40 CFR 264.100 – Corrective action program
An owner or operator required to establish a corrective action program under this subpart must, at a minimum, discharge the following responsibilities:
(a) The owner or operator must take corrective action to ensure that regulated units are in compliance with the ground-water protection standard under § 264.92. The Regional Administrator will specify the ground-water protection standard in the facility permit, including:
(1) A list of the hazardous constituents identified under § 264.93;
(2) Concentration limits under § 264.94 for each of those hazardous constituents;
(3) The compliance point under § 264.95; and
(4) The compliance period under § 264.96.
(b) The owner or operator must implement a corrective action program that prevents hazardous constituents from exceeding their respective concentration limits at the compliance point by removing the hazardous waste constituents or treating them in place. The permit will specify the specific measures that will be taken.
(c) The owner or operator must begin corrective action within a reasonable time period after the ground-water protection standard is exceeded. The Regional Administrator will specify that time period in the facility permit. If a facility permit includes a corrective action program in addition to a compliance monitoring program, the permit will specify when the corrective action will begin and such a requirement will operate in lieu of § 264.99(i)(2).
(d) In conjunction with a corrective action program, the owner or operator must establish and implement a ground-water monitoring program to demonstrate the effectiveness of the corrective action program. Such a monitoring program may be based on the requirements for a compliance monitoring program under § 264.99 and must be as effective as that program in determining compliance with the ground-water protection standard under § 264.92 and in determining the success of a corrective action program under paragraph (e) of this section, where appropriate.
(e) In addition to the other requirements of this section, the owner or operator must conduct a corrective action program to remove or treat in place any hazardous constituents under § 264.93 that exceed concentration limits under § 264.94 in groundwater:
(1) Between the compliance point under § 264.95 and the downgradient property boundary; and
(2) Beyond the facility boundary, where necessary to protect human health and the environment, unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Regional Administrator that, despite the owner’s or operator’s best efforts, the owner or operator was unable to obtain the necessary permission to undertake such action. The owner/operator is not relieved of all responsibility to clean up a release that has migrated beyond the facility boundary where off-site access is denied. On-site measures to address such releases will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
(3) Corrective action measures under this paragraph must be initiated and completed within a reasonable period of time considering the extent of contamination.
(4) Corrective action measures under this paragraph may be terminated once the concentration of hazardous constituents under § 264.93 is reduced to levels below their respective concentration limits under § 264.94.
(f) The owner or operator must continue corrective action measures during the compliance period to the extent necessary to ensure that the ground-water protection standard is not exceeded. If the owner or operator is conducting corrective action at the end of the compliance period, he must continue that corrective action for as long as necessary to achieve compliance with the ground-water protection standard. The owner or operator may terminate corrective action measures taken beyond the period equal to the active life of the waste management area (including the closure period) if he can demonstrate, based on data from the ground-water monitoring program under paragraph (d) of this section, that the ground-water protection standard of § 264.92 has not been exceeded for a period of three consecutive years.
(g) The owner or operator must report in writing to the Regional Administrator on the effectiveness of the corrective action program. The owner or operator must submit these reports annually.
(h) If the owner or operator determines that the corrective action program no longer satisfies the requirements of this section, he must, within 90 days, submit an application for a permit modification to make any appropriate changes to the program.