1. (1) General

   1. (a) Purpose, Scope, and Applicability - This rule provides definitions of terms, general standards, and overview information applicable to these rules.

   2. (b) Use of Number and Gender - As used in these rules:

      1. 1. Words in the masculine gender also include the feminine and neuter genders; and
      2. 2. Words in the singular include the plural; and
      3. 3. Words in the plural include the singular.
   3. (c) Rule Structure - These rules are organized, numbered, and referenced according to the following outline form:

2. (1) Paragraph

   1. (a) Subparagraph

      1. 1. Part

   2. (i) Subpart

      1. (I) Item

         1. I. Subitem

            1. A. Section

               1. (d) Use of Calendar Days - Any referral to time frames, not specifying otherwise, refers to calendar days instead of working days.

               2. (2) Definitions - Following, in alphabetical order, is a list of terms used in this Chapter. Throughout this Chapter these terms shall have the meanings given in this paragraph. “Act” means the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, T.C.A. §§ 68-211-101 et seq. “Active life” means the period from the initial receipt of solid waste at the facility until the Commissioner approves final closure of the facility. “Active portion” means that portion of a disposal facility where disposal operations are being or have been conducted and which is not a closed portion. “Admixture” means chemicals added to earth materials to change the physical or chemical properties of the earth materials. Admixtures include, but are not limited to: lime, cement, bentonite and sodium silicate. “Aerated static pile composting” means a process in which decomposing organic material is placed in piles over an air supply system that can be used to supply oxygen and control temperature for the purpose of producing compost. Piles must be insulated to assure that all parts of the decomposing material reach and maintain temperatures at or above 55°C (131°F) for a minimum of 3 days. “Agricultural residuals” means materials generated by the customary and generally accepted activities, practices, and procedures that farmers engage in during the production and preparation for market of poultry, livestock and associated farm products; from the production and harvesting of agricultural crops, which include agronomic, horticultural, and silvicultural crops; and materials resulting from aquacultural production. Includes manures not managed as part of a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) permit. “Airport” means a public use airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities. “Aquifer” means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation capable of yielding significant quantities of groundwater to wells or springs. “Areas susceptible to mass movement” means those areas of influence (i.e., areas characterized as having an active or substantial possibility of mass movement) where the movement of earth material at, beneath, or adjacent to the SWLF unit, because of natural or man-induced events, results in the downslope transport of soil and rock material by means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include, but are not limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil fluction, block sliding, and rock fall. “Backyard composting” means the composting of organic solid waste, such as grass clippings, leaves or food waste, generated by a homeowner or tenant of a single or multi- family residential unit or an apartment complex unit, where composting occurs at that dwelling unit. “Baling” means a method of reducing and restraining (binding) solid waste volume by mechanical compaction to achieve high density per unit volume. “Biosolids” means treated sewage sludge that have contaminant concentrations less than or equal to the contaminant concentrations listed in Table 1 of subparagraph (3)(b) of Rule 0400-40-15-.02, meet any one of the ten vector attraction reduction options listed in part (4)(b)1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 9., or 10. of Rule 0400-40-15-.04, and meet either one of the six pathogen reduction alternatives for Class A listed in part (3)(a)3., 4., 5., 6., 7., or 8., or one of the three pathogen reduction alternatives for Class B listed in part (3)(b)2., 3., or 4. of Rule 0400-40-15-.04. “Bird hazard” means an increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants. “Board” means the Tennessee Underground Storage Tanks and Solid Waste Disposal Control Board established by T.C.A. § 68-211-111. “Bulky waste” means large items of solid waste such as white goods, furniture, autos or large auto parts, trees, branches, stumps and other oversize wastes whose large size precludes or complicates their handling by normal collection, processing, or disposal methods. “Capacity” means the amount of material, in tons or cubic yards, a compost facility can hold at any one time. Includes feedstocks, actively composting and curing material, and final product storage. “Cell” means a discrete volume of compacted solid waste that is enclosed by means of a barrier in a disposal facility. “Certificate of completion” means a document issued by a certifying organization stating that the compost facility operations manager has met the requirements for the specified operations manager program. “Closed portion” means a formerly active portion of a landfill which has undergone closure. “Closure” means the taking of those actions at the termination of a disposal operation which are necessary to finally close the disposal facility or disposal facility parcel. “Commercial solid wastes” means all types of solid waste generated by stores, offices, restaurants, warehouses, and other nonmanufacturing activities, excluding domestic and industrial wastes. “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation or his authorized representative. “Completeness determination” means for the purposes of subparagraph (6)(a) of Rule 0400- 