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1996 SESSION


CHAPTER 236
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 10.1-1400 and 10.1-1408.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the storage of household hazardous waste.
[H 885]
Approved March 16, 1996

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 10.1-1400 and 10.1-1408.1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 10.1-1400. Definitions.

As used in this chapter unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Applicant" means any and all persons seeking or holding a permit required under this chapter.

"Board" means the Virginia Waste Management Board.

"Composting" means the manipulation of the natural aerobic process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition.

"Department" means the Department of Waste Management.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Waste Management.

"Disclosure statement" means a sworn statement or affirmation, in such form as may be required by the Director, which includes:

1. The full name, business address, and social security number of all key personnel;

2. The full name and business address of any entity, other than a natural person, that collects, transports, treats, stores, or disposes of solid waste or hazardous waste in which any key personnel holds an equity interest of five percent or more;

3. A description of the business experience of all key personnel listed in the disclosure statement;

4. A listing of all permits or licenses required for the collection, transportation, treatment, storage or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste issued to or held by any key personnel within the past ten years;

5. A listing and explanation of any notices of violation, prosecutions, administrative orders (whether by consent or otherwise), license or permit suspensions or revocations, or enforcement actions of any sort by any state, federal or local authority, within the past ten years, which are pending or have concluded with a finding of violation or entry of a consent agreement, regarding an allegation of civil or criminal violation of any law, regulation or requirement relating to the collection, transportation, treatment, storage or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste by any key personnel, and an itemized list of all convictions within ten years of key personnel of any of the following crimes punishable as felonies under the laws of the Commonwealth or the equivalent thereof under the laws of any other jurisdiction: murder; kidnapping; gambling; robbery; bribery; extortion; criminal usury; arson; burglary; theft and related crimes; forgery and fraudulent practices; fraud in the offering, sale, or purchase of securities; alteration of motor vehicle identification numbers; unlawful manufacture, purchase, use or transfer of firearms; unlawful possession or use of destructive devices or explosives; violation of the Drug Control Act, Chapter 34 (§ 54.1-3401 et seq.) of Title 54.1; racketeering; or violation of antitrust laws;

6. A listing of all agencies outside the Commonwealth which have regulatory responsibility over the applicant or have issued any environmental permit or license to the applicant within the past ten years, in connection with the applicant's collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste;

7. Any other information about the applicant and the key personnel that the Director may require that reasonably relates to the qualifications and ability of the key personnel or the applicant to lawfully and competently operate a solid waste management facility in Virginia; and

8. The full name and business address of any member of the local governing body or planning commission in which the solid waste management facility is located or proposed to be located, who holds an equity interest in the facility.

"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters.

"Equity" includes both legal and equitable interests.

"Federal acts" means any act of Congress providing for waste management and regulations promulgated thereunder.

"Hazardous material" means a substance or material in a form or quantity which may pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety or property when transported, and which the Secretary of Transportation of the United States has so designated by regulation or order.

"Hazardous substance" means a substance listed under United States Public Law 96-510, entitled the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act.

"Hazardous waste" means a solid waste or combination of solid waste which, because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may:

1. Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating illness; or

2. Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.

"Hazardous waste generation" means the act or process of producing hazardous waste.

"Household hazardous waste" means any waste material derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels, motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds and day-use recreation areas) which, except for the fact that it is derived from a household, would be classified as a hazardous waste.

"Key personnel" means the applicant itself and any person employed by the applicant in a managerial capacity, or empowered to make discretionary decisions, with respect to the solid waste or hazardous waste operations of the applicant in Virginia, but shall not include employees exclusively engaged in the physical or mechanical collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid or hazardous waste and such other employees as the Director may designate by regulation. If the applicant has not previously conducted solid waste or hazardous waste operations in Virginia, the term also includes any officer, director, partner of the applicant, or any holder of five percent or more of the equity or debt of the applicant. If any holder of five percent or more of the equity or debt of the applicant or of any key personnel is not a natural person, the term includes all key personnel of that entity, provided that where such entity is a chartered lending institution or a reporting company under the Federal Security and Exchange Act of 1934, the term does not include key personnel of such entity. Provided further that the term means the chief executive officer of any agency of the United States or of any agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, and all key personnel of any person, other than a natural person, that operates a landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment or storage of nonhazardous solid waste under contract with or for one of those governmental entities.

"Manifest" means the form used for identifying the quantity, composition, origin, routing and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment or storage of such hazardous waste.

"Mixed radioactive waste" means radioactive waste that contains a substance which renders the mixture a hazardous waste.

"Open dump" means a site on which any solid waste is placed, discharged, deposited, injected, dumped or spilled so as to create a nuisance or present a threat of a release of harmful substances into the environment or present a hazard to human health.

