Current through December 12, 2024
1. Except as
otherwise provided in this section, the Director may require an owner or
operator to take corrective action if the release of a hazardous substance,
hazardous waste or a regulated substance contaminates groundwater and the level
of contamination exceeds the action level established for the groundwater
pursuant to NAC
445A.22735.
2. An owner or operator may, before
initiating corrective action or after the termination of remediation pursuant
to NAC 445A.22745, submit a written
request to the Director for an exemption from the provisions of subsection 1.
The request must be accompanied by such supporting information as the Director
may require. The Director may grant the request if:
(a) The following conditions are satisfied:
(1) Each source of the contamination of the
groundwater is identified and controlled or no source of the contamination
remains based upon the age and nature of the release;
(2) The magnitude and extent of the
contamination of the groundwater is known; and
(3) Data are available from at least 3 years
of quarterly monitoring or another period specified by the Division based upon
the magnitude of the contamination of the groundwater and the data do not show
a trend of increasing concentrations of the contamination in the body of the
plume of the contamination;
(b) A demonstration is made which indicates
that natural attenuation is sufficient to reduce any concentration of the
contamination below action levels or to prevent any migration of the
contaminant to a receptor or another point of demonstration established by the
Division at concentrations that are greater than action levels, if the
demonstration relies upon analytical or numerical models of diffusion and
dispersion or any other calculations of physical or chemical processes of
retardation or degradation that are approved by the Division; and
(c) The groundwater contaminated by the
release is not a source of drinking water and is not likely to be a source of
drinking water in the future because:
(1) It
is economically or technologically impractical to recover the water for
drinking because of the depth or location of the water or render the water fit
for human consumption; or
(2) A
legal restriction or institutional control is in effect concerning the use of
the groundwater based upon the depth of the groundwater, the presence of a
municipal system, the use of an environmental covenant or other controls
accepted by the Division.
3. In addition to any calculations of
physical or chemical processes required pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection
2, a demonstration made pursuant to that paragraph may also rely upon:
(a) Any known mechanism of biological
degradation and any evidence obtained for the site relating to metabolic
activity and the presence of the appropriate redox potential which supports
biological degradation of the contamination;
(b) Any indication of degradation based upon
the presence of any daughter products; or
(c) Any other applicable factors specified by
the Division which are appropriate for making a decision based upon
risk.
4. The Director
shall not require an owner or operator to take corrective action pursuant to
subsection 1 to achieve the remediation standard required by the Division if
the owner or operator files with the Division a study which is acceptable to
the Division and which demonstrates that, based on a review of available
technology and the prohibitive cost of the corrective action, it is not
feasible to achieve the required remediation standard.
Added to NAC by
Environmental Comm'n, eff. 10-3-96; A by R189-08,
8-25-2009
NRS 445A.425
