This subpart applies to you if you own or operate a facility that treats or stores hazardous waste in containment buildings under a 40 CFR part 270 subpart J standardized permit, except as provided in § 267.1(b). Storage and/or treatment in your containment building is not land disposal as defined in 40 CFR 268.2 if your unit meets the requirements of §§ 267.1101, 267.1102, and 267.1103.

Your containment building must comply with the design and operating standards in this section. EPA will consider standards established by professional organizations generally recognized by the industry such as the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) in judging the structural integrity requirements of this section.

(a) The containment building must be completely enclosed with a floor, walls, and a roof to prevent exposure to the elements, (e.g., precipitation, wind, run-on), and to assure containment of managed wastes.

(b) The floor and containment walls of the unit, including the secondary containment system, if required under § 267.1103, must be designed and constructed of manmade materials of sufficient strength and thickness to:

(1) Support themselves, the waste contents, and any personnel and heavy equipment that operates within the unit.

(2) Prevent failure due to:

(i) Pressure gradients, settlement, compression, or uplift.

(ii) Physical contact with the hazardous wastes to which they are exposed.

(iii) Climatic conditions.

(iv) Stresses of daily operation, including the movement of heavy equipment within the unit and contact of such equipment with containment walls.

(v) Collapse or other failure.

(c) All surfaces to be in contact with hazardous wastes must be chemically compatible with those wastes.

(d) You must not place incompatible hazardous wastes or treatment reagents in the unit or its secondary containment system if they could cause the unit or secondary containment system to leak, corrode, or otherwise fail.

(e) A containment building must have a primary barrier designed to withstand the movement of personnel, waste, and handling equipment in the unit during the operating life of the unit and appropriate for the physical and chemical characteristics of the waste to be managed.

(f) If appropriate to the nature of the waste management operation to take place in the unit, an exception to the structural strength requirement may be made for light-weight doors and windows that meet these criteria:

(1) They provide an effective barrier against fugitive dust emissions under § 267.1102(d).

(2) The unit is designed and operated in a fashion that assures that wastes will not actually come in contact with these openings.

(g) You must inspect and record in the facility's operating record, at least once every seven days, data gathered from monitoring equipment and leak detection equipment, as well as the containment building and the area immediately surrounding the containment building to detect signs of releases of hazardous waste.

(h) You must obtain certification by a qualified registered professional engineer that the containment building design meets the requirements of §§ 267.1102, 267.1103, and paragraphs (a) through (f) of this section.

You must use controls and practices to ensure containment of the hazardous waste within the unit, and must, at a minimum:

(a) Maintain the primary barrier to be free of significant cracks, gaps, corrosion, or other deterioration that could cause hazardous waste to be released from the primary barrier.

(b) Maintain the level of the stored/treated hazardous waste within the containment walls of the unit so that the height of any containment wall is not exceeded.

(c) Take measures to prevent personnel or by equipment used in handling the waste from tracking hazardous waste out of the unit. You must designate an area to decontaminate equipment, and you must collect and properly manage any rinsate.

(d) Take measures to control fugitive dust emissions such that any openings (doors, windows, vents, cracks, etc.) exhibit no visible emissions (see 40 CFR part 60, appendix A, Method 22—Visual Determination of Fugitive Emissions from Material Sources and Smoke Emissions from Flares). In addition, you must operate and maintain all associated particulate collection devices (for example, fabric filter, electrostatic precipitator) with sound air pollution control practices. You must effectively maintain this state of no visible emissions at all times during routine operating and maintenance conditions, including when vehicles and personnel are entering and exiting the unit.

If your containment building will be used to manage hazardous wastes containing free liquids or treated with free liquids, as determined by the paint filter test, by a visual examination, or by other appropriate means, you must include:

(a) A primary barrier designed and constructed of materials to prevent the migration of hazardous constituents into the barrier (for example, a geomembrane covered by a concrete wear surface).

