(A) An applicant for such a permit shall prepare and file a hazardous waste permit application with the Board of Commissioners for any hazardous waste or low-level radioactive waste facility. The applicant shall submit to the county two copies of all information required by federal and state agencies for the facility for which it requests a county permit at the same time such information is submitted to the state and federal governments except facilities already located in the county which shall file such documents when they initiate the application process. The review procedure shall not begin, nor shall the application be designated as complete, until such time as all required data are submitted and the appropriate fees are paid, or suitable arrangements for payment have been approved by the Board of Commissioners. Where information required by divisions (B), (C), and (D) below and § 91.09 is included in documents submitted to federal and state agencies, such information need not be restated for the county permit; however, additional information as to how these items directly impact the county, as well as cross-references to state and federal documents, shall be included.
(B) The application shall contain at least the following information:
(1) A description of the applicant, full information on its financial capability, and a detailed history of all its past activities in the field of hazardous and low-level radioactive waste management, including a synopsis of each facility it or any subsidiary, affiliate, or parent corporation has operated at any time within ten years next preceding the application;
(2) Evidence of liability insurance including environmental impairment liability insurance to cover the proposed operation and a history of any claims against the company at any site, including the applicant and all subsidiaries and affiliates including the parent corporation of the applicant, within the last ten years;
(3) Justification for, and anticipated benefits from, the project;
(4) A description of the scope of the proposed project, including a schedule of how much and what kinds of hazardous or low-level radioactive material the facility will accept, where the material will come from, what pretreatment will be required of wastes unacceptable to the facility without such pretreatment, and how long the facility is expected to operate;
(5) The estimated project costs, including information on the construction costs for the facility, the yearly site operation expenses, and an estimate of the costs for the lifetime of the project;
(6) The proposed method of financing the project, including development, operation, and closure stages with information concerning financial commitments;
(7) The proposed number of employees and types and positions, including information on the training and experience required for each position, salary ranges for each position, and safety precautions to be undertaken;
(8) The anticipated date to begin construction;
(9) The anticipated date to begin operation;
(10) A detailed estimate of the types and amounts of all local government services needed each year by the facility;
(11) A description of emergency procedures and safety and security precautions that will be in place at the facility; (This information should include details on emergency assistance that will be required from the surrounding community.)
(12) A description of the environmental protection measures to be taken by the applicant to prevent contamination in and around the facility and a description of planned monitoring systems, with an estimated annual budget for each of these items for a period of not less than five years;
(13) A description of environmental protection measures to be used during transportation of materials to and from the facility, with an estimated annual budget for these arrangements and an estimate of the volume of material to be transported during each year of the facility’s operation;
(14) A description of the site closure plan for the facility, the anticipated date of closure, and an estimate of the site closure costs; and
(15) A description of anticipated need for post-closure care.
(C) A map or maps attached to the application shall include, but are not limited to, the following information:
(1) Ownership.
(a) Name, address, and telephone number of legal owner, and his or her agent, of the real estate sought to be used;
(b) Name, address, and telephone number of each professional person responsible for design and for surveys;
(c) Description of any existing legal right(s)-of-way or easement affecting the property; and
(d) Reference to existing restrictive covenants on the property, if any.
(2) Description. Location of property by tax map and parcel number. The deed book and page reference or other evidence of title of the current owner;
(3) Features. Each map shall contain the following information:
(a) The map shall be drawn to a scale of not less than 200 feet per inch;
(b) A regional location or vicinity sketch map to a scale of no less than one inch to one mile showing the relationship of the project site to the surrounding area;
(c) Graphic scale, date, approximate north arrow, legend;
(d) The location of property in relation to adjoining property and streets, the names of all adjacent property and streets, or the names of all developments located within one mile of the proposed site. The name and address of adjoining property owners according to county tax records;
(e) Zoning classification of proposed project and adjacent property;
(f) The location of all boundary lines of the property;
(g) The total acreage of land in the project in Chatham County and any other county if applicable;
(h) The location of existing and/or platted streets, easements, buildings, (including mobile homes), railroads, parks, cemeteries, bridges, sewers, water mains, culverts, water wells, and gas and electric lines;
(I) The location of water bodies, watercourses (including sinkholes, dry stream beds, and pond overflow streams), groundwater aquifers, springs, and other pertinent features;
(j) The location and width of all existing and proposed street right(s)-of-way and easements, and other public ways;
(k) The location, dimensions, and acreage of all property proposed to be set aside for various uses on the applicant’s property;
(l) The location of all test wells and borings;
(m) The location of the 100-year flood plain, flood of record, standard project flood, and inundation due to a dam break; and
(n) A geologic map shall be prepared by a competent geologist at the same scale as the project site map showing all surface and subsurface geologic and geo-hydrologic features and potential geologic hazards that are pertinent to determining the desirability of granting a permit. Said map shall include, but not be limited to:
1. The location of faults, dikes, and sills;
2. The location, attitude, and trend of joints and fractures;
3. The location of present and former borrow pits mines, shaft adits, and quarries;
4. Identification and location of any mineral resources potentially made non-recoverable by reference to technology then economically feasible, by the proposed facility;
5. Identification of bedrock type and strike and dip of any mappable bedding;
6. The depth and degree of weathering (saprolite);
7. Identification and location of clay as to thickness, type, and permeability; and/or
8. The location of the water table as to approximate depth, gradient, and surface configuration.
(4) Topographic map. A topographic map with contour interval not more than five feet, at the same scale as the project site map. The date and method of preparing the topographic survey shall be stated. This map shall also show:
(a) The location of all boundary lines of the property;
(b) The approximate location of water bodies, watercourses, (including sinkholes, dry stream beds, and pond overflow streams), all land within the 100-year flood plain, and other pertinent features;
(c) The approximate location of all test wells and borings; and
(d) The location of all water wells and springs, whether used or unused, of whatever construction, on the property and within 1,000 feet of the perimeter of the property.
