(A) As promptly as possible, the Department shall review the application materials and inform the applicant if additional information is necessary for completing the review.
(B) In reviewing the application, the Department shall consult with and request recommendations from other pertinent agencies.
(1) The content analysis of the sludge sample(s) shall be performed by the State Chemist’s Office or other laboratories as approved by the Department.
(2) For sites at which disposal is proposed on or within the land surface, soils analysis tests shall be performed by the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.
(3) Measures to prevent or control erosion and surface water runoff shall be reviewed by the Garrett Soil Conservation District.
(4) The Department may consult other agencies or make alternative testing arrangements as it deems appropriate.
(C) In reviewing the application, the Department shall consider the following:
(1) Groundwater conditions;
(2) Location and amount of surface water flows;
(3) Location of land subject to flooding;
(4) Depth to bedrock;
(5) Depth to water table;
(6) Length and steepness of slope;
(7) Soil erodibility factor;
(8) Soil permeability, with and without compaction;
(9) Stoniness;
(10) Cation exchange capacity;
(11) Soil reaction;
(12) Schedule of operations as related to climatic factors;
(13) Odors;
(14) Distance to residences or other developed properties;
(15) Haul roads and routes;
(16) Methods of incorporating sludge into the soil;
(17) Monitoring procedures;
(18) Plant nutrients and phytotoxicity effects;
(19) On-site storage facilities and controls;
(20) Containment during transport;
(21) Types, amounts and concentrations of hazardous substances;
(22) Other factors as deemed appropriate.
(D) Where the proposed disposal involves surface application of sewage sludge, the Department’s conditions for approval shall be based upon the Guidelines for Land Application of Digested Sewage Sludge and Composted Sewage Sludge as published from time to time by the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service (see Fact Sheet 336, published 1982-1983), except that the Department may grant exceptions to the standards in the Fact Sheet following consultation with the Cooperative Extension Service. Sludge application rates shall not exceed the rates identified for productive farm land unless evidence satisfactory to the Department is submitted:
(1) To determine the period of time during which there is a risk that dangerous materials might become incorporated into the food chain; and
(2) To assure that during such period:
(a) The land will not be used for crops that are used for forage or for consumption by humans; and
(b) An adequate system of public records and notice will be maintained, including recording among the real property title documents in the custody of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Garrett County, to disclose unmistakably that the land had received sludge at an application rate greater than recommended for food-chain-crop use.
(E) If an application is for proposed sludge disposal by a landfill method, the Department shall not approve a permit unless the applicant has submitted hydrogeologic or other evidence conclusively demonstrating that there will be no contamination of groundwater in any amount exceeding the levels that would reasonably be expected from the surface application of the same sludge material at approvable rates.
(1986 Code, § 253-10) (Ord. —, passed 3-29-1983; Am. Ord. —, passed 11-16-1993)