[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 86 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10713]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 5, 1994]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-4880-9]
Massachusetts: Adequacy Determination of State/Tribal Municipal
Solid Waste Permit Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of tentative determination to fully approve the adequacy
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts's municipal solid waste permitting
program, public hearing and public comment period.
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SUMMARY: Section 4005(c)(1)(B) of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste
Amendments (HSWA) of 1984, 42 U.S.C. 6945(c)(1)(B), requires states to
develop and implement permit programs to ensure that municipal solid
waste landfills (MSWLFs), which may receive hazardous household waste
or small quantity generator hazardous waste will comply with the
revised Federal MSWLF Criteria (40 CFR part 258). RCRA section
4005(c)(1)(C), 42 U.S.C. 6945(c)(1)(C), requires the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether states have adequate
``permit'' programs for MSWLFs, but does not mandate issuance of a rule
for such determinations. EPA has drafted and is in the process of
proposing a State/Tribal Implementation Rule (STIR) that will provide
procedures by which EPA will approve, or partially approve, State/
Tribal landfill permit programs. The Agency intends to approve adequate
State/Tribal MSWLF permit programs as applications are submitted. Thus,
these approvals are not dependent on final promulgation of the STIR.
Prior to promulgation of the STIR, adequacy determinations will be made
based on the statutory authorities and requirements. In addition,
States/Tribes may use the draft STIR as an aid in interpreting these
requirements. The Agency believes that early approvals have an
important benefit. Approved State/Tribal permit programs provide for
interaction between the State/Tribe and the owner/operator regarding
site-specific permit conditions. Only those owners/operators located in
States/Tribes with approved permit programs can use the site-specific
flexibilities provided by 40 CFR part 258 to the extent the State/
Tribal permit program allows such flexibility. EPA notes that
regardless of the approval status of a State/Tribe and the permit
status of any facility, the Federal land fill criteria shall apply to
all permitted and unpermitted MSWLF facilities.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has applied for a determination
of adequacy under section 4005(c)(1)(C) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C.
6945(c)(1)(C). EPA Region I has reviewed Massachusetts's MSWLF permit
program adequacy application and has made a tentative determination
that all portions of Massachusetts's MSWLF permit program are adequate
to assure compliance with the revised MSWLF Criteria. Massachusetts's
application for program adequacy determination is available for public
review and comment at the places listed in the ``ADDRESSES'' section
below during regular office hours.
Although RCRA does not require EPA to hold a public hearing on a
determination to approve any State/Tribe's MSWLF permit program, the
Region has tentatively scheduled a public hearing on this
determination. If a sufficient number of persons express interest in
participating in a hearing by writing to the EPA Region I, Solid Waste
Section or calling the contact given below within 30 days of the date
of publication of this notice, the Region will hold a hearing, in
Boston, Massachusetts, on the date given below in the ``DATES''
section. The Region will notify all persons who submit comments on this
notice if it appears that there is sufficient public interest to
warrant a hearing. In addition, anyone who wishes to learn whether the
hearing will be held may call the person listed in the ``CONTACTS''
section below.
DATES: All comments on Massachusetts's application for a determination
of adequacy must be received by the close of business on June 4, 1994.
If there is sufficient interest, a public hearing will be held on June
20, 1994, at 1 p.m., at the Offices of the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection, 10th Floor, One Winter Street, Boston,
Massachusetts. Massachusetts will participate in the public hearing, if
held by EPA on this subject.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Massachusetts's application for adequacy
determination are available during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the
following addresses for inspection and copying: Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Solid Waste
Management, One Winter Street, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02108; USEPA
Region I, Waste Management Division, Solid Waste Section, 90 Canal
Street, Boston, MA 02203, Attn: Fred Friedman, telephone (617) 573-
9687. Written comments should be sent to Mr. John F. Hackler, Chief,
Solid Waste Section, mail code HER-CAN6, EPA Region I, John F. Kennedy
Federal Building, Boston, MA 02203-2211.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: EPA Region I, John F. Kennedy Federal
Building, Boston, MA 02203, Attn: Ms. Connie Dewire, mail code HER-
CAN6, telephone (617) 573-5719.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
On October 9, 1991, EPA promulgated revised Criteria for MSWLFs (40
CFR part 258). Subtitle D of RCRA, as amended by the Hazardous and
Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA), requires states to develop
permitting programs to ensure that MSWLFs comply with the Federal
Criteria under 40 CFR part 258. Subtitle D also requires in section
4005(c)(1)(C), 42 U.S.C. 6945(c)(1)(C) that EPA determine the adequacy
of state municipal solid waste landfill permit programs to ensure that
facilities comply with the revised Federal Criteria. To fulfill this
requirement, the Agency has drafted and is in the process of proposing
a State/Tribal Implementation Rule (STIR). The rule will specify the
requirements which State/Tribal programs must satisfy to be determined
adequate.