"Person" includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation or any other legal entity.

"Radioactive waste" or "nuclear waste" includes:

1. "Low-level radioactive waste" material that:

a. Is not high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, transuranic waste, or by-product material as defined in section 11e (2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. § 2014 (e) (2)); and

b. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, consistent with existing law, classifies as low-level radioactive waste; or

2. "High-level radioactive waste" which means:

a. The highly radioactive material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, including liquid waste produced directly in reprocessing and any solid material derived from such liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient concentrations; and

b. Other highly radioactive material that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, consistent with existing law, determines by rule requires permanent isolation.

"Recycling residue" means the (i) nonmetallic substances, including but not limited to plastic, rubber, and insulation, which remain after a shredder has separated for purposes of recycling the ferrous and nonferrous metal from a motor vehicle, appliance, or other discarded metallic item and (ii) organic waste remaining after removal of metals, glass, plastics and paper which are to be recycled as part of a resource recovery process for municipal solid waste resulting in the production of a refuse derived fuel.

"Resource conservation" means reduction of the amounts of solid waste that are generated, reduction of overall resource consumption and utilization of recovered resources.

"Resource recovery" means the recovery of material or energy from solid waste.

"Resource recovery system" means a solid waste management system which provides for collection, separation, recycling and recovery of solid wastes, including disposal of nonrecoverable waste residues.

"Sanitary landfill" means a disposal facility for solid waste so located, designed and operated that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment, including pollution of air, land, surface water or ground water.

"Sludge" means any solid, semisolid or liquid wastes with similar characteristics and effects generated from a public, municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, air pollution control facility or any other waste producing facility.

"Solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, or community activities but does not include (i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, (ii) solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or in industrial discharges which are sources subject to a permit from the State Water Control Board, or (iii) source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

"Solid waste management facility" means a site used for planned treating, long term storage, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units.

"Transport" or "transportation" means any movement of property, and any packing, loading, unloading or storage incidental thereto.

"Treatment" means any method, technique or process, including incineration or neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any waste to neutralize it or to render it less hazardous or nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable to recovery or storage or reduced in volume.

"Vegetative waste" means decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land-clearing activities and includes, but is not limited to, leaves, grass trimmings, and woody wastes such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps.

"Waste" means any solid, hazardous or radioactive waste as defined in this section.

"Waste management" means the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment and disposal of waste or resource recovery.

"Yard waste" means decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste shall not include roots or stumps that exceed six inches in diameter.

§ 10.1-1408.1. Permit required; open dumps prohibited.

A. No person shall operate any sanitary landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment or storage of nonhazardous solid waste without a permit from the Director.

B. No application for a new solid waste management facility permit shall be complete unless it contains the following:

1. Certification from the governing body of the county, city or town in which the facility is to be located that the location and operation of the facility are consistent with all applicable ordinances. The governing body shall inform the applicant and the Department of the facility's compliance or noncompliance not more than 120 days from receipt of a request from the applicant. No such certification shall be required for the application for the renewal of a permit or transfer of a permit as authorized by regulations of the Board;

2. A disclosure statement, except that the Director, upon request and in his sole discretion and when in his judgment other information is sufficient and available, may waive the requirement for a disclosure statement for a captive industrial landfill when such a statement would not serve the purposes of this chapter;

3. If the applicant proposes to locate the facility on property not governed by any county, city or town zoning ordinance, certification from the governing body that it has held a public hearing, in accordance with the applicable provisions of § 15.1-431, to receive public comment on the proposed facility. Such certification shall be provided to the applicant and the Department within 120 days from receipt of a request from the applicant.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law:

1. Every holder of a permit issued under this article who has not earlier filed a disclosure statement shall, prior to July 1, 1991, file a disclosure statement with the Director.

2. Every applicant for a permit under this article shall file a disclosure statement with the Director together with the permit application or prior to September 1, 1990, whichever comes later. No permit application shall be deemed incomplete for lack of a disclosure statement prior to September 1, 1990.

3. Every applicant shall update its disclosure statement quarterly to indicate any change of condition that renders any portion of the disclosure statement materially incomplete or inaccurate.

4. The Director, upon request and in his sole discretion, and when in his judgment other information is sufficient and available, may waive the requirements of this subsection for a captive industrial waste landfill when such requirements would not serve the purposes of this chapter.

D. No permit for a new solid waste management facility shall be issued until the Director has determined, after investigation and evaluation of comments by the local government, that the proposed facility poses no substantial present or potential danger to human health or the environment. The Department shall hold a public hearing within the said county, city or town prior to the issuance of any such permit for the management of nonhazardous solid waste.

E. The permit shall contain such conditions or requirements as are necessary to comply with the requirements of this Code and the regulations of the Board and to prevent a substantial present or potential hazard to human health and the environment.

