Mich. Admin. Code R. 299.9635

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

Section R. 299.9635 - Corrective action management unit requirements

Rule 635.

(1) Unless otherwise specified in this rule, corrective action management units shall be subject to all of the requirements of this rule.

(2) Corrective action management units that were approved before April 22, 2002, or for which substantially complete applications or equivalents were submitted to the department on or before November 20, 2000, shall only be subject to the requirements of this subrule. The waste, activities, and design associated with these grandfathered corrective action management units shall not be subject to subrules (3) to (20) of this rule provided the waste, activities, and design remain within the general scope of the corrective action management unit as approved. With respect to these grandfathered corrective action management units, the term corrective action management unit shall mean an area within a facility that is used only for managing remediation wastes for implementing corrective action or cleanup at the facility. For the purposes of implementing corrective action remedies under part 111 of the act and these rules or implementing remedies at licensed facilities that are not subject to corrective action under part 111 of the act and these rules, the director may designate in a license or enforceable document an area of a facility as a corrective action management unit. Corrective action management units shall be located within the contiguous property under the control of the owner or operator where the wastes to be managed in the corrective action management unit originated. One or more corrective action management units may be designated at a facility.

(3) For the purposes of implementing corrective action remedies under part 111 of the act and these rules or implementing remedies at licensed facilities that are not subject to corrective action under part 111 of the act and these rules, the director may designate in a license or enforceable document an area at a facility as a corrective action management unit. With respect to these corrective action management units, the term corrective action management unit means an area within a facility that is used only for managing corrective action management unit-eligible wastes for implementing corrective action or cleanup at the facility. A corrective action management unit shall be located within the contiguous property under the control of the owner or operator where the wastes to be managed in the corrective action management unit originated. One or more corrective action management units may be designated at a facility.

(4) The director may prohibit, where appropriate, the placement of waste in a corrective action management unit if the director has or receives information that the waste has not been managed in compliance with applicable land disposal treatment standards of 40 C.F.R. part 268 or applicable unit design requirements of part 6 of these rules, or that noncompliance with other applicable requirements of part 6 of these rules likely contributed to the release of the waste.

(5) The placement of bulk or noncontainerized liquid hazardous waste or free liquids contained in hazardous waste, whether or not sorbents have been added, in any corrective action management unit is prohibited except where the placement of such waste facilitates the remedy selected for the waste. The requirements in R 299.9619 for placement of containers holding free liquids in landfills apply to placement in a corrective action management unit except where the placement facilitates the remedy selected for the waste. The placement of any liquid which is not a hazardous waste in a corrective action management unit is prohibited unless such placement facilitates the remedy selected for the waste or a demonstration is made pursuant to R 299.9619. The absence or presence of free liquids in either a containerized or a bulk waste shall be determined pursuant to R 299.9619.Sorbents used to treat free liquids in corrective action management units shall meet the requirements of R 299.9619.

(6) The placement of corrective action management unit-eligible wastes into or within a corrective action management unit does not constitute land disposal for the purposes of part 111 of the act or these rules.

(7) The consolidation or placement of corrective action management unit-eligible wastes into or within a corrective action management unit does not constitute the creation of a unit subject to the minimum technology requirements of these rules.

(8) The director may designate a hazardous waste management unit as a corrective action management unit or incorporate a hazardous waste management unit into a corrective action management unit provided both of the following requirements are met:

(a) The hazardous waste management unit is closed or the closure process under part 6 of these rules has been initiated.

(b) The inclusion of the hazardous waste management unit into the corrective action management unit will enhance the implementation of effective, protective, and reliable remedial actions for the facility.

(9) All of the following requirements that applied to the hazardous waste management unit continue to apply to that portion of a corrective action management unit containing the hazardous waste management unit regardless of the designation of the hazardous waste management unit as a corrective action management unit or the incorporation of the hazardous waste management unit into a corrective action management unit:

(a) R 299.9612.

(b) R 299.9629.

(c) 40 C.F.R. part 265, subpart F.

(d) R 299.9613.

(e) 40 C.F.R. part 265, subpart G.

(f) Part 7 of these rules.

(g) The unit-specific requirements of part 6 of these rules that applied to the hazardous waste management unit.

