§ 39-7421 — RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION PERMITS

(1) The provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6945(c)(1)(B) and 40 CFR 258 allow the administrator of the United States environmental protection agency to approve state research, development and demonstration permit programs.
(2) The director shall initiate the process outlined in 40 CFR 239 by which the state may receive authorization to issue research, development and demonstration (RDD) permits in compliance with 40 CFR 258.4 at such time as:
(a) The department receives a request from any individual who expresses an intent to apply for an RDD permit; and
(b) The department and requesting individual enter into a written agreement in which the requesting individual agrees to reimburse the department for the reasonable and necessary cost to make such application.
(3) Upon receipt of state authorization to issue such permits, the director may issue an RDD permit for a new MSWLF unit, existing MSWLF unit, or lateral expansion for which the owner or operator proposes to utilize innovative and new methods which vary from either or both of the following criteria:
(a) The run-on control systems required by section 39-7412 (7)(a), Idaho Code; and
(b) The liquid restrictions in section 39-7412 (8), Idaho Code.
(4) Any permit issued under subsection (3) of this section shall include the following terms and conditions:
(a) The MSWLF unit shall have a leachate collection system designed and constructed to maintain less than a thirty (30) centimeter depth of leachate on the liner;
(b) Any liquids to be recirculated, injected or otherwise placed in the MSWLF unit shall be appropriate for the purposes of determining the efficacy and performance capabilities of the technology or process and shall be approved by the director;
(c) The MSWLF unit owner or operator shall install and operate a landfill gas collection and control system in accordance with emission control requirements as specified in 40 CFR part 60, and when collected in economically feasible volumes, landfill gas shall be used for energy generation.
(5) Upon receipt of state authorization to issue such permits, the director may issue an RDD permit for a new MSWLF unit, existing MSWLF unit, or lateral expansion, for which the owner or operator proposes to utilize innovative and new methods which vary from the final cover criteria of 40 CFR 258.60 (a)(1), (a)(2) and (b)(1) provided the landfill owner or operator demonstrates that the infiltration of liquid will not cause contamination of ground water or surface water, or cause leachate depth on the liner to exceed thirty (30) centimeters.
(6) Any permit issued under the provisions of this section shall include terms and conditions at least as protective as the criteria for MSWLFs to assure protection of human health and the environment. Such permits shall:
(a) Provide for the construction and operation of such facilities as necessary, for not longer than three (3) years, unless renewed as provided in subsection (8) of this section;
(b) Provide that the MSWLF unit must receive only those types and quantities of municipal solid waste and nonhazardous wastes which the director deems appropriate for the purposes of determining the efficacy and performance capabilities of the technology or process;
(c) Include such requirements as necessary to protect human health and the environment, including such requirements as necessary for testing and providing information to the director with respect to the operation of the facility;
(d) Require the owner or operator of a MSWLF unit permitted under this section to submit an annual report to the director showing whether and to what extent the site is progressing in attaining project goals. The report shall also include a summary of all monitoring and testing results, as well as any other operating information specified by the director in the permit. Annual reports shall be submitted to the director within three (3) months after the anniversary date of the approved permit or permit renewal; and
(e) Require compliance with all criteria in chapter 74, title 39, Idaho Code, except as permitted under this section.
(7) The director may order an immediate termination of all operations at the facility allowed under this section or other corrective measures at any time the director determines that the overall goals of the project are not being attained including, but not limited to, protection of human health or the environment.
(8) Any permit issued under the provisions of this section shall not exceed three (3) years and each renewal of a permit shall not exceed three (3) years.
(a) The total term for a permit for a project, including renewals, shall not exceed twelve (12) years.
(b) During permit renewal, the applicant shall provide a detailed assessment of the project showing the status with respect to achieving project goals, a list of problems and status with respect to problem resolutions, and any other requirements that the director determines necessary for permit renewal.
(c) Owners or operators requesting permit renewal shall submit the permit renewal application to the director at least six (6) months prior to the existing permit expiration date.
(9) It shall be unlawful to begin construction to implement or otherwise utilize the exemptions provided in this section without first receiving a permit from the director. Permit applications will be processed in the following manner:
(a) The director shall review the RDD permit application and each subsequent permit renewal in the same manner as the director reviews requests for design approval pursuant to section 39-7411, Idaho Code. An applicant shall provide information in the permit application in sufficient detail to address design, operating, closure, postclosure and financial assurance requirements.
(b) Each permit application and permit renewal application shall require the owner or operator to certify to the director that the information contained in the application is, to the best of his or her knowledge, accurate and true, and the MSWLF unit is in compliance with applicable law.
(10) Permit review and oversight costs incurred by the department of environmental quality, or "department," and health district shall be reimbursed by the applicant or permittee. Reimbursable review and oversight costs shall include, but are not limited to:
(a) Reasonable costs associated with the director’s review of a permit application submitted pursuant to this section, including department staff time and the cost of goods and services contracted by the department in performance of the activities described in this section;
(b) Reasonable costs associated with the health district’s review of portions of a permit application submitted pursuant to this section when such review is delegated to the health district by statute, rule, or agreement with the director;
(c) Reasonable costs associated with the department’s and health district’s oversight of permitted RDD units, including inspections and the review of annual reports, monitoring, and testing results required pursuant to this section or required by permit, and the processing of permit amendments and terminations; and
