Sec. 46.03.100. - Waste management, disposal, and discharge authorization.
(a) A person may not construct, modify, or operate a sewerage system or treatment works or take any action that results in the disposal or discharge of solid or liquid waste material or heated process or cooling water into the waters or onto the land of the state without prior authorization from the department.
(b) Prior authorization may be provided by the department, in its discretion, through one or a combination of the following:
(1) an individual permit issued for a specific facility or disposal activity;
(2) a general permit issued on a statewide, regional, or other geographical basis for a category of disposal activities that the commissioner, using information available when the permit is developed, determines are similar in nature and will comply with applicable environmental quality standards established under this title;
(3) regulations adopted by the department authorizing a category of disposal without requiring a permit and establishing specific siting or operational requirements, discharge limits, or best management practices for the disposal category;
(4) designation and approval of a plan as described under (c) of this section;
(5) an integrated waste management and disposal authorization as described in (d) of this section.
(c) The department may require the submission of plans for review and written approval before construction, extension, installation, modification, or operation of a publicly or privately owned or operated sewerage system or treatment works. If the sewerage system or treatment works is designed to prevent disposal from the system or works outside of containment under normal operating conditions, the department may designate that the plan approval constitutes the authorization required under (a) of this section.
(d) The department may issue an integrated waste management and disposal authorization covering multiple related or unrelated waste management or disposal activities to be conducted at a facility, including generation, treatment, storage, and disposal of solid or liquid waste. An integrated waste management and disposal authorization may include the authorizations in (b) and (c) of this section and a water-quality-related certification required by 33 U.S.C. 1341 for the discharge of dredged or fill materials or of pollutants to surface waters from point sources.
(e) This section does not apply to
(1) a person discharging only domestic sewage into a publicly owned treatment works;
(2) disposals subject to regulation under AS 31.05.030 (e)(2);
(3) injection projects permitted under AS 31.05.030 (h);
(4) discharges of solid or liquid waste material or water discharges from the following activities if the discharge is incidental to the activity and the activity does not produce a discharge from a point source, as that term is defined in regulations adopted under this chapter, into any waters of the United States:
(A) mineral drilling, trenching, ditching, and similar activities;
(B) landscaping;
(C) water well drilling and geophysical drilling; or
(D) drilling, ditching, trenching, and similar activities associated with facility construction and maintenance or with road or other transportation facility construction and maintenance; however, the exemption provided by this subparagraph does not relieve a person from obtaining a prior authorization under this section if the drilling, ditching, trenching, or similar activity will involve the removal of the groundwater, stormwater, or wastewater runoff that has accumulated and is present at an excavation site for facility, road, or other transportation construction or maintenance and a prior authorization is otherwise required by this section;
(5) bilge pumping, unless the bilge product pumped may be expected to yield an oily sludge, emulsion, or sheen on the surface of any water of the state;
(6) cooling water discharges from a boat or vessel into any surface water of the state; or
(7) the firing or other use of munitions in training activities conducted on active ranges, including active ranges operated by the United States Department of Defense or a United States military agency, unless it results in a discharge into waters of the United States.
(f) A person who applies for an authorization to operate a solid waste disposal facility that accepts hazardous waste or a mining waste disposal facility for an operation that chemically processes ores or has the potential to generate acid shall furnish to the department proof of financial responsibility to manage and close the facility in a manner that the department finds will control or minimize the risk of the release of unauthorized levels of pollutants from the facility to waters. The department may require that a municipal solid waste disposal facility furnish proof of financial responsibility. Proof of financial responsibility may be demonstrated by self-insurance, insurance, surety bond, corporate guarantee, letter of credit, certificate of deposit, or other proof of financial responsibility approved by the department, under regulations adopted by the department. Regulations adopted under this subsection must set financial tests for the acceptance of corporate guarantees and other forms of financial responsibility that the department determines would be required for an independent showing of financial capability. For a mining waste disposal facility, the department may accept as adequate to satisfy the requirement of this subsection financial assurance for reclamation provided to a state or federal land management agency if it otherwise meets the requirements of this subsection. The department's acceptance of proof of financial responsibility under this subsection expires
(1) one year after its issuance for self-insurance, unless the department accepts a renewal of the same self-insurance demonstration after a financial review under regulations adopted by the department;
(2) on the effective date of a change in the insurance agreement, surety bond, corporate guarantee, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit;
(3) on the expiration or cancellation of the insurance agreement, surety bond, corporate guarantee, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit.
(g) A person who applies for a solid waste disposal authorization under this section, except for an authorization under (b)(2) of this section or an authorization to dispose of municipal solid waste, shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the applicant has reasonably considered all solid waste management options and that the authorization would be consistent with the practices and priorities established under AS 46.06.021 .
(h) The program developed to issue permits by the department to authorize discharge of pollutants into surface waters and submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for approval under 33 U.S.C. 1342 (sec. 402, Clean Water Act) shall include the monitoring and reporting requirements included in the permits, limited to those requirements authorized by law, including 33 U.S.C. 1318 (sec. 308, Clean Water Act), and any legal settlements, and those necessary to ascertain compliance with the effluent limitations contained in the permit and with state water quality standards.
(i) A person who applies for a permit under the program may review and provide comments and amendments to a draft permit and discuss the draft permit with the staff of the department before that draft permit undergoes public notice and comment under AS 46.03.110 .
(j) A person who applies for a permit under the program has the opportunity to review a proposed final permit and discuss it with the staff of the department before the department issues the permit.
(k) A permit issued under the program is not automatically stayed by the filing of a request for an adjudicatory hearing on the permit; a request to stay a permit issued under the program shall be decided by the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.
(l) Permits issued under this section shall be issued as expeditiously as possible.
(m) For purposes of the permit program authorized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under 33 U.S.C. 1342 (sec. 402, Clean Water Act), "waste material" includes pollutants, as defined in 33 U.S.C. 1362(6) (sec. 502(6), Clean Water Act).