1. (a) The purpose of 18 AAC 60.300 - 18 AAC 60.397 is to establish minimum standards for owners and operators of municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLF). Location standards are established in 18 AAC 60.305 - 18 AAC 60.320. Design standards are established in 18 AAC 60.330. Operating standards, which must be applied in conjunction with 18 AAC 60.220 - 18 AAC 60.240, are established in 18 AAC 60.335 - 18 AAC 60.380. Closure standards, which must be applied in conjunction with 18 AAC 60.245, are established in 18 AAC 60.385 - 18 AAC 60.397.
2. (b) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, the standards described in (a) of this section apply to the owner or operator of a new or existing MSWLF or a lateral expansion.

3. (c) A Class I, Class II, and Class III MSWLF shall meet the specific requirements of 18 AAC 60.305 - 18 AAC 60.397. For purposes of this chapter, classifications are as follows:

   1. (1) a Class I MSWLF is a landfill that

      1. (A) accepts, for incineration or disposal, 20 tons or more of municipal solid waste and other solid wastes daily, based on an annual average; or
      2. (B) does not qualify as a Class II or Class III MSWLF;

   2. (2) a Class II MSWLF is a landfill that

      1. (A) accepts, for incineration or disposal, less than 20 tons daily of municipal solid waste and other solid wastes based on an annual average;
      2. (B) is located on a site where there is no evidence of groundwater pollution caused or contributed to by the landfill;
      3. (C) is not connected by road to a Class I MSWLF or, if connected by road, is located more than 50 miles from a Class I MSWLF; and

      4. (D) serves a community

         1. (i) that experiences, for at least three months each year, an interruption in access to surface transportation, preventing access to a Class I MSWLF; or
         2. (ii) with no practicable waste management alternative, with a landfill located in an area that annually receives 25 inches or less of precipitation; and

   3. (3) a Class III MSWLF is a landfill that is not connected by road to a Class I MSWLF or, if connected by road, is located more than 50 miles from a Class I MSWLF, and that accepts, for disposal,

      1. (A) ash from incinerated municipal waste in quantities less than one ton daily on an annual average, which ash must be free of food scraps that might attract animals; or

      2. (B) less than five tons daily of municipal solid waste, based on an annual average, and is not located in a place

         1. (i) where public access is restricted, including restrictions on the right to move to the place and reside there; or
         2. (ii) that is provided by an employer and that is populated totally by persons who are required to reside there as a condition of employment and who do not consider the place to be their permanent residence.

4. (d) Under a schedule approved by the department, but no more than two years after a

   1. (1) Class II MSWLF exceeds the limits set in (c)(2) of this section, the Class II MSWLF must meet the requirements for a Class I MSWLF; or
   2. (2) Class III MSWLF exceeds the limits set in (c)(3) of this section, the Class III MSWLF must meet the requirements for a Class II MSWLF.
5. (e) In addition to receiving household waste, a MSWLF may also receive other types of waste regulated under 42 U.S.C. 6941 - 6949a (RCRA, Subtitle D), such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, and industrial solid waste; a MSWLF may be publicly or privately owned.
6. (f) The owner or operator must provide written notification to the department within seven days after the owner or operator learns that a MSWLF has polluted, or may have polluted, an aquifer.

(Eff. 1/28/96, Register 137; am 10/29/98, Register 148; am 9/7/2002, Register 163)

Authority: AS 44.46.020, AS 46.03.100, AS 46.03.810, AS 46.03.010, AS 46.03.110, AS 46.06.080, AS 46.03.020, AS 46.03.800