Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 30.000 - Hazardous waste › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 30.906 - Financial Assurance for Post-closure Care

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
The owner or operator of each facility shall establish and
				  continuously maintain financial assurance for post-closure care of the facility
				  using the options specified in 310 CMR 30.906(1) through (6).
(1)
Post-closure Trust
				Fund.
(a) An owner or operator
				may satisfy the requirements of 310 CMR 30.906, by establishing a post-closure
				trust fund which conforms to 310 CMR 30.906(1) and by sending an originally
				signed duplicate of the trust agreement to the Department within the applicable
				time period prescribed in
				310 CMR 30.901(3) or
				(4). The trustee shall be a bank or other
				financial institution which has the authority to act as a trustee and whose
				trust operations are regulated and examined by the Massachusetts Commissioner
				of Banking, or the trustee shall be a national bank.
(b) The wording of the trust agreement shall
				be identical to the wording specified in
				310 CMR
				30.909(1)(a), and the trust
				agreement shall be accompanied by a formal certification of acknowledgment
				identical to the wording specified in
				310 CMR
				30.909(1)(b). Schedule A of
				the trust agreement shall be updated within 60 days after a change in the
				amount of the current post-closure cost estimate which is the subject of the
				trust agreement.
(c) The owner or
				operator shall make payments into the post-closure trust fund no less
				frequently than annually over the term of the license issued pursuant to 310
				CMR 30.000 in the case of a new facility, or over a period no greater than ten
				years in the case of any other facility, or the remaining operating life of the
				facility as estimated in the post-closure plan, whichever period is the
				shortest. This period is hereinafter referred to as the "pay-in period." The
				payments into the post-closure trust fund shall be made as follows:
1. For each facility, the first payment shall
				be made pursuant to the applicable time period prescribed in
				310 CMR 30.901(3) or
				(4). A receipt from the trustee for this
				payment shall be submitted by the owner or operator to the Department as
				evidence of payment. Except as provided in 310 CMR 30.906(6), the first payment
				shall be at least equal to the current post-closure cost estimate, divided by
				the number of years in the pay-in period. Such pay-in period shall be no
				greater than the operating life of the facility. Subsequent payments shall be
				made no later than 30 days after each anniversary date of the first payment.
				The amount of each subsequent payment shall be calculated by the formula:
Next Payment = CE - CV / Y
where CE is the current post-closure cost estimate, CV is
				  the current value of the trust fund, and Y is the number of years in the pay-in
				  period.
2. If an owner or
				operator of a facility which has interim status pursuant to RCRA establishes a
				trust fund pursuant to 310 CMR 30.906(1), and the value of that trust fund is
				less than the current post-closure cost estimate when a license is issued for
				that facility, the amount of the current post-closure cost estimate still to be
				paid into the trust fund shall be paid over the pay-in period specified in 310
				CMR 30.906(1)(c). Payment by an owner or operator of a facility which has
				interim status pursuant to RCRA which has become licensed shall continue to be
				made no later than 30 days after each anniversary date of the first payment
				made as an interim status facility pursuant to
				310 CMR
				30.901(4). The amount of
				each payment shall be determined by the formula:
Next Payment = CE - CV / Y
where CE is the current post-closure cost estimate, CV is
				  the current value of the trust fund, and Y is the number of years remaining in
				  the pay-in period.
(d) The owner or operator may accelerate
				payments into the post-closure trust fund, or deposit into the post-closure
				trust fund the full amount of the current post-closure cost estimate at the
				time the post-closure trust fund is established. However, the owner or operator
				shall maintain the value of the fund at no less than the value that the fund
				would have if annual payments were made as specified in 310 CMR
				30.906(1)(c).
(e) If the owner or
				operator establishes a post-closure trust fund after having used one or more
				alternate mechanisms specified in 310 CMR 30.906, the owner's or operator's
				first payment shall be in at least the amount that the fund would contain if
				the post-closure trust fund were established initially and annual payments were
				made in compliance with 310 CMR 30.906.
(f) After the pay-in period is completed,
				whenever the current post-closure cost estimate changes, the owner or operator
				shall compare the new estimate with the trustee's most recent annual valuation
				of the trust fund.
1. If the value of the
				post-closure trust fund is less than the amount of the new current post-closure
				cost estimate, the owner or operator shall, within 60 days after the change in
				the cost estimate, either deposit an amount into the fund so that the fund's
				value after this deposit at least equals the amount of the current post-closure
				cost estimate, or obtain other financial assurance as specified in 310 CMR
				30.906, to cover the difference.
2.
				If the value of the post-closure trust fund is greater than the total amount of
				the new current post-closure cost estimate, the owner or operator may submit a
				written request to the Department for release of the amount in excess of the
				current post-closure cost estimate.
(g) If an owner or operator substitutes other
				financial assurance as specified in 310 CMR 30.906 for all or part of the
				post-closure trust fund, he may submit a written request to the Department for
				release of the amount in excess of the current post-closure cost estimate
				covered by the post-closure trust fund.
(h) After receiving a written request from
				the owner or operator for release of the funds as specified in 310 CMR
				30.906(1)(f)2, or 310 CMR 30.906(1)(g), the Department may instruct the trustee
				to release to the owner or operator such funds as the Department may specify in
				writing.
(i) During the period of
				post-closure care, the Department may approve a release of funds if the owner
				or operator demonstrates to the Department that the value of the post-closure
				trust fund exceeds the remaining cost of post-closure care.
(j) After beginning post-closure care, an
				owner or operator or any other person authorized by the Department to perform
				post-closure care may request reimbursement for post-closure expenditures by
				submitting itemized bills to the Department. After receiving bills for
				post-closure activities, the Department shall determine whether the
				post-closure expenditures are in accordance with the post-closure plan or
				otherwise justified, and, if so, the Department may instruct the trustee to
				make reimbursement in such amounts as the Department may specify in writing.
				Whenever the Department is not persuaded that the cost of post-closure care
				will not be significantly greater than the value of the post-closure trust
				fund, the Department may withhold reimbursement of such amounts as it deems
				prudent until it determines, in accordance with 310 CMR 30.906(8), that the
				owner or operator is no longer required to maintain financial assurance for
				post-closure care.
(k) The
				Department may agree to termination of the trust when:
1. Either the Department is persuaded that
				the owner or operator has substituted alternate financial assurance for
				post-closure care as specified in 310 CMR 30.906, or the Department has
				released the owner or operator from the requirements of 310 CMR 30.906,
				pursuant to 310 CMR 30.906(8); and
2. The Department gives prior written consent
				for such termination.