SECTIONS 25209-25209.7

25209.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows: (a) Hazardous waste discharged into land treatment units maymigrate beyond the treatment zone of the land treatment unit andthereby threaten the public health and the environment and pose aserious threat to the quality of the waters of this state. (b) With the exception of land treatment units, all major forms ofland disposal units are required by law to be equipped with linerand leachate collection and removal systems to ensure sufficientprotection of the public health and safety and the environment and toprotect the quality of the waters of this state. It is in the publicinterest to extend these requirements to include land treatmentunits. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a uniform andworkable procedure for implementing requirements for liner andleachate collection and removal systems in all existing landtreatment units, and replacements and lateral expansions of existingand new land treatment units, and to ensure that the vadose zone andgroundwater beneath all land treatment units is adequately monitoredto detect the presence of any contamination. Land treatment units inoperation in this state must be made safe, or closed if necessary, toprotect public health and safety and the environment, including thewaters of the state.25209.1.  For purposes of this article, the following definitionsapply: (a) "Discharge" means to place or dispose hazardous wastes in aland treatment unit. (b) "Facility" has the meaning specified in Section 25117.1. (c) "Hazardous constituent" has the meaning specified inregulations adopted by the department. (d) "Hazardous waste" means a hazardous waste, as defined inSection 25117 and "non-RCRA hazardous waste" has the same meaning asdefined in Section 25117. 9. (e) "Land treatment unit" means a facility or part of a facilityat which hazardous waste is applied onto or incorporated into thesoil surface so that hazardous constituents are degraded,transformed, or immobilized within the treatment zone. A landtreatment unit is a disposal unit if the waste will remain afterclosure. (f) "Potential source of drinking water" has the meaning specifiedin subdivision (s) of Section 25208.2. (g) "Treatment zone" means the portion of a land treatment unitincluding the soil surface, within which hazardous constituents aredegraded, transformed, or immobilized. A treatment zone may notextend more than five feet from the initial soil surface and the baseof the treatment zone shall be a minimum of five feet above thehighest anticipated elevation of the water table. (h) "Vadose zone" means the unsaturated zone outside the treatmentzone and between the land surface and the water table. (i) "Waste management unit" has the meaning specified in theregulations adopted by the department.25209.2.  (a) Except as provided in Section 25209.5, unless granteda variance pursuant to subdivision (b), or exempted pursuant toSection 25209.6, no person shall discharge hazardous waste into a newland treatment unit at a new or existing facility, any landtreatment unit which replaces an existing land treatment unit, or anylaterally expanded portion of an existing land treatment unit thathas not been equipped with liners, a leachate collection and removalsystem, a groundwater monitoring system, and a vadose zone monitoringsystem which satisfy the requirements of Section 25209.5. (b) The department may grant a variance from the requirements ofsubdivision (a) and Section 25209.3, concerning equipping the landtreatment unit with liners and a leachate collection and removalsystem, if the owner or operator demonstrates to the department andthe department finds all of the following: (1) If the land treatment unit is an existing land treatment unit,no hazardous constituents have migrated from the treatment zone ofthe land treatment unit into the vadose zone or into the waters ofthe state. In making this demonstration the owner or operator shalltake a sufficient number of core samples in, beneath, and surroundingthe treatment zone of the land treatment unit to characterize thechemical constituents in the treatment zone, in the immediate area ofthe vadose zone surrounding the treatment zone, and in the area ofthe vadose zone beneath the treatment zone and shall submitgroundwater monitoring data sufficient in scope to demonstrate thatthere has been no migration of hazardous constituents into the vadosezone or into the waters of the state. The owner or operator, as analternative to taking these core samples, may use the data obtainedfrom any land treatment demonstration required by the departmentbefore issuing a hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant toSection 25200, if the data were obtained not more than two yearsprior to the application for the variance and is sufficient in scopeto demonstrate that there has been no migration of hazardousconstituents into the vadose zone or into the waters of the state. (2) Notwithstanding the date that the land treatment unitcommences operations, the design and operating practices will preventthe migration of hazardous constituents from the treatment zone ofthe land treatment unit into the vadose zone or into the waters ofthe state. (3) Notwithstanding the date that the land treatment unitcommences operations, the design and operating practices provide forrapid detection and removal or remediation of any hazardousconstituents that migrate from the treatment zone of the landtreatment unit into the vadose zone or into the waters of the state. (c) (1) The department may renew a variance only in those caseswhere an owner or operator can demonstrate, and the department finds,both of the following: (A) No hazardous constituents have migrated from the treatmentzone of the land treatment unit into the vadose zone or into thewaters of the state. (B) Continuing the operation of the land treatment unit does notpose a significant potential of hazardous constituents migrating fromthe land treatment unit into the vadose zone or into the waters ofthe state. (2) In making the demonstration for the renewal of a variancepursuant to this subdivision, the owner or operator may use fieldtests, laboratory analyses, or, operating data. (d) A variance, or a renewal of a variance, may be issued for aperiod not to exceed three years. (e) Except for the exemption from vadose zone monitoringrequirements specified in Section 25209.5, neither the requirementsof this article nor the variance provisions of subdivision (b) shallrelieve the owner or operator from responsibility to comply with allother existing laws and regulations pertinent to land treatmentunits.25209.3.  