vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
Washington D.C. 20460
SW-960
September 1982
Solid Waste
Hazardous Waste Information
Standards for Permitting
Land Disposal Facilities
Federal Rules
for Controlling
Hazardous Waste
The Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA),
as amended, requires the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to establish a national program to regu-
late hazardous waste. The program must ensure that
human health and the environment are protected from the
time the wastes are generated until their final dispo-
sition.
EPA has issued a series of hazardous waste regula-
tions under Subtitle C of RCRA (40 Cgde^of Federal Regu-
lations 260 to 267 and 122 to 124). On May 19, 1980, EPA
issued a comprehensive set of standards for generators
and transporters of hazardous waste and "interim status"
standards for facilities in existence on November 19,
1980, that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste.
Such facilities were allowed to operate under interim
status until they receive a RCRA permit. Subsequently,
EPA issued standards for granting RCRA permits to treat-
ment and storage facilities. Standards for land disposal
facilities were issued on July 26, 1982--virtually com-
pleting the program for controlling hazardous waste under
RCRA.
Land Disposal
Regulations
The standards for permitting land disposal facilitie
were issued after a wide range of regulatory options were
considered. Over a period of several years, EPA proposed
two different sets of land disposal standards and solici-
ted comments on various issues. On February 13, 1981, EP
issued temporary standards for new land disposal facili-
ties. The July 26 regulations replace those temporary
standards except for Class I underground injection wells.
These will remain subject to the temporary standards
until final standards are issued.
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Performance
Standards
The regulations consist primarily of two complemen-
tary sets of performance standards:
o
Design and
Operating
Requirements
A set of design and operating standards tailored to
each of four types of facilities.
o Ground-water monitoring and response regulations
applicable to all land disposal facilities.
The design and operating standards implement a
liquids management strategy that has two goals.
o Minimize leachate generated at the facility.
o Remove leachate generated to minimize its chance
of reaching ground water.
The major requirements include:
Limner _and
Leachate
Collection
and Removal
Ru n-on/Runoff
Controls
Wind Dispersal
Controls
Overtopping
Controls
Closure
o
Liner
—Requirement: design to prevent migration of
waste out of the facility during its active life.
—Applicability: landfills, surface impoundments,
and waste piles.
Leachate collection and removal
--Requirement: collect and remove leachate from
the facility and ensure that leachate depth
over the liner does not exceed 30 centimeters
(1 foot).
--Applicability: landfills and waste piles.
o Run-on and runoff control systems
—Requirement: design to control flow during
at least 25-year storm.
--Applicability: landfills, waste piles, land
treatment.
o Wind dispersal controls
—Requirement: cover waste or otherwise manage
unit to control wind dispersal.
--Applicability: landfills, waste piles, and
land treatment units that contain particulate
— _ __ ____ _ — — ~ j_ —— -- -
tpiicability: landfills, waste piles, and
land treatment units that contain particulat
matter.
o Overtopping controls
—Requirement: prevent overtopping or overfilling,
--Applicability: surface impoundments.
o Disposal unit
—Requirement: final cover (cap) over
designed to minimize infiltration of
tion.
--Applicability: landfills and surface impound-
ments (if used for disposal).
waste unit
precipita-
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o Storage un:'.
--Requireme - remove waste and decontaminate.
--Applicabilicy: surface impoundments used for
treatment or storage and waste piles.
p 9-S.t closure
Care
Ground-Water
Monitoring
and Response
Requirements
DJ section
Me ni tor ing
Gr ound-Water
Pr o_tec_ti_on
Standard
C_c npliance
Me -liter ing
o Maintain effectiveness of final cover.
o Operate leachate collection and removal system.
o Maintain ground-water monitoring system (and
leak detection system where double liner is
used).
o Continue 30 years after closure.
The goal of the ground-water monitoring and response
program is to detect and correct any ground-water contami-
nation. There are four main elements:
o A detection monitoring program, wnich requires
the permittee to install a system to monitor
ground water in the uppermost aquifer to deter-
mine if a leachate plume has reached the edge
of the waste management area.
o A ground-water protection standard is set when
a hazardous constituent is detected.
--The standard specifies concentration limits,
compliance point, and compliance period.
o A compliance monitoring program determines if the
facility is complying with the ground-water pro-
tection standard.
Cc'fr_ective
Action
Facility
Permits
o Corrective action is required when the ground-
water protection standard is violated. The per-
mittee must either remove the contamination or
treat it in place to restore ground-water quality,
Until hazardous waste management facilities are
issued permits, existing facilities will continue to
operate under interim status standards. To provide con-
sistency between the interim status and the permanent
(permit) standards,, EPA has made certain conforming
changes to the interim status standards.
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