§ 27-0704 — Land burial and disposal in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk; special provisions

§ 27-0704. Land burial and disposal in the counties of Nassau and\n Suffolk; special provisions.\n 1. Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall have\nthe following meanings:\n a. "Clean fill" shall mean material consisting of concrete, steel,\nwood, sand, dirt, soil, glass, or other inert material designated by the\ncommissioner.\n b. A "deep flow recharge area" shall mean a sensitive recharge area\nwithin the counties of Nassau and Suffolk within the boundaries of\nhydrogeologic zones I, II and III as defined in the Long Island\nComprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of nineteen hundred\nseventy-eight.\n c. "Downtime waste" shall mean any treatable or burnable waste\naccumulated during a scheduled or unscheduled maintenance period of a\ntreatment facility.\n d. "Hazardous waste" shall be defined as promulgated by the provisions\nof section 27-0903 of this article.\n e. "Landfill" shall mean a disposal facility at which solid waste, or\nits residue after treatment, is intentionally placed and at which, waste\nshall remain after closure.\n f. "Long Island Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of\nnineteen hundred seventy-eight" shall mean the study prepared by the\nLong Island Regional Planning Board pursuant to section two hundred\neight of the federal water pollution control act.\n g. "Treatment facility" shall mean resource recovery, incineration,\ncomposting, or other process as approved by the commissioner through\nwhich solid waste is put in order to reduce volume and toxicity.\n h. "Untreatable waste" shall mean that material that because of its\nsize or composition cannot be processed by a treatment facility.\n 2. The Long Island Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of\nnineteen hundred seventy-eight shall be kept on file in the office of\nthe commissioner. The hydrogeologic zones and their attendant boundaries\nas specified in the aforementioned plan are hereby adopted. Any changes\nmade in the boundaries and accepted by the commissioner shall be\nconsidered as automatically adopted for the purposes of this section.\n 3. On or after the effective date of this section and except as\nprovided herein, no person shall commence operation, including site\npreparation, of a new landfill or of an expansion to an existing\nlandfill which is located in a deep flow recharge area. However, the\ncommissioner, after conducting a public hearing, may approve a limited\nexpansion of any existing landfill in a deep flow recharge area for the\nsole purpose of providing for solid waste disposal capacity prior to the\nimplementation of a resource recovery system. The commissioner shall not\napprove any such expansion unless he finds that the owner of such\nlandfill is a municipality that is implementing a resource recovery\nsystem which is acceptable to the commissioner and which will be\noperational no later than seven years after the effective date of this\nsection and that no other feasible means of solid waste management is\navailable, taking into account technological, economic and other\nessential factors.\n 4. On or after the effective date of this section, no person shall\ncommence operation, including site preparation, of a new landfill or of\nan expansion to an existing landfill, which is located in the county of\nNassau or Suffolk outside of deep flow recharge areas unless:\n a. The commissioner has made an affirmative determination that such\nlandfill will not pose a threat to groundwater quality; and\n b. The owner or operator of the landfill has posted a financial\nguarantee such as, but not limited to, pollution liability insurance,\nsureties, performance bonds and/or trust funds acceptable to the\ncommissioner securing the cost of corrective treatment, or the\ndevelopment of alternative water sources, should such landfill become a\nsource of groundwater, surface water, or air pollution. The size of the\nfinancial guarantee, the financial stability of the surety, and the\nterms of posting shall be determined by the commissioner. Financial\nsurety shall also be arranged to ensure the proper operation and\nmaintenance of leachate and other collection and treatment systems for a\nperiod of time, as determined by the commissioner, after a landfill is\nclosed; and\n c. The landfill is underlain by two or more natural and/or synthetic\nliners each with provisions for leachate collection, and has a treatment\nand disposal system, all of which are approved by the commissioner. Any\nnatural clay liners shall have a minimum compacted thickness of two feet\nand all liners shall have a maximum hydraulic conductivity not to exceed\none times ten to the minus seven centimeters per second. If the landfill\nuses two synthetic liners, the department shall require that the liners\nare of different chemical compositions; and\n d. The landfill is designed and operated to minimize the migration of\nmethane gas or other gases beyond the facility boundaries so as to avert\nthe creation of a nuisance or a danger to property or public health; and\n e. The landfill is prohibited from accepting industrial, commercial or\ninstitutional solid or liquid waste that is hazardous; and\n f. The landfill is not located in a freshwater wetland, tidal wetland\nor floodplain as identified by the department.