Adoption of Revised Regulations for Long-Term Gas Violations
Summary
SCH Number
2005068489
Public Agency
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
Document Title
Adoption of Revised Regulations for Long-Term Gas Violations
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
6/28/2005
Document Description
These proposed regulations for long-term gas violations amend Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Division 2, Chapter 4. Existing law provides, among other things, that a landfill operator must monitor that status of landfill decomposition gases at active landfills that may present a hazard or nuisance and must install and maintain landfill gas control systems to prevent dangerous gas concentrations from collecting on site or from migrating off the site. (Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Sections 20919-20919.5.) When a landfill operator submits an application for a permit revision to the Enforcement Agency (EA), and the EA subsequently proposes a permit revision to CIWMB for concurrence, a determination is made as to whether the landfill complies with those gas standards. If a landfill is presently violating a landfill gas standard, its ability to obtain a permit revision, and thus Board concurrence, is impeded, even if it needs the revision to help it achieve compliance with the gas standard or other state minimum standards. Most state minimum standards violations can be corrected quickly, which enables a facility operator to correct the violation before it seeks a revised permit. Landfill gas violations, however, can take months or years to assess and correct. Accordingly, these proposed regulations clarify the conditions under which Board concurrence for solid waste facility permit revisions could be appropriately granted for landfills with gas violations that take longer than 90 days to correct and that do not constitute an imminent threat to public health and safety or the environment. Landfills meeting these requirements may be found to be consistent with state minimum standards for purposes of PRC Section 44009. This would provide a needed link between the Board's permitting obligations and the Board's assessment of the compliance status of a facility with landfill gas migration problems.
Contact Information
Name
John Bell
Agency Name
California Integrated Waste Management Board
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Regions
Statewide
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Section 15308
Reasons for Exemption
The adoption of these regulations is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15308, the categorical exemption for actions taken by regulatory agencies to protect the environment. The proposed regulations, among other things, specify actions the operator of a landfill or disposal site that has a long-term gas violation must take in order to comply with State Minimum Standards. These regulations will result in operators taking action to monitor the presence of landfill decomposition gases and to reduce such emissions below regulatory levels in a reasonably short time, as site conditions will allow. Such actions will protect and enhance the environment by reducing the amount of landfill decomposition gases that are emitted from landfills and other disposal sites in as short a time as practicable. Absent these regulations, excessive emissions of landfill decomposition gases from landfills and other disposal sites would continue for longer periods of time.
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