Section 11-270-1 - Purpose and scope of these rules(a) Coverage. (1) These permit rules establish provisions for the hazardous waste permit program under HRS chapter 342J.(2) The rules in this chapter cover basic State permitting requirements, such as application requirements, standard permit conditions, and monitoring and reporting requirements. These rules are part of a regulatory scheme implementing HRS chapter 342J set forth in chapters 11-260 through 11-280.(3) Technical regulations. The hazardous waste management permit program has separate additional rules that contain technical requirements. These separate rules are used by permit issuing authorities to determine what requirements must be placed in permits if they are issued. These separate rules are located in chapters 11-264 and 11-266.(b) Overview of the hazardous waste management permit program. Not later than forty-five days after the revision of rules in chapter 11-261 (identifying and listing hazardous wastes), generators and transporters of hazardous waste, and owners or operators of hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities may be required to file a notification of that activity under HRS section 342J-6.5. Treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste by any person who has not applied for or received a hazardous waste management permit is prohibited. A hazardous waste management permit application consists of two parts, Part A (see section 11-270-13) and Part B (see section 11-270-14 and applicable provisions in sections 11-270-15 through 11-270-29). For "existing HWM facilities,'' the requirement to submit an application is satisfied by submitting only Part A of the permit application until the date the director sets for submitting Part B of the application. (Part A consists of Forms 1 and 3 of the Consolidated Permit Application Forms.) Timely submission of both notification under HRS section 342J-6.5 and Part A qualifies owners and operators of existing HWM facilities (who are required to have a permit) for interim status under HRS section 342J-30. Facility owners and operators with interim status are treated as having been issued a permit until the department makes a final determination on the permit application. Facility owners and operators with interim status must comply with interim status standards set forth at chapters 11-265 and 11-266. Facility owners and operators with interim status are not relieved from complying with other State requirements. For existing HWM facilities, the director shall set a date, giving at least six months notice, for submission of Part B of the application. There is no form for Part B of the application; rather, Part B must be submitted in narrative form and contain the information set forth in the applicable provisions of sections 11-270-14 through 11-270-29. Owners or operators of new HWM facilities must submit Parts A and B of the permit application at least one-hundred and eighty days before physical construction is expected to commence.(c) Scope of the hazardous waste management permit requirement. Chapter 342J, HRS requires a permit for the ""treatment,'' ""storage,'' and ""disposal'' of any ""hazardous waste'' as identified or listed in chapter 11-261. The terms ""treatment,'' ""storage,'' ""disposal,'' and ""hazardous waste'' are defined in section 11-270-2. Owners and operators of hazardous waste management units must have permits during the active life (including the closure period) of the unit. Owners or operators of surface impoundments, landfills, land treatment units, and waste pile units that received wastes after July 26, 1982, or that certified closure (according to section 11-265-115) after January 26, 1983, must have post-closure permits, unless they demonstrate closure by removal as provided under paragraphs (c)(5) and (c)(6). If a post-closure permit is required, the permit must address applicable chapter 11-264 Groundwater Monitoring, Unsaturated Zone Monitoring, Corrective Action, and Post-closure Care Requirements of chapters 11-260 through 11-279. The denial of a permit for the active life of a hazardous waste management facility or unit does not affect the requirement to obtain a post-closure permit under this section. (1) Specific inclusions. Owners and operators of certain facilities require hazardous waste management permits as well as permits under other programs for certain aspects of the facility operation. Hazardous waste management permits are required for: (i) Injection wells that dispose of hazardous waste, and associated surface facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste, (See section 11-270-64).(ii) Treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste at facilities requiring an NPDES permit. However, the owner and operator of a publicly owned treatment works receiving hazardous waste will be deemed to have a hazardous waste management permit for that waste if they comply with the requirements of subsection 11-270-60(c) (permit-by-rule for POTWs).(iii) Barges or vessels that dispose of hazardous waste by ocean disposal and onshore hazardous waste treatment or storage facilities associated with an ocean disposal operation. However, the owner and operator will be deemed to have a hazardous waste management permit for ocean disposal from the barge or vessel itself if they comply with the requirements of subsection 11-270-60(a) (permit-by-rule for ocean disposal barges and vessels).(2) Specific exclusions. The following persons are among those who are not required to obtain a hazardous waste management permit: (i) Generators who accumulate hazardous waste on-site for less than the time periods provided in section 11-262-34.(ii) Farmers who dispose of hazardous waste pesticides from their own use as provided in section 11-262-70.(iii) Persons who own or operate facilities solely for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste excluded from regulations under this chapter by section 11-261-4 or 11-261-5 (small generator exemption).(iv) Owners or operators of totally enclosed treatment facilities as defined in section 11-260-10.