Southwestern Authority, notes that Pennsylvania's regulations were established in The more stringent regulations of some states rose out of necessity to protect the environment. With Subtitle D or a more stringent regulation in place, the sleeper issue then becomes what to do with the leachate. In Pennsylvania, leachate must be collected and handled by direct discharge into a permitted publicly owned treatment works facility following pretreatment, or the leachate must be collected and handled onsite and discharged into a receiving stream under a permit.
If neither is possible, leachate must be handled by treating and stream irrigating. Other states use a simpler system, designing a liner system, collecting the leachate and moving it offsite for treatment. This works if there is an economical place to put the leachate and if there is enough containment, Bodner says. If an operation calls for storing the leachate in a gallon septic tank, the system won't work if 27, gallons of leachate are being produced for every inch of land, he notes.
On the other hand, bioreactors may be a key to addressing leachate management. Usually, the amount of leachate is insufficient, so additional water must added. Bioreactor landfills may be an effective leachate treatment system.
But recirculating leachate, an option under Subtitle D, still is contrary to the principles on which the federal regulations were founded. So, Subtitle D won't allow you to add liquids. The rules in place won't allow you to get where you want to go with bioreactors. However, a bioreactor could be seen as an extension of the Subtitle D leachate recirculation option. And the advantages can be substantial, Repa says. Bioreactors also address the issue of conventional Subtitle D landfill liner failure.
With the rapid waste stabilization, environmental risk and liability resulting from settlement, leachate, and gas are minimized. Even with a partial liner failure, there should be little or no risk of increased gas generation or worsening leachate, according to industry experts. Despite Subtitle D's seeming restrictions against bioreactors, some states have specifically allowed them. The Delaware Solid Waste Authority also has operated Sandtown, the largest landfill in the state, as a bioreactor for 10 years.
The landfill has been operation since We know so much more about landfills than we did 10 years ago. Thanks to the chemical industry and manufacturers, there are geosynthetic clay liners and other products that just weren't available in A national pilot, Project XL al-lows state and local governments, businesses and federal facilities to develop, with the EPA, innovative strategies to test better or more cost-effective ways of protecting the environmental and public health.
In exchange, EPA will issue regulatory, program, policy or procedural flexibilities for the experiment. Yolo County's proposed acre bioreactor landfill module near Davis, Calif. Search EPA Archive. Statement by the U. Skip to main content. EPA History. Contact Us. RCRA, which amended the Solid Waste Disposal Act of , set national goals for: Protecting human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal.
JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts. The United States Code U. To achieve this, EPA develops regulations, guidance and policies that ensure the safe management and cleanup of solid and hazardous waste, and programs that encourage source reduction and beneficial reuse. What we commonly know as RCRA is actually a combination of the first federal solid waste statutes and all subsequent amendments. Additionally, the term RCRA is often used interchangeably to refer to the statutes and amendments, the regulations and EPA policy and guidance.
The difference is that EPA regulations carry out the congressional intent by providing explicit, legally enforceable requirements for waste management. EPA guidance documents and policy directives clarify issues related to the implementation of the regulations. Find more information on public participation. RCRA establishes the framework for a national system of solid waste control.
Subtitle D of the Act is dedicated to non-hazardous solid waste requirements, and Subtitle C focuses on hazardous solid waste. Solid waste includes solids, liquids and gases and must be discarded to be considered waste. EPA translates this direction into operating programs by developing regulations, guidance and policy.
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