General Inspection Requirements

Section 725.115  General Inspection Requirements a)         The owner or operator must inspect the facility for malfunctions and deterioration, operator errors and discharges that may be causing – or which may lead to – the conditions listed below.  The owner or operator must conduct these inspections often enough to identify problems in time to correct them before they harm human health or the environment. 1)         Release of hazardous waste constituents to the environment, or 2)         A threat to human health. b)         Written schedule. 1)         The owner or operator must develop and follow a written schedule for inspecting all monitoring equipment, safety and emergency equipment, security devices, and operating and structural equipment (such as dikes and sump pumps) that are important to preventing, detecting, or responding to environmental or human health hazards. 2)         The owner or operator must keep this schedule at the facility. 3)         The schedule must identify the types of problems (e.g., malfunctions or deterioration) that are to be looked for during the inspection (e.g., inoperative sump pump, leaking fitting, eroding dike, etc.). 4)         The frequency of inspection may vary for the items on the schedule.  However, the frequency should be based on the rate of deterioration of the equipment and the probability of an environmental or human health incident if the deterioration, malfunction, or operator error goes undetected between inspections.  Areas subject to spills, such as loading and unloading areas, must be inspected daily when in use.  At a minimum, the inspection schedule must include the items and frequencies called for in Sections 725.274, 725.293, 725.295, 725.326, 725.360, 725.378, 725.404, 725.447, 725.477, 725.503, 725.933, 725.952, 725.953, 725.958, and 725.984 through 725.990, where applicable. 5)         This subsection (b)(5) corresponds with 40 CFR 265.15(b)(5), which became obsolete when USEPA terminated the Performance Track Program at 74 Fed. Reg. 22741 (May 14, 2009).  USEPA has recognized that program-related rules are no longer effective at 75 Fed. Reg. 12989, 12992, note 1 (Mar. 18, 2010).  This statement maintains structural consistency with the corresponding federal requirements. c)         The owner or operator must remedy any deterioration or malfunction of equipment or structure that the inspection reveals on a schedule that ensures that the problem does not lead to an environmental or human health hazard. Where a hazard is imminent or has already occurred, remedial action must be taken immediately. d)         The owner or operator must record inspections in an inspection log or summary.  The owner or operator must keep these records for at least three years from the date of inspection.  At a minimum, these records must include the date and time of the inspection, the name of the inspector, a notation of the observations made and the date, and nature of any repairs or other remedial actions.