\n g. Except as provided herein, the landfill accepts only material which\nis the product of resource recovery, incineration or composting.\nDowntime waste and wastes that are untreatable by a resource recovery\nsystem may be disposed of when handled as provided in this paragraph.\nDowntime waste and untreatable waste that is landfilled may only be\ndeposited in a special disposal area that is located and constructed so\nas to segregate these wastes and minimize their effect on residents of\nthe surrounding area. Not more than ten percent of the annual rated\ncapacity of a resource recovery facility may be disposed of as downtime\nwaste per year. However, up to ten percent of the annual rated capacity\nof more than one resource recovery facility may be so disposed of at a\nsingle landfill.\n Any such landfill may also accept wastes other than those authorized\nin this subdivision whenever such disposal is approved by the\ncommissioner based upon a finding made after the opportunity for a\npublic hearing that (i) no resource recovery facility is available to\naccept such waste; (ii) the owner of the landfill is making all\nreasonable efforts to implement a resource recovery system acceptable to\nthe commissioner; and (iii) that the landfilling of such wastes will not\nhave significant adverse environmental impacts. In granting any such\napproval, the commissioner shall impose conditions necessary to mitigate\nany adverse environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable and\nshall impose a schedule under which the municipality shall implement an\nacceptable resource recovery system.\n 5. Within seven years of the effective date of this section, no person\nshall operate a landfill existing on the effective date of this section\nin the counties of Nassau and Suffolk unless:\n a. The owner or operator of the landfill has posted a financial\nguarantee such as, but not limited to, pollution liability insurance,\nsureties, performance bonds and/or trust funds acceptable to the\ncommissioner securing the cost of corrective treatment, or the\ndevelopment of alternative water sources, should such landfill become a\nsource of groundwater, surface water or air pollution. The size of the\nfinancial guarantee, the financial stability of the surety, and the\nterms of posting shall be determined by the commissioner. Financial\nsurety shall also be arranged to ensure the proper operation and\nmaintenance of leachate and other collection and treatment systems for a\nperiod of time, as determined by the commissioner, after a landfill is\nclosed; and\n b. The landfill is underlain by two or more natural and/or synthetic\nliners each with provisions for leachate collection, and has a treatment\nand disposal system, all of which are approved by the commissioner. Any\nnatural clay liners shall have a minimum compacted thickness of two feet\nand all liners shall have a maximum hydraulic conductivity not to exceed\none times ten to the minus seven centimeters per second. If the landfill\nuses two synthetic liners, the department shall require that the liners\nare of different chemical composition; and\n c. The landfill is designed and operated to minimize the migration of\nmethane gas or other gases beyond the facility boundaries so as to avert\nthe creation of a nuisance or a danger to property or public health; and\n d. The landfill does not accept industrial, commercial or\ninstitutional solid or liquid waste that is hazardous; and\n e. The landfill is not located in a freshwater wetland, tidal wetland\nor floodplain as identified by the department.\n f. Except as provided herein, the landfill accepts only material which\nis the product of resource recovery, incineration or composting.\nDowntime waste and wastes that are untreatable by a resource recovery\nsystem may be disposed of when handled as provided in this paragraph.\nDowntime waste and untreatable waste that is landfilled may only be\ndeposited in a special disposal area that is located and constructed so\nas to segregate these wastes and minimize their effect on residents of\nthe surrounding area. Not more than ten percent of the annual rated\ncapacity of a resource recovery facility may be disposed of as downtime\nwaste per year. However, up to ten percent of the annual rated capacity\nof more than one resource recovery facility may be so disposed of at a\nsingle landfill.\n If the landfill is located outside of the deep flow recharge area,\nsuch landfill may also accept wastes other than those authorized in this\nsubdivision whenever such disposal is approved by the commissioner based\nupon a finding made after the opportunity for a public hearing that (i)\nno resource recovery facility is available to accept such waste; (ii)\nthe owner of the landfill is making all reasonable efforts to implement\na resource recovery system acceptable to the commissioner; and (iii)\nthat the landfilling of such wastes will not have significant adverse\nenvironmental impacts. In granting any such approval, the commissioner\nshall impose conditions necessary to mitigate any adverse environmental\nimpacts to the maximum extent practicable and shall impose a schedule\nunder which the municipality shall implement an acceptable resource\nrecovery system.\n 6. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the\ncommissioner may allow, by permit, the disposal of clean fill material\nin the counties of Nassau and Suffolk. Such material shall not be\ncontaminated with hazardous wastes.\n