06-096 C.M.R. ch. 403, § 6 - Operating Requirements

Incineration facilities must comply with the following operating requirements. The application must address all of the following items:

A. Operations Manual. The operator shall prepare and maintain an operations manual of current solid waste management policies and procedures. The operations manual must describe the various solid waste management tasks to be performed, operating procedures, and safety precautions for various areas of the incineration facility and must be readily available for reference by plant personnel.

NOTE: The operations manual addressing the requirements of this Chapter may be part of an overall operations manual required by other Department programs provided that all solid waste management operating policies and procedures are organized in a discreet, easily identified section of the larger manual.

(1) Application. A copy of the operations manual must be submitted to the Department with the application for any proposed new incineration facility, or expansion to an existing facility. The operations manual provided with the application must be as complete as possible. The operations manual must be revised to reflect any changes which occur during the incinerator's licensing and construction processes. The revised operations manual must receive approval by the Department prior to commencement of operations.

(2) Contents. The operations manual must include the information necessary to enable supervisory and operating personnel, and persons evaluating the operation of the facility, to determine the sequence of operation, policies and procedures, monitoring, maintenance, inspection and legal requirements that must be followed for safe, orderly and environmentally sound operation on a daily and yearly basis. The manual must address all items contained in this Section.

(3) Annual Review. The operations manual must be reviewed annually, at a minimum, by the operator and updated as necessary.

(4) Training. The operator shall familiarize all personnel responsible for operation of the facility with relevant sections of the operations manual and shall document and maintain records of these training measures.

B. Access to Facility Sites. The operator shall provide suitable barriers or fencing and gates to limit unauthorized persons from gaining access to the facility site. The gate may be open only when an attendant or equipment operator is on duty. The gate must be closed and locked at all other times.

(1) The operator shall provide and maintain in good repair access roads at the facility site. Such access roads must be designed and constructed so that traffic will enter and exit the site safely, flow smoothly, and will not be interrupted by inclement weather.

(2) The operator shall prominently post the hours of operation and other limitations and conditions of access at the entrance to the facility.

C. Disposal Procedures. The operator shall have procedures in place for disposal of front-end process residue ("FEPR") and/or bypass waste. The operator shall maintain valid contracts with solid waste facilities which have approval to accept these wastes.

D. Storage Requirements

(1) Ash must be stored in accordance with the approved Ash Characterization, Handling, and Disposal Plan.

(2) All materials that are chemically incompatible must be stored in separate areas.

E. Solid Waste Accepted

(1) A Hazardous and Special Waste Handling and Exclusion Plan shall be developed and implemented as described in 06-096 CMR 400, section 9.

(2) All users of the facility shall be given a list of excluded materials. This list shall also be displayed prominently at the facility entrance.

(3) Permitted Wastes. An incineration facility may accept only solid wastes or special wastes as allowed by the Department in the facility's current license or as licensed under paragraph F below.

F. Waste Acceptance. Other wastes may be accepted if approved by the Department based upon the owner's/operator's demonstration that the wastes can be satisfactorily handled within the design capability of the facility or after appropriate facility modifications.

(1) Application to accept a previously unlicensed waste shall conform to the applicable requirements of 06-096 CMR 400 section 3(B)(2). The application must include the following:

(a) The name and address of the owner or operator and the generator of the waste;

(b) A description of the waste and an estimate of the volume of waste materials to be disposed;

(c) A waste characterization plan for the proposed solid wastes that conforms to the characterization requirements in 06-096 CMR 405, section 6 and the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 3 below;

(d) A report on the trial burn if required; and

(e) An evaluation of the incineration facility's ability to handle and dispose of each new waste proposed for incineration.

(2) For quantities of manufacturing or industrial wastes that are expected to exceed 300 tons per year, the evaluation of the facility's ability to handle and dispose of each of the proposed wastes must include:

(a) Sampling and analyzing the material sufficient to execute a combustion model that determines an appropriate blend rate of the material with the facility's other permitted wastes; and

(b) A trial burn that is in compliance with all Department rules and sufficient to determine if the material is acceptable for long-term incineration at the facility. This determination must include a characterization of the facility's ash and residue constituents and levels, and changes to the facility's approved ash testing program needed to adequately characterize ash constituents and levels. Prior to a trial burn, the owner/operator must receive permission from the Bureau of Air Quality Control to burn the proposed waste in compliance with the facility's air emissions license.