(d) All other reasonable and necessary costs of actions taken by the department pursuant to this section.
(11) Reimbursable review and oversight costs incurred by the department and health district, as defined in subsection (10) of this section, shall be reimbursed as follows:
(a) Each permit application submitted to the director pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) and an estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs the department and health district may incur associated with the review of the permit application and oversight of the permit. Each permit renewal application submitted to the director pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of one hundred dollars ($100) and an estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs the department and health district may incur associated with the review and oversight of the permit renewal.
(b) If the department, in consultation with the health district, determines that the applicant’s estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs is accurate, and the submission of such funds will adequately reimburse the department and the health district for the cost of all review and oversight activities associated with that permit application or renewal application, the department shall notify the applicant, and the applicant shall submit to the department the full amount, or an installment deposit in the amount required pursuant to this subsection.
(c) If the department, in consultation with the health district, determines that the applicant’s estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs is not accurate, and the submission of such funds will not adequately reimburse the department and the health district for the cost of all review and oversight activities associated with that permit application or renewal application, the department shall notify the applicant and the application shall be returned to the applicant.
(d) Upon receipt of funds in the amount estimated by the applicant and concurred to by the department and health district, or receipt of an installment deposit in the amount required under this subsection, the director shall initiate permit application review or permit renewal review.
(e) Once the department and the health district concur with an applicant’s estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs, and the department provides the applicant notice thereof, a permit applicant or permit renewal applicant may submit to the department the reimbursement funds in their entirety or an installment deposit of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). Should funding be required for costs incurred in excess of the initial two thousand five hundred dollar ($2,500) deposit, the department shall notify the applicant of required successive deposits in the amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). The department shall pass along funds collected on behalf of the health district for reimbursable review and oversight costs incurred by such district within sixty (60) days of receipt of such funds from the applicant, or within sixty (60) days of receipt of a certified request for such funds from the health district, whichever is later. Any unused portion of the reimbursement funds, deposit, or successive deposit shall be returned to the applicant within sixty (60) days of the director’s final decision to issue or deny a permit or permit renewal pursuant to this section. If the applicant fails to submit a successive deposit, the department shall suspend review of the permit application or renewal application, and the director shall be relieved of any applicable statutory or regulatory permit application or renewal application review deadlines during the review suspension.
(f) The director shall, as a condition of renewal, require renewal applicants to reimburse the department for previously uncaptured reimbursable permit review and oversight costs incurred by the department or health district during the prior permit term.
(g) Upon request, the department shall provide documentation to the applicant to aid in the development of the applicant’s estimation of reimbursable review and oversight costs or to support the department’s claims and any health district claims for such reimbursement.
(h) Funds submitted to the department pursuant to this section shall not be returned if a permit application is terminated, withdrawn, returned, or denied unless the funds, or some portion thereof, have not been used by the department or health district as of the date of the termination, withdrawal, return, or denial.
(12) A permit issued pursuant to this section may be transferred only to a new owner or operator of the permitted MSWLF. The new owner or operator shall submit to the director in writing, a request for permit transfer. The request shall include a statement that the new owner or operator will comply with all terms and conditions of the permit. Upon transfer of the permit, the new owner or operator shall be responsible for compliance with all terms and conditions of the permit, and shall be subject to enforcement of such terms and conditions.
(13) The following MSWLF units are not eligible for a permit issued pursuant to this section:
(a) MSWLF units operating under an exemption set forth in section 39-7409 (2)(c), Idaho Code.
(b) MSWLF units operating under an exemption set forth in 40 CFR 258.1(f).
(c) MSWLF units that dispose of twenty (20) tons of solid waste per day or less, based on an annual average, are not eligible for a variance from 40 CFR 258.60(b)(1), except in accordance with 40 CFR 258.60(b)(3).
(d) MSWLF units that have exceeded ground water protection standards at statistically significant levels as specified in section 39-7410 (4)(a), Idaho Code, from any waste unit on site and have not implemented a remedy in accordance with section 39-7414, Idaho Code, prior to RDD permit application submittal.
(e) MSWLF units that have landfill gas concentration exceedances, as specified in section 39-7412 (4), Idaho Code, from any waste unit on site and have not implemented a remedy in accordance with section 39-7412 (4), Idaho Code, prior to RDD permit application submittal.
(14) Owners or operators of MSWLF units circulating leachate or gas condensate derived from the MSWLF unit in compliance with section 39-7412 (8), Idaho Code, and 40 CFR 258.28, and not implementing or otherwise utilizing an exemption under this section, are not required to comply with the requirements of this section.
(15) An applicant or permittee may appeal any final decision made by the director under this section by filing a request for hearing in accordance with rules promulgated by the department governing contested cases, or in the absence of such rules, in accordance with the procedures in chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code.

Legislative History

[39-7421, added 2010, ch. 146, sec. 1, p. 309.]