(1) Purpose and applicability. This section sets forth the general permit conditions that are applicable to all permits, except interim status permits and permits by rule, to assure compliance with this chapter. If the conditions of this section are incorporated in a permit by reference, a specific citation to this section must be given in the permit.

(2) Duty to comply. The permittee must comply with all conditions of his permit. Any permit noncompliance constitutes a violation and is grounds for enforcement action; for permit termination, revocation and reissuance, or modification; or for denial of a permit renewal application. The permittee need not comply with the conditions of his permit to the extent and for the duration such noncompliance is authorized in an emergency permit.

(3) Duty to reapply. If the permittee wishes to continue an activity regulated by the permit after its expiration date, the permittee must apply for and obtain a new permit.

(4) Duty to halt or reduce activity. A permittee who has not complied with his permit, and who subsequently is subject to enforcement actions, may not argue that it would have been necessary to halt or reduce the permitted activities in order to maintain compliance with the conditions of the permit.

(5) Duty to mitigate. The permittee must take all steps required by the department to minimize or correct any adverse impact on the environment resulting from noncompliance with the permit.

(6) Proper operation and maintenance. The permittee must at all times properly operate and maintain all facilities and systems of treatment and control which are installed or used by the permittee to achieve compliance with the conditions of the permit. Proper operation and maintenance includes effective performance, adequate funding, adequate operator staffing and training, and adequate laboratory and process controls, including appropriate quality assurance procedures. This provision requires the operation of back-up or auxiliary facilities or similar systems only when necessary to achieve compliance with the conditions of the permit.

(7) Permit actions. The permit may be modified, revoked and reissued, or terminated for cause. The filing of a request by the permittee for a permit modification, revocation and reissuance, termination, notification of planned changes, or anticipated noncompliance, does not stay any permit condition.

(8) Effect of a permit.

(a) Compliance with a final facility permit during its term constitutes compliance for the purpose of enforcement with chapter 173-303 WAC except for permit modifications and those requirements not included in the permit that:

(i) Become effective by statute;

(ii) Are adopted under 40 C.F.R. Part 268 restricting the placement of dangerous waste in or on the land;

(iii) Are adopted under WAC 173-303-650 through 173-303-665 regarding leak detection systems for new and replacement surface impoundment, waste pile, and landfill units, and lateral expansions of surface impoundment, waste pile, and landfill units. The leak detection system requirements include double liners, CQA programs, monitoring, action leakage rates, and response action plans, and will be implemented through the procedures of WAC 173-303-830 Class 11 permit modifications; or

(iv) Are adopted under 40 C.F.R. Part 265, Subparts AA, BB, or CC which are incorporated by reference at WAC 173-303-400 (3)(a) limiting air emissions.

(b) A permit may be modified, revoked and reissued, or terminated during its term for cause as set forth in WAC 173-303-830 (3) and (5), or the permit may be modified upon the request of the permittee as set forth in WAC 173-303-830(4).

(d) The issuance of a permit does not authorize any injury to persons or property or invasion of other private rights, or any infringement of state or local laws or regulations.

(9) Duty to provide information. The permittee must furnish to the department, within a reasonable time, any information which it may request to determine whether cause exists for modifying, revoking and reissuing, or terminating a permit, or to determine compliance with a permit. The permittee must also furnish to the department, upon request, copies of records required to be kept by the permit.

(10) Inspection and entry. The permittee must allow representatives of the department, upon the presentation of proper credentials, to:

(a) Enter upon the permittee's premises where a regulated facility or activity is located or conducted, or where records must be kept under the conditions of the permit;

(b) Have access to and copy, at reasonable times, any records that must be kept under the conditions of the permit;

(c) Inspect at reasonable times any facilities, equipment (including monitoring and control equipment), practices, or operations regulated or required under the permit; and

(d) Sample or monitor at reasonable times, for the purposes of assuring permit compliance or as otherwise authorized by chapter 173-303 WAC, any substances or parameters at any location.

(11) Monitoring and monitoring records.

(a) Reserve.

(b) Samples and measurements taken for the purpose of monitoring must be representative of the monitored activity.