11-01-.07, an acknowledgement that an application addresses all applicable requirements specified in subparagraph (3)(c) of Rule 0400-11-01-.02, but does not mean that the contents are technically adequate. “Compost” means solid waste which has undergone biological decomposition of organic matter, and has been disinfected using composting or similar technologies, and has been stabilized to a degree which is potentially beneficial to plant growth and which is suitable for use as a soil amendment, artificial top soil, growing medium amendment or other similar uses. “Compostable material” means solid organic waste that may be decomposed under controlled conditions by micro-organisms under aerobic or anaerobic conditions which result in a stable humus-like material free of pathogenic organisms (e.g., food wastes, yard wastes, and low moisture content wastewater sludge). “Composting” means the process by which biological decomposition of organic solid waste is carried out under controlled aerobic conditions, and which stabilizes the organic fraction into a material which can easily and safely be stored, handled and used in an environmentally acceptable manner. The presence of anaerobic zones within the composting material will not cause the process to be classified as other than composting. “Composting facility” means a solid waste management facility where solid waste is processed using composting technology. Processing may include physical turning, windrowing, aeration or other mechanical handling of organic matter. “Composting pad” means the ground on which composting activities take place. May be subdivided by function, such as “mixing pad”, “composting pad”, “curing pad” or “storage pad”. An “all-weather composting pad” is one of sufficient construction, firmness and grading so that composting equipment can manage the process during normal inclement weather, including expected rain, snow and freezing temperatures. “Constructed appurtenances” means ponds, buildings, borrow areas, cut slopes, fill slopes, and other structures, accessories, or similar items associated with a disposal facility. “Construction/demolition wastes” means wastes, other than special wastes, resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition of structures and from road building. Such wastes include but are not limited to bricks, concrete and other masonry materials, soil, rock and lumber, road spoils, rebar, paving material. “Contact water” means water that has come in contact with raw feedstocks or active composting piles. It does not include water from curing piles, finished compost or product storage piles. “Convenience center” means any area which is staffed and fenced that has waste receptacles on site that are open to the public, when an attendant is present, to receive domestic waste, municipal solid waste and recyclable materials. “Crop residues” means materials generated by the production, harvesting and processing of agricultural or horticultural plants. These residues include but are not limited to stalks, stems, leaves, seed pods, husks, bagasse, and roots. “Curing” means a continuation of the composting process after the high heat stage during which stability and maturity continues to increase. For the purposes of these regulations, compost enters the curing stage after completing the process to further reduce pathogens and the requirements for vector attraction reduction. “Curing area” means an area where organic material that has undergone the rapid initial stage of composting is further stabilized into a humus-like material. “Department” means the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. “Destruction or adverse modification” means a direct or indirect alteration of critical habitat which appreciably diminishes the likelihood of the survival and recovery of threatened or endangered species using that habitat. “Displacement” means the relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction. “Disposal facility” means a facility or part of a facility at which solid waste disposal occurs. “Division” means the Division of Solid Waste Management of the Department. “Division Director” means the Director of the Division of Solid Waste Management. “Domestic wastes” means any solid waste (including garbage, trash) derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas). “Endangered or threatened species” means any species listed in 50 CFR Part 17, as such list exists on the effective date of this rule. “Energy recovery” means beneficial use or reuse of solid waste through the controlled combustion of such waste to recover energy therefrom. “Energy recovery facility” means a facility for the recovery of energy or energy producing materials from the controlled processing of solid waste and the production of energy from said solid waste and other materials, including coal, for a heating and cooling system and/or for the production of electricity and process steam. “Explosive gas” means methane (CH4). “Facility” means all contiguous land including structures and other appurtenances and improvements on the land used for processing, disposal or land application of solid waste by an owner or operator. “Farming wastes” means the wastes from the customary and generally accepted activities, practices, and procedures that farmers adopt, use, or engage in during the production and preparation for market of poultry, livestock, and associated farm products; and in the production and harvesting of agricultural crops which include agronomic, horticultural, and silvicultural crops and wastes resulting from aquaculture activities. However, the term does not include special wastes such as waste oils or other lubricants, unused fertilizers, or pesticide containers or residues. “Fault” means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to that on the other side. “Fill Area” means the area containing waste placed for final disposal not including earthen berms or other facility appurtenances. “Final cover” means any cover material that