[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 22]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR257.3-4]

[Page 371-372]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 257--CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFICATION OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES 
AND PRACTICES--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart A--Classification of Solid Waste Disposal Facilities and 
                                Practices
 
Sec. 257.3-4  Ground water.

    (a) A facility or practice shall not contaminate an underground 
drinking water source beyond the solid waste boundary or beyond an 
alternative boundary specified in accordance with paragraph (b) of this 
section.
    (b)(1) For purposes of section 1008(a)(3) of the Act or section 
405(d) of the CWA, a party charged with open dumping or a violation of 
section 405(e) with respect to sewage sludge that is not used or 
disposed through a practice regulated in 40 CFR part 503 may demonstrate 
that compliance should be determined at an alternative boundary in lieu 
of the solid waste boundary. The court shall establish an alternative 
boundary only if it finds that such a change would not result in 
contamination of ground water which may be needed or used for human 
consumption. This finding shall be based on analysis and consideration 
of all of the following factors that are relevant:
    (i) The hydrogeological characteristics of the facility and 
surrounding land, including any natural attenuation and dilution 
characteristics of the aquifer;
    (ii) The volume and physical and chemical characteristics of the 
leachate;

[[Page 372]]

    (iii) The quantity, quality, and direction of flow of ground water 
underlying the facility;
    (iv) The proximity and withdrawal rates of ground-water users;
    (v) The availability of alternative drinking water supplies;
    (vi) The existing quality of the ground water, including other 
sources of contamination and their cumulative impacts on the ground 
water;
    (vii) Public health, safety, and welfare effects.
    (2) For purposes of sections 4004(a) and 1008(a)(3), the State may 
establish an alternative boundary for a facility to be used in lieu of 
the solid waste boundary only if it finds that such a change would not 
result in the contamination of ground water which may be needed or used 
for human consumption. Such a finding shall be based on an analysis and 
consideration of all of the factors identified in paragraph (b)(1) of 
this section that are relevant.
    (c) As used in this section:
    (1) Aquifer means a geologic formation, group of formations, or 
portion of a formation capable of yielding usable quantities of ground 
water to wells or springs.
    (2) Contaminate means introduce a substance that would cause:
    (i) The concentration of that substance in the ground water to 
exceed the maximum contaminant level specified in appendix I, or
    (ii) An increase in the concentration of that substance in the 
ground water where the existing concentration of that substance exceeds 
the maximum contaminant level specified in appendix I.
    (3) Ground water means water below the land surface in the zone of 
saturation.
    (4) Underground drinking water source means:
    (i) An aquifer supplying drinking water for human consumption, or
    (ii) An aquifer in which the ground water contains less than 10,000 
mg/1 total dissolved solids.
    (5) Solid waste boundary means the outermost perimeter of the solid 
waste (projected in the horizontal plane) as it would exist at 
completion of the disposal activity.

[44 FR 53460, Sept. 13, 1979, as amended at 46 FR 47052, Sept. 23, 1981; 
58 FR 9386, Feb. 19, 1993]