(c) The permittee must retain records of all monitoring information, including all calibration and maintenance records and all original strip chart recordings for continuous monitoring instrumentation, copies of all reports required by this permit, the certification required by WAC 173-303-380 (1)(q), and records of all data used to complete the application for this permit, for a period of at least three years from the date of the sample, measurement, report, or application. This period may be extended by request of the department at any time.

(d) Records of monitoring information must include:

(i) The date, exact place, and time of sampling or measurements;

(ii) The individual(s) who performed the sampling or measurements;

(iii) The date(s) analyses were performed;

(iv) The individual(s) who performed the analyses;

(v) The analytical techniques or methods used; and

(vi) The results of such analyses.

(e) The permittee must maintain records from all groundwater monitoring wells and associated groundwater surface elevations for the active life of the facility, and for disposal facilities for the post-closure period as well.

(12) Signatory requirement. All applications, reports, or information submitted to the department must be signed in accordance with this subsection and must be certified according to subsection (13) of this section.

(a) Applications. When a dangerous waste facility is owned by one person, but is operated by another person, then the operator will be the permit applicant and responsible for developing the permit application and all accompanying materials, except that the owner must also sign and certify the permit application. Permit applications must be signed as follows:

(i) For a corporation: By a responsible corporate officer. For the purposes of this subsection, a responsible corporate officer means:

(A) A president, secretary, treasurer, or vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or

(B) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operating facilities employing more than two hundred fifty persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five million dollars (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures;

(ii) For a partnership or sole proprietorship: By a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

(iii) For a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency: By either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. For purposes of this subsection, a principal executive officer of a federal agency includes:

(A) The chief executive officer of the agency; or

(B) A senior executive officer having responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency.

(b) Reports. All reports required by permits and other information requested by the department must be signed by a person described in (a) of this subsection, or by a duly authorized representative of that person. A person is a duly authorized representative only if:

(i) The authorization is made in writing by a person described in (a) of this subsection;

(ii) The authorization specifies either an individual or a position having responsibility for overall operation of the regulated facility or activity such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well or a well field, superintendent, or position of equivalent responsibility. (A duly authorized representative may thus be either a named individual or any individual occupying a named position); and

(iii) The written authorization is submitted to the department.

(c) Changes to authorization. If an authorization under (b) of this subsection is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of (b) of this subsection must be submitted to the department prior to or together with any reports, information, or applications to be signed by an authorized representative.

(13) Certification.

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, any person signing the documents required under (a) or (b) of subsection (12) of this section must make the following certification:

"I certify under penalty of law that this document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations."

(b) When a dangerous waste facility is owned by one person, but is operated by another person, then the permit application must be certified as follows:

(i) The operator must make the certification described under (a) of this subsection; and

(ii) The owner must make the following certification:

"I certify under penalty of law that I own the real property described in, and am aware of the contents of, this permit application, and that I have received a copy of this application. As owner of the real property, I understand that I am responsible for complying with any requirements of chapter 173-303 WAC with which only I am able to comply, and that there are significant penalties for failure to comply with such requirements."

(14) Reporting. The following reports must be provided:

(a) Planned changes. The permittee must give notice to the department as soon as possible of any planned physical alterations or additions to the permitted facility. For a new TSD facility and for a facility being modified, the permittee may not treat, store, or dispose of dangerous waste in the new or modified portion of the facility until:

(i) The permittee has submitted to the department by certified mail, hand delivery or other means that establish proof of receipt (including applicable electronic means), a letter signed by the permittee and a registered professional engineer stating that the facility has been constructed or modified in compliance with the permit; and either

(Note:

In certifying construction or modification, the independent qualified registered professional engineer is responsible only for certifying those portions of the facility which are identified in chapter 173-303 WAC as specifically requiring certification by an independent qualified registered professional engineer.)

(ii) The department has inspected the modified or newly constructed facility and finds it is in compliance with the conditions of the permit; or

(iii) Within fifteen days of the date of submission of the letter, the permittee has not received notice from the department of its intent to inspect, prior inspection is waived and the permittee may commence treatment, storage, or disposal of dangerous waste.

