Section 622.60  General Variance

A variance is a temporary exemption from this Part, that the Agency may grant with or without conditions for a period of up to five years upon the presentation of adequate proof by the petitioner that compliance with a requirement would impose an undue hardship.  A person filing a petition for a variance shall provide the information in subsections (a) through (h) to the Agency.  If the petitioner believes that any of the required information does not apply to the specific variance requested, the petitioner shall include an explanation. 

AGENCY NOTE:  The filing of a petition for a variance does not stay enforcement of a requirement of this Part.

a)         A statement describing the requirement from which the petitioner seeks a variance.  The statement must include the citation to that requirement;

b)         A complete and concise description of the nature of the petitioner's activity that is the subject of the proposed variance, including:

1)         Location of, and area affected by, the petitioner's activity;

2)         Location of points of disposal or repurposing, and, as applicable, the identification of the receiving waterway or land;

3)         Identification of any prior variance issued to the petitioner and, if known, the petitioner's predecessors, concerning similar relief;

4)         An explanation of other permits or licenses held by any other federal, state, or local agency that is affected by this variance request;

5)         Nature and amount of the materials used in the process or activity for which the petitioner seeks a variance, and a full description of the particular process or activity in which the materials are used;

6)         Description of the relevant measures to mitigate the accumulation of TENORM already in use; and

7)         Nature and amount of disposal, discharges, or releases of the material in question currently generated by the petitioner's activity.

c)         A description of the efforts that would be necessary for the petitioner to achieve immediate compliance with the requirement at issue. All possible compliance alternatives, with the corresponding costs for each alternative, shall be identified. The description of compliance alternatives shall include the availability of alternate methods of compliance, the extent that the methods were studied, and the comparative factors leading to the selection of the proposed alternative for compliance. The description of the costs of immediate compliance should include the overall capital costs and the annualized capital and operating costs, if applicable;

d)         Facts setting forth the reasons the petitioner believes immediate compliance with the requirement would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship;

e)         A detailed description of the compliance plan, including:

1)         Discussion of the proposed equipment or proposed alternative measures to mitigate TENORM accumulation to be undertaken to achieve full compliance with the requirement;

2)         Schedule for the implementation of all phases of the proposed alternative compliance measures from initiation of design to program completion; and

3)         The estimated costs involved for each phase and the total cost to achieve compliance.

f)         A description of the environmental impact of the petitioner's activity, including:

1)         Nature and amount of disposals, discharges, or releases of the material in question if the Agency grants the requested variance, compared to that identified in subsection (b)(7);

2)         Quantitative demonstration that actions undertaken during the period of variance will not result in any individual members of the public receiving more than 1 millisievert (0.1 rem) TEDE annually (excluding the contribution from radon) from all licensed or registered sources of radiation, including water treatment residuals; and

3)         A statement of the measures to be undertaken during the period of the variance to minimize the impact of the discharge of contaminants on human, plant, and animal life in the affected area, including the numerical interim discharge limitations that can be achieved during the period of the variance.

g)         A proposed beginning and ending date for the variance. If the petitioner requests that the term of the variance begin on any date other than the date on which the Agency takes final action on the petition, a detailed explanation and justification for the alternative beginning date; and

h)         Any other information the Agency deems necessary.