Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 312 - SLUDGE USE, DISPOSAL, AND TRANSPORTATION › Subchapter C - SURFACE DISPOSAL › Section 312.64 - Management Practices

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Sewage sludge
				  and/or biosolids shall not be placed on an active disposal unit if it is likely
				  to adversely affect a threatened or endangered species listed under the
				  Endangered Species Act, §4, or its designated critical habitat.
(b) An active disposal unit shall not
				  restrict the flow of the 100-year flood nor be located within the 100-year
				  floodway.
(c) When a surface
				  disposal site is located in a seismic impact zone, each disposal unit in that
				  site shall be designed to withstand the maximum recorded horizontal
				  ground-level acceleration.
(d) An
				  active disposal unit shall be located 60 meters or more from a fault that has
				  displacement in Holocene time, unless otherwise approved by the executive
				  director or commission.
(e) An
				  active disposal unit shall not be located in an unstable area.
(f) An active disposal unit shall not be
				  located in a wetland except as provided in a permit issued under the federal
				  Clean Water Act, §402 or §404.
(g) Runoff from an active disposal unit shall
				  be collected and disposed in accordance with discharge permit requirements and
				  any other applicable requirements. The runoff collection system for an active
				  disposal unit shall have the capacity to handle runoff from a 25-year, 24-hour
				  rainfall event.
(h) The leachate
				  collection system for an active disposal unit that has a liner and leachate
				  collection system shall be operated and maintained during the period the
				  disposal unit is active and for three years after the disposal unit
				  closes.
(i) Leachate from an active
				  disposal unit that has a liner and leachate collection system shall be
				  collected and disposed in accordance with the applicable requirements during
				  the period the disposal unit is active and for three years after the disposal
				  unit closes.
(j) When a cover is
				  placed on an active disposal unit, the concentration of methane gas in air in
				  any structure within the surface disposal site shall not exceed 25% of the
				  lower explosive limit for methane gas during the period that the disposal unit
				  is active and the concentration of methane gas in air at the property line of
				  the surface disposal site shall not exceed the lower explosive limit for
				  methane gas during the period that the disposal unit is active. When a final
				  cover is placed on a disposal unit at closure, the concentration of methane gas
				  in air in any structure within the surface disposal site shall not exceed 25%
				  of the lower explosive limit for methane gas for three years after the disposal
				  unit closes and the concentration of methane gas in air at the property line of
				  the surface disposal site shall not exceed the lower explosive limit for
				  methane gas for three years after the disposal unit closes. On a case by case
				  basis, the executive director may consider exclusion from these
				  requirements.
(k) A food crop, a
				  feed crop, or a fiber crop shall not be grown on an active disposal unit,
				  unless the owner/operator of the surface disposal site demonstrates to the
				  executive director that through additional management practices, human health
				  and the environment are protected from any reasonably anticipated adverse
				  effects of metals in sewage sludge and/or biosolids when crops are
				  grown.
(l) Domestic livestock shall
				  not be grazed on an active disposal unit, unless the owner/operator of the
				  surface disposal site demonstrates to the executive director that through
				  additional management practices, human health and the environment are protected
				  from any reasonably anticipated adverse effects of metals in sewage sludge
				  and/or biosolids when domestic livestock are grazed.
(m) Public access to a surface disposal site
				  shall be restricted during the period that the surface disposal site contains
				  an active disposal unit and for a period of three years after the last active
				  disposal unit in the surface disposal site closes. The means of restricting
				  access to a surface disposal site shall be effective with consideration of the
				  location of the site and adjacent land use(s).
(1) The permit application shall include an
				  explanation of the means for restricting access to a surface disposal
				  site.
(2) The executive director
				  shall include, as a condition of the proposed permit, specific requirements for
				  the means of restricting access to a surface disposal site.