§ 44-96-360 — Solid waste processing facilities.

(A) No later than eighteen months after this article is effective, the department shall promulgate, in addition to regulations generally applicable to all solid waste management facilities, regulations governing the siting, design, construction, operation, closure, and postclosure activities of facilities which receive solid waste for processing. The department, by regulation, may exempt certain facilities from all or part of the requirements of this section. (B) All new processing facilities must comply with the requirements of this section. The department shall establish a schedule for existing facilities to come into compliance with the requirements of this section. (C) The regulations governing solid waste processing facilities, at a minimum, shall contain the following requirements: (1) the submission by the permit applicant of the following documents: (a) an engineering report which, at a minimum, must contain a description of the facility, the process and equipment to be used, the proposed service area, the types and quantities of waste to be processed, and a description of existing site conditions; (b) complete construction plans and specifications; (c) a design report; (d) a personnel training program; (e) an identification of possible air releases and groundwater and surface water discharges; (f) a waste control plan describing the manner in which waste from the processing activities will be managed. The plan, at a minimum, must identify the facilities to be approved by the department that will receive the waste and a certification that such facilities have adequate capacity to manage the waste; (g) a quality assurance and quality control report; (h) a contingency plan describing the action to be taken in response to contingencies which could occur during operation of the facility; (i) an operation plan describing how the facility will meet all applicable regulatory requirements; (j) a draft operation and maintenance manual; (k) a closure plan; and (l) a description of the restrictions, if any, that the facility places on the materials it receives for processing and a statement explaining the need for such restrictions; (2) locational criteria; provided, however, that the department shall grant exemptions from such criteria upon a demonstration by the permit applicant of circumstances which warrant an exemption; (3) facility design and operational requirements including, but not limited to, access controls, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, receipt and handling of solid waste, process changes, emergency preparedness, and guidelines for identifying items or materials that may not be accepted for processing; (4) monitoring requirements including, at a minimum, air quality monitoring and analysis, groundwater and surface water quality monitoring and analysis, and product quality testing and analysis; (5) closure and postclosure requirements; (6) financial responsibility requirements; (7) personnel training requirements; and (8) corrective action requirements. (D)(1) All unpermitted facilities that recycle construction and demolition debris must register with the department on a form made available by the department no later than sixty days after the effective date of this subsection. (2) A facility that recycles construction and demolition debris must submit a complete permit application to the department or complete closure in accordance with this section and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section within twelve months of the effective date of this subsection. (3) A facility that recycles construction and demolition debris must obtain a permit from the department or complete closure in accordance with this section and regulations promulgated pursuant to this section within twenty-four months of the effective date of this subsection. (4) A facility that recycles construction and demolition debris is exempt from obtaining a permit if: (a) all materials accepted at the facility are segregated from solid waste and sorted by material type at the point of generation or at a permitted solid waste management facility; (b) at least seventy-five percent of the total weight of each separated material type received during a calendar year and remaining on site from a previous year is used, reused, recycled, or transferred to a different site for use, reuse, or recycling; and (c) the material is managed in a manner to demonstrate that the recovered material has value and is stored in such a way to protect it from theft, degradation, contamination, or other harm. (5) A facility that recycles construction and demolition debris operating on the effective date of this subsection must register in accordance with the provision of this subsection but is exempt from the permitting requirements if it recycles seventy-five percent by weight of the material received at the facility each calendar year and the facility is located on a tax parcel of not more than two acres. (6) A facility that only recycles land clearing debris is not required to obtain a permit pursuant to this section but is subject to all other applicable provisions of this chapter and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter. (7) The department shall require each registered facility that recycles construction and demolition debris to submit an annual report by a date determined by the department. The annual report, at a minimum, must include: (a) the total amount by weight of each separate recovered material type received at the facility during the calendar year; (b) the total amount by weight of each recovered material type that remained on site at the close of the previous year; (c) the total amount by weight of each recovered material that is used, reused, recycled, or transferred to another site for use, reuse, or recycling during the calendar year and the location of the other site; and (d) the amount of solid waste removed and disposed of during the calendar year and the name and address of the facility where the solid waste was disposed. (E) Records documenting the activities listed in subsection (D) must be maintained for no less than three years and must be made available upon request by the department.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 63, SECTION 1; 2018 Act No. 170 (H.4644), SECTION 4, eff May 3, 2018. Effect of Amendment 2018 Act No. 170, SECTION 4, made nonsubstantive changes throughout, and added (D) and (E), establishing certain conditions for facilities that recycle construction and demolition debris.