R 299.9629
R 299.9629 Corrective action.
Cite as Mich. Admin. Code R 299.9629
Rule 629. (1) Owners or operators of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous
waste shall conduct corrective action as necessary to protect the public health, safety,
welfare, and the environment pursuant to a corrective action program approved by the
director, unless otherwise specified in this rule. The corrective action program must be
conducted as follows:
(a) Owners or operators of facilities that apply for, or have been issued, an operating
license pursuant to part 111 shall institute corrective action for all releases of a contaminant
from any waste management units at the facility, regardless of when the contaminant may
have been placed in or released from the waste management unit.
(b) Owners or operators of facilities that are not included in subdivision (a) of this
subrule and for which the owner or operator, or both, is or was subject to the interim status
requirements defined in RCRA, except for facilities that have received formal written
approval of the withdrawal of their EPA part A hazardous waste permit application from
the director or the EPA, shall institute corrective action for all releases of hazardous waste
from the facility, regardless of when the hazardous waste may have been placed in or
released from the facility.
(2) Owners or operators shall implement corrective action beyond the facility boundary
if the releases referenced in subrule (1) of this rule have or may have migrated, or otherwise
have or may have been emitted, beyond the facility boundary, unless the owner or operator
demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the director, that, despite the owner's or operator's best
efforts, the owner or operator is unable to obtain the necessary permissions to undertake
the actions. The owner or operator shall not be relieved of all responsibility to clean up a
release that has migrated or been emitted beyond the facility boundary where offsite access
is denied. Onsite measures to address the releases must be determined on a case-by-case
basis. Assurances of financial responsibility for corrective action must be provided.
(3) The owners or operators that are required to establish a corrective action program
pursuant to part 111 and these rules shall, at a minimum, do the following, as applicable:
(a) For facilities that are specified in subrule (1)(a) of this rule, the owner or operator, or
both, shall take corrective action to ensure compliance with the groundwater protection
standards, and, if necessary, other applicable environmental protection standards,
established by the director. The director shall specify in an operating license, postclosure
operating license, consent order, or other order, pursuant to this rule and R 299.9635 and
R 299.9636, schedules of compliance for corrective action and assurances of financial
responsibility for completing the corrective action and other requirements, including, any
of the following:
(i) A list of the hazardous wastes and hazardous constituents. The list of hazardous
constituents is identified pursuant to 40 CFR 264.93.
(ii) The groundwater protection standards that are expressed as concentration limits that
are established pursuant to R 299.9612(1)(d) or as concentration limits established
pursuant to part 31 or part 201, if the limits are not less stringent than allowed pursuant to
RCRA.
(iii) The environmental protection standards that are necessary for the cleanup and
protection of soil, surface water, sediments, and ambient and indoor air that are established
pursuant to part 201 on the effective date of these rules if the limits are not less stringent
than allowed pursuant to RCRA.
(iv) The compliance point or points at which the standards apply and at which
monitoring must be conducted, which for groundwater are specified pursuant to
40 CFR 264.95.
(v) The compliance period, which for groundwater is specified pursuant to
40 CFR 264.96.
(vi) The restoration and mitigation measures that are necessary to mitigate damage to
the natural resources of the state, including wildlife, fish, wetlands, or other ecosystems.
(b) For facilities that are specified in subrule (1)(b) of this rule, the owner or operator,
or both, shall take corrective action to ensure compliance with the groundwater protection
standards, and, if necessary, other applicable environmental protection standards,
established by the director. The director shall specify in a consent order or other order,
pursuant to this rule, R 299.9635, and R 299.9636, schedules of compliance for corrective
action and assurances of financial responsibility for completing the corrective action and
other requirements, including any of the following:
(i) A list of the hazardous wastes and hazardous waste constituents.
(ii) The groundwater protection standards that are expressed as concentration limits that
are established pursuant to part 31 or part 201 if the limits are not less stringent than
allowed pursuant to RCRA.