(10) In designating an area at a facility as a corrective action management unit the director shall ensure that the corrective action management unit meets all of the following requirements:

(a) The corrective action management unit facilitates the implementation of reliable, effective, protective, and cost-effective remedies.

(b) The waste management activities associated with the corrective action management unit do not create unacceptable risks to humans or to the environment which result from exposure to hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents.

(c) The corrective action management unit contains only contaminated areas of the facility unless the inclusion of uncontaminated areas of the facility for the purpose of managing corrective action management unit-eligible waste is more protective than management of such wastes at contaminated areas of the facility.

(d) Areas within the corrective action management unit where wastes will remain in place after closure of the unit are managed and contained so as to minimize future releases, to the extent practicable.

(e) The corrective action management unit expedites the timing of remedial activity implementation, when appropriate and practicable.

(f) The corrective action management unit enables the use, when appropriate, of treatment technologies to enhance the long-term effectiveness of the remedial actions by reducing the toxicity, mobility, or volume of wastes that will remain in place after closure of the unit.

(g) The corrective action management unit, to the extent practicable, minimizes the land area of the facility upon which wastes will remain in place after closure of the unit.

(11) The owner or operator shall provide the director with sufficient information to enable the director to designate a corrective action management unit pursuant to the criteria specified in this rule. Information on all of the following shall be included unless it is not reasonably available:

(a) The origin of the waste and how it was subsequently managed, including a description of the timing and circumstances surrounding the disposal or release.

(b) Whether the waste was listed or identified as hazardous at the time of disposal or release.

(c) Whether the disposal or release of the waste occurred before or after the land disposal requirements of 40 C.F.R. part 268 were in effect for the waste listing or characteristic.

(12) The director shall specify all of the following information in the license or order for each corrective action management unit:

(a) The areal configuration of the corrective action management unit.

(b) Except as provided for in subrule (16) of this rule, the requirements for corrective action management unit-eligible waste management, including the specification of applicable design, operation, treatment, and closure requirements.

(c) The minimum design requirements for the corrective action management unit. Except as provided in subrule (15) of this rule, corrective action management units that consist of new, replacement, or laterally expanded units shall include a composite liner and a leachate collection system that is designed and constructed to maintain less than a 30-centimeter depth of leachate over the liner. The composite liner system shall consist of two components; the upper component shall consist of a minimum 30-mil flexible membrane liner, and the lower component shall consist of at least a 2-foot layer of compacted soil with a hydraulic conductivity of not more that 1 x 10 -7 cm/second. Flexible membrane liner components consisting of high density polyethylene shall be at least 60 mil thick and shall be installed in direct and uniform contact with the compacted soil component. The director may approve alternate design requirements if the director determines either of the following:

(i) Alternate design and operating practices, together with location characteristics, shall prevent the migration of any hazardous constituents into the groundwater or surface water at least as effectively as the liner and leachate collection systems requirements specified in this subdivision.

(ii) The corrective action management unit is to be established in an area with existing significant levels of contamination, and an alternative design, including a design that does not include a liner, shall prevent migration from the unit that would exceed long-term remediation goals.

(d) The minimum treatment requirements. Unless the wastes will be placed in a corrective action management unit for storage or treatment only pursuant to subrule (15) of this rule, corrective action management unit-eligible wastes that, absent this rule, would be subject to the land disposal treatment standards of 40 C.F.R. part 268, and that the director determines contain principal hazardous constituents, shall be treated to the standards specified in this subdivision. Principal hazardous constituents are those constituents that the director determines pose a risk to human health and the environment substantially higher than the cleanup levels or goals at the site. Principal hazardous constituents include carcinogens that pose a potential direct risk from ingestion or inhalation at the site at or above 10-3, non-carcinogens that pose a potential direct risk from ingestion or inhalation an order of magnitude or greater over their reference dose, other constituents if the risks to human health and the environment posed by the potential migration of the constituents in the wastes to groundwater are substantially higher than the cleanup levels or goals at the site after considering constituent concentrations, and fate and transport characteristics under site conditions, and other constituents that pose a risk to human health and the environment substantially higher than the cleanup levels or goals at the site. The treatment standards for wastes placed in corrective action management units are as follows, unless the director adjusts the treatment level or method pursuant to subrule (13) of this rule:

(i) For non-metals, the treatment shall achieve 90% reduction in total principal hazardous constituent concentrations.

