[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 26]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR503.24]

[Page 841-842]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 503--STANDARDS FOR THE USE OR DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE SLUDGE--Table of Contents
 
                       Subpart C--Surface Disposal
 
Sec. 503.24  Management practices.

    (a) Sewage sludge shall not be placed on an active sewage sludge 
unit if it is likely to adversely affect a threatened or endangered 
species listed under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act or its 
designated critical habitat.
    (b) An active sewage sludge unit shall not restrict the flow of a 
base flood.
    (c) When a surface disposal site is located in a seismic impact 
zone, an active sewage sludge unit shall be designed to withstand the 
maximum recorded horizontal ground level acceleration.
    (d) An active sewage sludge unit shall be located 60 meters or more 
from a fault that has displacement in Holocene time, unless otherwise 
specified by the permitting authority.
    (e) An active sewage sludge unit shall not be located in an unstable 
area.
    (f) An active sewage sludge unit shall not be located in a wetland, 
except as provided in a permit issued pursuant to section 402 or 404 of 
the CWA.
    (g)(1) Run-off from an active sewage sludge unit shall be collected 
and shall be disposed in accordance with National Pollutant Discharge 
Elimination System permit requirements and any other applicable 
requirements.
    (2) The run-off collection system for an active sewage sludge unit 
shall have the capacity to handle run-off from a 24-hour, 25-year storm 
event.
    (h) The leachate collection system for an active sewage sludge unit 
that has a liner and leachate collection system shall be operated and 
maintained during the period the sewage sludge unit is active and for 
three years after the sewage sludge unit closes.
    (i) Leachate from an active sewage sludge unit that has a liner and 
leachate collection system shall be collected and shall be disposed in 
accordance with the applicable requirements during the period the sewage 
sludge unit is active and for three years after the sewage sludge unit 
closes.
    (j)(1) When a cover is placed on an active sewage sludge unit, the 
concentration of methane gas in air in any structure within the surface 
disposal site shall not exceed 25 percent of the lower explosive limit 
for methane gas during the period that the sewage sludge unit is active 
and the concentration of methane gas in air at the property line of the 
surface disposal site shall not exceed the lower explosive limit for 
methane gas during the period that the sewage sludge unit is active.
    (2) When a final cover is placed on a sewage sludge unit at closure, 
the concentration of methane gas in air in any structure within the 
surface disposal site shall not exceed 25 percent of the lower explosive 
limit for methane gas for three years after the sewage sludge unit 
closes and the concentration of methane gas in air at the property line

[[Page 842]]

of the surface disposal site shall not exceed the lower explosive limit 
for methane gas for three years after the sewage sludge unit closes, 
unless otherwise specified by the permitting authority.
    (k) A food crop, a feed crop, or a fiber crop shall not be grown on 
an active sewage sludge unit, unless the owner/operator of the surface 
disposal site demonstrates to the permitting authority that through 
management practices public health and the environment are protected 
from any reasonably anticipated adverse effects of pollutants in sewage 
sludge when crops are grown.
    (l) Animals shall not be grazed on an active sewage sludge unit, 
unless the owner/operator of the surface disposal site demonstrates to 
the permitting authority that through management practices public health 
and the environment are protected from any reasonably anticipated 
adverse effects of pollutants in sewage sludge when animals are grazed.
    (m) Public access to a surface disposal site shall be restricted for 
the period that the surface disposal site contains an active sewage 
sludge unit and for three years after the last active sewage sludge unit 
in the surface disposal site closes.
    (n)(1) Sewage sludge placed on an active sewage sludge unit shall 
not contaminate an aquifer.
    (2) Results of a ground-water monitoring program developed by a 
qualified ground-water scientist or a certification by a qualified 
ground-water scientist shall be used to demonstrate that sewage sludge 
placed on an active sewage sludge unit does not contaminate an aquifer.