NC DENR Update

DWM

2014 Section Meeting Outline

• DENR Goals

• DWM

• State Plan

• Division Areas of Focus

NC DENR Goals

Sustaining Water for the Future-prevention of releases

-cleanup of contamination

Growing a Green Economy - alternative energy projects (solar, methane,

biofuels)-electronics recycling

Conserving Natural Areas and Sustaining Working Lands

-redevelopment of contaminated properties

NC DENRDivision of Waste Management

Solid Waste Program Regulates safe management of solid waste through guidance, technical assistance, regulations,

permitting, environmental monitoring, compliance evaluation and enforcement, facility inspections, complaint investigation, waste management and planning, tax certifications, and

emergency/disaster response.

Solid Waste Program Structure

Composting and Land Application

Field Operations

Permitting

Planning and Programs

The Solid Waste Program consists of four branches encompassing staff stationed across the state.

Field Operations Facility ComplianceAssures compliance with State Laws and Rules through periodic inspection of permitted facilities, environmental monitoring and remediation, providing training and technical assistance, and enforcement action as required.

Complaint Investigation / Illegal DumpingResponds to complaints regarding the improper management of solid waste, often in the form of illegal disposal.

Financial AssuranceAssists applicants or permit holders with securing mechanisms to pay the costs of assessment and remediation in the event of a release of pollutants from a facility, closure of the facility in accordance with all applicable requirements.

Tax CertificationsProvides certification for property tax exemption for the equipment, buildings, and land used exclusively in the recycling of and/or resource recovery from solid waste. Program provides economic benefit to between 150-250 businesses across the state yearly.

Emergency / Disaster RecoveryAssures the proper management of solid waste (disaster debris) through approval of temporary debris staging and storage sites, and providing training and technical assistance to local, state, and federal agencies as well as citizens and businesses statewide.

Application ProcessingProvides a statewide permitting program for all solid waste management facilities. The purpose is to regulate the storage, collection, transport, separation, processing, recycling, and disposal of solid waste in the most economically feasible, cost-effective, and environmentally safe manner in order to protect public health and the environment.

Technical AssistanceProvides technical and regulatory assistance to local governments, industry, consulting engineers and the general public for all aspects of solid waste management including recycling, resource recovery, alternative technologies and management strategies.

Alternative UsesProvides technical and regulatory assistance for alternative uses and management strategies for solid waste facility, or various solid wastes. Landfill gas projects, solar farms, or beneficial use of coal ash are examples of projects participated in.

Permitting

Composting & Land Application

Septage Management Responsible for assuring that septage is managed in a responsible, safe and consistent manner across the state.

CompostingResponsible for the issuance of the four types of Solid Waste compost permits that manage a variety of feedstocks (yard waste – food waste)

Land ApplicationIssue approvals for the beneficial reuse of materials in agronomic settings (tobacco dust, wood ash, gypsum)

Facility Annual ReportingOversee collection and analysis of information from permitted facilities as required by General Statute for use in planning, reports, and presentations

White GoodsAdminister grant program and provide technical assistance to help local governments manage white good waste, which is banned from disposal in landfills by General Statute

Scrap TiresAdminister grant program and registration program, lead enforcement actions, to help local governments manage scrap tires, which are banned from disposal in landfills by General Statute

ElectronicsAdminister registration of electronics manufacturers, fee collection, and funds distribution to help local governments manage electronic waste, which is banned from disposal in landfills by General Statute

Medical WasteApprove technology for treatment of medical waste in the state and provide technical assistance for the handling, treatment, and disposal of medical waste to public

Coal Combustion By-product Generator ReportsOversee collection of information from facilities in the state that generate coal combustion by-products as required by Rule

Planning and Programs

Solid Waste Program • Worked to maintain adequate disposal

capacity for the State (32 yrs)

• Permit lined landfills for the safe disposal of coal combustion residuals

• Storm Events (hurricanes, etc.): staff on call 24/7, 346 disaster debris sites, 54 new sites in FY13-14; March 2014 ice storm disaster declaration

• Electronics, Scrap Tire, White Goods, HHW

• FY 12-13 compliance rate for permitted facilities: 96%

• Nearing completion of the 2014 -2024 State Solid Waste Plan

Solid Waste Program Challenges• Management of cathode ray tubes

• Increasing responsibilities of staff, resources

• Permitting of alternative technologies

• Complexity facility designs - movement towards liners and leachate collection systems and increased interest in non-disposal alternatives.

• Illegal Dumping: Directing the removal on average of approximately 250,000 cubic yards of waste from illegal dumps each year.