(3) Unless otherwise approved by the Department or specified in 06-096 CMR 405, waste characterization shall consist of a minimum of one sample for each 100 tons of waste for the first 400 tons from each source, and one sample for each 1000 tons for the appropriate parameters required in 06-096 CMR 405.

(4) The facility owner/operator shall keep records of all one-time waste acceptance decisions, that had been approved by the Department, for a minimum of one calendar year from the date of decision. Records for all wastes other than municipal solid waste accepted on an on-going basis shall be kept for the life of the facility.

(5) The nature and quantity of all special wastes shall be reported annually to the Department in the facility's annual report.

G. Environmental Monitoring Program. Based on the nature of the wastes incinerated, and on the facility location, design, and operation, the Department may require an incineration facility to monitor ground water, surface water, soils and/or air on a case-by-case basis.

H. General Operations. An incineration facility must be operated and maintained in a manner that assures it will meet its design requirements.

(1) The operation of the incineration facility must be under the overall supervision and direction of a person trained, qualified and experienced in matters of solid waste management, including combustion.

(2) The operator shall maintain a record of operational information, which must include, but not be limited to: the type and quantity of waste received and any deviations made from the approved operations manual. No deviations from the operations manual may be made without prior Department approval.

(3) The operator shall provide for routine maintenance and general cleanliness of the entire facility site.

(4) The operator shall undertake suitable measures to control dust and odors wherever and whenever necessary.

(5) The on-site population of vectors must be minimized.

I. Fire Protection. The operator shall prevent and control fires at the facility site by complying with at least the following:

(1) Arrange for a nearby fire department to provide emergency service whenever called; and

(2) Provide for sufficient on-site equipment such as detachable fire extinguishers, maintained in working order, for minor fires.

J. Ash Characterization Results and Management

(1) If characterization of the ash generated at the facility equals or exceeds any of the following allowable limits, the facility owner/operator shall notify the Department of the these results within 15 days of their receipt. This notification shall include data reduction, validation and methods and results of statistical interpretation of the analytical results. The allowable limits are:

(a) TCLP Metals - EPA Regulatory Threshold for Toxicity by Characteristic;

(b) Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) - 50 mg/kg dry weight; and

(c) Additional contaminants as determined on a case-by-case basis.

(2) If, after data reduction, validation, and statistical analysis, the ash is hazardous by characteristic, all ash generated by the facility must be handled as a hazardous waste until such time as further sampling and analysis demonstrates that the incinerator is generating non-hazardous ash.

(3) Any incineration facility which generates ash that, after data validation and reduction and prior to statistical analysis, exceeds the allowable limits of the contaminants in paragraph (1) above, for any two consecutive weekly composite sampling events shall submit a report to the Department which evaluates the incinerator operations to identify and correct the waste stream and/or process problems which may have led to the increase in parameter levels in the ash.

K. Signs. The operator shall post appropriate signs and other means necessary to indicate clearly where waste is to be unloaded and where any separate recycling and storage areas within the facility are located.

L. Annual Report. An annual report shall be prepared and submitted to the Department for review which includes at least the following information:

(1) An annual summary of the operational records and any events outside of the normally expected operations of the facility;

(2) Revisions to the operating manual, and any known proposed changes to operations;

(3) A report of minor changes to the facility site or operation not requiring departmental approval that have occurred during the reporting year. Changes handled in this manner are those that do not require licensing under minor revision or amendment provision of 06-096 CMR 400;

(4) A summary of the ash characterization results for the year, including detailed information concerning any ash characterization results that exceeded regulatory limits and the actions taken in response;

(5) A summary of the amounts and destinations of residues and ash generated by the facility and a demonstration that sufficient disposal capacity is guaranteed for the ash and all residues expected to be generated during the next year;

(6) A summary of the wastes accepted for incineration and the characterization results for these wastes;

(7) Monitoring records if ground water, surface water, soil, or other monitoring is required by the facility's solid waste license;

(8) A summary of operator training conducted during the year; and,

(9) An annual update on cost and documentation of any changes made to the financial assurance instrument in accordance with 06-096 CMR 400 section 11.

Notes

06-096 C.M.R. ch. 403, § 6