is spread and compacted on the top and side slopes of a disposal facility which will be permanently exposed to the environment. “Financial assurance” refers to a financial arrangement between the operator and the state which guarantees the availability of funds which the Commissioner may use to close and provide post-closure care to a landfill if the operator fails to properly execute his responsibilities under the Act, to include the requirements of these rules and the terms of his permit. “Floodplain” means the lowlands and relatively flat areas adjoining inland waters, including flood prone areas, which are inundated by a flood. The “100-year floodplain” refers to a floodplain which is subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year from any source. “Food processing residuals” means organic materials generated as a by-product of the industrial food processing sector that are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and contain no sanitary wastewater. The term does not include fats, oil, grease and Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) skimmings. “Geologic Buffer” means a geologic formation or engineered structure that provides resistances to hydraulic pressure gradients between a liner and the seasonal high water table. “Geomembranes” means manufactured low permeability membrane liners and barriers used to control the migration of fluids or gases. “Ground water” means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation. “Hazardous wastes” means a hazardous waste as defined in subparagraph (1)(c) of Rule 0400-12-01-.02. “Holocene” means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present. “In operation” refers to a facility which is receiving or handling solid wastes. “Incinerator” means an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion, the primary purpose of which is to thermally break down solid waste. Examples of incinerators are rotary kiln, fluidized bed, and liquid injection incinerators. “Industrial by-product” means materials generated by manufacturing or industrial processes that are non-toxic, non-hazardous, contain no domestic wastewater, and pass the paint filter test (Method 9095B). “Industrial Wastes” means solid wastes produced in, or generated by, industrial or manufacturing processes. The term does not include commercial, domestic, mining, or hazardous waste regulated under Subtitle C of RCRA, or oil and gas waste. “Initial cover” means cover material that is spread and compacted on the top, on the side slopes and on the working face of compacted solid waste at a disposal facility. “Institutional wastes” means all solid wastes which are not special wastes, emanating from institutions such as, but not limited to, hospitals, health care facilities, nursing homes, laboratories, orphanages, correctional institutions, schools and universities. “Intermediate cover” means cover material that is spread and compacted on the top and side slopes of a disposal facility which must resist erosion for a longer period of time than initial cover. “In-vessel composting” means a process in which decomposing organic material is enclosed in a drum, silo, bin, tunnel, or other container for the purpose of producing compost; and in which temperature, moisture and air-borne emissions are controlled, vectors are excluded and nuisance and odor generation minimized. “Junkyard” means a place which is maintained, operated, or used for storing, keeping, buying, or selling dismantled or wrecked automobiles, or parts thereof, or other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous metals. “Karst” means a specific type of topography that is formed by dissolving or solution of carbonate formations, such as limestone or dolomite; it is characterized by closed depressions or sinkholes, caves, sinking and reappearing streams, and/or underground conduit drainage flow. “Land application facility” means a facility where solid wastes are applied onto or incorporated into the soil surface (excluding manure spreading operations) for agricultural purposes. “Land reclamation” means the restoration of productivity to lands made barren through processes such as erosion, mining or land clearing. “Landfill” means a facility, other than a land application unit, where solid wastes are disposed of by burial in excavated pits or trenches or by placement on land and covering with soil or other approved material. “Landscaping and land clearing wastes” means trees, stumps, brush, dirt, branches, leaves, clippings, etc. from landscaping and land clearing activities. “Leachate” means a liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials removed from such waste. “Lift” means the compacted vertical thickness of a horizontal series of solid waste cells that have been constructed and upon which cover material has been placed. The cover may be either initial, intermediate, or final in application. “Liner” means a continuous layer of natural or man-made materials, beneath or on the sides of a surface impoundment, landfill, or landfill cell, which restricts the downward or lateral escape of wastes, waste constituents, or leachate. “Liquid wastes” means any waste material that is determined to contain “free liquids” as defined by Method 9095 (Paint and Filter Liquids Test), as described in “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Wastes, Physical/Chemical Methods” (EPA Pub. No. SW-846). “Lithified earth material” means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth surface. “Lower explosive limit” means the lowest percent of volume of a mixture of explosive gases which will propagate a flame in air at 25o C and atmospheric pressure. “Market” means the transfer or sale of recovered materials to be used, reused, and recycled. “Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material” means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90 percent or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk assessment. “Medical wastes” means the following solid wastes:

