(a) The Secretary may, upon application of a person (except an application concerning (1) a source of water or a sewerage facility for 3 or fewer families or (2) open burning, on which the Secretary may act without public notification), grant a variance to that person from any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter after following the notice and hearing procedure set forth in § 6004 of this title.

(b) The variance may be granted if the Secretary finds that:

(1) Good faith efforts have been made to comply with this chapter;

(2) The person applying is unable to comply with this chapter because the necessary technology or other alternative methods of control are not available or have not been available for a sufficient period of time or the financial cost of compliance by using available technology is disproportionately high with respect to the benefits which continued operation would bestow on the lives, health, safety and welfare of the occupants of this State and the effects of the variance would not substantially and adversely affect the policy and purposes of this chapter;

(3) Any available alternative operating procedure or interim control measures are being or will be used to reduce the impact of such source on the lives, health, safety and/or welfare of the occupants of this State; and

(4) The continued operation of such source is necessary to national security or to the lives, health, safety or welfare of the occupants of this State.

(c) The Secretary shall publish his or her decision, except a decision involving (1) a source of water or a sewerage facility for 3 or fewer families or (2) open burning, and the nature of the variance, if granted, and the conditions under which it was granted. The variance may be made effective immediately upon publication.

(d) Any party may appeal a decision of the Secretary on a variance request to the Environmental Appeals Board under § 6008 of this title within 15 days after the Secretary publishes his or her decision.

(e) No variance can be in effect longer than 1 year but may be renewed after another hearing pursuant to this section.

(f) The granting of a variance shall not in any way limit any right to proceed against the holder for any violation of the variance. This chapter, or any rule, or regulation, which is not incorporated in the variance provisions, shall remain in full effect.

(g) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the Secretary is not authorized to approve requests for fundamentally different factor variances from categorical pretreatment standards promulgated by the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to § 307(b) or (c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1317(b) or (c). The Secretary is authorized to accept and review such variance requests, and, upon review, deny such request or recommend that the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency approve such a variance request.

7 Del. C. 1953, § 6011; 59 Del. Laws, c. 212, § 1; 59 Del. Laws, c. 537, §§ 8, 9; 62 Del. Laws, c. 414, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.