Mich. Admin. Code R. 299.9503

Current through Vol. 24-10, June 15, 2024

Section R. 299.9503 - Operating licenses; exemptions

Rule 503.

(1) The following persons do not require an operating license under part 111 of the act, MCL 324.11101 to 324.11153:

(a) Persons who own or operate a facility that treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste in compliance with parts 31, 55, and 115 of the act, MCL 324.3101 to 324.3134, 324.5501 to 324.5542, and 324.11501 to 324.11554, if the only hazardous wastes the facility treats, stores, or disposes of are excluded from regulation under R 299.9304.

(b) Generators who accumulate hazardous waste on site for less than the time periods provided in R 299.9305 to R 299.9307.

(c) Farmers who dispose of waste pesticides from their own use in compliance with R 299.9204(3)(b).

(d) Owners or operators of totally enclosed treatment facilities.

(e) Owners or operators of elementary neutralization units.

(f) Owners or operators of wastewater treatment units, if the following conditions, as applicable, are met:

(i) The units are subject to regulation under section 402 or 307(b) of the federal clean water act, 33 USC 1342 or 1317(b).

(ii) The units are located on the site of a generator and do not treat hazardous waste from any other generator unless the waste is shipped entirely by pipeline or the off-site generator has the same owner as the facility at which the unit is located.

(iii) If an owner or operator is diluting D001 waste, other than D001 high TOC subcategory waste as defined in 40 CFR 268.40, or D003 waste, to remove the hazardous characteristic before land disposal, the owner or operator complies with the requirements of 40 CFR 264.17(b) and 265.17(b), as applicable.

(g) Transporters storing manifested shipments of hazardous waste in containers at a transfer facility for a period of 10 days or less, if the transfer facility requirements of R 299.9404 are met.

(h) Persons adding absorbent material to hazardous waste in a container, and persons adding hazardous waste to absorbent material in a container, if all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The actions occur at the site of generation when hazardous waste is first placed in the container.

(ii) Liquids are not absorbed in materials that biodegrade or that release liquids when compressed.

(iii) The provisions of 40 CFR 264.17(b), 264.171, and 264.172 are met.

(i) Generators who have on-site treatment facilities if a generator complies with all of the following requirements:

(i) All treatment is conducted in either containers or tanks.

(ii) If the treatment occurs in containers, then all of the following requirements are met:

(A) The requirements of 40 CFR part 265, subpart I, except 40 CFR 265.173.

(B) The containers holding hazardous waste are always closed, except when it is necessary to add, remove, or treat the waste.

(C) The containers holding hazardous waste are not opened or handled in a manner that may rupture the containers or cause them to leak.

(D) The containment requirements of 40 CFR 264.175.

(E) The generator documents the inspections required under 40 CFR 265.174.

(iii) If the treatment occurs in tanks, the requirements of 40 CFR part 265, subpart J, except for 40 CFR 265.197(c) and 265.200.

(iv) The requirements of 40 CFR part 265, subpart C.

(v) The area where the waste is treated is protected, as appropriate for the type of waste being treated, from weather, fire, physical damage, and vandals.

(vi) Hazardous waste treatment is conducted so that hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents cannot escape by gravity into the soil, directly or indirectly, into surface or groundwaters, or into drains or sewers and so that fugitive emissions are not in violation of part 55 of the act, MCL 324.5501 to 324.5542.

(vii) The closure standards of 40 CFR 265.111 and 265.114.

(viii) All treatment is completed within 90 days from the date that accumulation of the waste began if the generator is a large quantity generator or within 180 days from the date that the accumulation of the waste began if the generator is a small quantity generator.

(ix) Documentation is maintained on site that specifies the date that accumulation of the waste began, the date that treatment of the waste began, and the date that treatment of the waste was completed.

(x) The requirements of R 299.9602, R 299.9603(1)(b) to (f) and (4), R 299.9604, R 299.9627, and R 299.9633.

(j) Universal waste handlers and universal waste transporters when handling the wastes identified in R 299.9228(1). Universal waste handlers and universal waste transporters are subject to R 299.9228 when handling the universal wastes identified in R 299.9228(1).

(k) Owners or operators who use a pipeline for the sole purpose of transferring wastes to and from treatment or storage tanks at the facility and bulk railcars at an off-site transfer facility, if all of the following requirements are met:

(i) The pipeline is owned and operated by the owner or operator.

(ii) The pipeline meets the requirements for ancillary equipment under 40 CFR part 264, subpart J.

(iii) Wastes are not stored in the pipeline.

(iv) The owner or operator establishes as part of their waste analysis plan procedures for receipt of the wastes by the facility to and from the transport vehicle.

(v) The owner or operator uses the pipeline solely as a method of transferring wastes and not as an extension of the facility boundary beyond the area specified in their current operating license or authorization.

