California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 3 - Air Resources › Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board › Subchapter 10 - Climate Change › Article 4 - Regulations to Achieve Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions › Subarticle 6 - Methane Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Landfills › Section 95475 - Definitions

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) For purposes of
						this subarticle, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Active MSW Landfill" means a MSW
						landfill that is accepting solid waste for disposal.
(2) "Component Leak" means the concentration
						of methane measured one half of an inch or less from a component source that
						exceeds 500 parts per million by volume (ppmv), other than non-repeatable,
						momentary readings. Measurements from any vault must be taken within 3 inches
						above the surface of the vault exposed to the atmosphere.
(3) "Component" means any equipment that is
						part of the gas collection and control system and that contains landfill gas
						including, but not limited to, wells, pipes, flanges, fittings, valves, flame
						arrestors, knock-out drums, sampling ports, blowers, compressors, or
						connectors.
(4) "Construction and
						Demolition Wastes" means waste building materials, packaging and rubble
						resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition operations on
						pavements, houses, commercial buildings and other structures.
(5) "Continuous Operation" means that the gas
						collection and control system is operated continuously, the existing gas
						collection wells are operating under vacuum while maintaining landfill gas
						flow, and the collected landfill gas is processed by a gas control system 24
						hours per day.
(6) "Closed MSW
						Landfill" means that a MSW landfill is no longer accepting solid waste for
						disposal and has documentation that the closure was conducted in accordance
						with the applicable statutes, regulations, and local ordinances in effect at
						the time of closure.
(7) "District"
						means any air quality management district or air pollution control district in
						the State of California.
(8)
						"Destruction Efficiency" means a measure of the ability of a gas control device
						to combust, transform, or otherwise prevent emissions of methane from entering
						the atmosphere.
(9) "Enclosed
						Combustor" means an enclosed flare, steam generating boiler, internal
						combustion engine, or gas turbine.
(10) "Energy Recovery Device" means any
						combustion device that uses landfill gas to recover energy in the form of steam
						or electricity, including, but not limited to, gas turbines, internal
						combustion engines, boilers, and boiler-to-steam turbine systems.
(11) "Exceedance" means the concentration of
						methane measured within 3 inches above the landfill surface that exceeds 500
						ppmv, other than non-repeatable, momentary readings, as determined by
						instantaneous surface emissions monitoring; or the average methane
						concentration measurements that exceed 25 ppmv, as determined by integrated
						surface emissions monitoring.
(12)
						"Executive Officer" means the Executive Officer of the Air Resources Board, or
						his or her delegate.
(13) "Facility
						Boundary" means the boundary surrounding the entire area on which MSW landfill
						activities occur and are permitted.
(14) "Gas Control Device" means any device
						used to dispose of or treat collected landfill gas, including, but not limited
						to, enclosed flares, internal combustion engines, boilers and boiler-to-steam
						turbine systems, fuel cells, and gas turbines.
(15) "Gas Collection System" means any system
						that employs various gas collection wells and connected piping, and mechanical
						blowers, fans, pumps, or compressors to create a pressure gradient and actively
						extract landfill gas.
(16) "Gas
						Control System" means any system that disposes of or treats collected landfill
						gas by one or more of the following means: combustion, gas treatment for
						subsequent sale, or sale for processing offsite, including for transportation
						fuel and injection into the natural gas pipeline.
(17) "Inactive MSW Landfill" means a MSW
						landfill that is no longer accepting solid waste for disposal, or can document
						that the landfill is no longer receiving solid waste.
(18) "Inert Waste" means any material meeting
						the definition of "Inert Waste" as defined in Title 27, California Code of
						Regulations, Division 2, Subdivision
						1, Chapter 3, Subchapter 2,
						Article 2, Section
						20230(a)
						(effective July 18, 1997).
(19)
						"Landfill Gas" means any untreated, raw gas derived through a natural process
						from the decomposition of organic waste deposited in a MSW landfill, from the
						evolution of volatile species in the waste, or from chemical reactions of
						substances in the waste.
(20)
						"Landfill Surface" means the area of the landfill under which decomposable
						solid waste has been placed, excluding the working face.