                  1. (a) Liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials in a liquid or semi- liquid state if compressed; items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious materials and are capable of releasing these materials; and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious materials;
                  2. (b) Cultures and stocks of infectious agents, including specimen cultures from medical and pathological laboratories, cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories, wastes from the production of biologicals, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, and culture dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures;
                  3. (c) Pathological wastes (i.e., tissues, organs, and body parts) that are removed during surgery and autopsy;
                  4. (d) All discarded sharps (e.g., hypodermic needles, syringes, pasteur pipettes, broken glass, and scalpel blades) used in patient care or that have come into contact with infectious agents during use in medical, research, or industrial laboratories; or
                  5. (e) Contaminated carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that were intentionally exposed to pathogens in research, in the production of biologicals, or in the in vivo testing of pharmaceuticals. “Mixed solid waste” means a mixture of organic and inorganic discards and may contain household and other municipal solid wastes that are excluded from regulation as hazardous wastes. “On-site” means the geographically contiguous property with the same owner/operator which may be divided by public or private right-of-way. Non-contiguous properties owned or operated by the same person and connected by a right-of-way which he controls and to which the public does not have access, is also considered on-site property. “Open burning” means the combustion of solid wastes without the following characteristics:
                  6. (a) Control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion,
                  7. (b) Containment of the combustion-reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion, and
                  8. (c) Control of emission of the gaseous combustion products. “Operate” means to construct, alter, own, maintain, close, or care for after closure, or control a facility. In the event of an unpermitted facility the term shall include to place solid waste at the disposal site. “Operator” means the person or persons applying for or holding a permit, or who are otherwise responsible for the operation of a facility. “Parcel” means a discrete portion of a disposal facility. (See “Phased Development Plan.”) “Permit” means the written authorization granted to a person by the Commissioner, to operate a solid waste processing and/or disposal facility. The terms “permit” and “registration” are synonymous for purposes of this Chapter. “Permittee” means any person holding a valid permit under the Act to operate a processing and/or disposal facility. “Person” means any and all persons, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm or association, and municipal or private corporation organized or existing under the laws of this state or any other state, and any governmental agency or county of this state and any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government. “Personnel” or “facility personnel” means all persons who work at or oversee the operations of a processing or disposal facility, and whose actions or failure to act may result in non- compliance with the requirements of the permit. “Pesticide wastes” means wastes from the use, or preparation for use, of a substance or mixture of substances intended for destroying, preventing, repelling, or otherwise controlling plant or animal pests. The term pesticide is a generic term which includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, miticides, etc. Pesticide wastes include, but are not necessarily limited to, unused pesticide product, leftover mixed material, tanks and equipment rinsate, containers (excluding properly rinsed containers), and other residues of pesticide. “Phased development plan” means a plan for developing a tract of land as a disposal facility in sequential segments, or parcels, provided that the entire tract of land is covered by a permit authorizing such use. As used in this rule, a parcel must be of adequate acreage to sustain at least five years of use based on estimated solid waste volumes to be handled over that period. “Placing” includes, but is not limited to discharging, depositing, injecting, releasing, dumping, spilling, spreading, and leaking. “Poor foundation conditions” means those areas where features exist which indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of an SWLF unit. “Post-closure care” refers to the taking of those actions after closure of a disposal facility or a disposal facility parcel which are necessary to meet the post-closure care requirements of paragraph (8) of Rule 0400-11-01-.04. “Post-closure care period” means the period of time following closure of the landfill or landfill parcel during which the operator must perform post-closure care. “Privately owned solid waste disposal system” means a solid waste disposal system owned by a non-governmental entity which processes or disposes of its solid