35-11-534. Program criteria; requirements for local operator.

(a) The department shall contract with entities, including contractors and local operators, to provide monitoring and remediation activities, including but not limited to groundwater remediation and monitoring, methane mitigation and monitoring and landfill capping, at eligible leaking municipal solid waste landfills. The department shall oversee and fund up to seventy-five percent (75%) of the cost of the investigation of contamination, the design and installation of monitoring and remediation systems and the operation and maintenance of monitoring and remediation systems for up to ten (10) years. The department may operate and maintain a system for a longer period of time in consideration of site specific circumstances. The period of time during which the department shall have responsibility for the monitoring and remediation activities at a leaking municipal solid waste landfill shall be communicated to the local operator prior to installation of the monitoring and remediation systems.

(b) The department shall contract for monitoring and remediation activities under the program at leaking municipal solid waste landfills based upon the priority list of landfills developed pursuant to W.S. 35-11-524 and other factors as provided in W.S. 35-11-536(a)(iv). The department shall update the priority list of leaking landfills requiring monitoring and remediation activities periodically as conditions warrant and may consider all relevant factors when developing and updating the priority list.

(c) To be eligible for enrollment under the program, the local operators of a leaking municipal solid waste landfill shall:

(i) Enter into a written agreement with the department to meet all regulatory obligations under the program;

(ii) Implement and revise the community's solid waste management plan as necessary to comply with all regulatory obligations;

(iii) Cease disposal of all waste streams at a leaking closed facility or the leaking portion of an operating facility which is undergoing remediation activities pursuant to department rules and regulations and the written agreement between the department and the local operator;

(iv) Cease disposal into units and facilities regulated under this article which do not have engineered containment systems or do not conform to performance based design standards;

(v) Agree to provide funding from any available funding source for at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the total costs of monitoring and remediation under the program;

(vi) Control the source of releases of pollution so as to reduce or eliminate further releases from the leaking municipal solid waste landfill;

(vii) Ensure continued revenue or funding streams sufficient to provide for all foreseeable costs of solid waste facilities under the control of the local operator or political subdivision, including but not limited to the full costs of:

(A) Operations;

(B) Monitoring;

(C) Recycling, composting and other diversion activities;

(D) Closure; and

(E) Post-closure activities.

(viii) Employ accounting principles in managing all solid waste facilities under the control of the local operator or political subdivision, pursuant to the Uniform Municipal Fiscal Procedures Act, W.S. 16-4-101 through 16-4-125, which recognize liabilities associated with:

(A) Closure and post-closure costs; and

(B) The long-term cost of waste disposal compared to recycling, composting or other diversion activities.

(d) In carrying out monitoring and remediation activities under the program the department has the right to construct and maintain any structure, monitor well, recovery system or any other reasonable and necessary item associated with taking remediation and monitoring actions.

(e) The department shall notify the affected public of all confirmed releases requiring a plan for remediation, and upon request, provide or make available to the interested public information concerning the nature of the release and the remediation actions planned or taken.

(f) The department shall delegate and authorize a local operator to conduct or oversee monitoring and remediation under the program pursuant to a written agreement between the department and the local operator acknowledging that the local operator shall adhere to all regulatory requirements of the program in conducting monitoring and remediation activities. The department shall approve the local operator's monitoring and remediation plan prior to authorizing the local operator to conduct or oversee the monitoring and remediation program. The department shall take all actions necessary to ensure that a local operator granted authority to conduct or oversee monitoring and remediation activities under this subsection complies with all regulatory requirements of the program.