Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 30.000 - Hazardous waste › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 30.904 - Financial Assurance for Closure

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
The owner or operator of each facility shall establish and
				  continuously maintain financial assurance for closure of the facility using the
				  options specified in 310 CMR 30.904(1) through (6).
(1)
Closure trust
				fund.
(a) An owner or operator
				may satisfy the requirements of 310 CMR 30.904 by establishing a closure trust
				fund which conforms to 310 CMR 30.904(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(2) 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 acknowledgement
				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 closure cost estimate which is the subject of the trust
				agreement.
(c) The owner or
				operator shall make payments into the 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 any other facility, or the remaining operating life of the facility as
				estimated in the closure plan, whichever period is the shortest. This period is
				hereinafter referred to as the "pay-in period". The payments into the 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(2) 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 30.904(6), the first payment
				shall be at least equal to the current 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 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 30.904(1), and the value of that trust fund is
				less than the current closure cost estimates when a license is issued for that
				facility, the amount of the current closure cost estimate still to be paid into
				the trust fund shall be paid over the pay-in period specified in 310 CMR
				30.904(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 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 closure trust fund, or deposit into the closure trust fund
				the full amount of the current closure cost estimate at the time the 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 30.904(1)(c).
(e) If the owner or operator establishes a
				closure trust fund after having used one or more alternate mechanisms specified
				in 310 CMR 30.904, the owner's or operator's first payment shall be in at least
				the amount that the fund would contain if the trust fund were established
				initially and annual payments made in compliance with 310 CMR 30.904.
(f) After the pay-in period is completed,
				whenever the current 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 closure
				trust fund is less than the amount of the new current 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 closure cost estimate,
				or obtain other financial assurance as specified in 310 CMR 30.904 to cover the
				difference.
2. If the value of the
				closure trust fund is greater than the total amount of the new current 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 closure cost
				estimate.
(g) If an
				owner or operator substitutes other financial assurance as specified in 310 CMR
				30.904 for all or part of the closure trust fund, he may submit a written to
				the Department for release of the amount in excess of the current closure cost
				estimate covered by the closure trust fund.
(h) After receiving a written request from
				the owner or operator for release of the funds as specified in 310 CMR
				30.904(1)(f)2., or 310 CMR 30.904(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) After
				beginning final closure, an owner or operator or any other person authorized by
				the Department to perform closure may request reimbursement for closure
				expenditures by submitting itemized bills to the Department. After receiving
				bills for closure activities, the Department shall determine whether the
				closure expenditures are in accordance with the 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 closure will not be
				significantly greater than the value of the closure trust fund, the Department
				may withhold reimbursement of such amounts as it deems prudent until it
				determines, in accordance with 310 CMR 30.904(8), that the owner or operator is
				no longer required to maintain financial assurance for closure.
(j) 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 closure as specified in 310 CMR 30.904, or the Department has
				released the owner or operator from the requirements of 310 CMR 30.904,
				pursuant to 310 CMR 30.904(8); and
2. The Department gives prior written consent
				for such termination.