Sec. 26.13.06.01. General

A. Purpose, Scope, and Applicability.

(1) The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum State standards, which define the acceptable management of hazardous waste during the period of interim status, and until:

(a) Certification of final closure under Regulations .07-.11 of this chapter;

(b) Post-closure requirements under Regulations .12-.15 of this chapter are met, if those requirements apply; or

(c) A final CHS permit is issued under COMAR 26.13.07.

(2) Except as provided in COMAR 26.13.02.05 or as otherwise provided in this chapter, this chapter applies to owners and operators of the following hazardous waste management facilities that treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste:

(a) Facilities in existence on the effective date of statutory or regulatory amendments that render the facility subject to the requirement to have a CHS permit for which the owner or operator has complied with §B(1) of this regulation;

(b) Facilities in existence on November 19, 1980, for which the owner or operator has failed to provide timely notification as required by §3010(a) of RCRA or to file part A of the CHS permit application as required by §B(1) and (2) of this regulation;

(c) Facilities that were previously required, because of federal regulations promulgated under the authority of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, to meet the requirements for interim status under 40 CFR 265 and 270;

(d) As specified in COMAR 26.13.10.30, facilities that store military munitions classified as a solid waste under COMAR 26.13.10.27B; and

(e) Facilities that provide the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste military munitions.

(3) This chapter applies to owners and operators of hazardous waste management facilities who are subject to the requirements of §B of this regulation and fail to comply with these requirements.

(4) The requirements of this chapter do not apply to:

(a) A person disposing of hazardous waste by means of ocean disposal subject to a permit issued under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act;

(b) The owner or operator of a facility permitted, licensed, or registered by the State to manage municipal or industrial solid waste, if the only hazardous waste the facility treats, stores, or disposes of is excluded from regulation under this chapter by COMAR 26.13.02.05;

(c) The owner or operator of a facility managing recyclable materials described in COMAR 26.13.02.06A(2) and (3), except to the extent that the requirements of this chapter are referred to in COMAR 26.13.10.01, .03, and .04;

(d) A generator accumulating waste on-site in compliance with COMAR 26.13.03.05E, except to the extent that COMAR 26.13.03.05E requires the generator to comply with the requirements of this chapter;

(e) A farmer disposing of waste pesticides from the farmer's own use in compliance with COMAR 26.13.03.07-4;

(f) The owner or operator of a totally enclosed treatment facility as defined in COMAR 26.13.01.03B(81);

(g) The owner or operator of an elementary neutralization unit or a wastewater treatment unit as defined in COMAR 26.13.01.03B, unless the unit is used to treat waste from off-site;

(h) Except as provided in §A(5) of this regulation, a person engaged in treatment or containment activities during immediate response to any of the following situations, if the person complies with the otherwise applicable requirements of Regulations .03 and .04 of this chapter:

(i) A discharge of a hazardous waste,

(ii) An imminent and substantial threat of a discharge of a hazardous waste,

(iii) A discharge of a material which, when discharged, becomes a hazardous waste, or

(iv) An immediate threat to human health, public safety, property, or the environment, from the known or suspected presence of conventional military munitions, other explosive material, or an explosive device, as determined by an explosive or munitions emergency response specialist as defined in COMAR 26.13.01.03B;

(i) The owner or operator of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) which treats, stores, or disposes of hazardous waste;

(j) Universal waste handlers and universal waste transporters handling the following wastes:

(i) Batteries, as described in COMAR 26.13.10.07;

(ii) Pesticides, as described in COMAR 26.13.10.08; and

(iii) Lamps, mercury-containing equipment, or PCB-containing lamp ballasts, each as described in COMAR 26.13.10.09; or

(k) The addition of absorbent material to a waste container or the addition of waste to absorbent in a container, if:

(i) The combining of waste and absorbent occurs when waste is first placed in the container;

(ii) COMAR 26.13.05.02H(2), which concerns requirements for ignitable, reactive, or incompatible waste, is complied with;

(iii) COMAR 26.13.05.09B, which concerns condition of containers, is complied with; and

(iv) COMAR 26.13.05.09C, which concerns compatibility of waste with containers, is complied with.