The Director may include in any permit such recordkeeping, testing and reporting requirements as are necessary to ensure that the local governing body of the county, city or town where the waste management facility is located is kept timely informed regarding the general nature and quantity of waste being disposed of at the facility. Such recordkeeping, testing and reporting requirements shall require disclosure of proprietary information only as is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. At least once every ten years, the Director shall review and issue written findings on the environmental compliance history of each permittee, material changes, if any, in key personnel, and technical limitations, standards, or regulations on which the original permit was based. The time period for review of each category of permits shall be established by Board regulation. If, upon such review, the Director finds that repeated material or substantial violations of the permittee or material changes in the permittee's key personnel would make continued operation of the facility not in the best interests of human health or the environment, the Director shall amend or revoke the permit, in accordance herewith. Whenever such review is undertaken, the Director may amend the permit to include additional limitations, standards, or conditions when the technical limitations, standards, or regulations on which the original permit was based have been changed by statute or amended by regulation or when any of the conditions in subsection B of § 10.1-1409 exist. The Director may deny, revoke, or suspend any permit for any of the grounds listed under subsection A of § 10.1-1409.

F. There shall exist no right to operate a landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment or storage of nonhazardous solid waste or hazardous waste within the Commonwealth. Permits for solid waste management facilities shall not be transferable except as authorized in regulations promulgated by the Board. The issuance of a permit shall not convey or establish any property rights or any exclusive privilege, nor shall it authorize any injury to private property or any invasion of personal rights or any infringement of federal, state, or local law or regulation.

G. No person shall dispose of solid waste in open dumps.

H. No person shall own, operate or allow to be operated on his property an open dump.

I. No person shall allow waste to be disposed of on his property without a permit. Any person who removes trees, brush, or other vegetation from land used for agricultural or forestal purposes shall not be required to obtain a permit if such material is deposited or placed on the same or other property of the same landowner from which such materials were cleared. The Board shall by regulation provide for other reasonable exemptions from permitting requirements for the disposal of trees, brush and other vegetation when such materials are removed for agricultural or forestal purposes.

When promulgating any regulation pursuant to this section, the Board shall consider the character of the land affected, the density of population, the volume of waste to be disposed, as well as other relevant factors.

J. No permit shall be required pursuant to this section for recycling or for temporary storage incidental to recycling. As used in this subsection "recycling" means any process whereby material which would otherwise be solid waste is used or reused, or prepared for use or reuse, as an ingredient in an industrial process to make a product, or as an effective substitute for a commercial product.

K. The Board shall provide for reasonable exemptions from the permitting requirements, both procedural and substantive, in order to encourage the development of yard waste composting facilities. To accomplish this, the Board is authorized to exempt such facilities from regulations governing the treatment of waste and to establish an expedited approval process. Agricultural operations receiving only yard waste for composting shall be exempt from permitting requirements provided that (i) the composting area is located not less than 300 feet from a property boundary, is located not less than 1,000 feet from an occupied dwelling not located on the same property as the composting area, and is not located within an area designated as a flood plain as defined in § 10.1-600; (ii) the agricultural operation has at least one acre of ground suitable to receive yard waste for each 150 cubic yards of finished compost generated; (iii) the total time for the composting process and storage of material that is being composted or has been composted shall not exceed eighteen months prior to its field application or sale as a horticultural or agricultural product; and (iv) the owner or operator of the agricultural operation notifies the Director in writing of his intent to operate a yard waste composting facility and the amount of land available for the receipt of yard waste. In addition to the requirements set forth in clauses (i) through (iv) of the preceding sentence, the owner and operator of any agricultural operation that receives more than 6,000 cubic yards of yard waste generated from property not within the control of the owner or the operator in any twelve-month period shall be exempt from permitting requirements provided (i) the owner and operator submit to the Director an annual report describing the volume and types of yard waste received by such operation for composting and (ii) the operator shall certify that the yard waste composting facility complies with local ordinances. The Director shall establish a procedure for the filing of the notices, annual reports and certificates required by this subsection and shall prescribe the forms for the annual reports and certificates. Nothing contained in this article shall prohibit the sale of composted yard waste for horticultural or agricultural use, provided that any composted yard waste sold as a commercial fertilizer with claims of specific nutrient values, promoting plant growth, or of conditioning soil shall be sold in accordance with the Virginia Fertilizer Act (§ 3.1-106.1 et seq.). As used in this subsection, "agricultural operation" shall have the same meaning ascribed to it in subsection B of § 3.1-22.29.

The operation of a composting facility as provided in this subsection shall not relieve the owner or operator of such a facility from liability for any violation of this chapter.

