Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 330 - MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE › Subchapter M - LOCATION RESTRICTIONS › Section 330.555 - Fault Areas

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) New municipal
				  solid waste landfill units and lateral expansions shall not be located within
				  200 feet of a fault that has had displacement in Holocene time unless the owner
				  or operator demonstrates to the executive director that an alternative setback
				  distance of less than 200 feet will prevent damage to the structural integrity
				  of the landfill unit and will be protective of human health and the
				  environment. The owner or operator shall submit the demonstration with a permit
				  application or a permit amendment application.
(b) Applications submitted for the operation
				  of sites located within areas that may be subject to differential subsidence or
				  active geological faulting must include detailed fault studies. When an active
				  fault is known to exist within 1/2 mile of the site, the site must be
				  investigated for unknown faults. Areas experiencing withdrawal of crude oil,
				  natural gas, sulfur, etc., or significant amounts of groundwater must be
				  investigated in detail for the possibility of differential subsidence or
				  faulting that could adversely affect the integrity of landfill liners. Studies
				  of differential subsidence or faulting shall be conducted under the direct
				  supervision of a licensed professional engineer experienced in geotechnical
				  engineering or a licensed professional geoscientist qualified to evaluate
				  conditions of differential subsidence or faulting. The studies must establish
				  the limits (both upthrown and downthrown) of the zones of influence of all
				  active faulted areas within the site vicinity. Unless the owner or operator can
				  provide substantial evidence that the zone of influence will not affect the
				  site, no solid waste disposal shall be accomplished within a zone of influence
				  of active geological faulting or differential subsidence because active
				  faulting results in slippage along failure planes, thus creating preferred
				  seepage paths for liquids. The studies must include information or data on the
				  items in paragraphs (1) - (12) of this subsection, as applicable:
(1) structural damage to constructed
				  facilities (roadways, railways, and buildings);
(2) scarps in natural ground;
(3) presence of surface depressions (sag
				  ponds and ponded water);
(4)
				  lineations noted on aerial maps and topographic sheets;
(5) structural control of natural
				  streams;
(6) vegetation
				  changes;
(7) crude oil and natural
				  gas accumulations;
(8) electrical
				  spontaneous potential and resistivity logs (correlation of subsurface strata to
				  check for stratigraphic offsets);
(9) earth electrical resistivity surveys
				  (indications of anomalies that may represent fault planes);
(10) open cell excavations (visual
				  examinations to detect changes in subsoil texturing and/or weathering
				  indicating stratigraphic offsets);
(11) changes in elevations of established
				  benchmarks; and
(12) references to
				  published geological literature pertaining to area conditions.