Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 25 - STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD › Chapter 650 - CLOSURE PLANS AND DEMONSTRATION OF FINANCIAL CAPABILITY › Part III - Closure Plans and Financial Assurance Criteria › Section 9VAC25-650-50 - General purpose and scope

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Any owner or
				  operator of a privately owned sewerage system subject to this regulation shall
				  file with the department a plan to abate, control, prevent, remove, or contain
				  any substantial imminent threat to public health or the environment that is
				  reasonably likely to occur if such facility ceases operations. Such plan shall
				  be referred to as a closure plan. The closure plan shall include a detailed
				  written estimate of the cost to implement the plan. The owner or operator shall
				  file a closure plan and associated cost estimate for the facility with the
				  department concurrently with the owner's or operator's first VPDES permit
				  application for issuance or reissuance for the facility. Closure plans and cost
				  estimates filed with the department shall be reviewed by the owner or operator
				  and updated as necessary at the end of each VPDES permit term. Revised and
				  updated closure plans shall be filed with the department concurrently with each
				  subsequent VPDES permit application.
B. Closure plans and cost estimates shall be
				  subject to review by the department. The owner or operator shall be notified in
				  writing within 60 days of receipt of the closure plan and cost estimate of the
				  department's decision to approve or disapprove the proposed closure plan and
				  cost estimate. If the department disapproves the closure plan or cost estimate,
				  the department shall notify the owner or operator as to what measures, if any,
				  the owner or operator may take to secure approval. If the owner or operator
				  submits a closure plan that is not approvable by the department, the department
				  may, at its sole discretion, promulgate a closure plan and cost estimate for
				  the facility, subject to appeal by the owner or operator only as to content
				  under the Virginia Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq. of the
				  Code of Virginia).
C. Closure plans
				  shall be implemented when the department has determined, at its sole
				  discretion, that the facility has ceased operations. The owner or operator of a
				  privately owned facility shall notify the department within 24 hours of the
				  facility ceasing operations as defined in this chapter.
D. In order to assure that the costs
				  associated with protecting public health and the environment are to be
				  recovered from the owner or operator in the event that a facility subject to
				  this regulation ceases operation, the owner or operator of such facility shall
				  submit to the department one or a combination of the financial assurance
				  mechanisms described in this chapter. Financial assurance mechanisms shall be
				  in amounts calculated as the inflation-adjusted cost estimate using the
				  procedures set forth in this chapter.
E. In the case of new facilities or increased
				  discharges from existing facilities, the selected financial assurance mechanism
				  or mechanisms shall be filed with the department no less than 90 days prior to
				  the discharge or increased discharge to state waters.
F. The department may disapprove the proposed
				  evidence of financial assurance if the mechanism or mechanisms submitted do not
				  adequately assure that funds will be available for implementation of the
				  closure plan. The owner or operator shall be notified in writing of the
				  department's decision to approve or disapprove the proposed mechanism. If the
				  department disapproves the financial assurance mechanism, the department shall
				  notify the owner or operator as to what measures, if any, the owner or operator
				  may take to secure approval.
G.
				  Closure plans, cost estimates, and financial assurance mechanisms shall remain
				  in place for the active life of the facility and for the time required to
				  complete the activities specified in the closure plan.
Statutory Authority: §§ 62.1-44.15 and
						62.1-44.18:3 of the Code of Virginia.