Except as provided in Section 25209.5, after January 1,1990, unless granted a variance pursuant to subdivision (b) ofSection 25209.2, or exempted pursuant to Section 25209.6, no personshall discharge hazardous waste into a land treatment unit which hasnot been equipped with liners, a leachate collection and removalsystem, a groundwater monitoring system, and a vadose zone monitoringsystem which satisfy the requirements of Section 25209.5.25209.4.  (a) Except as provided in Section 25209.6, no person shallplace or dispose of hazardous waste in a land treatment unit if anyof the following conditions exist: (1) Hazardous constituents have migrated from the land treatmentunit into the vadose zone beneath or surrounding the treatment zoneor into the waters beneath or surrounding the treatment zone. (2) There is evidence that a hazardous constituent in the wastedischarged to the land treatment unit has not been or will not becompletely degraded, transformed, or immobilized in the treatmentzone. (3) There is a significant potential for hazardous constituents tomigrate from the land treatment unit into a potential source ofdrinking water. (b) The owner or operator of a land treatment unit shall do all ofthe following: (1) Periodically, at the request of the department, and at leastannually, submit information the department may require in order toevaluate whether the conditions set forth in paragraph (1) or (2) ofsubdivision (a) are not present. The information to be submitted tothe department shall include, but is not limited to, a sufficientnumber of soil core samples in, beneath, and surrounding thetreatment zone of the land treatment unit to detect any hazardousconstituents which may have migrated from the treatment zone. Thedepartment may adopt regulations requiring additional or morefrequent testing. (2) Within 72 hours of detecting and confirming the existence ofeither of the conditions identified in paragraph (1) or (2) ofsubdivision (a), or the presence of factors that render the owner oroperator unable to continue satisfying the variance requirements ofsubdivision (b) of Section 25209.2, report to the departmentdescribing the full extent of the owner's or operator's findings. (c) Upon receiving notice pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision(b), or upon the independent confirmation by the department, thedepartment shall order the owner or operator to cease operating theland treatment unit. The owner or operator shall not resume operatingthe land treatment unit and shall close the land treatment unitunless one of the following actions is taken: (1) The owner or operator completes appropriate removal orremedial actions to the satisfaction of the department and the owneror operator submits to the department, and the department approves,an application for a permit or variance modification to modify theoperating practices at the facility to maximize the success ofdegradation, immobilization, or transformation processes in thetreatment zone, if the owner or operator has not previously submittedan application for a permit or variance modification pursuant tothis paragraph. (2) The owner or operator completes appropriate removal orremedial actions and equips the land treatment unit with liners,leachate collection and removal systems, a groundwater monitoringsystem, and a vadose zone monitoring system that satisfy therequirements of Section 25209.5, if the land treatment unit has notalready been equipped with these systems. (d) All actions taken by an owner or operator pursuant toparagraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c) shall be completed within atime period specified by the department, which shall not exceed 18months after the department receives notice pursuant to subdivision(c). If the actions are not completed within this time period, theland treatment unit shall be closed, unless granted an extension bythe department due to exceptional circumstances beyond the control ofthe owner and operator.25209.5.  The liner, leachate collection and removal, groundwatermonitoring, and vadose zone monitoring systems required by Sections25209.2, 25209.3, and 25209.4 shall be designed, constructed, andoperated according to regulations adopted by the department and StateWater Resources Control Board regulations and standards for liner,leachate collection and removal, groundwater monitoring, and vadosezone monitoring systems for class I hazardous waste landfills, to theextent those regulations and standards are not less stringent thanthe regulations and standards of the department. Owners or operatorsof land treatment units which have treated and will treat solelynon-RCRA hazardous waste and which are equipped with liners, leachatecollection and removal systems, and a groundwater monitoring systemthat satisfy the requirements of this section shall not be requiredto perform vadose zone monitoring.25209.6.  Land treatment of soil contaminated only with non-RCRAhazardous waste which has been excavated as part of a removal orremedial action at any hazardous substance release site is exemptfrom the requirements of Sections 25209.2, 25209.3, and 25209.4, ifall of the following apply: (a) The department determines that the land treatment does notpose a threat to public health or safety or the environment. (b) The land treatment is conducted pursuant to a plan approved bythe department or a cleanup and abatement order issued by a regionalwater quality control board. (c) The land treatment is not conducted at an offsite commercialhazardous waste facility. (d) The land treatment is used only for purposes of removal orremedial action and, upon completion of the land treatment portion ofthe removal or remedial action, the land treatment unit is closed.25209.7.  (a) Every owner or operator of a land treatment unitsubject to this article shall pay an annual fee to the departmentwhich shall be equivalent to 2 percent of the land disposal fee dueunder Section 25205.4. This fee shall be in addition to the annualhazardous waste facility fee and shall be due at the same time as thefacility fee. (b) The department may, by regulation, increase or decrease theamount of the fees specified in subdivision (a) if the departmentfinds that the amounts charged do not reflect the cost of providingservices under this article.