(iii) The environmental protection standards which are necessary for the cleanup and
protection of soil, surface water, sediments, and ambient and indoor air that are established
pursuant to part 201 on the effective date of these rules if the limits are not less stringent
than allowed pursuant to RCRA.
(iv) The compliance point or points at which the standards apply and at which
monitoring must be conducted.
(v) The compliance period.
(vi) The restoration and mitigation measures that are necessary to mitigate damage to
the natural resources of the state, including wildlife, fish, wetlands, or other ecosystems.
(4) The owner or operator shall implement a corrective action program that prevents
contaminants, hazardous wastes, or hazardous waste constituents, as provided for in
subrule (1) of this rule, from exceeding their respective protection standards or
concentration limits at the compliance point by removing the contaminants, hazardous
wastes, or hazardous waste constituents or treating them in place.
(5) For facilities that are conducting a groundwater compliance monitoring program at
the time an operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order
is issued or entered, the owner or operator shall begin groundwater corrective action within
a reasonable time period after the groundwater protection standard is exceeded. The
director shall specify the time period in the operating license, postclosure operating license,
consent order, or other order. If an operating license, postclosure operating license, consent
order, or other order includes a groundwater corrective action program in addition to a
compliance groundwater monitoring program the operating license, postclosure operating
license, consent order, or other order must specify when the corrective action groundwater
program will begin, and the corrective action groundwater program must operate in place
of the compliance groundwater monitoring program.
(6) In conjunction with a groundwater corrective action program, the owner or operator
shall establish and implement a groundwater monitoring program to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the groundwater corrective action program. The monitoring program may
be based on the requirements for a compliance groundwater monitoring program and must
be as effective as that program in determining compliance with the groundwater protection
standards specified in the operating license, postclosure operating license, consent order,
or other order and in determining the success of a corrective action program pursuant to
the provisions of subrule (8) of this rule, where appropriate. All wells installed to monitor,
evaluate, or remediate groundwater must be constructed and abandoned in accordance with
the well installation and well decommissioning procedures in ASTM standards D5092-04
and D5299-14, or a plan approved by the director.
(7) If there is an exceedance of a groundwater surface water interface standard based on
acute or chronic toxicity and established pursuant to parts 31 and 201 at any of the
groundwater surface water interface compliance monitoring wells required by these rules
and approved by the department, then the owner or operator shall immediately do all the
following:
(a) Provide the department with written notification of the exceedance within 7 days
after obtaining knowledge and confirmation that the exceedance is occurring or within
30 days after the effective date of this rule, whichever is later.
(b) Within 60 days after the date on which the notice in subdivision (a) of this subrule is
required, do 1 or more of the following, unless an extension of a submittal or
implementation deadline is approved by the department. In reviewing extension requests,
the department shall consider the progress of any corrective action to date, if site conditions
inhibit corrective action implementation, if the extension would adversely impact surface
water resources, and the nature and extent of the exceedances.
(i) Implement interim measures to prevent exceedances at the monitoring wells
referenced in this subrule and submit to the department a proposal and schedule for
completing corrective action to prevent a discharge that exceeds the standard.
(ii) Provide the department with written notification of the owner or operator's intent to
propose another compliance monitoring point if one has yet not been approved by the
department. The notification must include a schedule for submission of the proposal for
department approval. The department may approve the schedule as submitted or direct
reasonable modifications in the schedule. The proposal for another compliance monitoring
point must include all the following:
(A) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring points are more
representative of the venting groundwater and allow a more accurate calculation of the
discharge rate, in cubic feet per second, of that portion of the venting groundwater plume
that exceeds, or is likely to exceed in the future, a groundwater surface water interface
standard, than existing compliance monitoring wells.
(B) A demonstration that the locations where venting groundwater enters surface water
have been comprehensively identified.
(C) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring point allows for venting
groundwater to be sampled before mixing with surface water.
(D) A demonstration that the proposed compliance monitoring point allows for reliable,
representative monitoring of groundwater quality.
(E) Identification and documentation of the chemical, physical, or biological processes
that result in the reduction of hazardous constituents between the original compliance
monitoring wells required by these rules and the proposed compliance monitoring points.
