Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 340 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Division 239 - LANDFILL GAS EMISSIONS › Section 340-239-0015 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
The definitions in OAR 340-200-0020, 340-218-0030  and this rule
				apply to this division. If the same term is defined in this rule and
				340-200-0020  or 340-218-0030, the definition in this rule applies to this
				division.
(1) "Active landfill" means
			 a landfill in which solid waste is being placed or a landfill that is planned
			 to accept waste in the future.
(2)
			 "Bioreactor" means a landfill or portion of a landfill where any liquid other
			 than leachate (leachate includes landfill gas condensate) is added in a
			 controlled fashion into the waste mass (often in combination with recirculating
			 leachate) to reach a minimum average moisture content of at least 40 percent by
			 weight to accelerate or enhance the anaerobic (without oxygen) biodegradation
			 of the waste.
(3) "Component" means
			 any equipment that is part of the gas collection and control system and that
			 contains landfill gas including, but not limited to, wells, pipes, flanges,
			 fittings, valves, flame arrestors, knock-out drums, sampling ports, blowers,
			 compressors, or connectors.
(4)
			 "Component leak" means the concentration of methane measured one half of an
			 inch or less from a component source that exceeds 500 parts per million by
			 volume (ppmv), other than nonrepeatable, momentary readings. Measurements from
			 any vault must be taken within three inches above the surface of the vault
			 exposed to the atmosphere.
(5)
			 "Closed landfill" means that a landfill is no longer accepting solid waste for
			 disposal and has documentation that the closure was conducted in accordance
			 with the applicable statutes, regulations, and local ordinances in effect at
			 the time of closure.
(6)
			 "Continuous operation" means that the gas collection and control system is
			 operated continuously, the existing gas collection wells are operating under
			 vacuum while maintaining landfill gas flow, and the collected landfill gas is
			 processed by a gas control system 24 hours per day.
(7) "Controlled landfill" means any landfill
			 at which collection and control systems are required under this division. The
			 landfill is considered controlled at the time a Collection and Control System
			 Design Plan is required to comply with OAR 340-239-100(6) or OAR
			 340-239-100(7).
(8) "Corrective
			 action analysis" means a description of all reasonable interim and long-term
			 measures, if any, that are available, and an explanation of why the selected
			 corrective action(s) is/are the best alternative(s), including, but not limited
			 to, considerations of cost effectiveness, technical feasibility, safety, and
			 secondary impacts.
(9)
			 "Decomposable solid waste" means any solid waste that is not nondecomposable
			 solid waste.
(10) "Destruction
			 efficiency" means a measure of the ability of a gas control device to combust,
			 transform, or otherwise prevent emissions of methane from entering the
			 atmosphere.
(11) "Enclosed
			 combustor" means an enclosed flare, steam generating boiler, internal
			 combustion engine, or gas turbine.
(12) "Energy recovery device" means any
			 combustion device that uses landfill gas to recover energy in the form of steam
			 or electricity, including, but not limited to, gas turbines, internal
			 combustion engines, boilers, and boiler-to-steam turbine systems.
(13) "Gas control device" means any device
			 used to dispose of or treat collected landfill gas, including, but not limited
			 to, enclosed flares, internal combustion engines, boilers and boiler-to-steam
			 turbine systems, fuel cells, and gas turbines.
(14) "Gas collection system" means any system
			 that employs various gas collection wells and connected piping, gas mover
			 equipment, or any system that is a passive collection system.
(15) "Gas control system" means any system
			 that disposes of or treats collected landfill gas by one or more of the
			 following means: combustion, gas treatment for subsequent sale, or sale for
			 processing offsite, including for transportation fuel and injection into the
			 natural gas pipeline.
(16) "Gas
			 mover equipment" means the equipment (i.e., fan, blower, compressor) used to
			 transport landfill gas through the header system.
(17) "Gas mover system" includes all of the
			 gas mover equipment,
(18) "Gas
			 collection and control system" means any system consisting of a Gas Collection
			 System and a Gas Control System.
(19) "Inactive area" means a separate area of
			 a landfill in which solid waste is no longer being placed. The area must be
			 separated from other areas of the landfill to ensure that the landfill gas does
			 not migrate between active and inactive areas.
(20) "Inactive landfill" means a landfill
			 that is no longer accepting solid waste for disposal, or can document that the
			 landfill is no longer receiving solid waste.
(21) "Landfill" means an area of land or an
			 excavation in which wastes are placed for permanent disposal, and that is not a
			 land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or waste pile as
			 those terms are defined under
			 40
			 C.F.R. §
									257.2.
(22) "Landfill gas" means any untreated, raw
			 gas derived through a natural process from the decomposition of organic waste
			 deposited in a landfill, from the evolution of volatile species in the waste,
			 or from chemical reactions of substances in the waste.
(23) "Landfill surface" means the area of the
			 landfill under which decomposable solid waste has been placed, excluding the
			 working face.
(24) "Leachate
			 recirculation" means the practice of taking the leachate collected from the
			 landfill and reapplying it to the landfill by any of one of a variety of
			 methods, including pre-wetting of the waste, direct discharge into the working
			 face, spraying, infiltration ponds, vertical injection wells, horizontal
			 gravity distribution systems, and pressure distribution systems.
(25) "Nondecomposable solid waste" means
			 solid waste that is biologically and chemically inactive and does not form
			 landfill gas. Examples include, but are not limited to, earth, rock, concrete
			 asphalt paving fragments, uncontaminated concrete (including fiberglass or
			 steel reinforcing rods embedded in the concrete), brick, glass, ceramics, clay
			 products, inert slag, asbestos-containing waste, waste tire chips, and
			 demolition materials containing minor amounts (less than 10 percent by volume)
			 of wood and metals.
(26)
			 "Nonrepeatable, Momentary Readings" means indications of the presence of
			 methane, which persist for less than five seconds and do not recur when the
			 sampling probe of a portable gas detector is placed in the same
			 location.
(27) "Open Flare" means
			 an open combustor without enclosure or shroud.
(28) "Operator" means any person that:
(a) Operates the landfill or controls the
			 operations of the landfill;
(b) Is
			 responsible for complying with any federal, state, or local requirements
			 relating to methane emissions from real property used for landfill purposes and
			 subject to this division;
(c)
			 Operates any stationary equipment for the collection of landfill gas;
(d) Purchases landfill gas from an
			 owner or operator of a landfill and operates any stationary equipment for the
			 treatment of landfill gas; or
(e)
			 Purchases untreated landfill gas from an owner or operator of a landfill and
			 operates any stationary equipment for the combustion of landfill gas.