Section 830.202  Minimum Performance Standards and Reporting Requirements for Landscape Waste Compost Facilities

With the exception of on-site landscape waste compost facilities, all landscape waste compost facilities subject to this Part shall comply with the following requirements:

a)         The composting material shall not contain any domestic sewage, sewage sludge or septage.

b)         Any bulking agent used which is otherwise a waste as defined at Section 3.53 of the Act, other than landscape waste, may only be used as authorized by the Agency in writing or by permit.

c)         The operator shall take specific measures to control odors and other sources of nuisance so as not to cause or contribute to a violation of the Act.  Specific measures an operator should take to control odor include but are not limited to:  adherence to the contents of the odor minimization plan required at subsection (e).  Specific measures an operator should take to control other sources of nuisance include preventative measures to control litter, vectors, and dust and noise generated from truck or equipment operation.

d)         The operator shall have available for inspection a plan for the intended purposes of end-product compost and a contingency plan for handling end-product compost and composting material that does not meet the general use compost standards set forth in Section 830.503 of this Part.  Such a plan may include, but is not limited to, consideration of the following: on-site usage; identification of potential buyers including but not limited to gardeners, landscapers, vegetable farmers, turf growers, operators of golf courses, and ornamental crop growers; maintaining consistent product quality for such factors as stability, color, texture, odor, pH, and man-made inerts; and removal of end-product compost that cannot be used in the expected manner because it does not meet the general use compost standards. (Section 22.33(a)(4) of the Act.)

e)         The operator shall have a plan for minimizing odors.  The plan must include:

1)         Specifications of a readily-available supply of bulking agents, additives or odor control agents;

2)         Procedures for avoiding delay in processing and managing landscape waste during all weather conditions;

3)         Methods for taking into consideration the following factors prior to turning or moving composting material:

A)        Time of day;

B)        Wind direction;

C)        Percent moisture;

D)        Estimated odor potential; and

E)        Degree of maturity.

f)         Landscape waste must be processed within five days after receipt into windrows or other piles which promote proper conditions for composting.  Incoming leaves, brush or woody landscape waste may be stored in designated areas for use as a carbon source and bulking agent, rather than being processed into windrows or other piles.

g)         The facility must be designed and constructed so that runon is diverted around the composting area.  The runoff from the facility resulting from precipitation less than or equal to the 10 year, 24 hour precipitation event must be controlled so as not to cause or contribute to a violation of the Act.

h)         The facility must be constructed and maintained to have an accessible clear space between windrows or other piles, suitable for housekeeping operations, visual inspection of piling areas and fire fighting operations.

i)          Except for on-farm landscape waste compost facilities, the operator shall post permanent signs at each entrance, the text of which specifies in letters not less than three inches high:

1)         The name and mailing address of the operation;

2)         The operating hours;

3)         Materials which can be accepted; and

4)         The statement, "COMPLAINTS CONCERNING THIS FACILITY CAN BE MADE TO THE FOLLOWING PERSONS, followed by the name and telephone number of the operator, and the name and telephone number of the Bureau of Land, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield, Illinois.

j)          General use compost, if offered for sale or use, must meet the performance standards set forth in Section 830.503.

k)         Reporting Requirements.

1)         The operator of any facility required, pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 831, to have a permit shall submit a written annual statement to the Agency, on a form provided by the Agency, on or before April 1 of each year that includes:

A)        An estimate of the amount of material, in tons, received for composting in the previous calendar year (Section 39(m) of the Act);

B)        An estimate of the amount and disposition of compost material (i.e., end-product compost, chipped/shredded brush) in the previous calendar year; and

C)        A Composting Facility Financial Assurance Plan Compliance Certification in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 830.606.

2)         For any permit-exempt facility with over 100 cubic yards of composting material on-site at one time, a report must be filed by April 1 of each year with the Agency, on a form provided by the Agency, stating, at a minimum, the facility location, an estimate of the amount of material, in cubic yards or tons, received for composting in the previous calendar year, and the total amount of end-product compost still on-site, used or sold during the previous calendar year.

l)          Closure.

1)         Unless otherwise authorized in a facility permit, all landscape waste, composting material, end-product compost, and additives must be removed from the facility within 180 days following the beginning of closure.

2)         An operator of a facility regulated under this Subpart shall close the facility in a manner which:

A)        Minimizes the need for further maintenance; and

B)        Controls, minimizes or eliminates the release of landscape waste, landscape waste constituents, landscape waste leachate, and composting constituents to the groundwater or surface waters or to the atmosphere to the extent necessary to prevent threats to human health or the environment.

3)         By April 1 of the year following completion of closure, the operator of a facility required to report pursuant to subsection (k)(2) of this Section shall file a report with the Agency verifying that closure was completed in accordance with this Section in the previous calendar year.

m)        Odor complaints.

1)         Except for on-farm landscape waste compost facilities, for every odor complaint received, the operator shall:

A)        Record and report to the Agency within 24 hours after receiving the complaint, the date and time received, the name of complainant, the address and phone number of complainant, if volunteered upon request, and the name of the personnel receiving the complaint.

B)        Record the date, time, and nature of any action taken in response to an odor complaint, and report such information to the Agency within 7 days after the complaint.