California Code of Regulations › Title 27 - Environmental Protection › Division 2 - Solid Waste › Subdivision 1 - Consolidated Regulations for Treatment, Storage, Processing or Disposal of Solid Waste › Chapter 3 - Criteria for All Waste Management Units, Facilities, and Disposal Sites › Subchapter 2 - Siting and Design › Article 4 - SWRCB-Waste Management Unit Construction Standards › Section 20340 - SWRCB-Leachate Collection and Removal Systems (LCRS). [C15: Section 2543 // T14: Section 17781(b)(2) and (d)(1)]

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
						Basic LCRS Design--Leachate collection and removal systems (LCRS) are required
						for Class II landfills and surface impoundments, and for Class III landfills
						which have a liner or which accept sewage or water treatment sludge. The LCRS
						shall be installed directly above underlying containment features for landfills
						and waste piles, and installed between the liners for surface impoundments.
						LCRS requirements are summarized on Table 4.1. Class II landfills and waste
						piles which contain only dry wastes (not including nonhazardous solid waste and
						decomposable waste) may be allowed to operate without an LCRS if the discharger
						demonstrates, based on climatic and hydrogeologic conditions, that leachate
						will not be formed in, or migrate from, the Unit; nevertheless, for a Class II
						or Class III MSW landfill, after the Federal Deadline for installing liners at
						that Unit, the LCRS requirements of SWRCB Resolution No. 93-62 apply to all
						portions outside of the Unit's Existing Footprint.
(b) Placement--Except as otherwise provided
						in ¶(e or f), where an LCRS is used, it shall be installed immediately
						above the liner (except in the case of a surface impoundment), and between the
						inner and outer liner of a double-liner system, and shall be designed,
						constructed, maintained, and operated to collect and remove twice the maximum
						anticipated daily volume of leachate from the Unit.
(c) Head Buildup--The RWQCB shall specify
						design and operating conditions in WDRs to ensure that there is no buildup of
						hydraulic head on the liner. The depth of fluid in the collection sump shall be
						kept at the minimum needed to ensure efficient pump operation.
(d) Clogging--LCRSs shall be designed and
						operated to function without clogging through the scheduled closure of the Unit
						and during the post-closure maintenance period. The systems shall be tested at
						least annually to demonstrate proper operation. The results of the tests shall
						be compared with earlier tests made under comparable conditions.
(e) Standard LCRS--LCRSs shall consist of a
						permeable subdrain layer which covers the bottom of the Unit and extends as far
						up the sides as possible, (i.e., blanket-type) except as provided in ¶(f).
						The LCRS shall be of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse
						under the pressures exerted by overlying wastes, waste cover materials, and by
						any equipment used at the Unit.
(f)
						Alternative LCRS--Except as otherwise required for MSW landfills, under SWRCB
						Resolution No. 93-62, if a Class III landfill is required to have an artificial
						liner and receives only permeable waste that allows free drainage of
						percolating fluid, the RWQCB can allow the use of a dendritic LCRS which
						underlies less than 100 percent of the waste; in this type of LCRS system, only
						wastes which have an hydraulic conductivity which approximates that of subdrain
						material, and which will remain permeable throughout the active life and
						post-closure maintenance period of the landfill, shall be placed adjacent to
						the liner. Furthermore, to prevent ponding, when using this type of LCRS, all
						portions of the liner not overlain by a portion of the subdrain system shall be
						sloped towards the subdrain so that ponding is minimized and leachate is
						removed as quickly as possible from the base of the landfill.
(g) Leachate Handling--Except as otherwise
						provided under SWRCB Resolution No. 93-62 (for MSW landfills subject to
						40CFR
						258.28), collected leachate shall be returned
						to the Unit(s) from which it came or discharged in another manner approved by
						the RWQCB. Collected leachate can be discharged to a different Unit only if:
(1) the receiving Unit has an LCRS, contains
						wastes which are similar in classification and characteristics to those in the
						Unit(s) from which leachate was extracted, and has at least the same
						classification (under Article 3 of this subchapter) as the Unit(s) from which
						leachate was extracted;
(2) the
						discharge to a different Unit is approved by the RWQCB;
(3) the discharge of leachate to a different
						Unit shall not exceed the moisture-holding capacity of the receiving unit, and
						shall comply with §
													20200(d).