SB 356 am: "An Act relating to the authority of the Department of Environmental Conservation to issue general and individual permits for waste disposal; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 356 am 01 "An Act relating to the authority of the Department of Environmental Conservation to 02 issue general and individual permits for waste disposal; and providing for an effective 03 date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 46.03.100(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A person who conducts an operation that results in the disposal of solid or 07 liquid waste material or heated process or cooling water into the waters or onto the 08 land of the state shall procure a permit from the department before disposing of the 09 waste material or water. The permit shall be obtained for direct disposal and for 10 disposal into publicly operated sewerage systems. If the disposal is of water or a 11 waste other than hazardous waste, a general permit may be issued under (h) of 12 this section. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.100(f) is amended to read: 14 (f) This section does not apply to discharges of solid or liquid waste material
01 or water discharges from the following activities if the discharge is incidental to the 02 activity and the activity does not produce a discharge from a point source, as that term 03 is defined in regulations adopted under this chapter, directly into any surface water of 04 the state: 05 (1) mineral drilling, trenching, ditching, and similar activities; 06 (2) landscaping; 07 (3) water well drilling, geophysical drilling, or coal bed methane 08 drilling or other natural gas drilling to recover gas from a reservoir at a depth of less 09 than 3,000 feet; or 10 (4) drilling, ditching, trenching, and similar activities associated with 11 facility construction and maintenance or with road or other transportation facility 12 construction and maintenance; however, the exemption provided by this paragraph 13 does not relieve a person from obtaining a permit under [(a) OF] this section if 14 (A) the drilling, ditching, trenching, or similar activity will 15 involve the removal of the groundwater, stormwater, or wastewater runoff that 16 has accumulated and is present at an excavation site for facility, road, or other 17 transportation construction or maintenance; and 18 (B) a permit is otherwise required by [(a) OF] this section. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.100 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 20 (h) The department may issue a general permit on a statewide, regional, or 21 other geographical basis for a category of waste disposal or water disposal, other than 22 hazardous waste disposal, for which a permit would otherwise be required under this 23 section. A general permit may be issued only if the commissioner determines that the 24 activities that will be authorized under the permit are similar in nature and will cause 25 only minimal adverse environmental effects when performed separately and 26 cumulatively. The provisions of (e) of this section do not apply to a general permit for 27 disposal of solid waste. 28 * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.110(a) is amended to read: 29 (a) An application for a permit shall be made on forms prescribed by the 30 department or on forms prescribed by the United States Environmental Protection 31 Agency and must contain the name and address of the applicant, a description of the
01 applicant's operations, the quantity and type of waste material sought to be disposed 02 of, the proposed method of disposal, and any other information considered necessary 03 by the department. Application for permit shall be made at least 60 days before 04 commencement of a proposed discharge. The applicant may request that a general 05 permit be issued under AS 46.03.100(h), or the department may, on its own 06 initiative, propose that an applicant be issued a general permit. 07 * Sec. 5. AS 46.03.110(b) is amended to read: 08 (b) Upon receipt of a proper application for an individual or general permit 09 or upon a determination by the department that a general permit should be 10 proposed, the department shall publish notice of the application or proposal, as 11 applicable, in two separate publications of a newspaper of general circulation within 12 the general area in which the disposal of waste material is proposed to be made. The 13 notice shall also be posted on the Alaska Online Public Notice System maintained 14 under AS 44.62.175 and may also be published in other appropriate information 15 media. The notice must include a statement that a person who wants to present views 16 to the department in regard to the application or proposal may do so in writing to the 17 department within 30 days after [OF] the second publication of the notice. The 18 written response entitles the writer to a copy of the application and, in the case of an 19 application or proposal to issue a general permit, the application or proposal 20 shall also be posted by the department on the Internet at the same time that 21 notice is published under this subsection. 22 * Sec. 6. AS 46.03.110(c) is amended to read: 23 (c) When the department receives an application or makes a proposal that a 24 general permit be issued, the commissioner shall immediately send copies of the 25 application or proposal to the commissioner of fish and game, the commissioner of 26 natural resources, the commissioner of community and economic development, and 27 the commissioner of health and social services. 28 * Sec. 7. AS 46.03.110(d) is amended to read: 29 (d) The department may specify in a permit the terms and conditions under 30 which waste material or water may be disposed of. The terms and conditions shall be 31 directed to avoiding pollution and to otherwise carry out the policies of this chapter.
01 The commissioner may provide, as a term of a general permit, that a person 02 intending to dispose of waste material or water under the general permit shall 03 first obtain specific authorization from the department. A general permit shall 04 be posted on the Internet by the department; the posting must include the names 05 of persons authorized to make disposals under the permit and the locations at 06 which disposals may be made if those locations are specifically authorized under 07 this subsection. A permit may not be effective for a period in excess of five years 08 from the date of issuance. 09 * Sec. 8. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Environmental Conservation 12 may proceed to adopt regulations to implement the changes made by this Act. The 13 regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before July 1, 14 2002. 15 * Sec. 9. Section 8 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 16 * Sec. 10. Sections 1 - 7 of this Act take effect July 1, 2002.