(F) Consideration of changes in groundwater flow conditions so that samples collected
from the proposed compliance monitoring point are representative of groundwater flowing
to the surface water. The proposed compliance monitoring points may be located in a
floodplain.
(G) Identification of any sentinel monitoring points that will be used in conjunction
with the proposed compliance monitoring point to assure that any potential exceedance of
an applicable water quality standard can be identified with sufficient notice to allow
additional corrective action to be implemented that will prevent the exceedance. Sentinel
monitoring points must include, at a minimum, the original compliance monitoring wells
required by these rules.
(iii) Provide the department with written notification of the owner or operator's intent
to propose a site-specific standard under section 20120a(2) of the act, MCL 324.20120a.
The notification must include a schedule for submission of the proposal for department
approval. The department may approve the schedule as submitted or direct reasonable
modifications in the schedule.
(c) If the owner or operator does not implement an effective corrective action; submit
the notices, proposals, and schedules required in subdivision (b) of this subrule; or comply
with the schedules established under subdivision (b) of this subrule; and no extension was
approved by the department, the owner or operator shall continue implementation of
interim measures to prevent the exceedance until another compliance monitoring point or
site-specific standard is approved by the department, or if the proposal is not approved by
the department, until a different corrective action is implemented to protect the surface
water. If another compliance monitoring point was approved by the department before
detection of the exceedance in that compliance monitoring point, corrective action must
continue as long as there is a reasonable potential for an exceedance to occur, or until a
different corrective action is implemented to protect the surface water. The owner or
operator shall document the interim measures taken to prevent the exceedance and their
effectiveness during the time that the department is reviewing a proposal. If the proposal
required under subdivision (b)(ii) of this subrule does not adequately document the interim
measures required to satisfy this rule, it must be considered incomplete, and the department
shall not make a decision on the proposal.
(8) In addition to the other requirements of this rule, the owner or operator shall conduct
a corrective action program to remove or treat in place any contaminants, hazardous wastes,
and hazardous waste constituents, as provided for in subrule (1) of this rule, that exceed
the groundwater protection standards or other environmental protection standards that are
specified by the director as follows:
(a) Between the compliance points that are established pursuant to subrule (3)(a)(iv) and
(b)(iv) of this rule and the downgradient property boundary and beyond the facility
boundary in accordance with subrule (2) of this rule.
(b) Corrective action measures that are undertaken pursuant to this rule must identify the
treatment zone and zone of engineering control and be initiated and completed within a
reasonable time period considering the extent of contamination.
(c) Corrective action measures that are pursuant to this rule may be terminated once the
environmental protection standards specified by the director in the facility operating
license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order have been achieved for
the required period.
(9) The owner or operator shall continue corrective action measures during the
compliance period to the extent necessary to ensure that the environmental protection
standards are not exceeded. If the owner or operator is conducting corrective action at the
end of the compliance period, then corrective action must continue for as long as necessary
to achieve compliance with the environmental protection standards. The owner or operator
may terminate corrective action measures taken beyond the period equal to the active life
of the waste management area, including the closure period, if the owner or operator can
demonstrate that the environmental protection standards have been achieved for the
required period.
(10) An owner or operator shall provide all environmental data to the director in
electronic form within 60 days after the date of completion of the sampling or collection
event, unless otherwise approved by the director.
(11) The owner or operator shall report, in writing, to the director, on the effectiveness
of the corrective action program pursuant to the schedule specified in the operating license,
postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order, but not less than annually.
(12) If an owner or operator determines that the corrective action program does not satisfy
the requirements of these rules, the owner or operator shall, pursuant to the operating
license, postclosure operating license, consent order, or other order, submit an application
for a license modification or request a modification or termination of appropriate sections
of any consent order or other order.
(13) The requirements of this rule do not apply to remediation waste management sites
unless they are part of a facility subject to the licensing requirements under part 111 and
these rules because the facility is also treating, storing, or disposing of hazardous wastes
that are not remediation wastes.