adem.alabama.gov

Regulatory UpdateRegulatory Update

Gerald Hardy

Chief

ADEM Land Division

Southern Section AWMA Conference

August 10, 2007

TopicsTopics

• Solid Waste Program

• Scrap Tire Program

• School Chemical Cleanout

• Brownfield/Voluntary Cleanup Program

Solid Waste ProgramSolid Waste Program

• Current Staffing & Workload– 2 Compliance Inspectors– 2 Permitting Engineers– 184 permitted landfills; 52 permit renewal,

modification, and/or issuance applications pending

• FY-07 Performance– 157 Landfill Inspections– 53 Landfill Permits Issued or Modified– 70 Complaints Investigated

Solid Waste ProgramSolid Waste Program

• State Solid Waste Management Plan Revisions– Local plans not adopted and approved– Regional needs assessments incomplete– ADEM goal to complete revisions to State

SWMP by end of 2007, but input from others is needed

Solid Waste Program Challenges

Solid Waste Program Challenges

• Insufficient Staff– Normally only one inspection per landfill per year and

limited investigations of illegal dumping complaints– Insufficient geologist support delays permit reviews

• Funding of Program; no support for tipping fees and no support for major revision to permit fees

• Uncertainty regarding Statements of Consistency Remains after litigation

• Legal challenges to new and modified MSW landfills

Scrap Tire ProgramScrap Tire Program

Scrap Tire Fund Site Cleanups

• Site Cleanup Program in effect with passage of initial regulations contained in ADEM Admin. Code 335-4 in August 2004.

• Regulations revised in 2007 provide for a Small Site Cleanup Program by defining sites based on material quantities.

Scrap Tire ProgramScrap Tire Program

Scrap Tire Fund Large Site Cleanup• Removal activities from the former Four

Star Site in Attalla, AL began in August 2006.

• Site contained an estimated 8,000,000 whole and processed scrap tires.

• As of June 2007 26,380 tons of tires and processed tire materials have been removed from the site.

Scrap Tire ProgramScrap Tire Program

Site Cleanups through Enforcement Mechanisms

• Scrap tire accumulations and illegal disposal sites are addressed through enforcement if innocent landowner provisions do not apply.

• ~ 700,000 scrap tires have been removed by property owners and responsible parties.

• ADEM requires submittal of cleanup plan and photo-documentation before, during and after site cleanup activities. Closure requires receipts from approved processors or disposal facilities and site inspection by scrap tire program staff.

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• FY 2005 Environmental Justice (Title I) Schools Visited

– 113 Schools Visited

– 36 Schools with Chemicals

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• EPA Grant Submission– 2005– 2006

• Awarded Two Year EPA Grant– October 1, 2006 – September 30, 2008– $34,000

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Letter to the principals of the 36 schools with chemicals– Requested current inventory of waste

chemicals

• Letter to 25 Alabama Municipal Solid Waste Landfills– Requested cooperation in receiving waste

chemicals from schools– Many agreed to take chemicals at no cost

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Schools Responded with inventories of chemicals– 1965 Containers of chemicals

• 716 Hazardous wastes• 1,249 Non-hazardous wastes

• One half of the schools had disposed of all chemicals after ADEM’s 2005 visit

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• School Chemical Management– Management of chemicals for disposal

• Hazardous - sent to TSD• Non-Hazardous - sent to solid waste landfill• Shipping types (toxics, oxidizer/reactive,

flammable, acid, caustic, and non-hazardous)

– Mercury sent for recycling– Unknowns analyzed by ADEM lab

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Education Program

– Alabama Science in Motion Program

– Microscale Chemistry

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Enterprise High School

– Hit by tornado

– Several students killed

– ADEM requested to help with lab chemicals

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Enterprise not included in EPA grant

• Coordination with EPA resulted in agreement to use grant for Enterprise

• Coordinated with Alabama Science in Motion to obtain additional logistical help

• Moved chemistry lab to alternate location

• Disposed of all waste chemicals

School ChemicalClean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Progress– Nine schools have been cleaned out by

ADEM– One school has been cleaned out by EPA

using a separate grant– Over 1,500 pounds of chemicals have been

removed

School Chemical Clean-out ProgramSchool Chemical

Clean-out Program

• Future– Chemical Waste Management at Emelle, Al

has been taking all the school chemicals at a minimal charge.

– If Chemical Waste Management’s cooperation continues, ADEM should be able to expand the number of schools assisted.

Brownfields RedevelopmentBrownfields Redevelopment

• Upon request, ADEM provides assistance to local governments applying for Federal BF grants to offset assessment or remediation costs.

• 20 applications from Alabama for BF Grants submitted to EPA for FY2007. EPA announced that only 4 of these were awarded.

• ADEM can conduct site assessments for local governments at no cost to the local government.

• Brownfields/VCP training events in Dothan, Prichard and West Alabama were conducted in May-July for local governments, developers & consultants.

Brownfields RLFBrownfields RLF

• ADEM has a revolving loan fund for Brownfields redevelopment.

• ALRRLF funded by EPA grant; first grant was for $1million.

• ADEM is in the process of loaning the City of Montgomery $700K. The City of Tarrant has applied for $300K.

• ADEM applied for additional EPA funding in FY2007 to keep RLF program viable, but was not awarded additional funds at this time.

• Currently, RLF monies are available only to local governments and non-profits.

Voluntary Cleanup ProgramVoluntary Cleanup Program

• VCP is available for remediation of many contaminated sites.

• Developers or prospective purchasers may get some liability protection for past contamination.

• Fee-driven program; ADEM reviews remediation plans and provides oversight of cleanup activities.

• Over 250 sites have been enrolled in the program.

Riverwalk Stadium + Montgomery Biscuits = Brownfield Success Story

2006 Southern League Champions

Attendance averages 310,000 annually.

Social Security Administration Building – Opening Spring 2008 – 8th Avenue, Birmingham, AL ~1200 Employees

Questions ?