Illinois Administrative Code › Title 35 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part 845 - STANDARDS FOR THE DISPOSAL OF COAL COMBUSTION RESIDUALS IN SURFACE IMPOUNDMENTS › Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 845.120 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Except as stated in this Section, or unless a different
				  meaning of a word or term is clear from the context, the definition of words or
				  terms in this Part will be the same as that applied to the same words or terms
				  in the Environmental Protection Act:
"1000-year flood" means a flood of magnitude (or greater) of
				  1 in 1000 probability of occurring in any given year.
"Act" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Act [415
				  ILCS 5].
"Active facility" or "active electric utility" or
				  "independent power producer" means any facility, subject to the requirements of
				  this Part, that is in operation on or after October 19, 2015. An electric
				  utility or independent power producer is in operation if it is generating
				  electricity that is provided to electric power transmission systems or to
				  electric power distribution systems on or after October 19, 2015. An off-site
				  CCR surface impoundment is in operation if it is accepting or managing CCR on
				  or after October 19, 2015.
"Active life" or "in operation" means the period of operation
				  beginning with the initial placement of CCR in the CCR surface impoundment and
				  ending at completion of closure activities in accordance with Subpart G.
"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection
				  Agency.
"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or
				  portion of a formation capable of yielding usable quantities of groundwater to
				  wells or springs.
"Area-capacity curves" means graphic curves that readily show
				  the reservoir water surface area, in acres, at different elevations from the
				  bottom of the reservoir to the maximum water surface, and the capacity or
				  volume, in acre-feet, of the water contained in the reservoir at various
				  elevations.
"Areas susceptible to mass movement" means those areas of
				  influence (i.e., areas characterized as having an active or substantial
				  possibility of mass movement) where, because of natural or human-induced
				  events, the movement of earthen material at, beneath, or adjacent to the CCR
				  surface impoundment may result in the downslope transport of soil and rock
				  material by means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include,
				  but are not limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil
				  fluctuation, block sliding, and rock fall.
"Beneficial use of CCR" means CCR that meets the definition
				  of "coal combustion by-product" in Section 3.135 of the Act [415 ILCS
				  5/3.135] and the definition of "beneficial use of CCR"
				  in 40 CFR 257.53,
				  incorporated by reference in Section
				  845.150.
"Board" means Illinois Pollution Control Board.
"Certified laboratory" means any laboratory certified under
				  Section 4(o) of the Act or certified by USEPA for the specific constituents to
				  be examined.
"Closed" for purposes of this Part means placement of CCR in
				  a CCR surface impoundment has stopped, and the owner or operator has completed
				  closure of the CCR surface impoundment and has initiated post-closure care in
				  accordance with Subpart G.
"
Coal combustion residuals
" or
				  "
CCR
"
means fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue
				  gas desulfurization materials generated from burning coal for the purpose of
				  generating electricity by electric utilities and independent power
				  producers
. [415 ILCS
				  5/3.142]
"CCR fugitive dust" means solid airborne particulate matter
				  that contains or is derived from CCR, emitted from any source other than a
				  stack or chimney.
"CCR storage pile" means any temporary accumulation of solid,
				  non-flowing CCR placed on the land that is designed and managed to control
				  releases of CCR to the environment. CCR contained in an enclosed structure is
				  not a CCR storage pile. Examples of control measures to control releases from
				  CCR storage piles include: periodic wetting, application of surfactants, tarps,
				  or wind barriers to suppress dust; tarps or berms for preventing contact with
				  precipitation and controlling run-on/run-off; and impervious storage pads or
				  geomembrane liners for soil and groundwater protection.
"
CCR surface impoundment
" or
				  "
impoundment
"
means a natural topographic depression,
				  man-made excavation, or diked area, which is designed to hold an accumulation
				  of CCR and liquids, and the surface impoundment treats, stores, or disposes of
				  CCR.
[415 ILCS
				  5/3.143]
"Dike" means an embankment, berm, or ridge of either natural
				  or man-made materials used to prevent the movement of liquids, sludges, solids,
				  or other materials.
"Displacement" means the relative movement of any two sides
				  of a fault measured in any direction.
"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping,
				  spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste as defined in section 1004(27)
				  of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act into or on any land or water or
				  into any well so that the solid waste, or constituent thereof, may enter the
				  environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including
				  groundwater. For purposes of this Part, disposal does not include the
				  beneficial use of CCR.
"Downstream toe" means the junction of the downstream slope
				  or face of the CCR surface impoundment with the ground surface.
"Enclosed structure" means:
A completely enclosed, self-supporting structure that is
				  designed and constructed of manmade materials of sufficient strength and
				  thickness to support itself, the CCR, and any personnel and heavy equipment
				  that operate within the structure, and to prevent failure due to settlement,
				  compression, or uplift; climatic conditions; and the stresses of daily
				  operation, including the movement of heavy equipment within the structure and
				  contact of that equipment with containment walls;
The structure has containment walls that are designed to be
				  sufficiently durable to withstand any movement of personnel, CCR, and handling
				  equipment within the structure;
The structure is designed and operated to ensure containment
				  and prevent fugitive dust emissions from openings, such as doors, windows and
				  vents, and the tracking of CCR from the structure by personnel or
				  equipment.