(ii) For metals, the treatment shall achieve 90% reduction in principal hazardous constituent concentrations as measured in leachate from the treated waste or media, and tested according to the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, or 90% reduction in total constituent concentrations when a metal removal treatment technology is used. For metal bearing wastes for which metals removal treatment is not used, the director may specify a leaching test other than the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure to measure treatment effectiveness if the director determines that an alternative leach testing protocol is appropriate for use, and that the alternative more accurately reflects conditions at the site that affect leaching.

(iii) When treatment of any principal hazardous constituent to a 90% reduction standard would result in a concentration less than 10 times the universal treatment standard for that constituent as outlined in 40 C.F.R. §268.48, treatment to achieve constituent concentrations less than 10 times the universal treatment standard is not required.

(iv) For waste exhibiting the hazardous characteristic of ignitability, corrosivity, or reactivity, the waste shall also be treated to eliminate these characteristics.

(v) For debris, the debris shall be treated pursuant to 40 C.F.R. §268.45, or by methods or to levels established under subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) of this subdivision or subrule (13) of this rule, whichever the director determines is appropriate.

(e) The requirements for groundwater monitoring and corrective action as necessary to provide for all of the following:

(i) The continued detection and characterization of the nature, extent, concentration, direction, and movement of existing releases of hazardous constituents in the groundwater from sources located within the corrective action management unit.

(ii) The detection and subsequent characterization of releases of hazardous constituents to the groundwater that may occur from areas of the corrective action management unit in which wastes will remain in place after closure of the unit.

(iii) The notification of the director and corrective action as necessary to protect human health and the environment for releases to groundwater from the corrective action management unit.

(f) Closure requirements as necessary to minimize the need for further maintenance and control, minimize, or eliminate, to the extent necessary to protect human health and the environment, for areas where wastes remain in place, postclosure escape of hazardous waste, hazardous constituents, leachate, contaminated runoff, or hazardous waste decomposition products to the ground, surface waters, or atmosphere. The requirements for closure shall include all of the following information as appropriate and deemed necessary by the director for a given corrective action management unit, after considering the characteristics of the unit, volume of wastes which will remain in place after closure, potential for releases from the corrective action management unit, physical and chemical characteristics of the wastes, hydrogeological and other relevant environmental conditions at the facility which may influence the migration of any potential or actual releases, and potential for exposure of humans and environmental receptors if releases were to occur from the unit:

(i) The requirements for excavation, removal, treatment, and containment of the wastes.

(ii) The requirements for removal and decontamination of equipment, devices, and structures used in corrective action management unit-eligible waste management activities within the corrective action management unit.

(iii) For areas in which wastes will remain in place after closure of the corrective action management unit, the requirements for capping these areas. If the waste remaining in the corrective action management unit after closure has constituent concentrations at or above remedial levels or goals applicable to the site, the unit shall be provided with a final cover that is designed and constructed to meet the following performance criteria, unless the director determines that modifications to the requirements of this subparagraph are necessary to facilitate treatment or the performance of the unit:

(A) Provide long-term minimization of migration of liquids through the closed unit.

(B) Function with minimum maintenance.

(C) Promote drainage and minimize erosion or abrasion of the cover.

(D) Accommodate settling and subsidence so that the cover's integrity is maintained.

(E) Have a permeability less than or equal to the permeability of any bottom liner system or natural subsoils present.

(g) The postclosure requirements as necessary to protect human health and the environment, including, for areas in which wastes will remain in place, monitoring and maintenance activities and the frequency at which the activities shall be performed to ensure the integrity of any cap, final cover, or other containment system.

(13) The director may adjust the treatment level or method in subrule (12)(d) of this rule to a higher or lower level, based on 1 or more of the following factors, provided the adjusted level or method is protective of human health and the environment:

(a) The technical impractability of treatment to the levels or by the methods in subrule (12)(d) of this rule.

(b) The levels or methods in subrule (12)(d) of this rule would result in concentrations of principal hazardous constituents that are significantly above or below cleanup standards applicable to the site, established either site-specifically or promulgated under state or federal law.

