Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
(1) Applicability.
(a) These standards apply to all new and
expanded landfill disposal facilities, and to existing landfill disposal
facilities that have not been closed on or before November 27, 1989. Landfill
disposal facilities include:
(i) All solid
waste facilities operated as landfills under WAC
173-304-460, including limited
purpose landfills under WAC
173-304-460(5);
(ii) Facilities operated as surface
impoundments under WAC
173-304-430 that are closed with
the waste remaining in place and therefore required to meet the requirements of
WAC 173-304-407; and
(iii) Woodwaste landfills operated under WAC
173-304-462;
(b) For the purposes of this section,
landfill disposal facilities are divided into the following ownership/use
categories:
(i) A privately owned facility
that accepts waste from the general public;
(ii) A publicly owned facility that accepts
waste from the general public.
(c) For the purposes of this section,
publicly owned or operated facilities may set up one account for both closure
and post-closure care of each facility.
(2) Cost estimate for closure.
(a) Each owner or operator shall prepare a
written closure cost estimate as part of the facility closure plan. The closure
cost estimate shall be in current dollars and represent the cost of closing the
facility in accordance with the closure requirements in WAC
173-304-407.
(i) The cost estimate shall be based on a
reasonable cost estimate for completing design, purchase, construction, and
other activities as identified in the facility closure plan as required under
WAC 173-304-407;
(ii) The closure plan shall project intervals
for withdrawal of closure funds from the closure financial assurance instrument
to complete the activities identified in the approved closure plan;
(iii) The closure cost estimate shall not be
reduced by allowance for salvage value of equipment, waste, or the resale value
of property or land;
(b)
Each owner or operator shall prepare a new closure cost estimate in accordance
with (a) and (c) of this subsection whenever:
(i) Changes in operating plans or facility
design affect the closure plan;
(ii) There is a change in the expected year
of closure that affects the closure plan; or
(iii) The jurisdictional health department
directs the owner or operator to revise the closure plan or closure cost
estimate.
(c) Each owner
or operator shall review the closure cost estimate annually thirty days prior
to the anniversary date of the first closure cost estimate. The review will
examine all factors, including inflation, involved in estimating the closure
cost. Any cost changes must be factored into a revised closure cost estimate
and submit the revised cost estimate to the jurisdictional health department
for review and approval.
(d) During
the operating life of the facility, the owner or operator shall make the latest
closure cost estimate prepared in accordance with (a) and (b) of this
subsection, and when this estimate has been adjusted in accordance with (c) of
this subsection, made available for review.
(3) Financial assurance account for closure.
Each owner or operator of an applicable landfill disposal facility shall
establish a financial assurance account in an amount that, over the life of the
facility, will accumulate funds to be equal to the closure cost estimate
prepared in accordance with subsection (2) of this section unless otherwise
specified.
(a) Landfill disposal facilities
that accept waste from the general public shall choose from the following
options or combination of options for accounting for the financial assurance
account:
(i) For landfill disposal facilities
owned or operated by municipal corporations, the closure and post-closure
reserve account shall be handled in one of the following ways:
(A) Cash and investments accumulated and
restricted for closure with an equivalent amount of fund balance reserved in
the fund accounting for solid waste activity; or
(B) The cash and investments held in a
nonexpendable trust fund.
(C) Other
approved method.
(ii)
Closure trust fund established with an entity which has the authority to act as
a trustee and whose trust operations are regulated and examined by a federal or
state agency. The wording of the trust agreement must be acceptable to the
local health department. The purpose of the closure trust fund is to receive
and manage any funds paid by the owner or operator and to disburse those funds
only for closure activities as identified in the approved closure
plan.
(b) For private
disposal facilities that accept public waste, established closure financial
assurance accounts shall not constitute an asset of the facility owner or
operator.
(c) During the operating
life of the facility, the owner or operator must review the closure cost
estimate thirty days before each anniversary of the date on which the first
closure cost estimate was prepared. The review shall examine all factors,
including inflation, involved in estimating the closure cost estimate. Any
changes in costs shall be factored into a revised closure cost estimate. The
new estimate shall be submitted to the jurisdictional health department for
review and approval.
(d) For
disposal facilities of this section, any income in excess of the closure cost
estimate accruing to the established closure financial assurance account will
be at the owner's discretion as to the use of said funds.
(e) Excess moneys remaining in the closure
financial assurance account after the completion of all identified closure
activities will be released to the facility owner or operator.
(4) Cost estimate for
post-closure.
(a) Each owner or operator shall
prepare a written post-closure cost estimate as part of the facility
post-closure plan. The post-closure cost estimate shall be in current dollars
and represent the total cost of completing post-closure activities for the
facility for at least a twenty-year post-closure period in accordance with the
post-closure requirements in WAC
173-304-407.
(i) The post-closure cost estimate shall be
based on a reasonable cost estimate for completing post-closure monitoring,
maintenance, and other activities identified in the approved facility
post-closure plan as required under WAC
173-304-407;
(ii) The post-closure plan shall project
annual or other intervals for withdrawal of post-closure funds from the
post-closure financial assurance instrument to complete the activities
identified in the approved post-closure plan;
(iii) The post-closure cost estimate shall
not be reduced by allowance for salvage, value of equipment, waste, or resale
value of property or land.