(b) A liquid collection and removal system to minimize the accumulation of liquid on the primary barrier of the containment building.

(1) The primary barrier must be sloped to drain liquids to the associated collection system; and

(2) You must collect and remove liquids and waste to minimize hydraulic head on the containment system at the earliest practicable time.

(c) A secondary containment system, including a secondary barrier designed and constructed to prevent migration of hazardous constituents into the barrier, and a leak detection system capable of detecting failure of the primary barrier and collecting accumulated hazardous wastes and liquids at the earliest practical time.

(1) You may meet the requirements of the leak detection component of the secondary containment system by installing a system that is, at a minimum:

(i) Constructed with a bottom slope of 1 percent or more; and

(ii) Constructed of a granular drainage material with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 × 10−2 cm/sec or more and a thickness of 12 inches (30.5 cm) or more, or constructed of synthetic or geonet drainage materials with a transmissivity of 3 × 10-5 m 2sec or more.

(2) If you will be conducting treatment in the building, you must design the area in which the treatment will be conducted to prevent the release of liquids, wet materials, or liquid aerosols to other portions of the building.

(3) You must construct the secondary containment system using materials that are chemically resistant to the waste and liquids managed in the containment building and of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressure exerted by overlaying materials and by any equipment used in the containment building.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this subpart, the Regional Administrator may waive requirements for secondary containment for a permitted containment building where:

(a) You demonstrate that the only free liquids in the unit are limited amounts of dust suppression liquids required to meet occupational health and safety requirements, and

(b) Containment of managed wastes and dust suppression liquids can be assured without a secondary containment system.

For these containment buildings, you must:

(a) Design and operate each area in accordance with the requirements enumerated in §§ 267.1101 through 267.1103.

(b) Take measures to prevent the release of liquids or wet materials into areas without secondary containment.

(c) Maintain in the facility's operating log a written description of the operating procedures used to maintain the integrity of areas without secondary containment.

Throughout the active life of the containment building, if you detect a condition that could lead to or has caused a release of hazardous waste, you must repair the condition promptly, in accordance with the following procedures.

(a) Upon detection of a condition that has lead to a release of hazardous waste (for example, upon detection of leakage from the primary barrier), you must:

(1) Enter a record of the discovery in the facility operating record;

(2) Immediately remove the portion of the containment building affected by the condition from service;

(3) Determine what steps you must take to repair the containment building, to remove any leakage from the secondary collection system, and to establish a schedule for accomplishing the cleanup and repairs; and

(4) Within 7 days after the discovery of the condition, notify the Regional Administrator of the condition, and within 14 working days, provide a written notice to the Regional Administrator with a description of the steps taken to repair the containment building, and the schedule for accomplishing the work.

(b) The Regional Administrator will review the information submitted, make a determination regarding whether the containment building must be removed from service completely or partially until repairs and cleanup are complete, and notify you of the determination and the underlying rationale in writing.

(c) Upon completing all repairs and cleanup, you must notify the Regional Administrator in writing and provide a verification, signed by a qualified, registered professional engineer, that the repairs and cleanup have been completed according to the written plan submitted in accordance with paragraph (a)(4) of this section.

Containment buildings can serve as secondary containment systems for tanks placed within the building under certain conditions.

(a) A containment building can serve as an external liner system for a tank, provided it meets the requirements of § 267.196(a).

(b) The containment building must also meet the requirements of § 267.195(a), (b)(1) and (2) to be considered an acceptable secondary containment system for a tank.

When you close a containment building, you must remove or decontaminate all waste residues, contaminated containment system components (liners, etc.), contaminated subsoils, and structures and equipment contaminated with waste and leachate, and manage them as hazardous waste unless 40 CFR 261.3(d) applies. The closure plan, closure activities, cost estimates for closure, and financial responsibility for containment buildings must meet all of the requirements specified in subparts G and H of this part.