The Solid Waste Management Regulations set standards for the siting, design, construction, operation, closure and post-closure care of Solid Waste Management Facilities (SWMFs). 

Landfills

Modern landfills are engineered structures where solid waste will remain after closure.  The regulations identify three types of landfills:

  1. Sanitary
  2. Construction/Demolition/Debris (CDD)
  3. Industrial

The requirements for siting, design, operation, environmental monitoring, closure and post-closure care vary depending on the landfill type.

Siting Requirements

The regulations include siting standards applicable to all new solid waste landfills.  

Design

The regulations outline design standards applicable to all new solid waste landfills. Design standards are provided for certain site features, landfill bottom liner, and the construction quality assurance program to be employed during landfill construction.

Operation

All solid waste landfills are required to prepare and maintain an Operations Manual in their operating record consistent with current operations and regulatory requirements. The operations manual must contain at least the following plans:

  • Operations plan
  • Inspection plan
  • Health and safety plan
  • Unauthorized waste control plan
  • Emergency contingency plan
  • Landscaping plan 

The Operation Manual should be revised as needed to reflect current facility operations and certified on an annual by a responsible official. Guidance is provided to assist the permittee with compliance with these requirements.

Leachate Management

Leachate, the liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste, must be managed in accordance with the leachate control requirements. The landfill Design Report or Leachate Management Plan outlines the site-specific design of the leachate collection and storage system.

DEQ has issued guidance to assist permittees with managing leachate in compliance with the regulations. The agency has also prepared submission instructions to assist applicants with developing new or revised Leachate Management Plans.

Landfill Gas Management

Owners or operators of solid waste disposal facilities, with some exceptions, shall implement a gas management plan in accordance with the gas control requirements to protect the landfill cap and prevent the migration of landfill gas into structures or beyond the facility boundary. 

DEQ provides the following guidance related to landfill gas at solid waste disposal facilities: 

Groundwater Monitoring

Solid waste landfills that accepted waste on or after Dec. 21, 1988, are required to monitor groundwater for potential solid waste impacts. The regulations outline the required design and performance of the landfill groundwater monitoring network. 

Solid waste landfills that impact groundwater above regulatory standards (commonly known as groundwater protection standards) at or beyond the groundwater point of compliance will be required to address the impacts a solid waste groundwater corrective action program. The solid waste groundwater program required at solid waste landfills contains several distinct components including: 

  • Design, installation, and maintenance of a groundwater compliance well network around the perimeter of the landfill.
  • Routine sampling and analysis of groundwater.
  • Comparison of sampling results to site background and where applicable, groundwater protection standards.
  • Initiation and completion of groundwater corrective action, where needed.
  • Routine reporting of groundwater monitoring activities.

The actions described above may also trigger the need for additional actions related to permit modifications, addressing financial assurance requirements, updating groundwater monitoring, landfill closure, and/or post-closure care plans, and public participation/outreach efforts. 

Solid Waste Alternate Concentration Limits (ACL)

The ACL table is revised once a year; each new version of the ACL table supersedes all previous versions.

Please refer to the technical memorandum prior to using the ACL table. 

Groundwater Frequently Asked Questions

DEQ has issued the following FAQ documents dealing with common groundwater issues:

Resources / References

The RCRA Online EPA website provides supporting information for the federal regulations.

Groundwater Submission Instructions

The following submission instructions are provided to assist applicants in preparation of administratively complete and technically adequate groundwater submissions:

Technical Review Checklists

DEQ staff use the following checklists when reviewing groundwater submissions. In addition to the submission instructions above, landfill owner/operators may independently use the checklists as a form of QA/QC when putting together groundwater submission to ensure all applicable content has been included in the submission. 

Closure Requirements

The regulations include closure requirements applicable to all landfills. These requirements outline the time allowed for closure, allowable final cover designs, and steps the permittee must complete following final cover construction.  Landfill permits include Closure Plans outlining site-specific closure procedures and design. The permittee must modify their Closure Plan any time changes in operation or landfill design affect the approved closure plan.

Postclosure Care

Following closure of the landfill, the facility enters the postclosure care period where the permittee must continue to operate leachate and landfill gas systems, perform regular landfill gas and groundwater monitoring, and maintain and repair as necessary the landfill final cover system as outlined in the postclosure care requirements. Landfill permits include Postclosure Care Plans outlining site-specific postclosure monitoring and maintenance activities. The permittee shall submit modified Postclosure Care Plans any time the plan has been revised.

Financial Assurance

In accordance with the Financial Assurance Regulations for Solid Waste Disposal, Transfer and Treatment Facilities, landfills are required to have financial assurance to cover the cost of closure, postclosure care and groundwater corrective action, if applicable. To aid in the submittal and update of cost estimates, DEQ provides an optional landfill cost estimate worksheet to assist in the development of a cost estimate. New and revised cost estimates should be submitted on this form.

The financial assurance cost estimate must be adjusted annually for inflation using DEQ’s adjustment tool.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

Recordkeeping requirements apply to all solid waste treatment and storage facilities. The facility owner or operator must maintain self-inspection, monitoring, and unauthorized waste records for at least three years.

The permittee is also required to notify the DEQ of any noncompliance or unusual condition that may endanger health or the environment. These notifications must be provided orally within 24 hours followed by a written submission within five days. Additional details including examples of 25-hour/five day notification reports can be found in Attachment 12 of the Solid Waste Inspection Manual.

Owners and operators of permitted solid waste treatment and storage facilities are also required to submit the Solid Waste Information and Assessment report by March 31 of each year.

DEQ Landfill Oversight

Landfills must have a solid waste permit prior to construction. Permits are reviewed and issued by DEQ for the life of the landfill, until the facility is released from postclosure care. Facility owners or operators must apply for permit modifications as needed to update for facility design, operation, environmental monitoring, closure or postclosure care changes.

