(a) New facilities and expansions. Applicants for new Class 1 landfills and expansions to the permitted area shall comply with the following minimum separation distances and buffer zones as measured from the proposed active portion of the landfill:

1. (1) Five hundred feet (500’) of an existing well or water intake used as a drinking water source as determined at the earliest date the notification or application is made to local or regional authorities as required by 8 CAR § 60-201, 8 CAR § 60-202, or 8 CAR § 60-203, as applicable;
2. (2) Three hundred feet (300’) of an existing dwelling, unless owned by the applicant, as determined at the earliest date the notification or application is made to local or regional authorities as required by 8 CAR § 60-201, 8 CAR § 60-202, or 8 CAR § 60-203; and
3. (3) Within one hundred feet (100’) of the property boundary.

(b)

1. (1) Existing landfills. Existing landfills are as permitted by the Division of Environmental Quality prior to May 7, 1995, for waste disposal are exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) of this section.
2. (2) Expansions to the permitted area and the design of new landfill units after May 7, 1995, shall conform with buffer zone width requirements.

(c) Proximity to highways.

1. (1) Landfills shall comply with rules promulgated by the State Highway Commission.
2. (2) Landfills shall not be established, operated, or maintained within one thousand feet (1,000’) of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any interstate, primary, or other state highway designated by the State Highway Commission unless the landfill operations are screened by natural objects, plantings, fences, or other appropriate means so as not to be visible from the main-traveled way of the highway.

(d) Construction in the buffer zone.

1. (1) No permanent construction of any kind shall occur in the buffer zone other than fencing, access roadways, and monitoring well construction.
2. (2) Landscaping for esthetics is encouraged in the buffer zone and may be required by the division for individual sites.
3. (3) Where appropriate landscaping for esthetics is undertaken, pay stations, administration buildings, parking, surface water control systems such as diversion ditches and sedimentation ponds, and other facilities may be permitted in the buffer zone area.

(e) Local zoning.

1. (1) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit or interfere with local zoning requirements and ordinances pertaining to the operation of solid waste facilities.
2. (2) The criteria set forth in this section is intended solely as minimum criteria for facilities located on lands where land use is not regulated by local authorities.
3. (3) Requirements herein do not relieve the applicant from complying with any more restrictive, comprehensive local zoning requirements or regulations duly promulgated by regional solid waste management districts.