§ 264.144 - Cost estimate for post-closure care.

§ 264.144 Cost estimate for post-closure care.

(a) The owner or operator of a disposal surface impoundment, disposal miscellaneous unit, land treatment unit, or landfill unit, or of a surface impoundment or waste pile required under §§ 264.228 and 264.258 to prepare a contingent closure and post-closure plan, must have a detailed written estimate, in current dollars, of the annual cost of post-closure monitoring and maintenance of the facility in accordance with the applicable post-closure regulations in §§ 264.117 through 264.120, 264.228, 264.258, 264.280, 264.310, and 264.603.

(1) The post-closure cost estimate must be based on the costs to the owner or operator of hiring a third party to conduct post-closure care activities. A third party is a party who is neither a parent nor a subsidiary of the owner or operator. (See definition of parent corporation in § 264.141(d).)

(2) The post-closure cost estimate is calculated by multiplying the annual post-closure cost estimate by the number of years of post-closure care required under § 264.117.

(b) During the active life of the facility, the owner or operator must adjust the post-closure cost estimate for inflation within 60 days prior to the anniversary date of the establishment of the financial instrument(s) used to comply with § 264.145. For owners or operators using the financial test or corporate guarantee, the post-closure cost estimate must be updated for inflation within 30 days after the close of the firm's fiscal year and before the submission of updated information to the Regional Administrator as specified in § 264.145(f)(5). The adjustment may be made by recalculating the post-closure cost estimate in current dollars or by using an inflation factor derived from the most recent Implicit Price Deflator for Gross National Product published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in its Survey of Current Business as specified in § 264.145(b)(1) and (2). The inflation factor is the result of dividing the latest published annual Deflator by the Deflator for the previous year.

(1) The first adjustment is made by multiplying the post-closure cost estimate by the inflation factor. The result is the adjusted post-closure cost estimate.

(2) Subsequent adjustments are made by multiplying the latest adjusted post-closure cost estimate by the latest inflation factor.

(c) During the active life of the facility, the owner or operator must revise the post-closure cost estimate within 30 days after the Regional Administrator has approved the request to modify the post-closure plan, if the change in the post-closure plan increases the cost of post-closure care. The revised post-closure cost estimate must be adjusted for inflation as specified in § 264.144(b).

(d) The owner or operator must keep the following at the facility during the operating life of the facility: The latest post-closure cost estimate prepared in accordance with § 264.144 (a) and (c) and, when this estimate has been adjusted in accordance with § 264.144(b), the latest adjusted post-closure cost estimate.

[47 FR 15047, Apr. 7, 1982, as amended at 47 FR 32357, July 26, 1982; 50 FR 4514, Jan. 31, 1985; 51 FR 16449, May 2, 1986; 52 FR 46964, Dec. 10, 1987]