Section 25208.5 Of Article 9.5. Surface Impoundments From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.5. >> Article 9.5.
25208.5
. (a) Unless granted an exemption pursuant to subdivision
(c) or Section 25208.13 or 25208.18, on or after January 1, 1989, no
person shall discharge any liquid hazardous waste or hazardous wastes
containing free liquids into a surface impoundment, unless the
surface impoundment is double lined, as specified in subdivision (b),
equipped with a leachate collection system, and groundwater
monitoring is conducted, in accordance with the federal Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, the regulations and guidance
documents adopted pursuant thereto, and the regulations adopted by
the state board and the department.
(b) Until the regulations and guidance documents specified in
subdivision (a) relating to double liners for surface impoundments go
into effect, the requirement of installing double liners in
subdivision (a) may be satisfied by installing a top liner which is
designed, operated, and constructed of materials to prevent the
migration of any constituents into the top liner during the period
the facility remains in operation, including any postclosure
monitoring period, and by installing a lower liner which is designed,
operated, and constructed to prevent the migration of any
constituents through the lower liner during the same period, and is
constructed of at least a three-foot thick layer of recompacted clay
or other natural materials which have a permeability of not more than
1 x 10-7 centimeter per second.
(c) A person may apply for an exemption from subdivision (a) for a
surface impoundment for which construction had begun on or before
July 1, 1984, and which was issued waste discharge requirements by
filing an application with the regional board on or before January 1,
1986. The initial application for exemption shall include a
completed hydrogeological assessment report which contains the
accurate data and documentation specified in Section 25208.8. An
application for renewal of an exemption shall include the report only
if required by the regional board. If the regional board has not
granted the exemption by June 30, 1988, the person shall then comply
with the requirements specified in subdivision (a), except that if
the regional board denies the application for exemption but
determines that a reasonable person would have applied for an
exemption, the regional board may temporarily exempt the applicant
from subdivision (a), for up to one year from the date of the denial
of the exemption, for the sole purpose of bringing the surface
impoundment into compliance with subdivision (a).
(d) The regional board may grant an exemption upon reviewing the
application and making all of the following findings:
(1) The applicant has fully complied with subdivision (c).
(2) No hazardous waste constituents have migrated from the surface
impoundment into the vadose zone or the waters of the state in
concentrations which pollute or threaten to pollute the waters of the
state.
(3) Continuing the operation of the surface impoundment without
the requirements specified in subdivision (a) does not pose a
significant potential of hazardous waste constituents migrating from
the surface impoundments into the vadose zone or the waters of the
state, in concentrations which pollute or threaten to pollute the
waters of the state.
(e) If the regional board grants an exemption pursuant to
subdivision (d), the regional board shall revise the waste discharge
requirements prescribed pursuant to Section 13263 of the Water Code
for that surface impoundment based upon a review of the report and
shall include conditions in the waste discharge requirements to
ensure that the waters of the state will not be threatened with
pollution or polluted.
(f) An exemption granted pursuant to subdivision (d) or (g) shall
not be effective for more than five years. A regional board shall not
renew the exemption unless the regional board makes the findings
specified in subdivision (d).
(g) If a regional board does not take any action by June 30, 1988,
on a completed application for an exemption that was filed on or
before January 1, 1986, the person who filed the application may file
a request with the state board on or before July 31, 1988, to review
the application. The state board shall deny or grant the exemption
pursuant to the findings specified in subdivision (d) within four
months after the request for review is filed, and, if the board
grants the exemption, the state board shall revise the waste
discharge requirements pursuant to subdivision (e). An exemption
granted pursuant to this subdivision is subject to the requirements
specified in subdivision (f). The state board shall act on an
application for exemption on or before November 30, 1988. A person
who files a request for a review of an application with the state
board is exempt from subdivision (a) until the state board acts on
the application, and, if the state board denies the exemption, the
applicant is exempt from subdivision (a) for one year from the date
of the denial of the exemption for the sole purpose of bringing the
surface impoundment into compliance with subdivision (a).
(h) Applications for an exemption or a renewal of an exemption
shall be accompanied by the fee specified in the fee schedule adopted
by the state board pursuant to Section 25208.3.