NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Availability of Technical Guidance
[49 Pa.B. 6621]
[Saturday, November 2, 2019]Technical guidance documents (TGD) are available on the Department of Environmental Protection's (Department) web site at www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us. The ''Technical Guidance Final Documents'' heading is the link to a menu of the various Department bureaus where each bureau's final TGDs are posted. The ''Technical Guidance Draft Documents'' heading is the link to the Department's draft TGDs.
Ordering Paper Copies of Department Technical Guidance
The Department encourages the use of the Internet to view and download TGDs. When this option is not available, persons can order a paper copy of any of the Department's draft or final TGDs by contacting the Department at (717) 783-8727.
In addition, bound copies of some of the Department's documents are available as Department publications. Check with the appropriate bureau for more information about the availability of a particular document as a publication.
Changes to TGDs
Following is the current list of recent changes. Persons who have questions or comments about a particular document should contact the person whose name and phone number are listed with each document.
Final Technical Guidance: Substantive Revision
DEP ID: 258-2182-773. Title: Management of Fill Policy. Description: A person placing solid waste onto the ground is generally required to obtain a permit under the Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA) (35 P.S. §§ 6018.101—6018.1003). A person is not required to obtain a permit under the SWMA if the person can demonstrate that the material qualifies as clean fill in accordance with the municipal and residual waste regulations in 25 Pa. Code §§ 271.101(b)(3) and 287.101(b)(6) (relating to permit requirement; and general requirements for permit). The Management of Fill Policy defines the universe of materials that qualify as ''fill'' and provides the Department's procedures for determining whether fill is ''clean fill,'' as defined in the municipal and residual waste regulations in 25 Pa. Code §§ 271.1 and 287.1 (relating to definitions) or ''regulated fill,'' as defined in the policy.
The Department's amendments to the Management of Fill Policy include the following: The policy has been revised for clarity and reorganized for ease of use, providing expanded or revised definitions of existing terms and adding definitions for terms frequently used in the implementation of the policy but were not previously defined.
The amendments include a stepwise procedure for making a fill determination that clearly identifies the steps necessary to perform environmental due diligence; clarifies the procedures for performing analytical testing, if required, in a manner that is acceptable to the Department; and clarifies the requirements for filing forms or obtaining required approvals prior to transporting fill from one site to another.
The chemical concentration limits contained in the Management of Fill Policy that are used to determine whether materials are uncontaminated, as that term is defined in the policy, are derived from numerical limits for residential use specified in 25 Pa. Code Chapter 250 (relating to administration of Land Recycling Program). The chemical concentration limits included in the previous version of the policy were last updated in 2007 and, therefore, are not consistent with the revisions made in 2011 and 2016 to Chapter 250. The revised Management of Fill Policy directly references the applicable limits from 25 Pa. Code Chapter 250 and eliminates Tables FP-1a (organic constituents) and FP-1b (metals and inorganic constituents) from the policy so that future revisions to the numerical limits in Chapter 250 are automatically updated in the policy.
Appendix A of the policy, relating to sample collection and analytical testing requirements for performing environmental due diligence, has been revised to include guidance on developing a sampling plan that meets the data quality objectives required by the Department; expand the instructions for sampling, including a sampling protocol for fill contained in piles and fill that is sampled in-situ. The revised Appendix A includes new sections that provide a mechanism for demonstrating that an observed exceedance of a numerical limit is due to background at the donor site. The procedure for performing a background determination includes the use of an equivalent site evaluation that ensures new regulated substances are not placed on the receiving site, unless those regulated substances are determined to be pre-existing at the receiving site and that the concentrations of the regulated substances in the donor fill have been compared to the concentration of the same regulated substances at the receiving site.
Contact: Questions regarding this TGD should be directed to Ali Tarquino Morris, ra-epbenuseall@pa.gov or (717) 787-7381. Use ''Management of Fill Policy'' as the subject line in written communication.
Effective: January 1, 2020
PATRICK McDONNELL,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 19-1636. Filed for public inspection November 1, 2019, 9:00 a.m.]
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