United States           Office of I    aste
                   Environmental Protection     and Emer:    Response       EPA/530-SW-91-036
                   Agency               (OS-305)                January 1991
SEPA        Environmental
                   Fact  Sheet
                   PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO
                   INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR
                   DOWNGRADIENT MONITORING
                   WELL LOCATIONS AT HAZARDOUS
                   WASTE FACILITIES

       BACKGROUND
       Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
       creates a comprehensive program for the safe management of
       hazardous waste. RCRA -equires EPA to develop regulations for
       owners or operators of hi.  ardous waste treatment, storage and
       disposal facilities (TSDFsj.

       In 1980, EPA created comprehensive standards for owners and
       operators of TSDFs that qualify for interim status (a short term
       permitted status assigned to facilities in the process of applying for a
       final permit). Under these standards, interim status facility owners or
       operators must install and operate a system to monitor ground water
       for hazardous waste contamination. The system must include
       monitoring wells at specific -- -tc ~,irng the perimeter of the waste
       management area.

       ACTION
       In some waste management areas, certain physical obstacles (e.g.,
       buildings, electric cables, highways) prevent the placement of
       monitoring wells near the perimeter. In such cases, this rule proposes
       to allow alternate placement of downgradient monitoring wells. The
       alternate locations must be as close to the perimeter as possible, and
       must ensure immediate detection of ground-water contamination.

       While the proposed rule would only be  applicable to units existing on
       the effective date of the rule, the Agency is soliciting comments on
       whether to extend the rule's coverage to include new and expanding
       units as well.

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CONCLUSION
By allowing for minor alterations in monitoring well placement under
certain conditions, the ground-water monitoring standards will provide
greater flexibility to interim status facilities while maintaining the
highest level of environmental protection.

PUBLIC COMMENT
EPA is requesting public comment on this proposed rule. Comments
should be sent to EPA within 60 days of the Federal Register notice
publication date. For instructions on submitting written comments,
please see the Federal Register notice. It is available for free by calling
the RCRA Hotline or by visiting EPA's RCRA Docket in Washington, DC.

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 Arlington, VA, the
number is (703) 920-9810 or TDD (703) 486-3323. Or write to the
RCRA Information Center (OS-305), US EPA, 401 M Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20460.

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