Mar 01, 2013
10-Year Landfill Permit Rule Comments Due
On January 2, 2013, the North Carolina Register published proposed rule changes to 15 NCAC 13B.0206, Option to apply for issuance of 10-year permit for sanitary landfill or transfer station (NC Register Volume 27, Issue 13, Page 1272). The proposed changes provide an option of extending the permitting terms for the design, construction, and operating phase of a sanitary landfill from five years to ten years. However, the ten year permit holder will be subject to a five year design phase review. The proposed rule change is as follows:
(a) An applicant for a sanitary landfill or transfer station permit subject to Section .0400, .0500 or .1600 of these Rules may apply for a permit for a design, construction and operation phase of five years or a design, construction and operation phase of ten years. A permit for a ten-year phase of construction and operation of a sanitary landfill shall meet the five-year phase requirements contained in Section .0500 and .1600, applied in two five-year increments.
(b) A permit issued for a designed phase of ten years shall be subject to review within five years of the issuance date, as provided in Rule .0201(g). Permit modifications issued for a ten-year phase of construction or operation of a sanitary landfill or transfer station shall be made in accordance with rules in effect at the time of review and include an updated operations plan for the facility, revisions to the closure and post-closure plans and costs, and updates to the environmental monitoring plans.
As stated in the published rules, “the Division of Waste Management seeks to change rules related to the duration of sanitary landfill or transfer station permits to comply with recent changes in state law. The current rule and statutory requirements are based on five-year permit durations. The proposed rule change is necessary to comply with new state laws and is in the public interest because it provides the regulated community with opportunities for cost savings and greater permit length flexibility.”
This proposed rule was one of the regulatory reform recommendations developed during the 2012 short session that focused on reducing the permitting burden on regulated entities. Furthermore, Senate Bill 810-Regulatory Reform Act of 2012 (S.L. 2012-187) directed the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to track the processing time for permits issued by the One-Stop, Express Permit, and Certification Review programs. In addition to evaluating these permitting processes, DENR must complete a comprehensive review of each of their permit, license, and approval programs; identify which program should be subject to a similar permit process tracking system; and report their findings from this review to the Environmental Review Commission before January 15, 2013.
Parties interested in submitting written objections to the agency regarding the proposed changes should contact DENR-Division of Waste Management at the Solid Waste Section Ellen Lorscheider at 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646. The comment period ends on March 4, 2013.
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