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the last three years, Ms. Bailey said. In fact, she said, “during the last three years, the permits conform to what we expect the final regulations will be.” The proposed regulations direct that existing landfill permits be recalled for re-evaluation. The primary aim will be to catch the landfills approved in the mid-1970s “and bring them up to modem standards,” Ms. Bailey said. She projected that this process could take three to five years. “First we have to reduce the backlog” of pending applications, then evaluate existing landfills, “choosing the ones which need revising most,” she said.
Old permits will continue to be valid through this re-evaluation period so long as the landfills don’t “threaten the environment,” Ms. Bailey said, but if existing sites are expanded or take in a new waste category for disposal, then at that point, the new regulations will have to be met.
The tougher standards for sanitary landfills are primarily centered on groundwater protection, according to Ms. Bailey. “We’re going to be requiring more liners, more leachate collection, more groundwater monitoring.” In addition, the disposal of the collected leachate will be more closely regulated, she said.
Private landfills will come under particular scrutiny, with the operator required to post a bond, “financial assurance that, if he walks away, there will be money to close the landfill, money for post-closure monitoring and money for third party liability,” Ms. Bailey said. She had a bit of advice for the local officials who have a contractual relationship with a private landfill operator to provide a municipal landfill: “Work with your county attorney to ensure that the contract gives you adequate protection so you won’t be caught in a mess in a few years.”
Under the new regulations, there will be procedural as well as regulatory changes. Formerly, governments and private landfill operators often went to considerable expense in designing a waste disposal facility only to discover the site to be unsuitable. With the new regulations, applications will be submitted in two parts with the design plans coming after the site studies “to avoid some of that needless expense,” Ms. Bailey said.
Concerning policy on the relationship between state and local regulations, “the Department of Waste Management has taken the
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