United States Office of Solid Waste CDA/C™ QW Q< noo
Environmental Protection and Emergency Response EPA/530-SW-91-088
Agency Washington DC 20460 January 1992
Office of Solid Waste
&EPA Environmental
Fact Sheet
EPA Releases Final Rule on Liners
and Leak Detection Systems
EPA has released a final rule instituting minimum standards for double liners,
leachate collection and removal systems, leak detection systems, and construction
quality assurance programs at hazardous waste surface impoundments, landfills, and
waste piles. These standards will decrease the risk of contaminant release to the
environment.
Background
Subtitle C of the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) creates a comprehensive program for the safe management of
hazardous waste. In 1984, Congress passed the Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments (HSWA), which mandated even stricter standards
for the regulation of hazardous waste.
In 1982 and 1985, EPA issued standards for the design and
operation of hazardous waste landfills, surface impoundments, and waste
piles. These rules required use of liners and leachate collection systems at
hazardous waste land disposal units. In some cases, units were required
to have two liners.
On March 28, 1986, EPA proposed amendments to the standards
for liner system designs. On May 29, 1987, EPA proposed new require-
ments for leak detection systems at certain hazardous waste land disposal
units. The proposed rule also created requirements for reporting and
responding to leaks.
Action
This rule finalizes requirements mandated by HSWA and proposed
in the March 28, 1986 and May 29, 1987 Federal Registers. The new
requirements are summarized as follows:
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(1) The final rule requires that new hazardous waste surface impound-
ments landfills, waste piles, and lateral expansions and replace-
ments of existing units have a double liner that includes a composite
bottom consisting of a synthetic liner (e.g. rubber or plastic) over a
soil/clay layer, and a leachate collection and removal system
between the liners. Waste piles and landfills must also have a
leachate collection and removal system above the liners.
(2) The rule adds technical design and performance standards to the
leachate collection and removal system between the liners to ensure
that it also functions as a leak detection system to detect leaks in
the top liner at the earliest practicable time. Owners and operators
may obtain a variance for an alternative system based on site-
specific conditions.
(3) EPA is establishing an action leakage rate that will trigger specific
response actions. Owners and operators must describe their
intended response actions in a response action plan.
(4) Finally, this rule requires owners and operators to prepare and
implement a construction quality assurance (CQA) program.
Sound CQA has proven to be effective for improving the perform-
ance of land disposal units.
For Further Information
For further information, or to order a copy of the Federal Register
notice, please contact the RCRA/Superfund Hotline, Monday through
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST. The national toll-free number is
(800) 424-9346, or TDD (800) 553-7672 for the hearing impaired. In
the Washington, D.C., area, the number is (703) 920-9810 or
TDD (703) 486-3323.
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