New York Laws
Title 7 - Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Facilities
27-0704 - Land Burial and Disposal in the Counties of Nassau and Suffolk; Special Provisions.

Suffolk; special provisions.

1. Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall have
the following meanings:

a. "Clean fill" shall mean material consisting of concrete, steel,
wood, sand, dirt, soil, glass, or other inert material designated by the
commissioner.

b. A "deep flow recharge area" shall mean a sensitive recharge area
within the counties of Nassau and Suffolk within the boundaries of
hydrogeologic zones I, II and III as defined in the Long Island
Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of nineteen hundred
seventy-eight.

c. "Downtime waste" shall mean any treatable or burnable waste
accumulated during a scheduled or unscheduled maintenance period of a
treatment facility.

d. "Hazardous waste" shall be defined as promulgated by the provisions
of section 27-0903 of this article.

e. "Landfill" shall mean a disposal facility at which solid waste, or
its residue after treatment, is intentionally placed and at which, waste
shall remain after closure.

f. "Long Island Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of
nineteen hundred seventy-eight" shall mean the study prepared by the
Long Island Regional Planning Board pursuant to section two hundred
eight of the federal water pollution control act.

g. "Treatment facility" shall mean resource recovery, incineration,
composting, or other process as approved by the commissioner through
which solid waste is put in order to reduce volume and toxicity.

h. "Untreatable waste" shall mean that material that because of its
size or composition cannot be processed by a treatment facility.

2. The Long Island Comprehensive Waste Treatment Management Plan of
nineteen hundred seventy-eight shall be kept on file in the office of
the commissioner. The hydrogeologic zones and their attendant boundaries
as specified in the aforementioned plan are hereby adopted. Any changes
made in the boundaries and accepted by the commissioner shall be
considered as automatically adopted for the purposes of this section.

3. On or after the effective date of this section and except as
provided herein, no person shall commence operation, including site
preparation, of a new landfill or of an expansion to an existing
landfill which is located in a deep flow recharge area. However, the
commissioner, after conducting a public hearing, may approve a limited
expansion of any existing landfill in a deep flow recharge area for the
sole purpose of providing for solid waste disposal capacity prior to the
implementation of a resource recovery system. The commissioner shall not
approve any such expansion unless he finds that the owner of such
landfill is a municipality that is implementing a resource recovery
system which is acceptable to the commissioner and which will be
operational no later than seven years after the effective date of this
section and that no other feasible means of solid waste management is
available, taking into account technological, economic and other
essential factors.

4. On or after the effective date of this section, no person shall
commence operation, including site preparation, of a new landfill or of
an expansion to an existing landfill, which is located in the county of
Nassau or Suffolk outside of deep flow recharge areas unless:

a. The commissioner has made an affirmative determination that such
landfill will not pose a threat to groundwater quality; and

b. The owner or operator of the landfill has posted a financial
guarantee such as, but not limited to, pollution liability insurance,

sureties, performance bonds and/or trust funds acceptable to the
commissioner securing the cost of corrective treatment, or the
development of alternative water sources, should such landfill become a
source of groundwater, surface water, or air pollution. The size of the
financial guarantee, the financial stability of the surety, and the
terms of posting shall be determined by the commissioner. Financial
surety shall also be arranged to ensure the proper operation and
maintenance of leachate and other collection and treatment systems for a
period of time, as determined by the commissioner, after a landfill is
closed; and

c. The landfill is underlain by two or more natural and/or synthetic
liners each with provisions for leachate collection, and has a treatment
and disposal system, all of which are approved by the commissioner. Any
natural clay liners shall have a minimum compacted thickness of two feet
and all liners shall have a maximum hydraulic conductivity not to exceed
one times ten to the minus seven centimeters per second. If the landfill
uses two synthetic liners, the department shall require that the liners
are of different chemical compositions; and

d. The landfill is designed and operated to minimize the migration of
methane gas or other gases beyond the facility boundaries so as to avert
the creation of a nuisance or a danger to property or public health; and

e. The landfill is prohibited from accepting industrial, commercial or
institutional solid or liquid waste that is hazardous; and

f. The landfill is not located in a freshwater wetland, tidal wetland
or floodplain as identified by the department.