(b) Anticipated noncompliance. The permittee must give advance notice to the department of any planned changes in the permitted facility or activity which may result in noncompliance with permit requirements. For a new facility, the permittee may not treat, store, or dispose of dangerous waste; and for a facility being modified, the permittee may not treat, store, or dispose of dangerous waste in the modified portion of the facility except as provided in WAC 173-303-830(4).

(c) Transfers. The permit is not transferable to any person except after notice to the department. The department may require modification or revocation and reissuance of the permit to change the name of the permittee and incorporate such other requirements as may be necessary.

(d) Monitoring reports. Monitoring results (including monitoring of the facility's impacts as required by the applicable sections of this chapter) must be reported at the intervals specified elsewhere in the permit.

(e) Compliance schedules. Reports of permit compliance or noncompliance or any progress reports on interim and final permit requirements contained in any compliance schedule must be submitted no later than fourteen days following each scheduled date.

(f) Immediate reporting. The permittee must immediately report any noncompliance which may endanger health or the environment. Information must be provided orally to the department as soon as the permittee becomes aware of the circumstances. A written submission must also be provided within five days of the time the permittee becomes aware of the circumstances provided that the department may waive the written submission requirement in favor of a written report, to be submitted within fifteen days. The written submission must contain a description of the noncompliance and its cause; the period of noncompliance, including exact dates and times, and if the noncompliance has not been corrected, the anticipated time it is expected to continue; and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent reoccurrence of the noncompliance.

Information which must be reported immediately must include:

(i) Release of dangerous waste that may cause an endangerment to drinking water supplies or ground or surface waters;

(ii) Any information of a release or discharge of dangerous waste, fire, or explosion from the permitted facility which could threaten the environment or human health outside the facility;

(iii) The following description of any such occurrence:

(A) Name, address, and telephone number of the owner or operator;

(B) Name, address, and telephone number of the facility;

(D) Name and quantity of material(s) involved;

(E) The extent of injuries, if any;

(F) An assessment of actual or potential hazards to the environment and human health outside the facility, where this is applicable; and

(G) Estimated quantity and disposition of recovered material that resulted from the incident.

(g) Other noncompliance. The permittee must report all instances of noncompliance not reported under (d), (e), and (f) of this subsection, at the time monitoring reports are submitted. The reports must contain the information listed in (f) of this subsection.

(h) Other information. Where the permittee becomes aware that he failed to submit any relevant facts in a permit application, or submitted incorrect information in a permit application or in any report to the department, he must promptly submit this information.

(i) Other reports. In addition, the following reports are required when appropriate:

(i) Manifest discrepancy report as required by WAC 173-303-370(5);

(ii) Unmanifested waste report as required by WAC 173-303-390(1); and

(iii) Annual report as required by WAC 173-303-390(2).

(15) Confidentiality.

(a) Information submitted by the owner/operator of a facility identified as confidential will be treated in accordance with chapter 42.17 RCW and RCW 43.21A.160.

(b) Proprietary information can be held confidential if:

(i) The processes are unique to the owner/operator's business or the owner/operator's competitive position may be adversely affected if the information is released to the public or to a competitor; and

(ii) The director determines that granting the owner/operator's request is not detrimental to the public interest and is in accord with the policies and purposes of chapter 43.21A RCW.

(c) Claims of confidentiality for permit application information must be substantiated at the time the application is submitted and in the manner prescribed in the application instructions. Claims of confidentiality for the name and address of any permit applicant will be denied.

(d) If a submitter does not provide substantiation, the department will notify the owner/operator by certified mail of the requirement to do so. If the department does not receive the substantiation within ten days after the submitter receives the notice, the department will place the unsubstantiated information in the public file.

(e) The department will determine if the owner/operator's request meets the confidential information criteria.

(16) General permit conditions. Information repository. The director may require the permittee to establish and maintain an information repository at any time, based on the factors set forth in WAC 173-303-281 (6)(b). The information repository will be governed by the provisions in WAC 173-303-281 (6)(c) through (f).

PDFWAC 173-303-810

General permit conditions.