8 CAR § 61-306 – Eligible projects and activities

(a) Applicability. The Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund Program applies to all landfills subject to permitting requirements provided under Solid Waste Management Rules, 8 CAR pt. 60, which, upon receipt of solid waste at the landfill gate, are required to participate in the fee system for landfill disposal and which otherwise comply with the provisions set forth herein and in 8 CAR pt. 60, except for those landfills where a private industry bears the expense of operating and maintaining the landfill solely for the disposal of waste generated by the industry or wastes of a similar kind or character.
(b) Funding determination. The Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund shall be used if the Director of the Division of Environmental Quality determines that:
1. (1) Closed landfill. A landfill, which is no longer receiving waste and has received an approved closure from the Division of Environmental Quality, pursuant to 8 CAR pt. 60, regardless of when it ceased operating, is causing groundwater contamination or is causing other contamination that, in the determination of the director, is a hazard to public health or endangers the environment; and
2. (2) Owner obligation met or emergency exists. The landfill permittee, owner, operator, or any other responsible party of the landfill site has expended at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) toward corrective action, unless the landfill permittee or owner or any other responsible party cannot be located or the director determines an emergency exists necessitating immediate corrective action, in which case the division shall take action to recover the ten thousand dollars ($10,000) from the landfill permittee, owner, operator, or any other responsible party.
(c) Owner/other responsible party unavailable. If, after proper closure of a landfill, the division determines that the landfill permittee, owner, operator, or any other responsible party cannot be located or cannot otherwise satisfy, in whole or part, post-closure maintenance obligations, the division is authorized to expend the necessary funds from the Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund to satisfy the requirements of state and federal law and to prevent or abate releases to the environment.
(d) Refunds. In the event that preliminary studies are required before implementation of a corrective measure to confirm or deny the existence of suspected contamination and those studies indicate that contamination is not present, the division shall refund any moneys, in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the landfill permittee, owner, operator, or any other responsible party contributed to the studies.