(b) Each owner or operator shall prepare a
new post-closure cost estimate for the remainder of the post-closure care
twenty-year period in accordance with (a) and (c) of this subsection, whenever:
(i) Change in the post-closure plan increases
or decreases the cost of post-closure care; or
(ii) The jurisdictional health department
directs the owner or operator to revise the post-closure plan or post-closure
cost estimate.
(c)
During the operating life of the facility, the owner or operator shall review
the post-closure cost estimate thirty days prior to each anniversary of the
date on which the first post-closure cost estimate was prepared. The review
shall examine all factors, including inflation, involved in estimating the
post-closure cost estimate. Any changes in costs must be factored into a
revised post-closure cost estimate. The new estimate must be submitted to the
jurisdictional health department for approval.
(d) During the operating life of the
facility, the owner or operator shall keep the latest post-closure cost
estimate prepared in accordance with (a) and (b) of this subsection, available
for review.
(5)
Financial assurance account for post-closure. Each owner or operator of a
landfill disposal facility shall establish a financial assurance account in an
amount equal to the post-closure cost estimate prepared in accordance with
subsection (4) of this section.
(a)
Applicable landfill disposal facilities that accept waste from the general
public shall choose from the following options or combinations of options for
accounting for the financial assurance account:
(i) For landfill disposal facilities owned or
operated by municipal corporations, the post-closure reserve shall be handled
in one of the following ways:
(A) Cash and
investments accumulated and restricted for post-closure with an equivalent
amount of fund balance reserved in the fund accounting for solid waste
activity;
(B) Cash and investments
held in a nonexpendable trust fund.
(C) Other approved method.
(ii) Post-closure trust fund
established with an entity which has the authority to act as a trustee and
whose trust operations are regulated and examined by a federal or state agency.
The wording of the trust agreement must be acceptable to the department of
ecology. The purpose of the post-closure trust fund is to receive and manage
any funds paid by the owner or operator and to disburse those funds only for
post-closure activities as identified in the approved post-closure
plan.
(b) For disposal
facilities as categorized in subsection (1)(b) of this section, established
post-closure financial assurance accounts shall not constitute an asset of the
facility owner or operator.
(c) For
applicable disposal facilities of this section any income accruing to the
established post-closure financial assurance account will be at the owner's
discretion as to the use of said excess funds.
(d) Excess moneys remaining in the
post-closure financial assurance account after the completion of all identified
post-closure activities shall be released to the facility owner or
operator.
(6)
Closure/post-closure financial assurance account establishment and reporting.
(a) Closure and post-closure financial
assurance funds shall be generated at each facility by transferring a
percentage of the facility user fees to the selected financial assurance
instrument at the schedule specified in the closure and post-closure plans,
such that adequate closure and post-closure funds will be generated to ensure
full implementation of the approved closure and post-closure plans.
(b) Each facility owner or operator must
establish a procedure with the financial assurance instruments trustee for
notification of nonpayment of funds to be sent to the jurisdictional health
department and the department of ecology.
(c) Each owner or operator shall file with
the department of ecology an annual audit of the financial assurance accounts
established for closure and post-closure activities, and a statement of the
percentage of user fees, as applicable, diverted to the financial assurance
instruments.
(i) For landfill disposal
facilities owned and operated by municipal corporations, the closure reserve
account shall be audited according to the audit schedule of the office of state
auditor and shall be filed with the department of ecology, including each of
the post-closure care years.
(ii)
For landfill disposal facilities not owned or operated by municipal
corporations:
(A) Annual audits shall be
conducted by a certified public accountant licensed in the state of Washington,
and shall be filed with the department of ecology no later than March 31 of
each year for the previous calendar year, including each of the post-closure
care years.
(B) The audit shall
also include calculations demonstrating the proportion of closure completed
during the preceding year as specified in the closure and post-closure
plans.
(d)
Existing landfill disposal facilities may submit a written request with their
annual audit to the department of ecology requesting a waiver from utilizing
user fees to generate the moneys necessary for the closure and/or post-closure
financial assurance account.
(i) The waiver
request should provide documentation to demonstrate the facility user fees are
prohibitively high, and include alternate method(s) for funding the facility's
closure and/or post-closure financial assurance account;
(ii) The waiver request review procedure will
be according to WAC
173-304-700.
(7) Authorization for financial
assurance account fund withdrawal for closure and post-closure activities.
(a) Each owner or operator will withdraw
funds from the closure and/or post-closure financial assurance instrument as
specified in the approved closure/post-closure plans;
(b) If the withdrawal of funds from the
financial assurance instrument exceeds by more than five percent the withdrawal
schedule stated in the approved closure and/or post-closure plan, the closure
and/or post-closure plan shall be amended.
Statutory Authority:
RCW
70.95.215. 88-20-066 (Order 88-28), §
173-304-467, filed 10/4/88.