California Code of Regulations › Title 14 - Natural Resources › Division 7 - Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery › Chapter 3.2 - In-Vessel Digestion Operations and Facilities Regulatory Requirements › Article 1 - In-Vessel Digestion Operations and Facilities Regulatory Requirements › Section 17896.6 - Excluded Activities

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) The activities listed in this section are
				  not subject to the in-vessel digestion requirements set forth in this Chapter.
				  Nothing in this section precludes the EA or the Department from inspecting an
				  excluded activity to verify that the activity is being conducted in a manner
				  that qualifies as an excluded activity or from taking any appropriate
				  enforcement action.
(1) A Publicly Owned
				  Treatment Works Treatment Plant (POTW Treatment Plant), as defined in section
				  403.3(r) of Title
				  40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, that receives vehicle-transported solid
				  waste that is an anaerobically digestible material for the purpose of anaerobic
				  co-digestion with POTW Treatment Plant wastewater, is excluded under the
				  following conditions:
(A) Anaerobically
				  digestible materials must be trucked or hauled into a POTW Treatment Plant.
				  Once on-site, the anaerobically digestible material must be pumped or
				  off-loaded directly into a covered, leak-proof container and then pumped, or
				  diluted or slurried and then pumped, and co-digested in an anaerobic
				  digester(s) at the POTW Treatment Plant. The pumped material may be screened,
				  otherwise separated or treated prior to anaerobic digestion, but must be
				  processed and conveyed in a contained system. Any separated material at the
				  POTW that is not suitable for anaerobic digestion and has no beneficial use
				  shall be further managed as a solid waste.
(B) The POTW Treatment Plant has developed
				  Standard Operating Procedures for the acceptance of anaerobically digestible
				  material, the POTW Treatment Plant has notified the Regional Water Quality
				  Control Board that those Standard Operating Procedures are being implemented,
				  and a Standard Provision (permit condition) that reflects the acceptance of
				  anaerobically digestible material:
1. has been
				  incorporated into the POTW Treatment Plant's Waste Discharge Requirements or
				  National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit; or
2. will be incorporated into the POTW
				  Treatment Plant's Waste Discharge Requirements or National Pollutant Discharge
				  Elimination System permit no later than the next permit
				  renewal.
(C) For the
				  purpose of this exclusion, "anaerobically digestible material" means: inedible
				  kitchen grease as defined in section
				  19216 of the Food and Agricultural
				  Code, food material as defined in Title 14, CCR, section
				  17896.2(a)(12)
				  and vegetative food material as defined in Title 14, CCR, section
				  17896.2(a)(12)(A).
(D) For the purpose of this exclusion, the
				  Department, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board and
				  the California Department of Food and Agriculture, will on a case-by-case
				  basis, review and consider approval of additional types of organic materials as
				  potential "anaerobically digestible material" beyond those specified in section
				  17896.6(a)(1)(C)
				  in accordance with the following:
1. Receipt
				  of a written request to the Department from the General Manager or designee of
				  a POTW Treatment Plant.
a. The written
				  request must contain the following information:
i. The purpose of the request.
ii. Identification of the POTW Treatment
				  Plant proposing to anaerobically co-digest the organic waste material with the
				  POTW wastewater.
iii. Types of
				  organic material requested for classification as an anaerobically digestible
				  material.
iv. The source(s) of the
				  waste material.
v. A description of
				  how the waste material will be handled, processed, stored and transported
				  (before and after receipt at the POTW Treatment Plant).
vi. A map identifying all proposed physical
				  changes proposed at the POTW Treatment Plant to accommodate the new waste
				  materials.
vii. Available
				  laboratory test results, engineering reports, research or study to support the
				  request.
viii. Data and/or reports
				  if this waste material has been used without incident at a different POTW
				  Treatment Plant.
ix. The name,
				  addresses and phone numbers for the General Manager and designee of the POTW
				  Treatment Plant.
b. Upon
				  receipt of the written request, the Department will communicate and coordinate
				  the request with and between the State Water Resources Control Board and the
				  California Department of Food and Agriculture and will complete the following
				  actions:
i. Within 10 days of receipt, send
				  written confirmation to the General Manager and designee of the POTW Treatment
				  Plant indicating receipt of the letter and distribute the letter to appropriate
				  Department staff, as well as to the State Water Resources Control Board and
				  California Department of Food and Agriculture staff contacts for
				  review;
ii. Within 15 days of
				  receipt, schedule a meeting with State Water Resources Control Board and
				  California Department of Food and Agriculture staff contacts;
iii. Prior to the meeting, Department staff
				  will review the letter and identify questions and/or issues with the request
				  and make a list of recommendations;
iv. Within 40 days of receipt, conduct a
				  meeting on the request. If an agency representative does not attend the
				  meeting, comments will be accepted by the Department up to close of business on
				  the 45th day after receipt;
v.
				  Within 60 days of receipt, the Department will provide a written decision to
				  the General Manager and designee of the POTW Treatment Plant stating one of the
				  following:
I. The waste type has or has not
				  been determined to be an anaerobically digestible material excluded from both
				  the In-Vessel Digestion Operations and Facilities Regulatory Requirements
				  (pursuant to section
				  17896.6(a)(1)(C)
				  and the Transfer/Processing Operations and Facility Regulatory Requirements
				  (pursuant to section
				  17403.1(a)(8));
II. The agencies, based on the information
				  provided, were unable to reach a determination and additional information is
				  required before a determination can be made; or
III. The agencies have determined that
				  additional research or study will need to be conducted and the results analyzed
				  prior to a determination made by the agencies.
IV. If additional information, research or
				  study is necessary, the Department will consult with the General Manager or
				  designee of the POTW, the State Water Resources Control Board and California
				  Department of Food and Agriculture contacts, for the purpose of developing a
				  timeline for either reviewing the additional information or for reviewing a
				  proposed scope of work and timeline for additional research or
				  study.
2. For the purpose of this exclusion, if an
				  organic waste material is determined by the Department to be an anaerobically
				  digestible material for the purpose of co-digestion with the POTW wastewater,
				  the POTW Treatment Plant must comply with section
				  17896.6(a)(1)(A)
				  prior to receipt of the material at the POTW Treatment
				  Plant.