Md. Code Regs. 26.04.06.05 – Constituent Limits for Sewage Sludge.

A. Specific Constituent Limitations for Sewage Sludge.
1. (1) The following constituent limitations apply to application of sewage sludge:
  1. (a) Bulk sewage sludge may not be applied to the land if the concentration of any constituent in the sewage sludge exceeds the ceiling concentration for the constituent in Table 1 of §B(1) of this regulation;
  2. (b) Bulk sewage sludge may not be applied to agricultural or marginal land, forest, or a public contact site if either:
    1. (i) The cumulative loading rate for any constituent exceeds the cumulative constituent loading rate for the constituent in Table 2 of §B(2) of this regulation; or
    2. (ii) The concentration of any constituent in the sewage sludge exceeds the concentration for the constituent in Table 3 of §B(3) of this regulation;
  3. (c) Bulk sewage sludge may not be applied to a lawn or a home garden if the concentration of any constituent in the sewage sludge exceeds the concentration for the constituent in Table 3 of §B(3) of this regulation; and
  4. (d) Sewage sludge may not be sold or given away in a bag or other container for application to the land if:
    1. (i) The concentration of any constituent in the sewage sludge exceeds the concentration for the constituent in Table 3 of §B(3) of this regulation; or
    2. (ii) The product of the concentration of any constituent in the sewage sludge and the whole annual sewage sludge application rate for the sewage sludge causes the annual constituent loading rate for the constituent in Table 4 of §B(4) of this regulation to be exceeded.
2. (2) Determination of Annual Whole Sewage Sludge Application Rate (AWSAR).
  1. (a) The following equation expresses the relationship between the AWSAR in metric tons per hectare per 365 day period on a dry weight basis and the annual constituent loading rate (ACLR) in kilograms per hectare per 365 day period for a constituent:
  2. (b) To determine the AWSAR for sewage sludge, a person shall sequentially do the following:
    1. (i) Step 1 — analyze a sample of the sewage sludge to determine the concentration for each of the constituents listed in Table 4 of §B(4) of this regulation;
    2. (ii) Step 2 — using the constituent concentrations from Step 1 and the ACLRs from Table 4 of §B(4) of this regulation, calculate an AWSAR for each constituent using Equation # 1 from §A(2)(a) of this regulation; and
    3. (iii) Step 3 — identify as the AWSAR for the sewage sludge the lowest AWSAR calculated in Step 2.
  Equation # 1: AWSAR = ACLR/(C x 0.001)
  Where:
  C = Constituent concentration in milligrams per kilogram of total solids, in dry weight basis; and
  0.001 = A conversion factor.

B. Constituent Concentrations and Loading Rates — Sewage Sludge.

(1) Ceiling Concentrations.

Table 1 — Ceiling Concentrations
Constituent	Ceiling Concentration (milligrams per kilogram)*
Arsenic (As)	75
Cadmium (Cd)	85
Copper (Cu)	4,300
Lead (Pb)	840
Mercury (Hg)	57
Molybdenum (Mo)	75
Nickel (Ni)	420
Selenium (Se)	100
Zinc (Zn)	7500
PCBs	10
* Dry Weight Basis

(2) Cumulative Constituent Loading Rates.

Table 2 — Cumulative Constituent Loading Rates
Constituent	Cumulative Constituent Loading Rates (kilograms per hectare)
Arsenic (As)	41
Cadmium (Cd)	39
Copper (Cu)	1,500
Lead (Pb)	300
Mercury (Hg)	17
Nickel (Ni)	420
Selenium (Se)	100
Zinc (Zn)	2800

(3) Constituent Concentrations.

Table 3 — Constituent Concentrations
Constituent	Monthly Average Concentration (milligrams per kilogram)*
Arsenic (As)	41
Cadmium (Cd)	39
Copper (Cu)	1,500
Lead (Pb)	300
Mercury (Hg)	17
Nickel (Ni)	420
Selenium (Se)	100
Zinc (Zn)	2800
* Dry Weight Basis

(4) Annual Constituent Loading Rates.

Table 4 — Annual Constituent Loading Rates
Constituent	Annual constituent loading rates (kilograms per hectare per 365 day period)
Arsenic (As)	2.0
Cadmium (Cd)	1.9
Copper (Cu)	75
Lead (Pb)	15
Mercury (Hg)	0.85
Nickel (Ni)	21
Selenium (Se)	5.0
Zinc (Zn)	140

Authority: Environment Article, Title 1, Subtitle 6, and Title 9, Subtitle 2, Part III, Annotated Code of Maryland

Effective date: August 4, 1976 (3:16 Md. R. 852)

Regulations .01—.06 amended effective August 3, 1981 (8:15 Md. R. 1307)

Chapter, Uses and Methods of Collection, Handling, Burning, Storage, Transportation, Processing or Distribution of Sewage Sludge, Processed Sludge, or Any Other Product Containing These Materials, repealed effective November 3, 1986 (13:22 Md. R. 2399)

Annotation: COMAR 10.17.10 cited in Attorney General Opinion No. 84-005 (January 31, 1984)

Regulations .01—.14, Sewage Sludge Management, adopted effective November 3, 1986 (13:22 Md. R. 2399)

Chapter recodified from COMAR 10.17.10 to COMAR 26.04.06

Regulation .01 amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulation .02B amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulation .03A amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulation .04C amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulation .09 amended effective December 11, 1989 (16:24 Md. R. 2621)

Regulation .09A amended effective April 25, 1994 (21:8 Md. R. 675); August 15, 1994 (21:16 Md. R. 1391); May 15, 2000 (27:9 Md. R. 859)

Regulation .13A amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulation .13E amended effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837); September 27, 1993 (20:19 Md. R. 1472)

Regulation .13F adopted effective December 11, 1989 (16:24 Md. R. 2621)

Regulation .15 adopted effective December 10, 1990 (17:24 Md. R. 2837)

Regulations .01—.15 repealed and new Regulations .01—.75 adopted effective May 26, 2014 (41:10 Md. R. 562)