United States            Solid Waste and
                    Environmental Protection     Emergency Response         EPA/530-F-93-035
                    Agency               (5305)                  December 1993

                    Office of Solid Waste
v°/EPA        Environmental
                    Fact  Sheet
                    FINANCIAL ASSURANCE
                    MECHANISMS PROPOSED
                    FOR LANDFILL OPERATORS
                    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new rule
                    that would provide local government owners and operators of municipal
                    solid waste landfills additional flexibility in meeting federal financial
                    assurance requirements.
        Background

          The Solid Waste Disposal Criteria, promulgated on October 9, 1991,
        require that owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills
        (MSWLFs) demonstrate financial responsibility for the costs of closure,
        post-closure, and corrective action associated with their facilities. The
        financial assurance requirements were intended to ensure that
        adequate funds will be available to cover these costs. The Criteria rule
        provided a number of financial mechanisms that owners and operators
        can use to demonstrate financial assurance.  In the preamble to that
        rule, EPA announced its intent to promulgate, before April 1994, a
        financial test for use by local governments and another for use by
        corporations.
        Action

          EPA has now proposed a rule that would expand the financial
        assurance mechanisms available to include a local government
        financial test and guarantee (a corporate financial test and guarantee
        are under development in another rulemaking). The financial test
        would allow an owner or operator to demonstrate that it has sufficient
        financial strength to meet the obligations associated with its facility on

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its own. The guarantee would allow a local government to guarantee
the costs associated with a MSWLF on behalf of the owner or operator.

   Owners or operators that are able to meet certain financial criteria,
as well as satisfy public notice, reporting, and recordkeeping
components, would be able to use the financial test. They would be
eligible to assure costs that equal up to 43% of the local government's
total annual revenue.

   The proposal would further increase the flexibility of the financial
test by allowing owners and operators to use combinations of
mechanisms in assuring the costs of their facilities.  An owner or
operator that can satisfy the test requirements for some, but not all, of
its obligations would be able to use the test to the extent it is eligible,
then procure a third party mechanism only for the remainder of the
costs.

   Owners or operators that are able to use the financial test or
guarantee mechanisms for all of its obligations would not have to incur
the cost of securing a third-party instrument.
 Public Comment

   EPA is requesting public comment on this proposed rule. Comments
 should be submitted to EPA within 60 days of the Federal Register
 notice publication date.  For instuctions on submitting written
 comments, please see the Federal Register notice. It is available at no
 charge by calling the RCRA Hotline or by visiting EPA's RCRA
 Information Center in Washington, D.C.
 Contact

    For further information, or to order a copy of the Federal Register
 notice, please call the RCRA Hotline Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.
 to 7:30 p.m., EST, The national toll-free number is (800) 424-9346: for
 the hearing impaired, it is (TDD) (800) 553-7672.  In Washington, D.C.,
 the number is (703) 412-9810 or TDD (703) 412-3323.  Or write to:
 RCRA Information Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305),  U.S. EPA, 401
 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20460.

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