(v) Owners and operators of elementary neutralization units or wastewater treatment units as defined in section 11-260-10.(vi) Transporters storing manifested shipments of hazardous waste in containers meeting the requirements of section 11-262-30 at a transfer facility for a period of ten days or less.(vii) Persons adding absorbent material to waste in a container (as defined in section 11-260-10) and persons adding waste to absorbent material in a container, provided that these actions occur at the time waste is first placed in the container; and subsection 11-264-17(b), and sections 11-264-171 and 11-264-172 are complied with.(viii) Universal waste handlers and universal waste transporters (as defined in section 11-260-10) managing the wastes listed below. These handlers are subject to regulation under chapter 11-273. (A) Batteries as described in section 11-273-2;(B) Pesticides as described in section 11-273-3; and(C) Thermostats as described in section 11-273-4.(3) Further exclusions. (i) A person is not required to obtain a hazardous waste management permit for treatment or containment activities taken during immediate response to any of the following situations: (A) A discharge of a hazardous waste;(B) An imminent and substantial threat of a discharge of hazardous waste;(C) A discharge of a material which, when discharged, becomes a hazardous waste;(D) An immediate threat to human health, public safety, property, or the environment from the known or suspected presence of military munitions, other explosive material, or an explosive device, as determined by an explosive or munitions emergency response specialist as defined in section 11-260-10.(ii) Any person who continues or initiates hazardous waste treatment or containment activities after the immediate response is over is subject to all applicable requirements of this chapter for those activities.(iii) In the case of emergency responses involving military munitions, the responding military emergency response specialist's organizational unit must retain records for three years identifying the dates of the response, the responsible persons responding, the type and description of material addressed, and its disposition.(4) Permits for less than an entire facility. The department may issue or deny a permit for one or more units at a facility without simultaneously issuing or denying a permit to all of the units at the facility. The interim status of any unit for which a permit has not been issued or denied is not affected by the issuance or denial of a permit to any other unit at the facility.(5) Closure by removal. Owners/operators of surface impoundments, land treatment units, and waste piles closing by removal or decontamination under chapter 11-265 standards must obtain a post-closure permit unless they can demonstrate to the director that the closure met the standards for closure by removal or decontamination in section 11-264-228, subsection 11-264-280(e), or section 11-264-258, respectively. The demonstration may be made in the following ways: (i) If the owner/operator has submitted a Part B application for a post-closure permit, the owner/operator may request a determination, based on information contained in the application, that chapter 11-264 closure by removal standards were met. If the director believes that chapter 11-264 standards were met, he/she will notify the public of this proposed decision, allow for public comment, and reach a final determination according to the procedures in paragraph (c)(6) of this section.(ii) If the owner/operator has not submitted a Part B application for a post-closure permit, the owner/operator may petition the director for a determination that a post-closure permit is not required because the closure met the applicable chapter 11-264 closure standards. (A) The petition must include data demonstrating that closure by removal or decontamination standards were met.(B) The director shall approve or deny the petition according to the procedures outlined in paragraph (c)(6).(6) Procedures for closure equivalency determination. (i) If a facility owner/operator seeks an equivalency demonstration under paragraph 11-270-1(c) (5), the director will provide the public, through a newspaper notice, the opportunity to submit written comments on the information submitted by the owner/operator within thirty days from the date of the notice. The director will also, in response to a request or at his/her own discretion, hold a public hearing whenever such a hearing might clarify one or more issues concerning the equivalence of the chapter 11-265 closure to a chapter 11-264 closure. The director will give public notice of the hearing at least thirty days before it occurs. (Public notice of the hearing may be given at the same time as notice of the opportunity for the public to submit written comments, and the two notices may be combined.)(ii) The director will determine whether the chapter 11-265 closure met chapter 11-264 closure by removal or decontamination requirements within ninety days of its receipt. If the director finds that the closure did not meet the applicable chapter 11-264 standards, he/she will provide the owner/operator with a written statement of the reasons why the closure failed to meet chapter 11-2 64 standards. The owner/operator may submit additional information in support of an equivalency demonstration within thirty days after receiving such written statement. The director will review any additional information submitted and make a final determination within sixty days.(iii) If the director determines that the facility did not close in accordance with chapter 11-264 closure by removal standards, the facility is subject to post-closure permitting requirements.(d) All references in tables and appendices to provisions of the code of federal regulations shall be construed to mean the State rule analogue of the referenced federal regulation (for example, 40 CFR 260.1 shall be construed to mean section 11-260-1 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules).[Eff 6/18/94; am 3/13/99; comp] (Auth: HRS §§ 342J-4, 342J-31, 342J-35) (Imp: 40 C.F.R. §270.1 )