The EPA intends to approve State/Tribal MSWLF permit programs prior
to the promulgation of the STIR. EPA interprets the requirements for
states or tribes to develop ``adequate'' programs for permits, or other
forms of prior approval and conditions (for example, license to
operate) to impose several minimum requirements. First, each State/
Tribe must have enforceable standards for new and existing MSWLFs that
are technically comparable to EPA's revised MSWLF criteria. Second, the
State/Tribe must have the authority to issue a permit or other notice
of prior approval and conditions to all new and existing MSWLFs in its
jurisdiction. The State/Tribe also must provide for public
participation in permit issuance and enforcement as required in section
7004(b) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6974(b). Finally, the State/Tribe must show
that it has sufficient compliance monitoring and enforcement
authorities to take specific action against any owner or operator that
fails to comply with an approved MSWLF program.
EPA Regions will determine whether a State/Tribe has submitted an
``Adequate'' program based on the interpretation outlined above. EPA
plans to provide more specific criteria for this evaluation when it
proposes the STIR. EPA expects States/Tribes to meet all of these
requirements for all elements of a MSWLF program before it gives full
approval to a MSWLF program.
B. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
On August 13, 1993, EPA Region I received Massachusetts's final
MSWLF Permit Program application for adequacy determination. Region I
reviewed the final application and submitted comments to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts addressed EPA's comments and submitted a revised final
application for adequacy determination on August 30, 1993. Region I
received additional clarifying information on the Massachusetts MSWLF
Permit Program on November 2, 1993 and March 23, 1994. Region I has
reviewed Massachusetts's revised application and has tentatively
determined that all portions of Massachusetts's MSWLF program meet all
the requirements necessary to qualify for full program approval and
ensures compliance with the revised Federal Criteria.
The public may submit written comments on EPA's tentative
determination until June 6, 1994. Copies of Massachusetts's application
are available for inspection and copying at the location indicated in
the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the jurisdiction for siting
and permitting of solid waste management facilities lies with local
boards of health and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),
an agency falling under the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
(EOEA). The Department of Public Health (DPH) is also given an advisory
role in the siting process. Authority for respective roles of the
boards of health, DEP and DPH is granted by Chapter 111, section 150A
of the Massachusetts General Laws. Region I based its decision of
tentative full approval on the current approach for approving the
construction and operation of MSWLFs in Massachusetts. This approach
includes: (1) A review pursuant to the Massachusetts Environmental
Policy Act (MEPA), a public information process that generally involves
the submission of an Environmental Impact Report, which must be
approved by the Secretary of the Office of Environmental Affairs; (2) a
Site Assignment Process, which focuses on determining whether a
specific location is suitable for a specific type of solid waste
facility (the local board of health is responsible for granting a site
assignment in accordance with the procedures and criteria at 310 CMR
16.00); and (3) a Solid Waste Management Facility Permit, a permit that
must be obtained from DEP's Division of Solid Waste Management after
completing the MEPA process and obtaining a site assignment. The
permitting process regulates the design, operation and maintenance,
closure, post-closure and financial assurance aspects of a facility.
The Massachusetts regulations require, at 310 CMR 19.021, the
repermitting of all landfills existing as of the effective date of July
1, 1990, unless they choose to close prior to July 1, 1992.
Furthermore, the regulations at 310 CMR 19.022(1) require the
completion of closure of all unlined areas of landfills by July 1,
1995. A recent amendment of MGL c. 111, s. 150A makes the 1995 closure
date applicable only to privately owned landfills.
The design standard for new and lateral expansions of landfills
currently in effect in Massachusetts includes a composite liner system
which features: a subgrade layer which must ensure a minimum of four
foot separation between the top of bedrock or the maximum high
groundwater table and the bottom of the lowermost low permeability
layer; a two foot, low permeability, soil/admixture layer having a
maximum in-place saturated hydraulic conductivity of 1x10-7 cm/sec; a
minimum 30-mil flexible membrane liner (60-mil minimum for high density
polyethylene) in direct contact with the underlying soil/admixture; a
drainage/protection layer; and a leachate collection system.
Alternative liner designs must meet the performance standard for ground
water protection systems found at 310 CMR 19.110 and do so in a manner
which meets or exceeds the design standard of that section.