(1) Owners or operators of facilities which store military munitions that have been classified as a waste in accordance with part 2 of these rules unless otherwise specified in R 299.9817.

(2) A person who is engaged in treatment or containment activities during immediate response to a discharge of a hazardous waste, an imminent and substantial threat of a discharge of hazardous waste, a discharge of a material that, when discharged, becomes a hazardous waste, or an immediate threat to human health, public safety, property, or the environment, from the known or suspected presence of military munitions, other explosive material, or an explosive device, as determined by an explosive or munitions emergency response specialist shall not be subject to the operating license requirements of part 111 of the act, MCL 324.11101 to 324.11153, and these rules. Any person who continues or initiates hazardous waste treatment or containment activities after the immediate response is over is subject to all applicable requirements of this part and part 6 of these rules, except as provided in subrule (4) of this rule. In the case of an explosives or munitions emergency response, if a federal, state, tribal or local official acting within the scope of his or her official responsibilities, or an explosives or munitions emergency response specialist, determines that immediate removal of the material or waste is necessary to protect human health or the environment, that official or specialist may authorize the removal of the material or waste by transporters who do not have EPA identification numbers. In the case of emergencies involving military munitions, the responding military emergency response specialist's organizational unit shall retain records for 3 years identifying the dates of the response, the responsible persons responding, the type and description of material addressed, and its disposition.

(3) The following are considered to have an operating license and are not subject to the operating license requirements of part 111 of the act, MCL 324.11101 to 324.11153, and these rules for new facilities or expanded, enlarged, or altered existing facilities if the listed conditions are met:

(a) The owner or operator of an injection well disposing of hazardous waste, if the owner or operator meets all of the following requirements:

(i) Has a permit for underground injection that is issued pursuant to 40 CFR parts 124, 144, 145, 146, and 147, subpart X.

(ii) Complies with the conditions of the permit and the requirements of 40 CFR 144.14.

(iii) Has a permit for underground injection that is issued pursuant to 40 CFR parts 124, 144, 145, 146, and 147, subpart X, and that is issued after November 8, 1984, and complies with both of the following:

(A)R 299.9629, Corrective action.

(B) Where the underground injection well is the only unit at a facility that requires a permit, complies with 40 CFR 270.14(d).

(b) The owner or operator of a publicly owned treatment works that accepts hazardous waste for treatment if the waste is in compliance with all federal, state, and local pretreatment requirements that would be applicable to the waste if it were being discharged into the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) through a sewer, pipe, or similar conveyance, if the owner or operator has a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit and the owner or operator complies with the conditions of the permit, and if the owner or operator complies with all of the following requirements:

(i)40 CFR 264.11, Identification number.

(ii)R 299.9608, Use of manifest system.

(iii)R 299.9609, Operating record; availability, retention and disposition of records.

(iv)R 299.9610, Reporting.

(v) For NPDES permits issued after November 8, 1984, R 299.9629, Corrective action.

(4) The director shall exempt persons who conduct the following activities from the operating license requirements of part 111 of the act, MCL 324.11101 to 324.11153, and these rules, but only if the exemption does not constitute a less stringent permitting requirement than is required under RCRA:

(a) The treatment of hazardous waste during the closure of a treatment, storage, or disposal unit, if both of the following conditions apply:

(i) The treatment occurs at the site of generation.

(ii) The treatment is authorized in a closure plan approved by the director or his or her designee.

(b) Closure of an existing surface impoundment for hazardous waste that is closed as a landfill pursuant to R 299.9616(3), if the closure is authorized in a closure plan approved by the director or his or her designee and an operating license is obtained for the postclosure period.

(c) The treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste at the individual site of generation if conducted solely in response to, or as corrective action under, and in full compliance with, a plan developed or approved by the director, or his or her designee, under part 31, 111, 201, or 213 of the act, MCL 324.3101 to 324.3134, 324.11101 to 324.11153, 324.20101 to 324.20142, and 324.21301a to 324.21334, or an administrative or judicial consent order to which the director is a party and if the treatment, storage, or disposal is conducted in accordance with the technical standards of part 6 of these rules.

(d) Treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste at the individual site of generation, if conducted solely in response to, or as a corrective action under, and in full compliance with CERCLA.

(5) 40 CFR parts 124, 144, 145, 146, 147, and 265, subparts I and J, except 40 CFR 265.197(c) and 265.200, and 40 CFR 264.11, 264.17(b), 264.171, 264.172, 264.175, 265.111, 265.114, and 268.7(a)(4) are adopted by reference in R 299.11003.

Mich. Admin. Code R. 299.9503

1985 AACS; 1988 AACS; 1989 AACS; 1994 AACS; 1996 AACS; 2000 AACS; 2008 AACS; 2013 AACS; 2020 MR 14, Eff. 8/3/2020