Texas Administrative Code
Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Chapter 332 - COMPOSTING
Subchapter C - OPERATIONS REQUIRING A REGISTRATION
Section 332.37 - Operational Requirements

(1) Protection of surface water. The facility must be constructed, maintained, and operated to manage run-on and run-off during a 25-year, 24-hour rainfall event and must prevent discharge into waters in the state of feedstock material, including, but not limited to, in-process and/or processed materials. Any waters coming into contact with feedstock, in-process, and processed materials must be considered leachate. Leachate must be contained in retention facilities until reapplied on piles of feedstock, in-process, or unprocessed materials. The retention facilities must be lined and the liner must be constructed in compliance with paragraph (2) of this section. Leachate may be treated and processed at an authorized facility or as authorized by a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The use of leachate in any processing must be conducted in a manner that does not contaminate the final product.

(2) Protection of groundwater. The facility must be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to protect groundwater. Facilities that compost municipal sewage sludge, disposable diapers, and/or the sludge byproduct of paper mill production must install and maintain a liner system complying with the provisions of subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph. The liner system must be provided where receiving, mixing, composting, post-processing, screening, or storage areas would be in contact with the ground or in areas where leachate, contaminated materials, contaminated product, or contaminated water is stored or retained. The application must demonstrate the facility is designed to prevent contamination or degradation of the groundwater. For the purposes of these sections, protection of the groundwater includes the protection of perched water or shallow surface infiltration. The lined surface must be covered with a material designed to withstand normal traffic from the composting operations. At a minimum, the lined surface must consist of soil, synthetic, or an alternative material that is equivalent to two feet of compacted clay with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10-7 centimeters per second or less.

(3) Unauthorized and prohibited materials. The operator shall operate the facility in a manner that will preclude the entry of any unauthorized or prohibited materials from entering the composting process.

(4) Access. Access to the facility shall be controlled to prevent unauthorized disposal of unauthorized or prohibited material and scavenging. The facility shall be completely fenced with a gate that is locked when the facility is closed.

(5) Nuisance conditions. The facility shall be sited and operated in such a manner as to prevent the potential of nuisance conditions and fire hazards. Where nuisance conditions or fire hazards exist, the operator will immediately take action to abate such nuisances.

(6) Aerobic composting required. The facility shall utilize functionally aerobic composting methods, although an anaerobic composting phase may be utilized in the early stages of processing, if it is followed by a period of functionally aerobic composting.

(7) Site sign. The facility shall have a sign at the entrance indicating the type of facility, the registration number, hours of operation, and the allowable feedstocks.

(8) Access road. The facility access road shall be an all-weather road.

(9) Authorization required for significant changes. The operator shall obtain written permission from the commission before changing the processing method or other significant changes to the original registration application.

(10) Prohibited substances. Fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, or other pesticides that contain constituents listed in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 261, Appendix VIII-Hazardous Constituents or on the Hazardous Substance List as defined in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 shall not be applied to or incorporated into feedstocks, in-process materials, or processed materials.

(11) End-product standards.

(12) Licensed municipal solid waste facility supervisor. The operator shall employ at least one licensed municipal solid waste supervisor who has completed a TCEQ-recognized or approved specialized compost training course. Supervisors of existing facilities who do not already hold a municipal solid waste facility supervisor license must obtain a license. A licensed municipal solid waste facility supervisor who has completed a TCEQ-recognized or approved specialized compost training course shall be on-site during the hours of operation.

(13) Chemical release. The operator of a compost facility shall address the release of a chemical of concern from a compost facility to any environmental media under the requirements of Chapter 350 of this title (relating to Texas Risk Reduction Program) to perform the corrective action.