Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 500-599 - Environmental Protection - Solid Waste Management
Chapter NR 514 - Plan Of Operation And Closure Plans For Landfills
Section NR 514.10 - Research, development and demonstration plan

(a) No landfill owner or operator may initiate a research, development and demonstration plan without prior approval by the department in writing. Items that research, development and demonstration plans are applicable to may include addition of liquids in addition to leachate and gas condensate from the same landfill for accelerated decomposition of the waste mass, allowing run-on water to flow into the landfill waste mass, and allowing testing of the construction and infiltration performance of alternative final cover systems. The research, development and demonstration plan may be proposed for other measures to be taken to enhance stabilization of the waste mass.

(b) No landfill owner or operator may continue to implement a research, development and demonstration plan beyond any time limit placed in the initial plan approval or any renewal without issuance of written approval by the department. Justification for renewals shall be based upon information in annual and final reports as well as research and findings in technical literature.

(c) Research, development and demonstration plans shall be restricted to licensed solid waste landfills. Landfills for disposal of municipal solid waste shall be designed with a composite liner and a composite capping layer. For existing landfills, the effectiveness of the liner system and leachate collection system shall be demonstrated in the plan. For all landfills, the effectiveness of the liner system and leachate collection system shall be assessed at the end of the testing period, with comparison to the effectiveness of the systems at the start of the testing period.

(d) Research, development and demonstration plans may be submitted for new landfills, expansions of existing landfills or closed landfills.

(e) Research, development and demonstration plans may not include changes to the approved design and construction of subgrade preparation, liner system, leachate collection and removal systems, final cover system, gas and leachate systems outside limits of waste, run-off controls, run-on controls or environmental monitoring systems exterior to the waste mass.

(f) An annual report shall be prepared for each year of the testing period and a final report shall be prepared for the end of the testing period. These reports shall assess the attainment of goals proposed for the process selected for testing, recommend changes, recommend further work, and summarize problems and their resolution. Reports shall include a summary of all monitoring data, testing data and observations of process or effects and shall include recommendations for continuance or termination of the process selected for testing. Annual reports and final reports shall be submitted to the department within 3 months of the anniversary date of the written approval by the department.

(g) Implementation of an approved research, development and demonstration plan shall comply with the specific conditions of approval for the initial testing period and any renewal.

(h) Structures and features exterior to the waste mass or waste final grades shall be removed at the end of the testing period, unless otherwise approved by the department in writing.

(a) Initial applications for research, development and demonstration plans shall be submitted for review and approval prior to the initiation of the process to be tested. Plans shall specify the process that will be tested, describe preparation and operation of the process, describe waste types and characteristics that the process will affect, describe desired changes and end points that the process is intended to achieve, define testing methods and observations of the process or waste mass that are necessary to assess effectiveness of the process, and include technical literature references and research which support use of the process. The plans shall specify the time period for which the process will be tested. The plans shall specify the additional information, operating experience, data generation or technical developments that the process to be tested is expected to generate.

(b) The test period for the initial application shall be limited to a maximum of 3 years.

(c) Renewals of testing periods shall be limited to a maximum of 3 years each. The maximum number of renewals shall be limited to 6.

(d) Renewals shall require department review and approval of reports of performance and progress on achievement of goals specified in the research, development and demonstration plan.

(e) Research, development and demonstration plans that evaluate introduction of liquids in addition to leachate or gas condensate from the same landfill shall propose measures to be integrated with any approved leachate recirculation plan and compliance with requirements for leachate recirculation.

(f) Research, development and demonstration plans shall include a description of warning symptoms and failure thresholds which will be used to initiate investigation, stand-by, termination, and changes to the process and any other landfill systems that might be affected by the process, such as gas extraction and leachate recirculation. Warning symptoms shall result in a reduction or suspension of liquids addition, leachate recirculation, investigation and changes to be implemented before resuming the process being tested. Failure thresholds shall result in termination of the process being tested, investigation and changes that will be submitted to the department for review and approval in writing prior to resumption of the process being tested.

(g) Research, development and demonstration plans shall include an assessment of manner in which the process to be tested might alter the impact that the landfill may have on human health or environmental quality. The assessment shall include both beneficial and deleterious effects that could result from the process.

(h) Research, development and demonstration plans shall include a geotechnical stability analysis of the waste mass and an assessment of the changes that implementation of the plan are expected to achieve. The geotechnical stability analysis and assessment shall be repeated at the end of testing period, with alteration as needed to include parameters and parameter values derived from field measurements. The plan shall define relevant parameters and techniques for field measurement.

(i) Research, development and demonstration plans shall propose monitoring parameters, frequencies, test methods, instrumentation, record-keeping and reporting to the department for purposes of tracking and verifying goals of the process selected for testing.

(j) Research, development and demonstration plans shall propose monitoring techniques and instrumentation for potential movements of waste mass and settlement of waste mass, including proposed time intervals and instrumentation, pertinent to the process selected for testing.

(k) Research, development and demonstration plans shall propose construction documentation, construction quality control and construction quality assurance measures, and recordkeeping for construction and equipment installation that is part of the process selected for testing.

(l) Research, development and demonstration plans shall propose operating practices and controls, staffing, monitoring parameters and equipment needed to support operations of the process selected for testing.

(m) Research, development and demonstration plans that include aeration of the waste mass shall include a temperature monitoring plan, a fire drill and safety program, instructions for use of liquids for control of temperature and fires in the waste mass, and instructions for investigation and repair of damage to the liner and leachate collection system.

(n) Research, development and demonstration plans for alternate final cover systems shall include side-by-side test sections with approved final cover systems and a means to quantify exfiltration from the alternate final cover and approved final cover test sections.

(a) Significant and persistent odors.

(b) Significant leachate seeps or surface exposure of leachate.

(c) Significant leachate heads on the liner.

(d) Excessively acidic leachate chemistry or gas production rates or other monitoring data indicate poor waste decomposition conditions.

(e) Instability in the waste mass.

(f) Other persistent and deleterious effects.