(5) Clarifications Concerning Responses to Emergencies.

(a) The exemption under §A(4)(h) of this regulation applies only to immediate response activities taken in response to the circumstances identified in §A(4)(h)(i)- (iv) of this regulation. After the immediate response activities are completed, the applicable regulations of this chapter and COMAR 26.13.07 apply fully to the management of any spill residue or debris which is a hazardous waste under COMAR 26.13.02.

(b) In the case of an explosives or munitions emergency response, if a federal, State, tribal, or local official acting within the scope of that individual's official responsibilities, or an explosives or munitions emergency response specialist, determines that immediate removal of the material or waste is necessary to protect human health or the environment, that official or specialist may authorize the removal of the material or waste:

(i) By transporters who do not have EPA identification numbers;

(ii) By transporters who have not been issued a certificate under COMAR 26.13.04.01C and F; and

(iii) Without the preparation of a manifest.

(c) In the case of emergencies involving military munitions, the responding military emergency response specialist's organizational unit shall retain records for 3 years identifying:

(i) The dates of the response;

(ii) The responsible persons responding;

(iii) The type and description of material addressed; and

(iv) The final disposition of the material addressed in the emergency.

(6) A person may not manage hazardous waste with EPA Hazardous Waste Number F020, F021, F022, F023, F026, or F027 at a facility subject to regulation under this chapter unless:

(a) It is a wastewater treatment sludge generated in a surface impoundment as part of a plant's wastewater treatment system;

(b) The waste is stored in tanks or containers;

(c) The waste is stored or treated in waste piles that meet the requirements of:

(i) COMAR 26.13.05.12A(2), and

(ii) Regulation .20 of this chapter; or

(d) The facility has been issued a permit to do so under COMAR 26.13.07.

B. Required Submissions.

(1) Unless the Secretary establishes a later date as provided in §B(3) of this regulation, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste management facility in existence on the effective date of statutory or regulatory amendments that render the facility subject to the requirement to have a CHS permit shall submit part A of the permit application to the Department by the earlier of the following two dates:

(a) 6 months after the publication of the notice of final action on regulations which first require the owner or operator to comply with the standards set forth in this chapter or COMAR 26.13.10; or

(b) 30 days after the date the owner or operator first becomes subject to the standards set forth in this chapter or COMAR 26.13.10.

(2) If an owner or operator of a hazardous waste management facility has filed part A of a CHS permit application and has not yet filed part B of the CHS permit application, the owner or operator shall file an amended part A application with the Secretary:

(a) Not later than the effective date of regulatory provisions listing or designating additional wastes as hazardous, if the facility is treating, storing, or disposing of any of these newly listed or designated hazardous wastes;

(b) As necessary to comply with COMAR 26.13.07.23C for changes during interim status; or

(c) By the deadline established under §B(3) of this regulation.

(3) Extension of Deadlines for Submission of Part A Application.

(a) The Secretary may, by publishing a notice in the Maryland Register, extend the date by which owners or operators of existing hazardous waste management facilities in a specified class of facilities are required to submit part A of the CHS permit application if the Secretary finds that:

(i) There has been substantial confusion as to whether the owners and operators of those facilities were required to file a permit application; and

(ii) The confusion over whether owners and operators were required to file a permit application is the result of ambiguities in COMAR 26.13.01, 26.13.02, or this chapter.

(b) The Secretary may, by compliance order, extend the date by which the owner or operator of an existing hazardous waste management facility is required to submit part A of the CHS permit application.

(4) The owner or operator of a facility that fails to comply with the updating requirements of §B(2) of this regulation has interim status only for the wastes covered by part A CHS permit applications filed in accordance with the requirements of this section.

(5) The Secretary may require the owner or operator of a facility operating under interim status to file a part B CHS permit application by a certain deadline. If the facility owner or operator fails to furnish a requested part B CHS permit application by the required deadline, or fails to furnish in full the information required to be included in the part B CHS permit application, the Secretary may terminate interim status under COMAR 26.13.07.

C. Imminent Hazard Action. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, enforcement actions may be brought under Environment Article, Title 7, Subtitle 2, Annotated Code of Maryland, or other applicable State authority.