(A) No person shall operate a solid waste management facility without a permit from the department. However, pursuant to a county or regional plan, any political subdivision of this State may hold a permit for a solid waste management facility as the owner of the facility and may contract for the operation, management, or both, of the facility. A separate permit shall be required for each site or facility although the department may include one or more different types of facilities in a single permit if the facilities are collocated on the same site. The department may, by regulation, exempt certain facilities from all or part of the requirements of this section.

(B) No person shall initiate construction, expansion, modification, or closure of a solid waste management facility except in accordance with requirements established by the department pursuant to this article.

(C) Permits issued by the department to existing solid waste management facilities pursuant to statutory and regulatory requirements in effect before the date this article is effective remain valid for the life of the permit. However, a solid waste management facility without an approved closure plan is subject to the closure and postclosure requirements of this article applicable to that type of facility and to any other requirements made applicable specifically to existing solid waste management facilities by this article or by regulations promulgated pursuant to it. Upon expiration of the permit, the permittee shall comply with the requirements of this article and regulations promulgated pursuant to it.

(D) The department shall promulgate regulations for the permitting of solid waste management facilities which shall, at a minimum, address the following issues:

(1) contents of permit applications and application procedures;

(2) suspension, revocation, modification, issuance, denial, or renewal of a permit, including the criteria for taking such action and the procedures for taking such action consistent with the South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act;

(3) exemptions, variances, and emergency approvals;

(4) financial responsibility requirements sufficient to ensure the satisfactory maintenance, closure, and postclosure care of any solid waste management facility or to carry out any corrective action which may be required as a condition of a permit; provided, however, that consideration shall be given to mechanisms which would provide flexibility to the owner or operator in meeting its financial obligations. The owner or operator shall be allowed to use combined financial responsibility mechanisms for a single facility and shall be allowed to use combined financial responsibility mechanisms for multiple facilities, utilizing actuarially sound risk-spreading techniques. The department shall require the demonstration of financial responsibility prior to issuing a permit for any solid waste management facility. The department regulations regarding financial responsibility requirements shall not apply to any local government or region comprised of local governments which owns and operates a municipal solid waste management facility unless and until such time as federal regulations require such local governments and regions to demonstrate financial responsibility for such facilities;

(5) public notice and public hearing requirements consistent with the requirements of the South Carolina Administrative Procedures Act; and

(6) generally applicable operational requirements.

(E) No permit to construct a new solid waste management facility or to expand an existing solid waste management facility may be issued until a demonstration of need is approved by the department, as required by regulation. Facilities which lawfully burn nonhazardous waste for energy recovery up to the normal rate of manufacturing production or which lawfully use or reuse the waste to make a product shall not be excluded from the demonstration of need requirement. No construction of new or expanded solid waste management facilities may be commenced until all permits required for construction have been issued. In determining if there is a need for new or expanded solid waste disposal sites, the department shall not consider solid waste generated in jurisdictions not subject to the provisions of a county or regional solid waste management plan pursuant to this chapter.

The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. These regulations must apply to all solid waste management facilities which have not obtained all permits required for construction. This subsection does not apply to inert or cellulosic solid waste facilities which are not commercial solid waste management facilities or to industrial facilities managing solid waste generated in the course of normal operations on property under the same ownership or control as the solid waste management facility if the industrial facility is not a commercial solid waste management facility.

(F) No permit to construct a new solid waste management facility or to expand an existing solid waste management facility within a county or municipality may be issued by the department unless the proposed facility or expansion is consistent with the local or regional solid waste management plan and the state solid waste management plan; and the host jurisdiction and the jurisdiction generating solid waste destined for the proposed facility or expansion can demonstrate that they are actively involved in and have a strategy for meeting the statewide goal of waste reduction established in this chapter. This subsection must not apply to industrial facilities managing solid waste generated in the course of normal operations on property under the same ownership or control as the waste management facility. However, the facilities shall be consistent with the applicable local zoning and land use ordinances, if any; and provided further, that the industrial facility is not a commercial solid waste management facility.

(G) A permit to construct a new solid waste management facility or to expand an existing solid waste management facility as authorized by this chapter may not be issued until the applicant provides documentation from the applicable local government of compliance with local land use and zoning ordinances along with the permit application.

(H) A permit issued pursuant to this article shall contain such conditions or requirements as are necessary to comply with the requirements of this article and the regulations of the department and to prevent a substantial hazard to human health or to the environment. Permits issued under this section shall be effective for the design and operational life of the facility, to be determined by the department, subject to the provisions of this article. However, at least once every five years, the department shall review the environmental compliance history of each permittee. The time period for review for each category of permits shall be established by the department by regulation. If, upon review, the department finds that material or substantial violations of the permit demonstrate the permittee's disregard for or inability to comply with applicable laws, regulations, or requirements and would make continuation of the permit not in the best interests of human health and safety or the environment, the department may, after a hearing, amend or revoke the permit, as appropriate and necessary. When a permit is reviewed, the department shall include additional limitations, standards, or conditions when the technical limitations, standards, or regulations on which the original permit was based have been changed by statute or amended by regulation.

(I) The department may amend or attach conditions to a permit when:

(1) there is a significant change in the manner and scope of operation which may require new or additional permit conditions or safeguards to protect human health and safety and the environment;

(2) the investigation has shown the need for additional equipment, construction, procedures, and testing to ensure the protection of human health and safety and the environment; and

(3) the amendment is necessary to meet changes in applicable regulatory requirements.

(J) The department may issue permits for short-term structural fills pursuant to department regulations. These permits shall require that structural fills be closed and cover put in place within twelve months of issuance of the permit. Consistency with solid waste management plans pursuant to subsection (G) is not required for the issuance of permits for short-term structural fills. For the purpose of this subsection, "cover" means soil or other suitable material, or both, acceptable to the department that is used to cover solid waste. For the purpose of this subsection, "structural fill" means landfilling for future beneficial use utilizing land-clearing debris, hardened concrete, hardened/cured asphalt, bricks, blocks, and other materials specified by the department by regulation, compacted and landfilled in a manner acceptable to the department, consistent with applicable engineering and construction standards and carried out as a part of normal activities associated with construction, demolition, and land-clearing operations; however, the materials utilized must not have been in direct contact with hazardous constituents, petroleum products, or painted with lead-based paint. Applicable department regulations in effect on the effective date of this act, not inconsistent with this subsection, remain in effect unless changed by statute or amended or repealed by the department pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, Article 1, Chapter 23, Title 1.

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 63, Section 1; 1996 Act No. 454, Section 1; 2000 Act No. 405, Section 16; 2018 Act No. 170 (H.4644), Section 3, eff May 3, 2018.

Effect of Amendment

2018 Act No. 170, Section 3, in (E), in the first paragraph, in the first sentence, inserted ", as required by regulation" following "by the department"; in (F), in the first sentence, deleted "local zoning, land use, and other applicable local ordinances, if any; the proposed facility or expansion is consistent with" following "expansion is consistent with"; and in (G), inserted the requirement for a person seeking a construction permit to provide documentation of compliance with local land use and zoning ordinances.