waste in facilities that have either a valid permit or a permit-by-rule. “Processing facility” means a combination of structures, machinery or devices utilized to perform solid waste processing, including other storage and processing areas. The term does not include collection vehicles. “Public water supply system” means a system that supplies to the public piped water for human consumption, if such system has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days of the year. “Putrescible Wastes” means solid wastes that contain organic matter capable of being decomposed by micro-organisms and of such a character and proportion as to be capable of attracting or providing food for birds. “Qualified ground-water scientist” means a scientist or engineer who has received a baccalaureate or post-graduate degree in the natural science or engineering and has sufficient training and experience in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by state registration, professional certification, or completion of accredited university programs that enable that individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, contaminant fate and transport, and corrective action. “Reclaim,” “recover,” or “recycle” means any method, technique, or process utilized to separate, process, modify, convert, treat, or otherwise prepare solid waste so that component materials or substances may be beneficially used or re-used as products, raw materials, or energy sources, except that any use or reuse of a solid waste may not be used in a manner that would constitute solid waste disposal. “Recovered materials” means those materials which have been diverted or removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, reuse, or recycling, whether or not requiring subsequent separation processing. Such recovered materials are not solid waste. “Recovered materials processing facility” means a facility engaged solely in the storage, processing, and resale or reuse of recovered materials. A recovered materials processing facility is not a solid waste processing facility. “Registration” means a process by which a solid waste disposal or processing operation is granted a permit to operate. In this Chapter, the words “registration” and “permit” are synonymous and may be used interchangeably. “Representative sample” means a sample of a universe or whole (e.g., leachate, sludge, surface impoundment, surface water, ground water) which can be expected to exhibit the average properties of the universe or whole. “Residue” shall mean any solid that remains after completion of solid waste processing including incineration products such as bottom ash, fly ash and grate siftings. “Run-off” means any rainwater, or other liquid that drains overland from any part of a facility. “Run-on” means any rainwater, or other liquid that drains overland onto any part of a facility. “Salvaging” means the controlled removal of solid waste for utilization from a solid waste processing or disposal facility. “Sanitary landfill” means a method of disposing of solid waste into or on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or to the environment by utilizing the principles of engineering to confine the solid waste to the smallest practical area, to reduce it to the smallest practical volume, and to cover it with a layer(s) of an approved material. “Saturated zone” means that part of the earth’s crust in which all voids are filled with water. “Scavenging” means the uncontrolled removal of solid waste from a solid waste processing or disposal facility. “Seismic impact zone” means an area with a ten percent or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth materials, expressed as a fraction of the earth’s gravitational pull will exceed 0.10g in 250 years. “Shredding” means a process of reducing the particle size of solid waste through the use of grinding, shredding, chopping, slicing, milling, or rasping machines. “Sludge” means any solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, exclusive of the treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant. “Solid waste” means garbage, trash, refuse, abandoned material, spent material, byproducts, scrap, ash, sludge, and all discarded material including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, and agricultural operations, and from community activities. Solid waste includes, without limitation, recyclable material when it is discarded or when it is used in a manner constituting disposal. Solid waste does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permits under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (compiled at 33 U.S.C. Section 1342). “Solid waste disposal” means the process of permanently or indefinitely placing, confining, compacting, or covering solid waste. “Solid Waste Landfill (SWLF) Unit” means a discrete area of land or an excavation that receives waste, and that is not a land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or waste pile. “Solid waste processing” means any process that modifies the characteristics or properties of solid waste, including, but not limited to, treatment, incineration, composting, separation, grinding, shredding, and volume reduction; provided, that it does not include the grinding or shredding of landscaping or land clearing wastes or unpainted, unstained, and