completed or planned
follow-up action to minimize, control, and/or treat the odors from the
facility.
(2) For
facilities that compost wastewater treatment sludge from publicly owned
treatment works and facilities that compost septage:
(a)
Standards. The facility may
not create nuisance odor, as defined in this subsection, at or beyond the
property boundary. The Department may determine that an odor attributable to
the facility constitutes a nuisance if present at such frequency, intensity,
duration, and offensiveness to unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of
property or the environment. The Department may also reasonably determine that
an odor event as defined by a single occurrence of odor warrants further
evaluation in accordance with paragraph b(i). Additionally, the Department may
determine that further evaluation of an odor event is warranted in accordance
with paragraph b(i) based upon multiple odor complaints verifiable by a
combination of the following: meteorological conditions such as wind direction
at the time of complaint, knowledge of waste storage and placement practices at
the time of complaint, previous facility inspections, and other site-specific
information.
NOTE: The Department's standards with respect to nuisance
odor as set forth in this rule are not intended to define the criteria for a
civil action for private nuisance as defined by statute or common law.
(i) The following standards apply to a
facility upon the detection of an odor based on the modified 5-point odor
intensity referencing scale, as determined by Department staff trained in odor
evaluation, or other trained persons approved by the Department:
a. Odor shall constitute a nuisance if the
Department determines the presence of an odor at an intensity of 4 or greater
for any period of time; or
b. Odor
may constitute a nuisance based upon the Department's review of an odor event
consisting of the following:
i. An intensity
greater than or equal to 3 for a duration of 15 minutes or more. At least 2
odor assessments must be made within the 15-minute period. An odor assessment
means a single evaluation of odor; or
ii. An intensity greater than 2 for a
duration of 60 minutes or more. At least 3 odor assessments must be made within
the 60-minute period.
NOTE: Preparation of the modified 5-point odor intensity
referencing scale is described in Appendix C.
(ii)
Alternative Odor Measurement Technology.The Department may allow
the use of an alternative odor measurement technology based upon a successful
demonstration that the proposed alternative will provide equal or superior
performance to the modified n-butanol odor intensity referencing scale. If
previously approved in an odor management plan, the Department may also allow a
facility to demonstrate compliance with the intent of paragraph a(i)(b) based
upon the measurements of a site-specific odorant of concern.
(iii)
Allowances. The Department
may allow temporary exceedances of the standard of paragraph a(i)(b) during
short-term shutdown and malfunction events of the odor control systems and,
with prior authorization, during short-term construction activities provided
that all of the following conditions are met:
a. Reasonable methods are used to control,
reduce or eliminate odor;
b. The
odor management plan is being implemented;
c. Procedures are established to notify the
Department and the affected community; and
d. Shutdown and malfunction events are
corrected as soon as practicable.
(b)
Odor Response Procedures.
Odor response procedures must include the elements of this paragraph.
(i)
Odor Event Evaluation. The
owner/operator of a facility identified by the Department as potentially
responsible for a nuisance odor must investigate the odor event and report the
results of the investigation to the Department. The investigation must include
an evaluation of:
a. Facility operations at
the time of the exceedance including waste handling and management
activities;
b. Meteorological
conditions such as wind direction, temperature, and humidity at the time of the
exceedance;
c. Odor monitoring
data;
d. Potential response actions
and/or a summary of response actions performed; and
e. Other pertinent site-specific
information.
(ii)
Review of Odor Event(s). The Department shall review the
information related to the odor event(s) and may determine that the facility is
creating nuisance odor and that an odor management plan, including a specific
proposal which addresses the odor event, must be submitted for Department
review and approval and implemented in accordance with Section
3(G)(2) of this
Chapter.
F.
Record Keeping. The facility
operator must maintain the following records and make the records available for
Departmental inspection and copying for the duration of the facility operation
and a minimum oftwo (2) years after facility closure:
(1) When applicable, as-built engineering
drawings of the facility;
(2)
Results of analyses required by this Chapterand/or facility license;
(3) The Department-approved operations manual
meeting the requirements of this section;
(4) Records of odor monitoring data,
exceedances, response actions and complaints, if any;
(5) Copies of periodic and annual reports
submitted to the Department; and
(6)
Operations Log: An
operations log must be kept at any composting facility that is operated to
reduce the pathogen content, reduce vector attraction properties, reduce
putrescibility, reduce the carbon to nitrogen ratio, or otherwise stabilize a
residual. The operations log must contain the source and volume of residuals
received on a daily basis; the mixture of residuals composted at the facility;
composting monitoring data; date, time and type of samples obtained from the
facility; and volume and type of residuals and finished compost distributed
from the facility on a daily basis, including to whom the residuals and
finished compost are distributed.
G.
Periodic Reporting. Licensees
must submit periodic reports to the Department containing the results of
environmental monitoring, including waste characterization, and any other
information required in accordance with the facility license. Reporting periods
will be identified in the individual facility license.
H.
Annual Report. By February
28thof each year, the facility operator must pay the
annual facility reporting fee established in Maine law, and submit an annual
report to the Department for review. The annual report must include a summary
of activity at the composting facility during the previous calendar year. The
annual report must summarize the facility's activities, and at a minimum
include the following:
(1) Volume, source and
type of wastes received by the facility;
(2) Volume of compost produced;
(3) Volume of compost, raw feedstocks, waste
and residue, including non-compostable compost screenings, distributed
off-site, and the locations to which any such items were distributed;
(4) Volume of compost, raw feedstocks, waste,
secondary material, and residue, including non-compostable compost screenings,
stored on site as of December 31st;
(5) A general summary of the composting
operation including problems encountered and follow-up actions, changes to the
facility operation, and a summary of odor or other complaints received by the
facility during the previous year;
(6) A discussion of any odor problems, and a
discussion of any factors, either at the facility or elsewhere, which affected
the operation, design, or environmental monitoring program of the
facility.
(7) A summary of odor
monitoring data, exceedances, response actions and complaints, if
any;
(8) Other alterations to the
facility site not requiring Departmental approval that have occurred during the
reporting year. Minor aspects of the facility site proposed to be changed in
the current year may be described in the annual report. Changes handled in this
manner are those that do not require licensing under minor revision or
amendment provisions of 06-096C.M.R. ch.400; and
(9) A summary and evaluation of the past
year's environmental monitoring program results, if required by the
Department.
I.
Facility Closure
(1)
Closure Performance Standard: The facility must be closed in a
manner that minimizes the need for further maintenance; and so that the closed
facility will not pollute any waters of the state, contaminate the ambient air,
constitute a hazard to health or welfare, or create a nuisance. At a minimum,
the applicant must remove all compost, wastes, secondary materials, leachate
and leachate-contaminated sediment, and residue, including compost screenings,
from the facility. The applicant must stabilize all site soils in accordance
with Maine erosion and sediment control best management practices. The
applicant must broom clean the facility structures and equipment.
(2)
Closure Plan: The operator
of a composting facility shall submit a closure plan to the Department, for
review and approval, a minimum of ninety (90) days prior to the proposed date
of the closure of a solid waste composting facility. The plan must include:
(a) A description of the proposed closing
operation;
(b) A schedule for the
removal of all stored compost, wastes, secondary material, leachate and
leachate-contaminated sediment, and residue, including compost screenings; and
The intended destination of all stored compost, wastes,
secondary material, leachate and leachate-contaminated sediment, and residue,
including compost screenings.