g. Except as provided herein, the landfill accepts only material which
is the product of resource recovery, incineration or composting.
Downtime waste and wastes that are untreatable by a resource recovery
system may be disposed of when handled as provided in this paragraph.
Downtime waste and untreatable waste that is landfilled may only be
deposited in a special disposal area that is located and constructed so
as to segregate these wastes and minimize their effect on residents of
the surrounding area. Not more than ten percent of the annual rated
capacity of a resource recovery facility may be disposed of as downtime
waste per year. However, up to ten percent of the annual rated capacity
of more than one resource recovery facility may be so disposed of at a
single landfill.

Any such landfill may also accept wastes other than those authorized
in this subdivision whenever such disposal is approved by the
commissioner based upon a finding made after the opportunity for a
public hearing that (i) no resource recovery facility is available to
accept such waste; (ii) the owner of the landfill is making all
reasonable efforts to implement a resource recovery system acceptable to
the commissioner; and (iii) that the landfilling of such wastes will not
have significant adverse environmental impacts. In granting any such
approval, the commissioner shall impose conditions necessary to mitigate
any adverse environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable and
shall impose a schedule under which the municipality shall implement an
acceptable resource recovery system.

5. Within seven years of the effective date of this section, no person
shall operate a landfill existing on the effective date of this section
in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk unless:

a. The owner or operator of the landfill has posted a financial
guarantee such as, but not limited to, pollution liability insurance,
sureties, performance bonds and/or trust funds acceptable to the
commissioner securing the cost of corrective treatment, or the
development of alternative water sources, should such landfill become a
source of groundwater, surface water or air pollution. The size of the

financial guarantee, the financial stability of the surety, and the
terms of posting shall be determined by the commissioner. Financial
surety shall also be arranged to ensure the proper operation and
maintenance of leachate and other collection and treatment systems for a
period of time, as determined by the commissioner, after a landfill is
closed; and

b. The landfill is underlain by two or more natural and/or synthetic
liners each with provisions for leachate collection, and has a treatment
and disposal system, all of which are approved by the commissioner. Any
natural clay liners shall have a minimum compacted thickness of two feet
and all liners shall have a maximum hydraulic conductivity not to exceed
one times ten to the minus seven centimeters per second. If the landfill
uses two synthetic liners, the department shall require that the liners
are of different chemical composition; and

c. The landfill is designed and operated to minimize the migration of
methane gas or other gases beyond the facility boundaries so as to avert
the creation of a nuisance or a danger to property or public health; and

d. The landfill does not accept industrial, commercial or
institutional solid or liquid waste that is hazardous; and

e. The landfill is not located in a freshwater wetland, tidal wetland
or floodplain as identified by the department.

f. Except as provided herein, the landfill accepts only material which
is the product of resource recovery, incineration or composting.
Downtime waste and wastes that are untreatable by a resource recovery
system may be disposed of when handled as provided in this paragraph.
Downtime waste and untreatable waste that is landfilled may only be
deposited in a special disposal area that is located and constructed so
as to segregate these wastes and minimize their effect on residents of
the surrounding area. Not more than ten percent of the annual rated
capacity of a resource recovery facility may be disposed of as downtime
waste per year. However, up to ten percent of the annual rated capacity
of more than one resource recovery facility may be so disposed of at a
single landfill.

If the landfill is located outside of the deep flow recharge area,
such landfill may also accept wastes other than those authorized in this
subdivision whenever such disposal is approved by the commissioner based
upon a finding made after the opportunity for a public hearing that (i)
no resource recovery facility is available to accept such waste; (ii)
the owner of the landfill is making all reasonable efforts to implement
a resource recovery system acceptable to the commissioner; and (iii)
that the landfilling of such wastes will not have significant adverse
environmental impacts. In granting any such approval, the commissioner
shall impose conditions necessary to mitigate any adverse environmental
impacts to the maximum extent practicable and shall impose a schedule
under which the municipality shall implement an acceptable resource
recovery system.

6. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the
commissioner may allow, by permit, the disposal of clean fill material
in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk. Such material shall not be
contaminated with hazardous wastes.