untreated wood into mulch or other useful products. “Source reduction” means any action or activity that reduces or eliminates the generation of waste. “Source separated organics” means organic material that has been separated from non- compostable material at the point of generation, including but not limited to yard trimmings, food residuals, vegetative materials, woody materials, and compostable products. “Special Wastes” are solid wastes that are either difficult or dangerous to manage and may include sludges, bulky wastes, pesticide wastes, medical wastes, industrial wastes, hazardous wastes which are not subject to regulations under Rules 0400-12-01-.03 through 0400-12-01-.07, liquid wastes, friable asbestos wastes, and combustion wastes. “Stability” means the inverse measure of the potential for a material to rapidly decompose. Measured by indicators of microbial activity, such as carbon dioxide production, oxygen uptake, or self-heating. “Stream” means a watercourse which is not a wet weather conveyance. “Structural components” means liners, leachate collection systems, final covers, run-on/run- off systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation of the SWLF that is necessary for protection of human health and the environment. “Surface impoundment” means a facility or part of a facility which is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), which is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes, or wastes containing free liquids, and which is not an injection well. Examples of surface impoundments are holding, storage, settling and aeration pits, ponds, and lagoons. “Taking” an endangered or threatened species means harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting or attempting to engage in such conduct. “Throughput” means the amount of material, not to include bulking agents, in tons or cubic yards, a facility can process in a given amount of time. “Transfer station” means a combination of structures, machinery or devices at a place or facility which receives solid waste taken from public and/or private collection vehicles and which is placed in other transportation units for movement to another solid waste management facility. “Underground drinking water source” means:
                  9. (a) An aquifer supplying drinking water for human consumption, or
                  10. (b) An aquifer in which the ground water contains less than 10,000 mg/1 total dissolved solids. “Underground injection” means the subsurface emplacement of fluids through a bored, drilled, or driven well; or through a dry well, where the depth of the well is greater than the largest surface dimension. “Unstable area” means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and Karst terranes. “Uppermost aquifer” means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as, lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with the aquifer within the facility’s property boundary. “Vector” means a carrier organism that is capable of transmitting a pathogen from one organism to another. “Washout” means the carrying away of solid waste by waters of a flood. “Waste management boundary” means a vertical surface located at the hydraulically downgradient limit of the solid waste landfill unit. This vertical surface extends down into the uppermost aquifer. “Water table” means the surface of unconfined water at which pressure is atmospheric and is defined by the levels at which water stands in wells that penetrate the water. “Well” means a shaft or pit dug, bored, drilled, jetted or driven into the earth. Wells are generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with bricks or tubing to prevent the earth from caving in. “Wet weather conveyances” means natural watercourses, including natural watercourses that have been modified by channelization, that flow only in direct response to precipitation in their immediate locality and whose channels are above the groundwater table and which do not support fish or aquatic life and are not suitable for drinking water supplies. “Wetlands” means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. “White goods” means discarded refrigerators, ranges, washers, water heaters, and other similar domestic and commercial appliances. “Windrow composting” means a process in which decomposing organic materials are placed in long rows for the purpose of producing compost. The rows are periodically turned or agitated to assure all parts of the decomposing material reach the desired stability. “Woody material” means residuals and by-products of cutting trees, including but not limited to tree stumps, sawdust, pallets, and dimensional lumber that has not been treated chemically or with adhesives and coatings such as paint, glue, or any other visible contaminant. “Working face” means that portion of a land disposal facility where solid wastes are discharged and are spread and compacted. “Yard trimmings” means leaves, grass clippings, brush, garden materials, tree trunks, tree stumps, holiday trees, and prunings from trees or shrubs. Can also include vegetative materials resulting from the use of commercial products, including but not limited to discarded flowers, potted flowers, or grave blankets that do not include plastic, metal, polystyrene foam, or other non-biodegradable material.

