Section 506.08. Closure requirements.

  Any person who maintains or operates a landfill, or who permits use of property for such purpose shall, when the fill area or portion thereof reaches final grade, or when the department determines that closure is required, cease to accept solid waste and close the landfill or portion thereof in accordance with the plan approval issued by the department and the following minimum practices unless otherwise approved by the department in writing:

(1)   Notification procedures.

(a) At least 120 days prior to closing the landfill, the owner or operator shall notify the department in writing of the intent to close the landfill and the expected date of closure. Prior to this date, the owner or operator shall notify all users of the landfill of the intent to close the landfill so that alternative disposal options can be arranged.

(b) Signs shall be posted at all points of access to the landfill at least 30 days prior to closure indicating the date of closure and alternative disposal facilities. Facilities which are operated by and serve only a single waste generator and are not open to the public are exempt from this provision.

(c) Notice of the upcoming closure shall be published in a local newspaper at least 30 days prior to closure and a copy of the notice shall be provided to the department within 10 days of the date of publication. Facilities which are operated by and serve only a single waste generator and are not open to the public are exempt from this provision.

(2)   General requirements. Within 10 days after ceasing to accept solid waste, the owner or operator shall restrict access by the use of gates, fencing or other appropriate means to insure against further use of the landfill. If the final use allows access, such access shall be restricted until closure has been completed and approved by the department.

(3)   Closure. Closure activities shall begin within 30 days after ceasing to accept solid waste. Closure shall be accomplished in the following manner for facilities without a closure plan or plan of operation approved in writing by the department. Placement of final cover in accordance with s. NR 504.07 may be required if the department determines that this type of final cover system is necessary to prevent or abate attainment or exceedance of the groundwater standards contained in ch. NR 140 . Municipal solid waste landfills that accepted greater than 100 tons of solid waste per day on an annual basis and ceased accepting municipal solid waste on or before October 8, 1993 shall have final cover placement completed by July 1, 1996. Municipal solid waste landfills that accepted 100 tons or less of solid waste per day on an annual basis and ceased accepting municipal solid waste on or before April 8, 1994 shall have final cover placement completed by July 1, 1996.

(a) The entire area previously used for disposal purposes shall be covered with at least 2 feet of compacted earth having a hydraulic conductivity of no more than 1x10 -5 cm/sec or if the hydraulic conductivity of the underlying soils or any base liner system is less than 1x10 -5 cm/sec, then the 2 feet of compacted earth shall have a hydraulic conductivity that is equal to or less than the underlying soils or any base liner system. The final grades shall be sloped adequately to allow storm water runoff. A specific soil type may be required by the department for this 2-foot layer. The department may require the cover layer to be more than 2 feet thick.

(b) Storm water run-on shall be diverted around all areas used for solid waste disposal to limit the potential for erosion of the cover soils and increased infiltration. Drainage swales conveying storm water runoff over previous solid waste disposal areas shall be lined with a minimum thickness of 2 feet of clay.

(c) The final slopes of the landfill shall be greater than 5%, but may not exceed 4 horizontal to one vertical unless otherwise approved by the department.

(d) The finished surface of the disposal area shall be covered with a minimum of 6 inches of topsoil.

(4)   Establishment of vegetation. Within 180 days after ceasing to accept solid waste, or if solid waste termination is after September 15, by June 15 of the following year, the owner or operator shall complete seeding, fertilizing and mulching of the finished surface. The seed type and amount of fertilizer applied shall be selected depending on the type and quality of topsoil and compatibility with both native vegetation and the final use. Unless otherwise approved by the department in writing, seed mixtures and sowing rates shall be those specified for right–of–ways in accordance with section 630, Wisconsin department of transportation standard specifications for highway and structure construction.

(5)   Deed notation. Following closure of a landfill phase which accepted municipal solid waste after July 1, 1996, the owner or operator shall, within 90 days after closure, record a notation on the deed to the landfill property. The notation in the deed shall in perpetuity notify any potential purchaser of the property that the land has been used as a landfill and its use is restricted to prevent disturbing the integrity of the final cover, liner or any other components of the containment system or the function of the monitoring systems.

(6)   Hazardous air contaminant control. All landfills which have a design capacity of greater than 500,000 cubic yards and have accepted municipal solid waste shall install a department approved system to efficiently collect and combust hazardous air contaminants emitted by the landfill within 18 months of February 1, 1988 unless the owner can demonstrate that the performance criteria of s. NR 504.04 (4) (f) can be achieved without implementing such a system. Control techniques other than combustion may be approved by the department.

Cr. Register, January, 1988, No. 385 , eff. 2-6-88; am. (intro.), (1) (a), (b), (2), (3) (intro.), (a) to (c), (4), (6), r. and recr. (5), Register, June, 1996, No. 486 , eff. 7-1-96; CR 05-020 : am. (4) Register January 2006 No. 601 , eff. 2-1-06.

Note

The Wisconsin department of transportation standard specifications for highway and structure construction is available at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/business/engrserv/procedures.htm or can be obtained from the department of natural resources, bureau of waste management, 101 S. Webster Street, P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921, [phone], [e-mail] . Copies are also available for inspection at the offices of the legislative reference bureau and the secretary of state. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1