(c) The views of the affected local community on the treatment levels or methods in subrule (12)(d) of this rule as applied at the site, and, for treatment levels, the treatment methods necessary to achieve these levels.

(d) The short-term risks presented by the on-site treatment method necessary to achieve the levels or treatment methods in subrule (12)(d) of this rule.

(e) The long-term protection offered by the engineering design of the corrective action management unit and related engineering controls where 1 of the following conditions are met:

(i) The treatment standards of subrule (12)(d) of this rule are substantially met and the principal hazardous constituents in the waste or residuals are of very low mobility.

(ii) Cost-effective treatment has been used and the corrective action management unit meets the liner and leachate collection requirements for new land disposal units in part 6 of these rules.

(iii) After review of appropriate treatment technologies, the director determines that cost-effective treatment is not reasonably available, and the corrective action management unit meets the liner and leachate collection requirements for new land disposal units in part 6 of these rules.

(iv) The cost-effective treatment has been used and the principal hazardous constituents in the treated wastes are of very low mobility.

(v) After review of the appropriate treatment technologies, the director determines that cost-effective treatment is not reasonably available, the principal hazardous constituents in the wastes are of very low mobility, and either the corrective action management unit meets or exceeds the liner standards for new, replacement, or laterally expanded corrective action management units in subrule (12)(c) of this rule, or the corrective action management unit provides substantially equivalent or greater protection.

(14) The treatment required by the treatment standards of this rule shall be completed before, or within a reasonable time after, placement in the corrective action management unit. For the purposes of determining whether wastes placed in corrective action management units have been treated to site-specific treatment standards and treatment completed, the director may, as appropriate, specify a subset of the principal hazardous constituents in the waste as analytical surrogates for determining whether treatment standards have been met for other principal hazardous constituents. This specification shall be based on the degree of difficulty of treatment and analysis of constituents with similar treatment properties.

(15) Corrective action management units that are used for storage or treatment only are units in which waste will not remain after closure. These corrective action management units shall be designated pursuant to all of the requirements of this rule, except as follows:

(a) Corrective action management units that are used for storage or treatment only and that operate pursuant to the time limits established in 40 C.F.R. §§264.554(d)(1)(iii), (h), and (i), are subject to the requirements for staging piles in 40 C.F.R. §§264.554(d)(1)(i) and (ii), (d)(2), (e), (f), (j), and (k), which are adopted by reference in R 299.9638, instead of the performance standards and requirements for corrective action management units in subrules (10) and (12)(c) to (f) of this rule.

(b) Corrective action management units that are used for storage or treatment only and that do not operate pursuant to the time limits established in 40 C.F.R. §§264.554(d)(1)(iii), (h), and (i) shall operate pursuant to a time limit established by the director, that is no longer than necessary to achieve a timely remedy selected for the waste and are subject to the requirements for staging piles in 40 C.F.R.

§§264.554(d)(1)(i) and (ii), (d)(2), (e), (f), (j), and (k) instead of the performance standards and requirements for corrective action management units in subrules (10) and (12)(d) to (f) of this rule.

(16) Corrective action management units into which wastes are placed where all wastes have constituent levels at or below remedial levels or goals applicable to the site may comply with the requirements for liners in subrule (12)(c) of this rule, caps in subrule (12)(f)(iii) of this rule, groundwater monitoring requirements in subrule (12)(e) of this rule, or for treatment or storage corrective action management units, the design standards of subrule (15) of this rule.

(17) The director shall provide public notice and a reasonable opportunity for public comment before designating a corrective action management unit.The notice shall include the rationale for any proposed adjustments under subrule (13) of this rule to the treatment standards in subrule (12)(d) of this rule.

(18) Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, the director may impose additional requirements as necessary to protect human health and the environment.

(19) The incorporation of a corrective action management unit into an existing license shall be approved by the director pursuant to R 299.9519 and R 299.9520.

(20) The designation of a corrective action management unit does not change the department's existing authority to address environmental protection standards, media-specific points of compliance to be applied to remediation at a facility, or other remedy selection decisions.

Mich. Admin. Code R. 299.9635

2000 AACS; 2004 AACS