               3. (3) Classification of Disposal Facilities

                  1. (a) Class I Disposal Facility refers to a sanitary landfill which serves a municipal, institutional, and/or rural population and is used or to be used for disposal of domestic wastes, commercial wastes, institutional wastes, municipal solid wastes, bulky wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, industrial wastes, construction/demolition wastes, farming wastes, shredded automotive tires, dead animals, and special wastes.
                  2. (b) Class II Disposal Facility refers to a landfill which receives waste which is generated by one or more industrial or manufacturing plants and is used or to be used for the disposal of solid waste generated by such plants, which may include industrial wastes, commercial wastes, institutional wastes, farming wastes, bulky wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, construction/demolition wastes, and shredded automotive tires. Additionally a Class II disposal facility may also serve as a monofill for ash disposal from the incineration of municipal solid waste.
                  3. (c) Class III Disposal Facility refers to a landfill which is used or to be used for the disposal of farming wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, demolition/construction waste, shredded automotive tires, and/or certain wastes having similar characteristics and approved in writing by the Department.
                  4. (d) Class IV Disposal Facility refers to a landfill which is used or to be used for the disposal of demolition/construction wastes, shredded automotive tires, and certain wastes having similar characteristics and approved in writing by the Department.

               4. (4) Special Waste Approval Process

                  1. (a) Applicability - The procedures and other requirements of this paragraph shall apply only to all permitted Class I, Class II, Class Ill and Class IV disposal facilities and all permitted solid waste processing facilities.
                  2. (b) General Requirement - Except as may be specifically allowed in the permit, an operator may not accept for processing or disposal at his facility any special waste unless and until specifically approved to do so in writing by the Department. Facilities shall not process or dispose of special waste for which approval by the Department has expired. Special waste generators shall not send off-site to processing or disposal facilities special waste for which approval by the Department has expired, unless the facility has specific authority in the permit to accept such waste.

                  3. (c) Procedures

                     1. 1. Persons who generate and wish to process or dispose of a special waste must make application to the Commissioner for waste evaluation. Also such persons who generate and wish to process or dispose of sludges, bulky wastes, pesticide wastes, medical wastes, industrial wastes, hazardous wastes which are not subject to regulations under Rules 0400-12-01-.03 through 0400-12-01-.07, liquid wastes, friable asbestos wastes, and combustion wastes, must make application to the Commissioner for waste evaluation unless the Commissioner determines such is not necessary. Such application must be on a form provided by the Department and completed according to the accompanying instructions. This application shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, a chemical and physical description of the solid waste, the amounts of and frequencies such solid waste is to be managed at the facility, a description of the processes or operations generating the waste, and an identification of the facility which such person wants to handle his waste, and any additional information needed by the Commissioner to clarify the application.
                     2. 2. Applications shall be evaluated by the Commissioner upon receipt. If it is determined by the Commissioner that the facility can safely and effectively manage the special waste, considering the nature of the special waste and the design and operation of the facility, the Commissioner shall notify the applicant in writing (with a copy to the facility operator) of his approval. If the Commissioner determines that the facility cannot so manage the special waste, he will notify the applicant (with a copy to the operator) in writing of his denial.
                     3. 3. The Commissioner may inspect special waste generators as authorized at T.C.A. § 68-211-102(b) and take waste samples as deemed necessary to evaluate special waste or potential special waste.
                     4. 4. Persons who generate and have special waste processed or disposed of at an off-site facility must:
                  4. (i) Every three years, recertify the accuracy of the information on a form provided by the Department, thereby certifying that there has been no change in the waste stream or the process generating the waste since the original special waste approval was granted by the Department, and

