Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3745 - Ohio Environmental Protection Agency › Chapter 3745-66 - Closure and Post-Closure Under Interim Standards › Section 3745-66-43 - Financial assurance for facility closure

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
An owner or operator of each facility shall establish financial
				assurance for closure of the facility. The owner or operator shall choose from
				among the following options
				:
(A) Closure trust fund.
(1) An owner or operator may satisfy the
			 requirements of this rule by establishing a closure trust fund which conforms
			 to the requirements of paragraph (A)  of this rule and submitting an originally signed duplicate
			 of the trust agreement to the director . The trustee shall be an entity which has the authority to act as
			 a trustee and whose trust operations are regulated and examined by a federal or
			 state agency.
(2) The wording of
			 the trust agreement shall be identical to the wording specified in paragraph
			 (A)(1) of rule
			 3745-55-51
			 of the Administrative Code and the trust agreement shall be accompanied by a
			 formal certification of acknowledgement [for an example, see paragraph (A)(2)
			 of rule
			 3745-55-51
			 of the Administrative Code.] "Schedule A" of the trust agreement shall be
			 updated within sixty days after a change in the amount of the current closure
			 cost estimate covered by the agreement.
(3) Payments to the trust fund shall be made
			 annually by the owner or operator over the twenty years beginning on August 26,
			 1983 or over the remaining operating life of the facility as estimated in the
			 closure plan, whichever period is shorter. This period is hereafter referred to
			 as the "pay-in period." The payments to the closure trust fund shall be made as
			 follows:
(a) The first payment shall be made
			 by August 26, 1983, except as provided in paragraph (A)(5) of this rule. The
			 first payment shall be at least equal to the current closure cost estimate
			 except as provided in paragraph (F) of this rule, divided by the number of
			 years in the pay-in period.
(b)
			 Subsequent payments shall be made no later than thirty days after each
			 anniversary date of the first payment. The amount of each subsequent payment
			 shall be determined by this 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.
(4)
			 The owner or operator may accelerate payments into the trust fund or the owner
			 or operator may deposit the full amount of the current closure cost estimate at
			 the time the trust fund is established. However,
			 the owner or operator shall maintain the value of the trust fund at no less than the value the
			 trust fund would have if annual payments were
			 made as specified in paragraph (A)(3) of this rule.
(5) If the owner or operator establishes a
			 closure trust fund after having initially used one or more alternate mechanisms
			 specified in this rule, the owner's or operator's first payment shall be at
			 least the amount that the trust fund would have
			 contained if the trust fund were established initially and annual payments made
			 as specified in paragraph (A)(3) of this rule.
(6) 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. If the value of the trust fund is
			 less than the amount of the new estimate, the owner or operator, within sixty
			 days after the change in the cost estimate, either shall  deposit an amount into the
			 trust fund so that the value of the trust fund
			 after this deposit at least equals the amount of the current closure cost
			 estimate, or obtain other financial assurance as specified in this rule to
			 cover the difference.
(7) If the
			 value of the trust fund is greater than the total amount of the current closure
			 cost estimate, the owner or operator may submit a written request to the
			 director for release of the amount in excess of the current closure cost
			 estimate.
(8) If an owner or
			 operator substitutes other financial assurance as specified in this rule for
			 all or part of the trust fund, the owner or operator may submit a written
			 request to the director for release of the amount in excess of the current
			 closure cost estimate covered by the trust fund.
(9) Within sixty days after receiving a
			 request from the owner or operator for release of funds as specified in
			 paragraph (A)(7) or (A)(8) of this rule, the director will instruct the trustee
			 to release to the owner or operator such funds as the director specifies in
			 writing.
(10) After beginning
			 partial or final closure, an owner or operator or another person authorized to
			 conduct partial or final closure may request reimbursement for partial or final
			 closure expenditures by submitting itemized bills to the director. The owner or
			 operator may request reimbursement for partial closure only if sufficient funds
			 are remaining in the trust fund to cover the maximum costs of closing the
			 facility over the remaining operating life of the facility. No later than sixty
			 days after receiving bills for partial or final closure activities, the
			 director will instruct the trustee to make reimbursements in those amounts as
			 the director specifies in writing, if the director determines that the partial
			 or final closure expenditures are in accordance with the approved closure plan,
			 or are otherwise justified. If the director has
			 reason to believe that the maximum cost of closure over the remaining
			 operating life of the facility will be
			 significantly greater than the value of the trust fund, the director may
			 withhold reimbursement of such amounts as the director deems prudent until the
			 director determines, in accordance with paragraph (H) of this rule, that the
			 owner or operator is no longer required to maintain financial assurance for
			 final closure of the facility. If the director does not instruct the trustee to
			 make such reimbursements, the director will provide to the owner or operator a
			 detailed written statement of reasons.
(11) The director will agree to termination
			 of the trust when :
(a) The owner or operator substitutes
			 alternate financial assurance as specified in this rule; or
(b) The director releases the owner or
			 operator from the requirements of this rule in accordance with paragraph (H) of
			 this rule.