"Exceedance of the groundwater protection standard"
				  means:
For existing CCR surface impoundments and inactive CCR
				  surface impoundments:
an analytical result with a concentration greater than the
				  numerical value of the constituents listed in Section 845.600(a), in a down
				  gradient well; or
when the up gradient background concentration of a
				  constituent exceeds the numerical value listed in Section 845.600(a), an
				  analytical result with a concentration at a statistically significant level
				  above the up gradient background concentration, in a down gradient well.
For new CCR surface impoundments and lateral expansions of
				  existing CCR surface impoundments, an analytical result with a constituent
				  concentration at a statistically significant level above the up gradient
				  background concentration, in a down gradient well.
"Existing CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface
				  impoundment in which CCR is placed both before and after October 19, 2015, or
				  for which construction started before October 19, 2015 and in which CCR is
				  placed on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR surface impoundment has started
				  construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, State, and
				  local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a
				  continuous on-site, physical construction program had begun before October 19,
				  2015.
"Facility" means all contiguous land, and structures, other
				  appurtenances, and improvements on the land, used for treating, storing,
				  disposing of, or otherwise conducting solid waste management of CCR. A facility
				  may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal operational units (e.g.,
				  one or more landfills, surface impoundments, or combinations of them).
"Factor of safety" or "safety factor" means the ratio of the
				  forces tending to resist the failure of a structure to the forces tending to
				  cause that failure, as determined by accepted engineering practice.
"Fault" means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any
				  material along which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to
				  that on the other side.
"Flood hydrograph" means a graph showing, for a given point
				  on a stream, the discharge, height, or other characteristic of a flood as a
				  function of time.
"Free liquids" means liquids that readily separate from the
				  solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature and pressure.
"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of
				  saturation.
"Hazard potential classification" means the possible adverse
				  incremental consequences that result from the release of water or stored
				  contents due to failure of the diked CCR surface impoundment or mis-operation
				  of the diked CCR surface impoundment or its appurtenances. The hazardous
				  potential classifications include Class 1 and Class 2, defined as
				  follows:
Class 1 CCR surface impoundment means a diked surface
				  impoundment where failure or mis-operation will probably cause loss of human
				  life.
Class 2 CCR surface impoundment means a diked surface
				  impoundment where failure or mis-operation results in no probable loss of human
				  life, but can cause economic loss, environmental damage, disruption of lifeline
				  facilities, or impact other concerns.
"Height" means the vertical measurement from the downstream
				  toe of the CCR surface impoundment at its lowest point to the lowest elevation
				  of the crest of the CCR surface impoundment, not including spillways.
"Holocene" means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary
				  period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, at 11,700 years before
				  present, to present.
"Hydraulic conductivity" means the rate at which water can
				  move through a permeable medium (i.e., the coefficient of permeability).
"Inactive CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface
				  impoundment in which CCR was placed before but not after October 19, 2015 and
				  still contains CCR on or after October 19, 2015. Inactive CCR surface
				  impoundments may be located at an active facility or inactive facility.
"Inactive Closed CCR surface impoundment" means an inactive
				  CCR surface impoundment that completed closure before October 19, 2015 with an
				  Agency-approved closure plan.
"Inactive facility" or "inactive electric utilities or
				  independent power producers" means any facility that is not in operation on or
				  after October 19, 2015.
"Incised CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface
				  impoundment that is constructed by excavating entirely below the natural ground
				  surface, holds an accumulation of CCR entirely below the adjacent natural
				  ground surface, and does not consist of any constructed diked portion.
"Inflow design flood" means the flood hydrograph that is used
				  in the design or modification of the CCR surface impoundment and its
				  appurtenant works.
"In operation" means the same as "active life".
"Karst terrain" means an area where karst topography, with
				  its characteristic erosional surface and subterranean features, is developed as
				  the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock.
				  Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terrains include, but
				  are not limited to, dolines, collapsed shafts (sinkholes), sinking streams,
				  caves, seeps, large springs, and blind valleys.
"Lateral expansion" means a horizontal or vertical expansion
				  of the waste boundaries of an existing CCR surface impoundment made after
				  October 19, 2015.
"Liquefaction factor of safety" means the factor of safety
				  (safety factor) determined using analysis under liquefaction conditions.
"Lithified earth material" means all rock, including all
				  naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or
				  small particles of older rock that formed by crystallization of magma or by
				  induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials,
				  such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil,
				  or regolith lying at or near the earth surface.
"Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material"
				  means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration at the ground surface as
				  depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 98% or greater probability that the
				  acceleration will not be exceeded in 50 years, or the maximum expected
				  horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk
				  assessment.
"New CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment
				  or lateral expansion of an existing or new CCR surface impoundment that first
				  receives CCR or starts construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR surface
				  impoundment has started construction if the owner or operator has obtained the
				  federal, State, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical
				  construction and a continuous on-site, physical construction program had begun
				  after October 19, 2015.
