Section R. 299.9629 - Corrective actionRule 629.
(1) Owners or operators of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste shall conduct corrective action as necessary to protect the public health, safety, welfare, and the environment pursuant to a corrective action program approved by the director, unless otherwise specified in this rule. The corrective action program shall be conducted as follows: (a) Owners or operators of facilities that apply for, or have been issued, an operating license pursuant to part 111 of the act shall institute corrective action for all releases of a contaminant from any waste management units at the facility, regardless of when the contaminant may have been placed in or released from the waste management unit.(b) Owners or operators of facilities that are not included in subdivision (a) of this subrule and for which the owner or operator, or both, is or was subject to the interim status requirements defined in RCRA, except for facilities that have received formal written approval of the withdrawal of their EPA part A hazardous waste permit application from the director or the EPA, shall institute corrective action for all releases of hazardous waste from the facility, regardless of when the hazardous waste may have been placed in or released from the facility.(2) Owners or operators shall implement corrective action beyond the facility boundary if the releases referenced in subrule (1) of this rule have or may have migrated, or otherwise have or may have been emitted, beyond the facility boundary, unless the owner or operator demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the director, that, despite the owner's or operator's best efforts, the owner or operator is unable to obtain the necessary permissions to undertake such actions. The owner or operator shall not be relieved of all responsibility to clean up a release that has migrated or been emitted beyond the facility boundary where off-site access is denied. On-site measures to address such releases shall be determined on a case-by-case basis. Assurances of financial responsibility for such corrective action shall be provided.(3) The owners or operators who are required to establish a corrective action program pursuant to part 111 of the act and these rules shall, at a minimum, do the following, as applicable:(a) For facilities that are specified in subdivision (a) of subrule (1) of this rule, the owner or operator, or both, shall take corrective action to ensure compliance with the groundwater protection standards, and, if necessary, other applicable environmental protection standards, established by the director. The director shall specify in an operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order, pursuant to this rule and R 299.9635 and R 299.9636, schedules of compliance for corrective action and assurances of financial responsibility for completing the corrective action and other requirements, including, any of the following: (i) A list of the hazardous wastes and hazardous constituents. The list of hazardous constituents are identified pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 264.93.(ii) The groundwater protection standards which are expressed as concentration limits that are established pursuant to R 299.9612(1)(d) or as concentration limits established pursuant to part 31 or part 201 of the act, if the limits are not less stringent than allowed pursuant to RCRA.(iii) The environmental protection standards which are necessary for the cleanup and protection of soil, surface water, sediments, and ambient and indoor air that are established pursuant to part 201 of the act on the effective date of these rules if the limits are not less stringent than allowed pursuant to RCRA.(iv) The compliance point or points at which the standards apply and at which monitoring shall be conducted, which for groundwater are specified pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 264.95.(v) The compliance period, which for groundwater is specified pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 264.96.(vi) The restoration and mitigation measures that are necessary to mitigate damage to the natural resources of the state, including wildlife, fish, wetlands, or other ecosystems.(b) For facilities that are specified in subdivision (b) of subrule (1) of this rule, the owner or operator, or both, shall take corrective action to ensure compliance with the groundwater protection standards, and, if necessary, other applicable environmental protection standards, established by the director. The director shall specify in a consent order or other order, pursuant to this rule and R 299.9635 and R 299.9636, schedules of compliance for corrective action and assurances of financial responsibility for completing the corrective action and other requirements, including any of the following: (i) A list of the hazardous wastes and hazardous waste constituents.(ii) The groundwater protection standards which are expressed as concentration limits that are established pursuant to part 31 or part 201 of the act if the limits are not less stringent than allowed pursuant to RCRA.(iii) The environmental protection standards which are necessary for the cleanup and protection of soil, surface water, sediments, and ambient and indoor air that are established pursuant to part 201 of the act on the effective date of these rules if the limits are not less stringent than allowed pursuant to RCRA.(iv) The compliance point or points at which the standards apply and at which monitoring shall be conducted.(v) The compliance period.(vi) The restoration and mitigation measures that are necessary to mitigate damage to the natural resources of the state, including wildlife, fish, wetlands, or other ecosystems.(4) The owner or operator shall implement a corrective action program that prevents contaminants, hazardous wastes, or hazardous waste constituents, as provided for in subrule (1) of this rule, from exceeding their respective protection standards or concentration limits at the compliance point by removing the contaminants, hazardous wastes, or hazardous waste constituents or treating them in place.(5) For facilities that are conducting a groundwater compliance monitoring program at the time an operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order is issued or entered, the owner or operator shall begin groundwater corrective action within a reasonable time period after the groundwater protection standard is exceeded. The director shall specify the time period in the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order. If an operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order includes a groundwater corrective action program in addition to a compliance groundwater monitoring program, then the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order shall specify when the corrective action groundwater program will begin and the corrective action groundwater program shall operate in place of the compliance groundwater monitoring program.(6) In conjunction with a groundwater corrective action program, the owner or operator shall establish and implement a groundwater monitoring program to demonstrate the effectiveness of the groundwater corrective action program. The monitoring program may be based on the requirements for a compliance groundwater monitoring program and shall be as effective as that program in determining compliance with the groundwater protection standards specified in the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order and in determining the success of a corrective action program pursuant to the provisions of subrule (8) of this rule, where appropriate. All wells installed to monitor, evaluate, or remediate groundwater shall be constructed and abandoned in accordance with the well installation and well decommissioning procedures in ASTM standards D5092-04 and D5299-14, or a plan approved by the director.