Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 3 - SUBTITLES 13-18 › Subtitle 13 - DISPOSAL OF CONTROLLED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES › Chapter 26.13.05 - Standards for Owners and Operators of Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities › Section 26.13.05.06 - Ground Water Protection - General

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. Applicability.
(1) Except as provided in §A(3) of this
				  regulation, Regulations .06-.06-7 of this chapter apply to owners or operators
				  of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. The owner or
				  operator shall satisfy the requirements identified in §A(2) of this regulation
				  for all wastes or their constituents, contained in solid waste management units
				  at the facility, regardless of the time at which waste was placed in those
				  units.
(2) Owners or operators
				  shall ensure that:
(a) Solid waste management
				  units comply with the requirements of Regulation .06-7 of this
				  chapter;
(b) A surface impoundment,
				  waste pile, and land treatment unit or landfill that receives a hazardous waste
				  after July 26, 1982, referred to after this as a "regulated unit", complies
				  with the requirements of §B of this regulation and Regulations .06-1-.06-6 of
				  this chapter instead of Regulation .06-7 of this chapter for purposes of
				  detecting, characterizing, and responding to releases to the uppermost
				  aquifer;
(c) Regulated units are
				  operated in compliance with the financial responsibility requirements of
				  Regulation .06-7 of this chapter.
(3) The owner or operator's regulated unit or
				  units are not subject to regulation for releases into the uppermost aquifer
				  under this regulation if one of the following apply:
(a) The owner or operator is exempted under
				  Regulation .01 of this chapter.
(b)
				  The owner or operator operates a unit which the Secretary finds:
(i) Is an engineered structure;
(ii) Does not receive or contain liquid waste
				  or waste containing free liquids;
(iii) Is designed and operated to exclude
				  liquid, precipitation, and other run-on and run-off;
(iv) Has both inner and outer layers of
				  containment enclosing the waste;
(v) Has a leak detection system built into
				  each containment layer;
(vi) Will
				  have continuing operation and maintenance of these leak detection systems
				  during the active life of the unit and the closure and post-closure care
				  periods; and
(vii) To a reasonable
				  degree of certainty, does not allow hazardous constituents to migrate beyond
				  the outer containment layer before the end of the post-closure care
				  period.
(c) The
				  Secretary finds, under Regulation .13K of this chapter, that the treatment zone
				  of a land treatment unit that qualifies as a regulated unit does not contain
				  levels of hazardous constituents that are above background levels of those
				  constituents by an amount that is statistically significant, and if an
				  unsaturated zone monitoring program meeting the requirements of Regulation .13I
				  of this chapter has not shown a statistically significant increase in hazardous
				  constituents below the treatment zone during the operating life of the unit. An
				  exemption under this paragraph can only relieve an owner or operator of
				  responsibility to meet the requirements of this regulation during the
				  post-closure care period.
(d) The
				  owner or operator demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction that there is no
				  potential for migration of liquid from a regulated unit to the uppermost
				  aquifer during the active life of the regulated unit, including the closure
				  period, and the post-closure care specified under Regulation .07G of this
				  chapter. The owner or operator shall have this demonstration certified by a
				  qualified geologist or geotechnical engineer. In order to provide an adequate
				  margin of safety in the prediction of potential migration of liquid, the owner
				  or operator shall base any predictions made under this paragraph on assumptions
				  that maximize the rate of liquid migration.
(e) The owner or operator designs and
				  operates a waste pile in compliance with Regulation .12A of this
				  chapter.
(4)
				  Requirements for Disposal Units that Received Last Volume of Waste before July
				  26, 1982.
(a) An owner or operator of a
				  hazardous waste landfill, land treatment facility, surface impoundment, or
				  waste pile who received the last volume of hazardous waste before July 26,
				  1982, shall comply with all applicable requirements of COMAR
				  26.13.06.06 o -.15, and
				  .19-.22.
(b) The Department may add
				  additional requirements under this regulation if the Secretary determines that
				  these requirements are necessary to protect public health and the
				  environment.
(5) This
				  regulation and Regulations .06-1-.06-7 of this chapter may apply to
				  miscellaneous units when necessary to comply with Regulation .16-1B-D of this
				  chapter.
(6) This regulation and
				  Regulations .06-1-.06-7 of this chapter apply during the:
(a) Active life of the regulated unit,
				  including the closure period;
(b)
				  Post-closure care period under Regulation .07G of this chapter if the owner or
				  operator is conducting a detection monitoring program under Regulation .06-4 of
				  this chapter; and
(c) Compliance
				  period under Regulation .06-1E of this chapter if the owner or operator is
				  conducting a compliance monitoring program under Regulation .06-5 of this
				  chapter or a corrective action program under Regulation .06-6 of this
				  chapter.
(7) This
				  regulation and Regulations .06-1-.06-7 of this chapter do not apply if all
				  waste, waste residues, contaminated containment system components, and
				  contaminated subsoils are removed or decontaminated at closure.