[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 29]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR503.24]



[Page 836-837]

 

                   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



[[Page 837]]



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 

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.