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 9VAC25-650-60 - Closure plans

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. The owner or
				  operator of a privately owned sewerage system subject to this chapter shall
				  provide a closure plan which abates, controls, prevents, removes, or contains
				  any substantial threat to public health or the environment that is reasonably
				  likely to occur if the facility ceases operations.
B. Closure plans shall be submitted to the
				  department by the owner or operator concurrently with its application for a
				  VPDES permit for the facility or as otherwise required by special order.
				  Existing closure plans filed with the department shall be reviewed by the owner
				  or operator, modified as necessary, and resubmitted to the department
				  concurrently with an owner's or operator's application for a reissued VPDES
				  permit. The submittal shall include a written summary of the results of the
				  review and any modifications to the closure plan.
C. Closure plans shall consist of one or more
				  of the following:
1. The cessation of the
				  discharge of pollutants to state waters, followed by closure of the facility in
				  accordance with the facility closure plan prepared in accordance with
				  9VAC25-790-120
				  E 3 and approved by the department.
2. Connection to an alternative treatment
				  works, such as a POTW, including rerouting of all influent flow, followed by
				  closure of the VPDES permitted facility in accordance with the facility closure
				  plan prepared in accordance with
				  9VAC25-790-120
				  E 3 and approved by the department.
3. Transfer of the facility to a local
				  government, provided that written agreement of the receiving local government
				  to obtain a VPDES permit and operate and maintain the facility in accordance
				  with the VPDES permit and all other applicable laws and regulations, is
				  obtained and included as part of the closure plan.
4. Contract operation of the facility for a
				  period of two years after initial implementation of the closure plan,
				  regardless of the date of initial implementation. Contract operation shall be
				  by a named private company or other entity licensed to operate wastewater
				  treatment facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and licensed to operate
				  the specific facility to which the closure plan applies. A closure plan
				  consisting of or including contract operation shall include a written, signed
				  contract executed by the contract operator, contingent only upon approval of
				  the closure plan by the department. The contract shall specify that the
				  contract operator shall operate the facility for the term of the contract in
				  accordance with the terms and conditions of the owner's or operator's VPDES
				  permit for the facility. The contract shall also specify that the contract
				  operator shall assume, without exception, all responsibilities and liabilities
				  associated with the facility's discharge to state waters and with the owner's
				  or operator's VPDES permit in the event the closure plan is implemented. The
				  owner or operator of the facility and the owner of the private company or
				  entity contracted to operate the facility under the closure plan shall not be
				  the same person.
5. An alternative
				  plan which will abate, control, prevent, remove, or contain any substantial or
				  imminent threat to public health or the environment that is reasonably likely
				  to occur if the facility ceases operations.