(21) "Municipal Solid Waste Landfill" or "MSW
						Landfill" means an entire disposal facility in a contiguous geographical space
						where solid waste is placed in or on land.
(22) "Non-decomposable Solid Waste" means
						materials that do not degrade biologically to form landfill gas. Examples
						include, but are not limited to, earth, rock, concrete asphalt paving
						fragments, uncontaminated concrete (including fiberglass or steel reinforcing
						rods embedded in the concrete), brick, glass, ceramics, clay products, inert
						slag, asbestos-containing waste, and demolition materials containing minor
						amounts (less than 10 percent by volume) of wood and metals. Materials that do
						not meet this definition are considered decomposable solid waste.
(23) "Non-repeatable, Momentary Readings"
						means indications of the presence of methane, which persist for less than five
						seconds and do not recur when the sampling probe of a portable gas detector is
						placed in the same location.
(24)
						"Operator" means any person or entity, including but not limited to any
						government entity, corporation, partnership, trustee, other legal entity, or
						individual that:
(A) Operates the MSW
						landfill;
(B) Is responsible for
						complying with any federal, state, or local requirements relating to methane
						emissions from real property used for MSW landfill purposes and subject to this
						subarticle;
(C) Operates any
						stationary equipment for the collection of landfill gas;
(D) Purchases landfill gas from an owner or
						operator of a MSW landfill and operates any stationary equipment for the
						treatment of landfill gas; or
(E)
						Purchases untreated landfill gas from an owner or operator of a MSW landfill
						and operates any stationary equipment for the combustion of landfill
						gas.
(25) "Owner" means
						any person or entity, including but not limited to any government entity,
						corporation, partnership, trustee, other legal entity, or individual that:
(A) Holds title to the real property on which
						the MSW landfill is located, including but not limited to title held by joint
						tenancy, tenancy in common, community property, life estate, estate for years,
						lease, sublease, or assignment, except title held solely as security for a debt
						such as mortgage;
(B) Is
						responsible for complying with any federal, state, or local requirements
						relating to methane emissions from real property used for MSW landfill purposes
						and subject to this subarticle.
(C)
						Owns any stationary equipment for the collection of landfill gas;
(D) Purchases the landfill gas from an owner
						or operator of a MSW landfill and owns any stationary equipment for the
						treatment of landfill gas; or
(E)
						Purchases untreated landfill gas from an owner or operator of a MSW landfill
						and owns any stationary equipment for the combustion of landfill
						gas.
(26) "Perimeter"
						means along the MSW landfill's permitted facility boundary.
(27) "Professional Engineer" means an
						engineer holding a valid certificate issued by the State of California Board of
						Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors or an engineer
						holding a valid certificate issued by a state offering reciprocity with
						California.
(28) "Solid Waste"
						means all decomposable and non-decomposable solid, semisolid, and liquid
						wastes, including garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, ashes, industrial
						waste, manure, vegetable or animal solid and semisolid wastes, sludge, and
						other discarded solid and semisolid wastes. Solid waste also includes any
						material meeting the definition of Solid Waste in
						40 CFR §
														60.751 (as last amended 64 Fed.Reg 9262, Feb
						24, 1999) as incorporated by reference herein.
(29) "Subsurface Gas Migration" means
						underground landfill gases that are detected at any point on the perimeter
						pursuant to California Code of Regulations title 27, section
						20921.
(30) "Waste-in-Place" means the total amount
						of solid waste placed in the MSW landfill estimated in tons. The refuse density
						is assumed to be 1,300 pounds per cubic yard and the decomposable fraction is
						assumed to be 70 percent by weight.
(31) "Well Raising" means a MSW landfill
						activity where an existing gas collection well is temporarily disconnected from
						a vacuum source, and the non-perforated pipe attached to the well is extended
						vertically to allow the addition of a new layer of solid waste or the final
						cover; or is extended horizontally to allow the horizontal extension of an
						existing layer of solid waste or cover material. The extended pipe (well
						extension) is then re-connected in order to continue collecting gas from that
						well.
(32) "Working Face" means the
						open area where solid waste is deposited daily and compacted with landfill
						equipment.