a) The
owner or operator must have a detailed written estimate, in current dollars, of
the cost of closing the facility in accordance with the requirements in
Sections
725.211
through
725.215
and applicable closure requirements of Sections
725.297,
725.328,
725.358,
725.380,
725.410,
725.451,
725.481,
725.504, and
725.1102.
1) The estimate must equal the cost of final
closure at the point in the facility's active life when the extent and manner
of its operation would make closure the most expensive, as indicated by its
closure plan (see Section
725.212(b)
); and
2) The closure cost estimate
must be based on the costs to the owner or operator of hiring a third party to
close the facility. A third party is a party that is neither a parent nor a
subsidiary of the owner or operator. (See definition of "parent corporation" in
Section
725.241(d).)
The owner or operator may use costs for on-site disposal if the owner or
operator demonstrates that on-site disposal capacity will exist at all times
over the life of the facility.
3)
The closure cost estimate must not incorporate any salvage value that may be
realized by the sale of hazardous wastes, or non-hazardous wastes if permitted
by the Agency pursuant to Section
725.213(d),
facility structures or equipment, land or other facility assets at the time of
partial or final closure.
4) The
owner or operator must not incorporate a zero cost for hazardous waste, or
non-hazardous waste if permitted by the Agency pursuant to Section
725.213(d),
that may have economic value.
b) During the active life of the facility,
the owner or operator must adjust the closure cost estimate for inflation
within 60 days prior to the anniversary date of the establishment of the
financial instruments used to comply with Section
725.243.
For an owner or operator using the financial test or corporate guarantee, the
closure cost estimate must be updated for inflation within 30 days after the
close of the firm's fiscal year and before submission of updated information to
the Agency, as specified in Section
725.243(e)(5).
The adjustment may be made by recalculating the closure cost estimate in
current dollars, or by using an inflation factor derived from the most recent
annual Implicit Price Deflator for Gross National Product (Deflator), as
published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in its Survey of Current Business,
as specified in subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2). The inflation factor is the
result of dividing the latest published annual Deflator by the Deflator for the
previous year.
1) The first adjustment is
made by multiplying the closure cost estimate by the inflation factor. The
result is the adjusted closure cost estimate.
2) Subsequent adjustments are made by
multiplying the latest adjusted closure cost estimate by the latest inflation
factor.
BOARD NOTE: The table of Deflators is available as Table
1.1.9., "Implicit Price
Deflators for Gross Domestic Product", in the National Income and Product
Account Tables, published by U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic
Analysis, National Economic Accounts, available on-line at the following web
address:
www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=13&FirstYear=2002&LastYear=2004&Freq=Qtr.
c) During the active life of the
facility, the owner or operator must revise the closure cost estimate no later
than 30 days after a revision has been made to the closure plan that increases
the cost of closure. If the owner or operator has an approved closure plan, the
closure cost estimate must be revised no later than 30 days after the Agency
has approved the request to modify the closure plan if the change in the
closure plan increases the cost of closure. The revised closure cost estimate
must be adjusted for inflation as specified in subsection (b).
d) The owner or operator must keep the
following at the facility during the operating life of the facility: the latest
closure cost estimate prepared in accordance with subsections (a) and (c), and,
when this estimate has been adjusted in accordance with subsection (b), the
latest adjusted closure cost estimate.