(7) If there is an exceedance of a groundwater surface water interface standard based on acute toxicity and established pursuant to part 201 and part 31 of the act, at any of the groundwater surface water interface compliance monitoring wells required by these rules and approved by the department, then the owner or operator shall immediately do all of the following: (a) Provide the department with written notification of the exceedance within 7 days of obtaining knowledge and confirmation that the exceedance is occurring or within 30 days of the effective date of this rule, whichever is later.(b) Within 60 days of the date on which the notice in subdivision (a) of this subrule is required, do 1 or more of the following, unless an extension of a submittal or implementation deadline is approved by the department. In reviewing extension requests, the department shall consider the progress of any corrective action to date, whether or not site conditions inhibit corrective action implementation, whether or not the extension would adversely impact surface water resources, and the nature and extent of the exceedances. (i) Implement interim measures to prevent exceedances at the monitoring wells referenced in this subrule and submit to the department a proposal and schedule for completing corrective action to prevent a discharge that exceeds the standard.(ii) Provide the department with written notification of the owner or operator's intent to propose another compliance monitoring point if one has yet not been approved by the department. The notification shall include a schedule for submission of the proposal for department approval. The department may approve the schedule as submitted or direct reasonable modifications in the schedule. The proposal for another compliance monitoring point shall include all of the following: (A) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring points are more representative of the venting groundwater and allow a more accurate calculation of the discharge rate, in cubic feet per second, of that portion of the venting groundwater plume that exceeds, or is likely to exceed in the future, a groundwater surface water interface standard, than existing compliance monitoring wells.(B) A demonstration that the locations where venting groundwater enters surface water have been comprehensively identified.(C) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring point allows for venting groundwater to be sampled before mixing with surface water.(D) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring point allows for reliable, representative monitoring of groundwater quality.(E) Identification and documentation of the chemical, physical, or biological processes that result in the reduction of hazardous constituents between the original compliance monitoring wells required by these rules and the proposed compliance monitoring points.(F) Consideration of changes in groundwater flow conditions so that samples collected from the proposed compliance monitoring point are representative of groundwater flowing to the surface water. The proposed compliance monitoring points may be located in a floodplain.(G) Identification of any sentinel monitoring points that will be used in conjunction with the proposed compliance monitoring point to assure that any potential exceedance of an applicable water quality standard can be identified with sufficient notice to allow additional corrective action to be implemented that will prevent the exceedance. Sentinel monitoring points shall include, at a minimum, the original compliance monitoring wells required by these rules.(iii) Provide the department with written notification of the owner or operator's intent to propose a site-specific standard under MCL 324.20120a(2). The notification shall include a schedule for submission of the proposal for department approval. The department may approve the schedule as submitted or direct reasonable modifications in the schedule.(c) If the owner or operator does not implement an effective corrective action; submit the notices, proposals, and schedules required in subdivision (b) of this subrule; or comply with the schedules established under subdivision (b) of this subrule; and no extension was approved by the department, the owner or operator shall continue implementation of interim measures to prevent the exceedance until another compliance monitoring point or site-specific standard is approved by the department, or if the proposal is not approved by the department, until a different corrective action is implemented to protect the surface water. If another compliance monitoring point was approved by the department before detection of the exceedance in that compliance monitoring point, corrective action shall continue as long as there is a reasonable potential for an exceedance to occur, or until a different corrective action is implemented to protect the surface water. The owner or operator shall document the interim measures taken to prevent the exceedance and their effectiveness during the time that the department is reviewing a proposal. If the proposal required under paragraph (ii) of subdivision (b) of this subrule does not adequately document the interim measures required to satisfy this rule, it shall be considered incomplete and the department shall not make a decision on the proposal.(8) In addition to the other requirements of this rule, the owner or operator shall conduct a corrective action program to remove or treat in place any contaminants, hazardous wastes, and hazardous waste constituents, as provided for in subrule (1) of this rule, that exceed the groundwater protection standards or other environmental protection standards that are specified by the director as follows: (a) Between the compliance points that are established pursuant to subrule (3)(a)(iv) and (b)(iv) of this rule and the downgradient property boundary and beyond the facility boundary in accordance with subrule (2) of this rule.(b) Corrective action measures that are undertaken pursuant to this rule shall be initiated and completed within a reasonable period of time considering the extent of contamination.(c) Corrective action measures that are pursuant to this rule may be terminated once the environmental protection standards specified by the director in the facility operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order have been achieved for the required period.(9) The owner or operator shall continue corrective action measures during the compliance period to the extent necessary to ensure that the environmental protection standards are not exceeded. If the owner or operator is conducting corrective action at the end of the compliance period, then corrective action shall continue for as long as necessary to achieve compliance with the environmental protection standards. The owner or operator may terminate corrective action measures taken beyond the period equal to the active life of the waste management area, including the closure period, if the owner or operator can demonstrate that the environmental protection standards have been achieved for the required period.(10) The owner or operator shall report, in writing, to the director, on the effectiveness of the corrective action program pursuant to the schedule specified in the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order, but not less than annually.(11) If an owner or operator determines that the corrective action program does not satisfy the requirements of these rules, he or she shall, pursuant to the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order, submit an application for a license modification or request a modification or termination of appropriate sections of any consent order or other order.(12) The requirements of this rule do not apply to remediation waste management sites unless they are part of a facility subject to the licensing requirements under part 111 of the act and these rules because the facility is also treating, storing, or disposing of hazardous wastes that are not remediation wastes.Mich. Admin. Code R. 299.9629
1994 AACS; 1996 AACS; 2000 AACS; 2004 AACS; 2008 AACS; 2013 AACS; 2017 MR 6, Eff. 4/5/2017