Virginia Administrative Code
Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT
Agency 20 - VIRGINIA WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD
Chapter 81 - SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS
Part IV - Other Solid Waste Management Facility Standards: Compost Facilities; Solid Waste Transfer Stations; Centralized Waste Treatment Facilities; Materials Recovery Facilities; Waste to Energy; Incineration Facilities; Surface Impoundments and Lagoons; Waste Piles; Remediation Waste Management Units; Landfill Mining; Miscellaneous Units; and Exempt Management Facilities
Section 9VAC20-81-380 - Remediation waste management units
Universal Citation: 9 VA Admin Code 20-81-380
Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
A. General.
1. For the purpose of implementing remedies
under 9VAC20-81-45 or under the Voluntary
Remediation Regulations (9VAC20-160), the director may designate an area of a
facility as a remediation waste management unit (RWMU) as defined in Part I
(9VAC20-81-10 et seq.) of this
chapter. One of more RWMUs may be designated at a facility.
2. The director may designate a unit subject
to this chapter as an RWMU or incorporate such a unit into a designated RWMU
if:
a. The unit is closed or has begun the
closure process under
9VAC20-81-160 C; and
b. Inclusion of the unit will enhance
implementation of effective, protective, and reliable remedial actions for the
facility.
3.
Consolidation or placement of remediation wastes into a designated RWMU does
not constitute creation of a unit subject to the siting, design, and operation
requirements of Part III (9VAC20-81-120,
9VAC20-81-130, and
9VAC20-81-140) and the permitting
requirements of Part V (9VAC20-81-400 et seq.)
of this chapter.
4. The applicable
requirements for groundwater monitoring and closure under
9VAC20-81-250 and
9VAC20-81-160 will continue to
apply to the RWMU.
B. Criteria for designating RWMUs. The director will designate an RWMU if he finds that:
1. The RWMU shall facilitate the
implementation of reliable, protective and cost-effective remedies;
2. Waste management activities associated
with the RWMU shall not create unacceptable risks to humans or to the
environment resulting from exposure to solid wastes and solid waste
constituents;
3. If an inclusion of
uncontaminated areas of the facility into an RWMU is requested, such an
inclusion will be more protective than management of such wastes at
contaminated areas of the facility;
4. Areas within the RWMU where wastes remain
in place after closure of the RWMU shall be managed and contained so as to
minimize future releases, to the extent practicable;
5. The RWMU shall expedite the timing of the
remedial activity implementation when appropriate and practicable;
6. The RWMU shall enable the use, when
appropriate, of treatment technologies (including innovative treatment
technologies) to enhance the long-term effectiveness of remedial actions by
reducing the toxicity, mobility, or volume of wastes that will remain in place
after closure of the RWMU; and
7.
The RWMU shall, to the extent practicable, minimize the land area of the
facility upon which wastes will remain in place after closure of the
RWMU.
C. Requirements. The director will specify the requirements for RWMUs to include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. The areal
configuration of the RWMU;
2.
Requirements for remediation waste management to include the specification of
applicable design, operation and closure requirements;
3. Requirements for groundwater monitoring
that:
a. Continue to detect and to
characterize the nature, extent, concentration, direction, and movement of
existing releases of solid waste constituents in groundwater from sources
located within the RWMU; and
b.
Detect and subsequently characterize releases of solid waste constituents to
groundwater that may occur from areas of the RWMU in which wastes will remain
in place after closure of the RWMU.
4. Closure and postclosure care requirements:
a. Closure of RWMUs shall:
(1) Minimize the need for further
maintenance; and
(2) Control,
minimize, or eliminate, to the extent necessary to protect human health and the
environment, for areas where wastes remain in place, postclosure escape of
solid waste, solid waste constituents, leachate, contaminated run-off, or waste
decomposition products to the ground, surface waters, or the
atmosphere.
b.
Requirements for closure of an RWMU shall include the following, as appropriate
and deemed necessary by the director for a given RWMU:
(1) Requirements for excavation, removal,
treatment, or containment of wastes;
(2) For areas in which wastes will remain in
place after closure of the RWMU, requirements for capping of such areas;
and
(3) Requirements for
decontamination of equipment, devices, and structures in remediation waste
management activities within the RWMU.
c. In establishing specific closure
requirements for RWMUs, the director will consider the following factors:
(1) RWMU characteristics;
(2) Volume of waste that remains in place
after closure;
(3) Potential for
releases from the RWMU;
(4)
Physical and chemical characteristics of the waste;
(5) Hydrological and other relevant
environmental conditions at the facility that may influence the migration of
any potential or actual releases; and
(6) Potential for exposure of humans and
environmental receptors if releases were to occur from the RWMU.
d. Postclosure requirements as
necessary to protect human health and the environment to include, for areas
where wastes will remain in place, monitoring and maintenance activities and
the frequency with which such activities shall be performed in order to ensure
the integrity of any final cap, final cover, or other containment
system.
5. The director
will document the rationale for designating RWMUs.
6. The designation of an RWMU does not change
the department's existing authority to address clean-up levels, media specific
points of compliance to be applied to remediation at a facility, or other
remedy selection decisions.
D. Temporary units.
1. Temporary tanks and container storage
areas may be used for treatment or storage of remediation wastes during
remedial activities, if the director determines that design, operating, or
closure standards applicable to RWMUs may be replaced by alternative
requirements that are protective of human health and the environment.
2. Any temporary unit to which alternative
requirements are applied shall be:
a. Located
within the facility boundary; and
b. Used only for the treatment or storage of
remediation wastes.
3.
In establishing standards to be applied to temporary units, the director will
consider the following factors:
a. Length of
time such unit will be in operation;
b. Type of unit;
c. Volumes of waste to be managed;
d. Physical and chemical characteristics of
the waste to be managed in the unit;
e. Potential for releases from the
unit;
f. Hydrogeological and other
relevant environmental conditions at the facility that may influence migration
of any potential releases; and
g.
Potential for exposure of humans and environmental receptors if releases were
to occur from the unit.
4. The director will specify the length of
time a temporary unit will be allowed to operate, to be no longer than a period
of one year. The director will also specify the design, operating, and closure
requirements for the unit.
5. The
director may extend the operational period of a temporary unit once for a
period of one year beyond that originally specified, if the director determines
that:
a. Continued operation of the unit will
not pose a threat to human health and the environment; and
b. Continued operation of the unit is
necessary to ensure timely and efficient implementation of the remedial actions
at the facility.
Statutory Authority
§ 10.1-1402 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6941 et seq.; 40 CFR Part 258.
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