• Number of customers served 9.7 million citizens100 county governments550 municipal governments2900 facilities/sites

• SB 734 GS 130A-295.2 Financial Assurance• HB 45 (2011) GS 130A -310 Risk based• Coal ash and regulatory reform

NC DENR Division of Waste Management 11

12

Recent events (Winston Salem Regional Office Move)This month!!!

450 Hanes Mill Rd

Solid Waste Hiring Forecast

• Section Chief position

• Coal ash positions

• Western District ESS position

Ice storm / Training

Implementation of the Solid Waste Act of 2007

Increased environmental controls

Financial responsibility implementation

Storm Events (hurricanes, etc.): staff on call 24/7, 346 disaster debris sites, 74 new sites in 2011

Electronics Recycling Implementation

Coal ash

Financial assurance

Technical assistance

Solid Waste Program Successes

• Implementation of the Solid Waste Act of 2007

• Increased environmental controls

• Financial responsibility implementation

• Storm Events (hurricanes, etc.): staff on call 24/7, 346 disaster debris sites, 74 new sites in 2011

• Electronics Recycling Implementation

Environmental Management Commission

• Who did we report to?

• Members

• Areas of focus

• Recent interaction with members

Maintaining Attention on Disposal Infrastructure

Effectiveness of

Leachate Systems

Review design of unlined C&D

Landfills

Evaluate Landfill

Capacity

?

Improvements in billingE PaymentTracking

Solid Waste Program Recommendations

• Continue to coordinate efforts among local government and industry to ensure disposal capacity is available in all areas within North Carolina.

•Evaluate funding needs of the scrap tire program to ensure ongoing effectiveness of the program and to propose adjustments, if needed, to current distributions.

• Continue to evaluate the funding needs of the white goods program to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of the program and to propose changes, if needed, to distributions.

Overarching Themes in 2014-2024 Plan

• Reducing disposal while maintaining robust oversight of waste management facilities.

• “Materials Management” – maximizing recovery of commodities to feed to North Carolina’s economy.

• Preparing for new challenges – new types of facilities, new waste streams, etc.

• Improving the ability of NC to respond to disasters and infrastructure needs.

• Expanding and improving customer engagement and support.

Improving Local Government Recycling Infrastructure

Cart Based CurbsideEfficient Convenience

Centers

Rural Recycling Transfer Stations

Public Space

Recycling

Electronics

Collection

Collection of New Materials

Sonoco Recycling, Charlotte

Unifi, Yadkinville Clear Path, Fayetteville

GEEP, Durham

Expanding Private Recycling Investment

Danny’s Dumpster, Asheville

Abbey Green, Winston-Salem

Growing Private Sector Recycling Jobs

1994 2000 2003 2008 2010 20130

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

7,757

11,762 12,77614,490 15,187

17,002

Year

Empl

oyee

s

• Total estimated annual payroll for North Carolina recycling businesses is $442 million.

• 45% of recycling businesses surveyed anticipate creating more jobs during the next two years.

• Recycling companies invested $79.6 million in equipment, facilities and land from 2011-13.

• 51% of recycling businesses surveyed plan on investing $47.3 million in equipment, facilities or land in the next two years.

Attention to Special Wastes

Hydraulic Fracturing

Wastes

Coal Combustion Residuals

Medical & Pharmaceutical Wastes

Brown Grease Septage

Household Hazardous

Wastes

Improving Management of Disaster Debris

Post-Event Communicatio

n

Assist with pre-event approval of Disaster Sites and

Plans

Education and

Awareness

Division Areas of Focus

• Brownfields (Geoff and Labeed)

• Superfund (Inactive Hazardous Sites)

• Coal Ash

• Risk Based Remediation

• Laser Fische

Includes the following (numbers are approximate):

1930 Inactive Hazardous Sites 676 Pre-Regulatory Landfills 302 Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act (DSCA) Sites 8000 Underground Storage Tank (UST) Incidents2000 Aboveground Storage (AST) Incidents

Currently known contamination sites in North Carolina

By Definition: “Abandoned, idled, or underused property where redevelopment is hindered by real or perceived environmental contamination.”

What is a Brownfield?

Beyond Definition: An OpportunityPrice is often rightOffers pre-existing infrastructureReuse of idle or abandoned propertyTax Incentive availableEnvironmental liability can be definedOffers viable investment opportunity

that can compete with “Greenfields”

Brownfields Directive From General Assembly

Potential purchasers and developers of brownfields and other parties who have no connection with the contamination of the property, including redevelopment lenders, should be encouraged to provide capital and labor to improve brownfields without undue risk of liability for problems they did not create, so long as the property can be and is made safe for appropriate future use.

