Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
A person may not install or cause to be installed a facility
within a significant sand and gravel aquifer (herein "aquifer") mapped by the
Maine Geological Survey. This prohibition applies regardless of proximity to a
public or private drinking water well.
NOTE: Significant Sand and Gravel Aquifer maps are available
for inspection in most municipal offices and from the Maine Geological Survey,
(207) 287-2801. Electronic versions are available from the Maine Office of
Geographic Information Systems, http://megis.maine.gov.
A.
Exceptions. The prohibition
of this section does not apply to:
(1) A
facility in existence on September 30, 2008;
(2)The replacement or expansion of a facility
in existence on September 30, 2008 as long as the replacement or expansion
occurs on the same property and the facility meets all applicable requirements
law.
B.
Variance
for incorrectly mapped aquifer
(1) The
Board may grant a variance for a commercial hazardous waste facility to the
prohibition of this section if the Board determines during the processing of
the license application under Chapter 856 that granting such variance is
consistent with the intent of 38 M.R.S.A. §1391.
(2) The commissioner may grant a variance to
the prohibition of this section for any other proposed facility under section
2(M), above, if:
(a) The applicant submits a
site-specific hydrogeological investigation demonstrating to the commissioner's
satisfaction that the proposed facility site does not overlie an aquifer mapped
by the Maine Geological Survey; and
(b) The municipality in which the facility is
to be located is required to issue a permit for an automobile graveyard or
automobile recycling business to the facility pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A.
§3753 and has acknowledged the incorrectly mapped aquifer.
C.
Variance for
potentially low use or polluted aquifers
The commissioner may grant a variance to the prohibition of
this section for any proposed facility under section 2(M)(1) through (4) above,
if the commissioner finds that the aquifer has a low potential for future use
as a public or private drinking water supply because at least one of the
following circumstances apply:
(1) A
public water system serves all water users within 1000 feet up gradient and
2000 feet down gradient of the proposed facility site, and the site is in an
urban area or an area made up of dense commercial land uses, industrial land
uses or dense residential development not served by public sewer;
(2) The installation of drinking water supply
wells within 1000 feet up gradient or within 2000 feet down gradient is
prohibited by property deed restrictions, municipal land use ordinance or a
zoning rule of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC);
(3) The applicant has submitted
hydrogeological studies or groundwater quality testing data demonstrating to
the commissioner's satisfaction that:
(a) The
aquifer is polluted with one or more man-made contaminants in concentrations
exceeding federal maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) or an MCL or maximum
exposure guideline (MEG) established by the Maine Center for Disease Control
and Prevention; and
(b) The aquifer
has not been and is not now the subject of a commissioner-supervised
remediation effort with the goal of the eventual restoration of or the
protection of ground water in the aquifer to a quality suitable for human
consumption; or
(4) The
applicant has submitted other documentation demonstrating to the commissioner's
satisfaction that the aquifer is unsuitable or unavailable as a future public
or private drinking water resource.
The Commissioner may not grant a variance for an automobile
graveyard or automobile recycling business to the prohibition of this section
in a location that is prohibited pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. §3753.
D.
Variance for
moderate yield aquifers
(1) The Board
may grant a variance for a commercial hazardous waste facility to the
prohibition of this section if the Board determines during the processing of
the license application under Chapter 856 that granting such variance is
consistent with the intent of 38 M.R.S.A. §1391.
(2) The commissioner may grant a variance for
any other proposed facility under section 2(M), above to the prohibition of
this section if the applicant demonstrates to the commissioner's satisfaction
that:
(a) The aquifer does not have a high
potential as a future drinking water resource as defined in subsection E of
this section; and
(b) The facility
will be designed and installed to include a combination of engineering and
monitoring measures that collectively are more stringent than State or federal
requirements and that are determined by the commissioner to further reduce the
risk of oil and hazardous waste discharges and the likelihood of future ground
water contamination.
NOTE: The following are examples of combinations of
additional facility design and monitoring measures that could support a
variance for applicable facilities.
For automobile graveyards, automobile recycling
businesses, and automobile body shops or other commercial automobile
maintenance and repair facilities:
(a) Floor and
berm sealed with a coating impervious to spilled oil and hazardous materials,
such as an epoxy coated floor. Floor must be compatible with materials
handled;
(b) Signed maintenance
contract for floor. Inspection and repair to occur at least once every 3
years;
(c) 4" berm around perimeter
of work area in building;
(d) 4"
berm around storage area for hazardous materials and hazardous waste (4" berm
to separate storage area from work area.) or secondary containment of hazardous
materials and waste
(Examples of secondary containment for hazardous materials
and waste include fire rated storage cabinets with built in sumps, containment
pallets for 55 gallon drums, etc.);
(e) No floor drains;
(f) Plan review. Plan to include drawing
showing containment berm or list of secondary containment items;
(g) All handling of fluids to occur inside
building;
(h) All storage of fluids
drained from automobile to occur inside building;
(i) All storage of hazardous materials and
hazardous wastes to occur inside building;
(j) All disassembly of vehicles to occur
inside building; and
(k) Paint fume
hood to exhaust vertically and through a roof.
For dry cleaning facilities that use
perchloroethylene:
(a) Floor and
berm sealed with a coating impervious to spilled oil and hazardous materials,
such as an epoxy coated floor. Floor must be compatible with materials
handled;
(b) Signed maintenance
contract for floor. Inspection and repair to occur at least once every 3
years;
(c) No floor
drains;
(d) Dry cleaning process to
be a closed loop system; and
(e)
Secondary containment for hazardous materials and waste such as fire rated
storage cabinets with built in sumps, containment pallets for 55 gallon drums,
etc.
For metal finishing or plating facilities:
(a) Floor and
berm sealed with a coating impervious to spilled oil and hazardous materials,
such as an epoxy coated floor. Floor must be compatible with materials
handled;
(b) 4" berm around
perimeter of work area in building;
(c) Signed maintenance contract for floor.
Inspection and repair to occur at least once every 3 years;
(d) No floor drains; and
(e) Plan review. Plan to include drawing of
storage areas and/or list of secondary containment items;
The commissioner may not grant a variance for an automobile
graveyard or automobile recycling business to the prohibition of this section
in a location that is prohibited under 30-A M.R.S.A. §3753.
E.
High potential aquifers; variance
prohibited. Notwithstanding Section 4(B), the commissioner shall not
grant a variance from the prohibition of this section if any part of a proposed
facility overlies a mapped aquifer that has high potential as a future public
drinking water resource. A high potential aquifer is any part of a mapped
aquifer that has a good to excellent potential ground water yield, generally
exceeding 50 gallons per minute, and good water quality. High potential
aquifers include:
(1) Any area designated on
a Maine Geological Survey "Significant Sand and Gravel Aquifer Map" as a
surficial deposit generally with yields greater than 50 gallons per
minute;
(2) An aquifer or ground
water resource protection zone as designated in a municipal ordinance or a LURC
zoning rule;
(3) The source water
or recharge area of a community public drinking water system supply well,
including a well that is in the process of being developed, or areas within
1000 feet of such a well, whichever is greater, provided the aquifer has been
found to yield more than 50 gallons per minute, based on hydrogeological pump
test data and analysis by a Maine-certified geologist; or
(4) A portion of a mapped aquifer that, based
on a borehole test conducted in the center of a proposed facility site and in
accordance with Appendix A of this rule, is expected to yield more than 50
gallons per minute.
NOTE: If an applicant believes that a high potential aquifer,
as listed above, has been incorrectly mapped or identified, the applicant
should engage the entities responsible for that mapping or identification
regarding appropriate changes.
