Beneficial Use of Solid Waste Rulemaking

1. Beneficial Use of Solid WasteRulemaking What‘s It all About ODOT Geo/Hydro/HazMat Conference September 22, 2009 Lincoln City, Oregon Tom Roick Senior Policy Analyst Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

2. Presentation Outline • Why rulemaking? • Examples of beneficial uses • Stakeholder perspectives • Draft rule sections • Key issues • Examples of how this will work • Rulemaking schedule

3. Why Rulemaking? The main reasons 1) DEQ receives requests from industries to approve the use of solid wastes in lieu of permitted disposal 2) DEQ staff would like a better tool for reviewing and approving these requests, and authorizing generally accepted beneficial uses 3) Beneficial use is increasing, and many states have beneficial use programs

4. Examples of Beneficial Use • Spent foundry sand from the steel industry used as a substitute for virgin sand in making concrete • Scrap asphalt roofing shingles used as a component of asphalt pavement for roads • Dredged sediments used for fill material on upland construction projects • Log and mill yard fines used for soil amendments

5. Current Review Process and limitations • DEQ reviews proposals to use solid waste on a case-by-case basis, based on rules and process designed for permitting disposal sites • To approve beneficial uses, DEQ may issue permit exemptions or Solid Waste Letter Authorizations (SWLA). SWLAs were not designed for authorizing beneficial uses of solid waste • DEQ guidance may help, but we need the authority through rules adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission to issue beneficial use determinations

6. Stakeholder Perspectives on Beneficial Use A range of opinions • Our industrial by-products aren’t waste; surely you don’t intend to start regulating them? • Recycling is a good thing, don’t impose new regulations. • Please explain how DEQ currently regulates ______. • We need a better, faster process for reviewing and approving beneficial uses of solid waste. • We need DEQ approval to effectively market our industrial by products (e.g., wastes currently disposed at a permitted landfill).

7. Scoping Beneficial Use Does beneficial use include these waste management methods: • Reuse • Recycling • Composting • Energy Recovery • Agronomic application? Conceptually beneficial use includes all of these. But we are not intending to change current practices, rather add another option

8. Another Waste Management Option Example - A Glass Bottle: • Reuse – cleaning and processing the bottle for reuse as a bottle • Recycling – crush and process the glass to make new bottles • Beneficial Use – crush and use the glass as aggregate for asphalt mix

9. Draft Rule Sections • Definitions – beneficial use, acceptable risk level, sensitive environments • Scope and Applicability • Performance Criteria • Standing Beneficial Use Determinations (BUDs) • Case-specific application and approval process • Application Fees

10. Beneficial Use of Solid Waste Means… ….the productive use of solid waste in a manner that will not create an adverse impact to public health, safety, welfare or the environment

11. Performance Criteria (1) Must Characterize the Waste and Use • Chemical, physical, and where appropriate, biological characterization of the waste • Presence of hazardous substances • Characteristics that may create nuisance conditions such as foul odors, dust, sheens • Testing of the end product, e.g. leachability

12. Performance Criteria (2) The use is productive Waste tires: ? • An identified or reasonably likely use for the material (not speculative accumulation) • A valuable part of a product or substitute for raw material (not sham disposal) • Used within accepted engineering or commercial standards

13. Performance Criteria: (3) No adverse affect on the environment Roofing shingle scrap used in road construction: • Not a hazardous waste • Storage to prevent release and nuisance conditions • Hazardous substances do not exceed those in a virgin material • Hazardous substances do not exceed acceptable risk levels • Will not create objectionable odors, dust, fire, other nuisance

14. Key Issues “Solid Waste” is broadly defined Solid Waste means: all materials useless or discarded to the owner/generator However, DEQ does not actively regulate some industrial by-products: e.g., wood waste used in particle board

15. Key Issues What is an “adverse impact?” • “Acceptable risk level” as defined by Oregon’s Cleanup Law addresses human cancer and non-cancer toxicity from hazardous substances • Must not result in a increase in hazardous substance concentrations to ecologically sensitive environments • Other physical impacts – pH, oxygen demand, etc. • Odors, dust, etc.

16. Key Issues When is the waste no longer regulated? • Upon generation? • After the point of use? • Current draft rules: DEQ will no longer regulate a material as solid waste provided the material is managed in accordance with a beneficial use determination

17. Key Issues Where does “Clean Fill” fit in? • If a material meets DEQ’s criteria for “clean fill” a permit is not required for a disposal site – it is not necessary to get a beneficial use determination • If a material does not meet “clean fill” criteria, and a person wants to use the material rather than dispose at a permitted facility – these beneficial use rules may apply

18. Examples of How this Will Work Self-assessment: E.g., wood waste for landslide repair light-weight fill • Material has not historically been subject to DEQ oversight because there are no environmental concerns • Industry may evaluate whether their use meets the definition of beneficial use and the performance criteria • Independent of DEQ review, no fees

19. Examples of How this Will Work “Standing” rule-authorized beneficial uses: E.g., Sand from winter storm street sweepings, used again for sanding • Generator may apply an identified “Standing” Beneficial Use Determination (BUD) • No additional DEQ review or approval • Generator/applicant must maintain records • If requested by DEQ, generator/applicant must provide information to confirm that their beneficial use complies with the rules

20. Examples of How this Will Work “Standing” uses in the draft rules include: • Asphalt paving or asphalt grindings from road projects – used as aggregate in new asphalt pavement or as fill within road prisms • Asphalt shingle waste from residential roof tear-offs and manufacturer scrap – used as aggregate in asphalt mixtures • Soil from cleanup sites – used as non-residential construction fill, utility trench fill, or roadbase • Street sweeping fines – used for spill response absorbent • Wood-derived bottom ash from wood waste fired boilers – used as aggregate in asphalt mixtures, concrete, or Portland cement

21. Examples of How this Will Work Case-specific beneficial use determinations: E.g., Steel slag used as structural fill • Generator/ applicant applies to DEQ for a Beneficial Use Determination and pays a fee • DEQ reviews • Specifies conditions on use • Issues Beneficial Use Determination (BUD) • BUD subject to record keeping, reporting, etc.

22. Next Steps Current schedule • Draft rules (June 10, 2009) are being revised based on stakeholder comments • October 1 - DEQ reporting to the Legislative Interim Ways and Means committee on proposed fees • November 2009 – DEQ to submit draft rules for public comment • February 2010 – DEQ to present the proposed rules to the Environmental Quality Commission for adoption

23. DEQ’s Beneficial Use Web Site http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/sw/disposal/beneficialuse.htm • Sign up on list serve to receive notices • Fact sheets and informational items • Draft documents • Stakeholder comments • Rulemaking schedule

24. Questions? DEQ’s internal work group • Bruce Lumper, Bend Office 541-298-7255 x40 • Audrey O’Brien, Portland Office 503-229-6541 • Tiffany Yeltin, Portland Office 503-229-5049 • Bob Barrows, Eugene Office 541-687-7354 • Loretta Pickerell, Land Quality Division 503-229-5808 Tom Roick Land Quality Division 503-229-5502 Roick.tom@deq.state.or.us