NC Brownfields Program

Brownfields Agreement:• Available only to Prospective Developers (PDs) who:

– Desire to redevelop (buy or sell) a brownfields Property– Did Not Cause or Contribute to Site Contamination

• Does Not Affect State’s Ability To Enforce Against Responsible Party

The Brownfields Agreement Defines the actions PD must take to make site safe for the

intended reuse using a combination of:

Risk-based cleanup/mitigation

Land use restrictions

Runs with the Land

Provides PD and future owners with liability protection from the State in the form of a “Covenant-Not-To-Sue” for the contamination (Frees up Lender Financing)

Annual Certification by owner that Land Use Restrictions are in Compliance

Why Get a Brownfields Agreement?

Reasonable Cost Certainty

Reduced Uncertainty fosters Business Decisions

Public Health Protection

State Covenant Not-To-Sue instead of “No Further Action” Letter

Statutory Federal Liability Protection

Tax Incentive

318 Completed Brownfields Agreements

$9.8 billion in facilitated private investment

47 Completed in FFY 2014

120 in pipeline

Breaking Financing Barriers: Lenders requesting BF Agreements as trigger to release loan funds

The NC Brownfields ProgramWhere We Are

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY1415

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

19

24

2927

41

47

Brownfields Agreements Completed Annually

The NC Brownfields Program 2014

Where We Are

Pre-Regulatory Landfill UnitInactive Hazardous Sites Branch, Superfund

Section• 61 sites in assessment

(this includes 5 sites under the local government provision)

• 12 sites in remedy

• Anticipate fund expenditures to continue to increase as more sites enter into remedy phase and the fund surplus to decrease over the next three years

From Former Alpha Mill to Alpha Mill Apartments

Abandoned Textile Mill, circa 1888 and Chromium Electroplater, circa 1955

Alpha Mill Apartments bordering uptown Charlotte

Preservation of historic architectural heritage

From Alamac Textiles to Penco Metal Products - Hamilton

• Hamilton, Martin County• 300 manufacturing jobs replaced those lost

by Alamac Textiles bankruptcy• Brownfields Agreement facilitated Dept. of

Commerce recruitment

School locker manufacturer relocates manufacturing operations to 400,000 ft2 former textile mill.

From Former Almont Shipping Co. to PPD World Headquarters - Wilmington

PPD World Headquarters in downtown Wilmington,

400,000-ft2, and 1,800 workers

Abandoned Fertilizer Stockyard/Shipping Facility

•Abandoned chemical wastes

•Spills and disposal of various chemicals on manufacturing and other properties

•Residential properties with contaminated soils/groundwater from previous uses or discharges by homeowner

Pre-Regulatory Landfills•Established by legislation in 2007

•81% of sites in the program are considered high priority, based on the following criteria:

-Water supply well on landfill or within 1000 ft. of landfill-Residence or other high-risk uses on landfill-Explosive levels of methane present-Surface drinking water intake within 1000 ft. of landfill-Church, school or daycare within 1000 ft. of landfill

NC DENR Division of Waste Management

Inactive Hazardous Sites include the following categories of historic contaminated sites:

History of NC State Solid Waste and Materials Management Planning

• The Solid Waste Management Act of 1989 required a 10-year State Solid Waste Management Plan.

• The first 10-year plan was completed in 1991.

• Required plan items outlined in G.S. §130A-309.07.

NC State Solid Waste and Materials Management Planning Process

• NC DENR staff-driven process• Collaborative effort between DWM and DEACS• Process involved review of current solid waste and

materials management in NC, setting of broad objectives, and development of detailed actions.

• Extensive public feedback process using presentations, meetings, a widely distributed survey, and open Web input.

Compliance / Tech Assistance / Training

• Compliance Orders (7 total, 5 septage)

• Compliance Rate

• Technical assistance

• Training

Permitting

• Coal ash, coal ash

• Randolph

• New technologies

Ellen.Lorscheider@ncdenr.gov 919 707-8245Programs and Planning Branch – Solid Waste Section Division of Waste Management

State Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan

Coming soon to a news stand by you..

Work with local programs for

the prevention and

management of illegal dumping

Customer Service/Training – Public Engagement

Online Record

s

Web Training

Outreach Materials

Customer Service Training

Operator Certification Training

Expand GIS

Permit Trackin

g

DENR GoalTo provide outstanding educational and recreational opportunities that

promote economic growth and environmental literacy, resulting in

excellence in stewardship of environmental and natural

resources.

DENR GoalTo instill and

achieve excellence in customer

service

Recycling Outreach

Campaigns

External Training

Accredited Educational

Opportunities

Develop training that speaks to Industry Needs