"Operator" means the person or persons responsible for the
				  overall operation of a CCR surface impoundment.
"Outermost damage zone of a fault" means the volume of
				  deformed wall rocks around a fault surface that results from the initiation,
				  propagation, interaction and build-up of slip along faults.
"Owner" means the person or persons who own a CCR surface
				  impoundment or part of a CCR surface impoundment.
"Poor foundation conditions" means those areas where features
				  exist which indicate that a natural or human-induced event may result in
				  inadequate foundation support for the structural components of an existing or
				  new CCR surface impoundment. For example, failure to maintain static and
				  seismic factors of safety, as required in Section 845.460, would cause a poor
				  foundation condition.
"Probable maximum flood" means the flood that may be expected
				  from the most severe combination of critical meteorologic and hydrologic
				  conditions that are reasonably possible in the drainage basin.
"Qualified person" means a person or persons trained to
				  recognize specific appearances of structural weakness and other conditions that
				  are disrupting, or have the potential to disrupt, the operation or safety of
				  the CCR surface impoundment by visual observation and, if applicable, to
				  monitor instrumentation.
"Qualified professional engineer" means an individual who is
				  licensed under the Professional Engineering Practice Act of 1989 [225 ILCS 325]
				  to practice one or more disciplines of engineering and who is qualified by
				  education, technical knowledge and experience to complete the engineering
				  analyses and make the specific technical certifications required under this
				  Part.
"Recognized and generally accepted engineering practices"
				  means engineering maintenance or operation activities based on established
				  codes, widely accepted standards, published technical reports, or a practice
				  widely recommended throughout the industry. These practices generally detail
				  approved ways to perform specific engineering, inspection, or mechanical
				  integrity activities.
"Retrofit" means to remove all CCR and contaminated soils and
				  sediments from the CCR surface impoundment, and to ensure the surface
				  impoundment complies with the requirements in Section 845.410.
"Run-off" means any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that
				  drains over land from any part of a CCR surface impoundment or lateral
				  expansion of a CCR surface impoundment.
"Run-on" means any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that
				  drains over land onto any part of a CCR surface impoundment or lateral
				  expansion of a CCR surface impoundment.
"Sand and gravel pit" or "quarry" means an excavation for the
				  extraction of aggregate, minerals or metals. The term sand and gravel pit
				  and/or quarry does not include subsurface or surface coal mines.
"Seismic factor of safety" means the factor of safety (safety
				  factor) determined using analysis under earthquake conditions using the peak
				  ground acceleration for a seismic event with a 2% probability of exceedance in
				  50 years, equivalent to a return period of approximately 2,500 years, based on
				  the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) seismic hazard maps for seismic events with
				  this return period for the region where the CCR surface impoundment is
				  located.
"Seismic impact zone" means an area having a 2% or greater
				  probability that the maximum expected horizontal acceleration, expressed as a
				  percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g), will exceed 0.10 g in 50
				  years.
"Slope protection" means engineered or non-engineered
				  measures installed on the upstream or downstream slope of the CCR surface
				  impoundment to protect the slope against wave action or erosion, including rock
				  riprap, wooden pile, concrete revetments, vegetated wave berms, concrete
				  facing, gabions, geotextiles, or fascines.
"Solid waste management" or "management" means the systematic
				  administration of the activities that provide for the collection, source
				  separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, or disposal of
				  solid waste.
"Static factor of safety" means the factor of safety (safety
				  factor) determined using analysis under the long-term, maximum storage pool
				  loading condition, the maximum surcharge pool loading condition, and the
				  end-of-construction loading condition.
"Structural components" means liners, leachate collection and
				  removal systems, final covers, run-on and run-off systems, inflow design flood
				  control systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation
				  of the CCR surface impoundment that is necessary to ensure the integrity of the
				  surface impoundment and ensure that the contents of the surface impoundment are
				  not released into the environment.
"Temporary accumulation" means an accumulation on the land
				  that is neither permanent nor indefinite. To demonstrate that the accumulation
				  on the land is temporary, all CCR must be removed from the pile at the site.
				  The entity engaged in the activity must have a record in place, such as a
				  contract, purchase order, facility operation and maintenance, or fugitive dust
				  control plan, documenting that all the CCR in the pile will be completely
				  removed according to a specific timeline.
"Unstable area" means a location that is susceptible to
				  natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of
				  that area, including structural components of some or all the CCR surface
				  impoundment that are responsible for preventing releases from the surface
				  impoundment. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas
				  susceptible to mass movements, and karst terrains.
"Uppermost aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the
				  natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as lower aquifers that are
				  hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility's property
				  boundary. Upper limit is measured at a point nearest to the natural ground
				  surface to which the aquifer rises during the wet season.
"Waste boundary" means a vertical surface located at the
				  hydraulically downgradient limit of the CCR surface impoundment. The vertical
				  surface extends down into the uppermost aquifer.
"Wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or saturated
				  by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support,
				  and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation
				  typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally
				  include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.