Seneca Meadows Landfill in Seneca Falls and the Ontario County Landfill in the town of Seneca would be affected by proposed revisions to the state’s solid waste management Part 360 regulations. The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced amended revisions to the regulations governing landfills Wednesday.
“Illegal dumping and improper waste management protocols are a growing threat to our environment,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos in a press release. “New York is setting a national standard for solid waste management and waste reduction. These revisions, which incorporate the important public comments we previously received, will bolster the state’s ability to crack down on bad actors and ensure regulatory efficiencies necessary to protect public health, our communities and natural resources.”
The initial revisions included changes to combat emerging threats posed by illegal disposal of construction and demolition debris and historic fill, as well as measures to strengthen oversight of previously unregulated mulch processing facilities to address potential threats to water quality and the environment.
The new revisions include:
- Prohibiting the disposal of fluids from oil and gas production.
- Strengthening current provisions in the disposal of flowback water and production brines from oil and gas production.
- Improving construction and demolition debris and fill material management, including enhanced tracking of debris generated in New York City.
- Improving management of compost and mulch to reduce environmental impacts from larger mulch facilities, including odors, dust, groundwater and fires.
- An extended time frame to enable existing facilities to transition to new exemption, registration and permitting requirements.
- Clarifying regulations for composting and organics processing, including changes for stacking, setbacks and separation of the requirements for an aerobic digestion.
- Reorganizing regulated medical waste requirements. That includes simplifications of requirements for autoclave testing and removal of references to contaminated foods.
- Expanding eligibility requirements for municipal waste reduction and recycling grants.
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