Section R315-264-251 - Design and Operating Requirements(a) A waste pile, except for an existing portion of a waste pile, shall have: (1) A liner that is designed, constructed, and installed to prevent any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water at any time during the active life, including the closure period, of the waste pile. The liner may be constructed of materials that may allow waste to migrate into the liner itself, but not into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water, during the active life of the facility. The liner shall be: (i) Constructed of materials that have appropriate chemical properties and sufficient strength and thickness to prevent failure due to pressure gradients, including static head and external hydrogeologic forces, physical contact with the waste or leachate to which they are exposed, climatic conditions, the stress of installation, and the stress of daily operation; (ii) Placed upon a foundation or base capable of providing support to the liner and resistance to pressure gradients above and below the liner to prevent failure of the liner due to settlement, compression, or uplift; and (iii) Installed to cover all surrounding earth likely to be in contact with the waste or leachate; and (2) A leachate collection and removal system immediately above the liner that is designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to collect and remove leachate from the pile. The Director shall specify design and operating conditions in the permit to ensure that the leachate depth over the liner does not exceed 30 cm, one foot. The leachate collection and removal system shall be: (i) Constructed of materials that are: (A) Chemically resistant to the waste managed in the pile and the leachate expected to be generated; and (B) Of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressures exerted by overlaying wastes, waste cover materials, and by any equipment used at the pile; and (ii) Designed and operated to function without clogging through the scheduled closure of the waste pile. (b) The owner or operator shall be exempted from the requirements of Subsection R315-264-251(a), if the Director finds, based on a demonstration by the owner or operator, that alternate design and operating practices, together with location characteristics, will prevent the migration of any hazardous constituents, see Section R315-264-93, into the ground water or surface water at any future time. In deciding whether to grant an exemption, the Director shall consider: (1) The nature and quantity of the wastes; (2) The proposed alternate design and operation; (3) The hydrogeologic setting of the facility, including attenuative capacity and thickness of the liners and soils present between the pile and ground water or surface water; and (4) All other factors which would influence the quality and mobility of the leachate produced and the potential for it to migrate to ground water or surface water. (c) The owner or operator of each new waste pile unit, each lateral expansion of a waste pile unit, and each replacement of an existing waste pile unit shall install two or more liners and a leachate collection and removal system above and between such liners. (1)(i) The liner system shall include: (A) A top liner designed and constructed of materials, e.g., a geomembrane, to prevent the migration of hazardous constituents into such liner during the active life and post-closure care period; and (B) A composite bottom liner, consisting of at least two components. The upper component shall be designed and constructed of materials, e.g., a geomembrane, to prevent the migration of hazardous constituents into this component during the active life and post-closure care period. The lower component shall be designed and constructed of materials to minimize the migration of hazardous constituents if a breach in the upper component were to occur. The lower component shall be constructed of at least 3 feet, 91 cm, of compacted soil material with a hydraulic conductivity of no more than 1 x 10-7 cm/sec. (ii) The liners shall comply with Subsections R315-264-251(a)(1)(i), (ii), and (iii). (2) The leachate collection and removal system immediately above the top liner shall be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to collect and remove leachate from the waste pile during the active life and post-closure care period. The Director shall specify design and operating conditions in the permit to ensure that the leachate depth over the liner does not exceed 30 cm, one foot. The leachate collection and removal system shall comply with Subsections R315-264-251(c)(3)(iii) and (iv). (3) The leachate collection and removal system between the liners, and immediately above the bottom composite liner in the case of multiple leachate collection and removal systems, is also a leak detection system. This leak detection system shall be capable of detecting, collecting, and removing leaks of hazardous constituents at the earliest practicable time through all areas of the top liner likely to be exposed to waste or leachate during the active life and post-closure care period. The requirements for a leak detection system in Subsection R315-264-251(c) are satisfied by installation of a system that is, at a minimum: (i) Constructed with a bottom slope of one percent or more; (ii) Constructed of granular drainage materials with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10-2 cm/sec or more and a thickness of 12 inches, 30.5 cm, or more; or constructed of synthetic or geonet drainage materials with a transmissivity of 3 x 10-5 m 2/sec or more: (iii) Constructed of materials that are chemically resistant to the waste managed in the waste pile and the leachate expected to be generated, and of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressures exerted by overlying wastes, waste cover materials, and equipment used at the waste pile; (iv) Designed and operated to minimize clogging during the active life and post-closure care period; and (v) Constructed with sumps and liquid removal methods, e.g., pumps, of sufficient size to collect and remove liquids from the sump and prevent liquids from backing up into the drainage layer. Each unit shall have its own sump(s). The design of each sump and removal system shall provide a method for measuring and recording the volume of liquids present in the sump and of liquids removed. (4) The owner or operator shall collect and remove pumpable liquids in the leak detection system sumps to minimize the head on the bottom liner. (5) The owner or operator of a leak detection system that is not located completely above the seasonal high water table shall demonstrate that the operation of the leak detection system will not be adversely affected by the presence of ground water. (d) The Director may approve alternative design or operating practices to those specified in Subsection R315-264-251(c) if the owner or operator demonstrates to the Director that such design and operating practices, together with location characteristics: (1) Will prevent the migration of any hazardous constituent into the ground water or surface water at least as effectively as the liners and leachate collection and removal systems specified in Subsection R315-264-251(c); and (2) Will allow detection of leaks of hazardous constituents through the top liner at least as effectively. (e) Subsection R315-264-251(c) does not apply to monofills that are granted a waiver by the Director in accordance with Section R315-264-221(e). (f) The owner or operator of any replacement waste pile unit is exempt from Subsection R315-264-251(c) if: (1) The existing unit was constructed in compliance with the design standards of section 3004(o)(1)(A)(i) and 3004(o)(5) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and (2) There is no reason to believe that the liner is not functioning as designed. (g) The owner or operator shall design, construct, operate, and maintain a run-on control system capable of preventing flow onto the active portion of the pile during peak discharge from at least a 25-year storm. (h) The owner or operator shall design, construct, operate, and maintain a run-off management system to collect and control at least the water volume resulting from a 24-hour, 25-year storm. (i) Collection and holding facilities, e.g., tanks or basins, associated with run-on and run-off control systems shall be emptied or otherwise managed expeditiously after storms to maintain design capacity of the system. (j) If the pile contains any particulate matter which may be subject to wind dispersal, the owner or operator shall cover or otherwise manage the pile to control wind dispersal. (k) The Director shall specify in the permit all design and operating practices that are necessary to ensure that the requirements of Section R315-264-251 are satisfied. Utah Admin. Code R315-264-251
Adopted by Utah State Bulletin Number 2016-9, effective 4/15/2016