The current siting criteria carefully restrict new or expanding
landfills from being located in settings that may conflict with the
Location Criteria specified in 40 CFR 258.10, 258.11, 258.12, 258.13,
258.14 and 258.16. By currently restricting landfills to such settings,
Massachusetts has protected all state drinking water resources, whether
surface water or groundwater, from the potential impact of leachate -an
approach which EPA has determined to be an alternate to the 40 CFR part
258 requirements, but still as protective as the Federal requirements
at 40 CFR part 258. In addition, the Commonwealth's requirements are no
less stringent than the requirements set forth at 40 CFR part 258.
The Massachusetts MSWLF Permitting Program features an unique
approach to landfill assessment which includes four parts. The first
part is an Initial Site Assessment (ISA), which examines the general
history of the site, the types and amounts of waste landfilled, the
size of the site and other historical information concerning the site.
The second part is a Comprehensive Site Assessment (CSA) to
characterize the nature and extent of any contamination that may exist.
The CSA, which is used to develop a suitable closure strategy,
involves, in its final step, a two-phased risk assessment approach to
determine whether corrective action is warranted. The first phase of
the risk assessment is called a qualitative risk assessment. The
following three pieces of information are analyzed in this phase: the
existence of contamination above standards or approved levels; the
existence of potential public health or environmental receptors; and
the existence of pathways which would serve to link contamination to
receptors. If all three are determined to exist in any media (air,
surface water, ground water or soil), the second phase in the risk
assessment process, the quantitative risk assessment, is invoked as is
a round of sampling for all the 40 CFR part 258, appendix II
constituents. The third part of the landfill assessment is a Corrective
Actions Alternatives Analysis (CAAA), which is conducted to determine
the type of cap and any additional remediation measures which will be
needed to properly close the sanitary landfill. The fourth and final
part of the landfill assessment process is a Corrective Action Design
(CAD), in which the landfill cap and any additional remediation
measures are designed.
Massachusetts covers the landfill assessment requirements in more
detail in its Guidance on Conducting Qualitative Risk Assessments at
Solid Waste Landfills and Guidance for Disposal Site Risk
Characterization and Related Phase II Activities. The revised Landfill
Assessment and Closure Guidance Manual (LAC Manual) is applicable to
all existing MSWLFs and to all MSWLF permit applications effective July
1, 1993. Massachusetts will implement its MSWLF permit program through
enforceable permit conditions. To ensure compliance with the Federal
criteria, Massachusetts has revised its current permit requirements
through the existing Supplement to Landfill Assessment and Closure
Manual. These revisions occur in the following areas:
1. The adoption of the EPA approved method 8260 to test ground
water.
2. Addition of the provision on minimum distance of ground water
monitoring well from landfill boundary.
3. Compliance with the protocols for testing and analyzing ground
water for constituents listed in appendix II to part 258.
4. Compliance with the procedures for notifying the DEP about
explosive levels of landfill gas.
5. Compliance with the protocols for conducting inspections to
detect presence of hazardous waste and procedures for reporting results
of such inspections.
6. Compliance with the minimum design standard for alternative
landfill cover.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will
update the permits of existing municipal solid waste landfills
scheduled to remain open after the effective date of 40 CFR part 258,
to assure compliance with current state requirements. The Commonwealth
of Massachusetts is not asserting jurisdiction over Tribal land
recognized by the United States government for the purpose of this
notice. Tribes recognized by the United States government are also
required to comply with the terms and conditions found at 40 CFR part
258.
EPA will consider all public comments on its tentative
determination received during the public comment period and during any
public hearing held. Issues raised by those comments may be the basis
for a determination of inadequacy for Massachusetts's program. EPA will
make a final decision on approval of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts's program and will give notice of the final determination
in the Federal Register. The notice shall include a summary of the
reasons for the final determination and a response to all significant
comments.
Section 4005(a) of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6945(a) provides that citizens
may use the citizen suit provisions of section 7002 of RCRA, 42 U.S.C.
6972 to enforce the Federal MSWLF criteria set forth in 40 CFR part 258
independent of any State/Tribal enforcement program. As EPA explained
in the preamble to the final MSWLF criteria, EPA expects that any owner
or operator complying with provisions in a State/Tribal program
approved by EPA should be considered to be in compliance with the
Federal Criteria. See 56 FR 50978, 50995 (October 9, 1991).
Compliance With Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this notice from
the requirements of section 6 of Executive Order 12866.
Certification Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
Pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify
that this approval will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. It does not impose any new
burdens on small entities. This notice, therefore, does not require a
regulatory flexibility analysis.
Authority: This notice is issued under the authority of sections
2002, 4005 and 4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended,
42 U.S.C. 6912, 6945 and 6949a(c-c).
Dated: April 25, 1994.
John P. DeVillars,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-10713 Filed 5-4-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F