Landfills are also inspected by DEQ on a recurring basis to confirm that facility operators are adhering to regulatory operational performance standards.

CCR Units

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final coal ash regulations, which established national minimum criteria for the disposal of coal ash in landfills and ponds. The Waste Management Board amended the Virginia Solid Waste Management Regulations in December 2015 to incorporate the EPA CCR Rule. 

Since EPA first promulgated these regulations, revisions have been adopted. To date, Virginia has not incorporated revisions that are less stringent than the original regulation. Additionally, the 2019 General Assembly passed legislation regarding the closure of coal ash ponds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Effective July 1, 2019, coal ash ponds at power stations in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed must be closed by removal and the coal ash either recycled or disposed of in a modern, lined landfill. Additionally, the legislation requires that a minimum of 6.8 million cubic yards must be recycled from at least two of the four sites subject to the legislation. The legislation also includes additional requirements related to transportation, public water connection 

and continued efforts to recycle. Similar legislation was passed in 2020 requiring closure of coal ash units in Giles and Russell Counties.

Upon receipt of applications, DEQ Regional Office staff will review and issue solid waste permits for CCR units in accordance with these requirements.  Permits will include:

  • Review and approval of closure by removal plans; 
  • Groundwater monitoring;
  • Surface water monitoring; 
  • Cost estimates and financial assurance; and
  • Public participation process.

Current Status of CCR Units permits.

Solid Waste Treatment & Storage Facilities

The Solid Waste Management Regulations apply to the following solid waste treatment and storage facilities types:

  • Transfer stations

    A transfer station is any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration, or resource recovery. Transfer stations do not include convenience centers.

  • Materials recovery facilities

    A materials recovery facility or MRF is any solid waste management facility for the collection, processing, and recovery of material such as metals from solid waste or for the production of a fuel from solid waste. This does not include the production of a waste-derived fuel product or facilities that store and treat materials conditionally exempt (see section F).

  • Composting facilities

    The regulations apply to facilities producing compost from municipal solid waste or combinations of waste with animal manures.  Compost facilities are categorized based on the types of feedstocks to be composted.  The following requirements do not apply to exempt compost operations (see section D.1 through D.9) and certain exempt yard waste composting operations.

  • Waste to energy, thermal treatment, or incineration facilities

    The regulations apply to the solid waste and process residue (ash) storage and handling facilities associated with waste to energy, thermal treatment, and incineration facilities.

  • Waste piles

    The regulations apply to facilities that store or treat nonputrescible solid waste in piles, with exceptions (see section G).

  • Centralized waste treatment facilities
    The regulations apply to solid waste management facilities that operate a treatment system to solidify nonhazardous solid waste to meet landfill disposal criteria where the waste is generated offsite. The treatment system must have no discharge. The requirements of this section do not apply to solidification operations at active landfills that are authorized in the landfill's solid waste permit.

Siting Requirements

The regulations include siting standards applicable to all new solid waste treatment and storage facilities.  

Design

The regulations outline design standards applicable to all new solid waste treatment and storage facilities. Design standards vary for each facility type, and address design features such as access controls, safety features, vehicle queuing capacity, facility design, and wastewater management.

Operation

All solid waste treatment and storage facilities are required to prepare and maintain an Operations Manual in their operating record consistent with current operations and regulatory requirements. The operations manual must contain at least the following plans:

  • Operations plan
  • Inspection plan
  • Health and safety plan
  • Unauthorized waste control plan
  • Emergency contingency plan

The Operation Manual should be revised as needed to reflect current facility operations and certified on an annual by a responsible official. Guidance is provided to assist the permittee with compliance with these requirements.

Recordkeeping and Reporting

Recordkeeping requirements apply to all solid waste treatment and storage facilities.  The facility owner or operator must maintain self-inspection, monitoring, and unauthorized waste records for at least three years.

The permittee is also required to notify the DEQ of any noncompliance or unusual condition that may endanger health or the environment. These notifications must be provided orally within 24 hours followed by a written submission within five days. Additional details including examples of 25-hour/five day notification reports can be found in Attachment 12 of the Solid Waste Inspection Manual.

Owner/operators of permitted solid waste treatment and storage facilities are also required to submit the Solid Waste Information and Assessment report by March 31 of each year.

Closure Requirements

The regulations include closure requirements applicable to all solid waste treatment and storage facilities. These requirements outline the standard for closure, time allowed for closure, need for facilities to maintain a Closure Plan. The permittee may modify their Closure Plan any time changes in operation or facility design affect the closure plan.

Financial Assurance

In accordance with the Financial Assurance Regulations for Solid Waste Disposal, Transfer and Treatment Facilities, solid waste treatment and storage facilities are required to have financial assurance to cover the cost of closure, and postclosure care, if applicable. To aid in the submittal and update of cost estimates, DEQ provides DEQ Form CE SWMF to assist in the development of a complete cost estimate.

The financial assurance cost estimate must be adjusted annually for inflation using the DEQ’s Inflation Factor for Adjusting Cost Estimates.

DEQ Oversight

Solid waste treatment and storage facilities must have a solid waste permit, unless the operation is exempt. These facilities can obtain a Permit-by-Rule (PBR) in lieu of a full solid waste permit. PBR applications are reviewed by DEQ Regional Office staff and facility’s are deemed to have a permit so long as all regulatory requirements are met.

Solid waste treatment and storage facilities are also inspected by DEQ Regional Office staff on a recurring basis to confirm that facility operators are adhering to regulatory operational performance standards. 

Resources

General Permit for Petroleum Contaminated Sites and Hydrostatic Tests