7 Del. Admin. Code § 1370-3.0

Current through Reigster Vol. 28, No. 6, December 1, 2024

Section 1370-3.0 - Location Criteria for Land Emplacement Facilities

3.1 Exclusionary Criteria

3.1.1 Land emplacement units shall be prohibited in the following:

3.1.1.1 The 100-year flood hazard area;

3.1.1.2 Wetlands;

3.1.1.3 Freshwater wetlands;

3.1.1.4 Carbonate bedrock areas;

3.1.1.5 Carbonate bedrock drainage areas;

3.1.1.6 Public water supply watersheds upstream from the points of withdrawal;

3.1.1.7 Subcropping aquifers and aquifer recharge areas;

3.1.1.8 Significant environmental lands;

3.1.1.9 Areas where the transmissivity of the unconfined aquifer is greater than 10,000 ft2/day;

3.1.1.10 Areas where groundwater under natural conditions could come into contact with the waste;

3.1.1.11 Wellhead protection areas;

3.1.1.12 Areas within 500 feet of a fault that has experienced movement within the last 35,000 years (capable fault).

3.1.2 The Department shall deny an application for location approval without further review if the Department determines the proposed unit is located in an excluded area.

3.2 Cautionary Criteria

3.2.1 The location of land emplacement units below shall be considered acceptable.

3.2.1.1 Seismic Risk. A proposed unit within a seismic risk zone shall be designed in accordance with recognized seismic design standards such as API 650 Appendix E.

3.2.1.2 Erosion and Mass Movement. Units should be located where the natural site characteristics and geomorphic processes will have minimal long term effect on the unit, i.e., avoiding highly dissected uplands or interfluves, deeply incised swales, and headwardly eroding streams.

3.2.1.3 Depth to Consolidated Bedrock. At least ten feet of unconsolidated and unsaturated material should lie between the bottommost part of the unit and bedrock.

3.2.1.4 Proximity to Surface Water. The location of a proposed unit shall provide that monitoring and frequency of sampling detect the presence of contaminents, and initiation of appropriate remedial action before degradation of surface water quality.

3.2.1.5 Groundwater Use. Units should be located at least .25-mile from, and not hydraulically upgradient of, any drinking water wells where no effective hydrogeologic barrier to flow exists.

3.2.1.6 Proximity to Population. Sites should be selected such that proposed land emplacement units are more than 1,500 feet from a residential dwelling.

3.2.1.7 Proximity to Immobile Resident Populations. Units handling toxic, explosive, reactive, or flammable and combustible wastes, and which are regulated by the Extremely Hazardous Substances Risk Management Act (7 Del.C. Ch. 77), and Delaware Regulations for the Management of Extremely Hazardous Substances, should be more than one mile from an immobile resident population. This criterion is not applicable to units handling other types of hazardous waste.

3.2.1.8 Proximity to Existing Waste Management Units or Industrial Facilities Handling Hazardous Materials. Proposed units should be located near existing waste management units or industrial facilities handling hazardous materials only if the potential environmental effects can be distinguished from those of existing units, and if the wastes are not incompatible or dangerous if inadvertently combined in the environment.

3.2.1.9 Emergency Response Facilities. Sites should be selected where emergency response time is adequate for the types of wastes handled.

3.2.1.10 Critical Habitat for Rare and Endangered Species. Units should not be located on lands providing habitat for species listed by the Federal government under the Endangered Species Act, unless adequate mitigation is provided.

3.2.1.11 Proximity to Significant Environmental Lands. Units should be located more than one half mile from such lands.

3.2.1.12 Proximity to Flood Hazard Area. Sites should be outside of the 500-year floodplain.

3.2.2 If a proposed facility site does not satisfy each criterion in subsection 3.2.1, the applicant shall submit additional information and justification allowing the Department to assess what effect failure to satisfy the criterion has upon the acceptability of the facility site.

3.2.3 The Department shall provide notice to municipal officials and other interested persons in order to solicit additional information regarding potential effects of a failure to meet any of these criteria at the proposed facility site. The Department shall determine whether the proposed design, construction, and operational aspects of the facility mitigate adverse effects which would otherwise be associated with failure to satisfy the criteria.

3.2.4 After evaluating each criterion individually, the Department shall evaluate the facility's overall compliance with these cautionary criteria and shall identify risks that have not been eliminated through mitigative measures. If risks to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment remain, which, in the judgment of the Department, render the proposed site unacceptable for a hazardous waste management facility, the Department may include conditions in the approval which eliminate or reduce the identified risks or may deny site approval altogether.

7 Del. Admin. Code § 1370-3.0