L. The Board shall provide for reasonable exemptions from the permitting requirements, both procedural and substantive, in order to encourage the development of facilities for the decomposition of vegetative waste. To accomplish this, the Board shall approve an expedited approval process. As used in this subsection, the decomposition of vegetative waste means a natural aerobic or anaerobic process, active or passive, which results in the decay and chemical breakdown of the vegetative waste. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a city or county from exercising its existing authority to regulate such facilities by requiring, among other things, permits and proof of financial security.

M. In receiving and processing applications for permits required by this section, the Director shall assign top priority to applications which (i) agree to accept nonhazardous recycling residues and (ii) pledge to charge tipping fees for disposal of nonhazardous recycling residues which do not exceed those charged for nonhazardous municipal solid waste. Applications meeting these requirements shall be acted upon no later than six months after they are deemed complete.

N. Every solid waste management facility shall be operated in compliance with the regulations promulgated by the Board pursuant to this chapter. To the extent consistent with federal law, those facilities which were permitted prior to March 15, 1993, and upon which solid waste has been disposed of prior to October 9, 1993, may continue to receive solid waste until they have reached their vertical design capacity, provided that the facility is in compliance with the requirements for liners and leachate control in effect at the time of permit issuance, and further provided that on or before October 9, 1993, the owner or operator of the solid waste management facility submits to the Director:

1. An acknowledgement that the owner or operator is familiar with state and federal law and regulations pertaining to solid waste management facilities operating after October 9, 1993, including postclosure care, corrective action and financial responsibility requirements;

2. A statement signed by a registered professional engineer that he has reviewed the regulations established by the Department for solid waste management facilities, including the open dump criteria contained therein, that he has inspected the facility and examined the monitoring data compiled for the facility in accordance with applicable regulations and that, on the basis of his inspection and review, has concluded: (i) that the facility is not an open dump, (ii) that the facility does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health and the environment, and (iii) that the leachate or residues from the facility do not pose a threat of contamination or pollution of the air, surface water or ground water in a manner constituting an open dump or resulting in a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment; and

3. A statement signed by the owner or operator (i) that the facility complies with applicable financial assurance regulations, and (ii) estimating when the facility will reach its vertical design capacity.

The facility may not be enlarged prematurely to avoid compliance with state or federal regulations when such enlargement is not consistent with past operating practices, the permit or modified operating practices to ensure good management.

Facilities which are authorized by this subsection to accept waste for disposal beyond the waste boundaries existing on October 9, 1993, shall be as follows:

Category 1: Nonhazardous industrial waste facilities that are located on property owned or controlled by the generator of the waste disposed of in the facility;

Category 2: Nonhazardous industrial waste facilities other than those that are located on property owned or controlled by the generator of the waste disposed of in the facility, provided that the facility accepts only industrial waste streams which the facility has lawfully accepted prior to July 1, 1995, or other nonhazardous industrial waste as approved by the Department on a case-by-case basis; and

Category 3: Facilities that accept only construction-demolition-debris waste as defined in the Board's regulations.

The Director may prohibit or restrict the disposal of waste in facilities described in this subsection which contains hazardous constituents as defined in applicable regulations which, in the opinion of the Director, would pose a substantial risk to health or the environment. Facilities described in category 3 may expand laterally beyond the waste disposal boundaries existing on October 9, 1993, provided that there is first installed, in such expanded areas, liners and leachate control systems meeting the applicable performance requirements of the Board's regulations, or a demonstration is made to the satisfaction of the Director that such facilities satisfy the applicable variance criteria in the Board's regulations.

Owners or operators of facilities which are authorized under this subsection to accept waste for disposal beyond the waste boundaries existing on October 9, 1993, shall ensure that such expanded disposal areas maintain setback distances applicable to such facilities under the Board's current regulations and local ordinances. Prior to the expansion of any facility described in category 2 or 3, the owner or operator shall provide the Director with written notice of the proposed expansion at least sixty days prior to commencement of construction. The notice shall include recent groundwater monitoring data sufficient to determine that the facility does not pose a threat of contamination of groundwater in a manner constituting an open dump or creating a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. The Director shall evaluate the data included with the notification and may advise the owner or operator of any additional requirements that may be necessary to ensure compliance with applicable laws and prevent a substantial present or potential hazard to health or the environment.

Facilities, or portions thereof, which have reached their vertical design capacity shall be closed in compliance with regulations promulgated by the Board.

Nothing in this subsection shall alter any requirement for groundwater monitoring, financial responsibility, operator certification, closure, postclosure care, operation, maintenance or corrective action imposed under state or federal law or regulation, or impair the powers of the Director pursuant to § 10.1-1409.

O. Portions of a permitted solid waste management facility used solely for the storage of household hazardous waste may store household hazardous waste for a period not to exceed one year, provided that such wastes are properly contained and are segregated to prevent mixing of incompatible wastes.

2. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.