                  5. (ii) Submit all recertifications as required by subpart (i) of this part as follows:

                     1. (I) Originals of such recertification forms shall be submitted to the off- site processing or disposal facility that receives the waste stream and copies to the Department at the address indicated on the forms;
                     2. (II) Recertifications shall be submitted by July 1 of the third year from the original approval or the last recertification; and
                     3. (III) All special waste approvals will expire on July 1 of the third year from approval if not recertified as provided herein.

                  6. (iii) If a change in the waste stream or the process generating the waste has occurred since the original special waste approval was granted, the generator (applicant) shall submit a new special waste request to the Department.

                     1. 5. Landfills and/or waste processing facilities shall not accept a special waste at their facilities without the written, special waste approval from the Department unless the waste is specifically authorized in the facility permit.
                     2. 6. A request from a special waste generator to transfer special waste approval from one facility to another permitted facility does not require a new waste evaluation nor an application review fee.

                  7. (d) Conditional Approval

                     1. 1. In his approval, the Commissioner shall specify those management conditions which he deems necessary to prevent or minimize potential adverse impacts to public health, and the environment in order to promote safe and efficient facility operation. Failure to meet the required management conditions is unlawful disposal under the Act.
                     2. 2. The Commissioner may require the operator to keep records on the receipt and management of certain special wastes. The operator shall keep copies of special waste approvals by the Department which the facility has accepted into the landfill and all recertifications submitted by generators of such waste.
                  8. (e) Effect of a Special Waste Approval - A special waste approval granted by the Commissioner does not grant any right of disposal of the special waste at the designated facility. The operator may refuse to accept any special waste even if it has been approved by the Commissioner to be disposed of at his facility.

               5. (5) Variances and Waivers - After public notice and an opportunity for public comment, any standard, or requirement in these rules may be waived by the Commissioner if the operator can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, that the standard is inapplicable, inappropriate, or unnecessary to his facility, or that it is equaled in effect by alternative standards or requirements. Any requests for such requests must include the following:

                  1. (a) An identification of the specific requirement(s) for which a waiver is requested;
                  2. (b) An explanation of the reason(s) why the requirement(s) should be considered inapplicable, inappropriate, or unnecessary, and/or a description of the alternative procedures or mechanisms to be utilized and why they should be considered equal in effect to the standard(s) proposed to be waived; and
                  3. (c) Any other such information as the Commissioner deems necessary for his evaluation of the request.
                  4. (d) Any Class I variances or waivers granted will not be less stringent than the standards of 40 CFR 257 and 258 (Solid Waste Disposal Facility Criteria Final Rule, October 9, 1991).
               6. (6) Electronic Submittal This chapter requires submittals of applications, reports, and other documents. To aid in the review or processing of an application, report, or other document, the Commissioner may require the person submitting such document to include an electronic copy of the document in a format acceptable to the Commissioner. When required by the Commissioner, the additional electronic copy of the application, report, or other document shall be submitted in accordance with the Commissioner’s instructions.
               7. (7) Conditional Exemptions. Soil that meets the criteria of Category 1 or Category 2 soil established in paragraph (2) of Rule 0400-15-04-.01 and that is used outside the area of contamination, as defined at subparagraph (1)(e) of Rule 0400-15-01-.02, from which the soil was removed and is used in compliance with all requirements of Rule 0400-15-04-.01 is not subject to regulation under this chapter.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201, et seq.; 68-211-101, et seq.; 68-211-701, et seq.; and 68-211-801, et seq. Administrative History: Original rule filed June 19, 2012; effective September 17, 2012. Amendments filed April 8, 2016; effective July 7, 2016. Amendments filed October 1, 2019; effective December 30, 2019. Amendments filed April 16, 2025; effective July 15, 2025. Amendments filed November 10, 2025; effective February 8, 2026.