Section NR 670.079 - Remediation Variances(1) APPLICABILITY. The department may issue a remediation variance from the requirements of s. 291.25, Stats., if the application for, or compliance with the terms or conditions of a license required under chs. NR 660 to 670 would cause undue or unreasonable hardship to any person and the remediation variance would not result in undue harm to human health or the environment. For purposes of hazardous waste remediation, issuance of a treatment or storage license under this chapter would constitute an undue or unreasonable hardship.(2)LIMITATIONS. A remediation variance under this section:(a) Shall be issued in written form.(b) May not exceed 5 years in duration.(c) May be renewed or extended only after opportunity for a public hearing on each remediation variance renewal or extension.(d) May be revoked by the department at any time if the department determines that the revocation is appropriate to protect human health or the environment.(e) May require that the person to whom a remediation variance is issued comply with any appropriate requirements of chs. NR 660 to 679, and chs. NR 700 to 750, as a condition of issuance, in order to protect human health or the environment.(3)PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. The department may not approve a remediation variance unless the applicant provides proof of public notice of the proposed project. Unless another person is approved by the department to carry out the public participation process, the responsible party shall issue a class I public notice that provides for a minimum 30 day comment period. A copy of the public notice along with a list of newspapers which carried the notice shall be included as part of the remediation variance application. If the responsible party or the department determine that additional public participation is necessary the provisions in s. NR 714.07(6) shall be followed. The department shall respond to the comments received. The class I public notice shall include all of the following information: Note: Section NR 714.07 does not contain a subsection (6).
(a) A description of the type, volume and characteristics of the contamination.(b) The proposed response actions to be implemented to contain, reduce, or eliminate the threat of the contamination.(c) The phone number and addresses of persons to contact for more information.(d) The locations and times where interested parties can review the proposed response action.(e) The department's contact person and information on how to submit comments, including the address of the contact person and the deadline for receipt of comments.(4)FINAL DETERMINATION. The department shall make a final written determination on the remediation variance request within 65 business days. The department may require the applicant to provide additional information to document compliance with chs. NR 660 to 679. The final determination may require construction inspection and fees under ch. NR 670.Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources NR 670.079
CR 05-032: cr. Register July 2006 No. 607, eff. 8-1-06; correction in (4) made under s. 13.92(4) (b) 7, Stats., Register March 2013 No. 687.The applicant is encouraged to contact the department early for assistance in planning the content of a complete application.
For purposes of implementing this section, the department has determined that it would be an undue or unreasonable hardship to apply for, and wait for issuance of a hazardous waste treatment or storage license under s. 291.25, Stats., for the treatment or storage of remediation waste as part of the clean up a contaminated site. For example, in order to clean up a contaminated site, it may be necessary to treat excavated soil that is hazardous. In this situation it may be an undue or unreasonable hardship to delay the cleanup of the contamination while awaiting the issuance of a hazardous waste treatment license. The remediation variance approval issued by the department will include operating requirements necessary to protect public health and the environment during site remediation.