(5) Transportation map. A map showing proposed transportation routes to and from the proposed facility, including the location of schools, emergency, law enforcement, and hospital facilities in the county and each adjoining county through which a transportation route passes. An estimate of the volume of material to be transported over each route during a specific time frame shall also be given.
(D) Because each facility is unique, the Board of Commissioners may require additional information including, but not limited to, that mentioned below to complete the application:
(1) Contaminant flow to water table including leachate monitoring, collecting and withdrawal systems, clay and synthetic liners, (extra thickness, multiple liners), spill prevention and containment measures;
(2) Contaminant movement with groundwater, including groundwater monitoring systems at the site and in potentially affected areas; subsurface slurry wall barriers’ controls on other groundwater withdrawals in area;
(3) Predictability of contaminant movement, based on preconstruction soil borings and groundwater modeling;
(4) Potential affect on surface waters; planned collection systems for surface water runoff; planned exclusion systems for surface water run-on;
(5) Potential affect on aquifers; planned provisions for alternate water supply systems and facilities for immediate pumping and treatment of contaminated water;
(6) Potential affect on public water supplies; planned runoff collection and treatment and provisions for alternate supply systems;
(7) Possibility of site flooding; planned special facility design, special control dikes, and buffer zone setback in area of standard project flood area;
(8) Potential human exposure to treated wastewater, including planned safety procedures, clothing, instruction, and practice for employees, planned oversized or redundant treatment capacity, effluent monitoring, and automatic shutdown systems;
(9) Nature and predictability of pollution movement, including planned stack height for incinerators, with continuous stack and plume monitoring and recording until emission levels are predictable; planned segregation of incompatible wastes;
(10) Potential human exposure to air pollution, including planned pollution control equipment, special combustion monitoring and automatic shutdown systems and special air monitoring arrangements;
(11) Safety of transportation route, including evacuation and rerouting plans, planned training of emergency fire and medical personnel and local institutional support arrangements; planned training and certification of truck drivers and other waste handling personnel and truck safety features;
(12) Potential for noise impact, including limitations on hours for delivery and muffler installation;
(13) Potential for impact on environmentally significant lands, planned bonding, insurance, financial responsibility, and monitoring;
(14) Proximity to residential areas or sensitive sites, including planned purchase of buffer zones on adjacent lands, reduction in facility size, and distance limitation between similar facilities;
(15) Compatibility with existing land uses, including orientation and layout of site plans, planned buffer zone setback from use area to facility owner’s exterior property line, referred to as minimum interior buffer setback; planned aesthetic design of facility, and landscaping;
(16) Compatibility with land use plans;
(17) Impact on existing or future economic activity, including predicted tax base expansion and privilege license tax;
(18) Potential for earthquake activity, including special facility design and evacuation plans to deal with such occurrences; and
(19) Post-use problems, including bonding, liability, financial responsibility and monitoring community and environmental health.
(E) A designee of the Board of Commissioners shall compile copies of all reports, applications, minutes of Advisory Board meetings, reports by consultants, and similar material. These shall be placed in one location, readily available to the public.
(F) (1) Upon receipt of an application submitted pursuant to this section the Board of Commissioners may deny the same or refer it to the Advisory Board. Upon receipt of an application referred to it by the Board of Commissioners, the Advisory Board shall, within 45 days, schedule, advertise in local newspapers, and conduct a public meeting. At this meeting, the applicant shall present a summary of the application, and the public shall have the opportunity to raise questions and concerns. Relevant written and oral questions may be submitted for the applicant’s response during the meeting.
(2) Each application shall be analyzed by the county, and if desirable, by such consultants as are directed by the Board of Commissioners. Said analysis shall be completed within 120 days of the date the application is determined to be complete unless said time is extended by the Board of Commissioners. The applicant may request the Board of Commissioners to grant additional time for responding to staff and consultant requests for additional information on a completed application.
(3) County staff and each consultant shall make interim reports on the progress of their analysis of the application to the Advisory Board at its meetings, and they shall make a final report within 30 days of the completion of the analysis.
(G) Upon receipt of the final report, the Board of Commissioners shall call a public hearing for public comment on the completed application along with the analysis by the county staff and consultants. The purpose of this hearing shall be for public review of the application. The staff shall give notice by regular mail of the time and place of the hearing to the owner and adjacent property owners depicted upon applicant’s map. Said notice shall be mailed not less than 14 days prior to the hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be posted by applicant on the proposed facility property and on each and every roadway of access not less than 14 days prior to the date of hearing. Said posted notices shall be of intervals of not greater than 1,500 feet. All such notices shall be posted as directed by the county’s designee. Notice shall also be placed by the applicant in a newspaper of general circulation in the county not less than 14 days prior to the hearing.
(H) Within 45 days after receipt of the final analysis, completed application, and public comment, the Advisory Board shall make a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners in open session whether to approve the application, deny it, or approve it with modifications. However, before making a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners to approve the proposal or approve it with modifications, the Advisory Board shall make the following determinations:
(1) That the construction and operation of the facility will not pose an unreasonable health or environmental risk to the surrounding locality;
(2) That the applicant (or facility operator) has the capability and financial resources to construct, operate, and maintain the facility;
(3) That the applicant or operator has taken or consented in writing to take any and all reasonable measures to comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations and ordinances;
(4) That the applicant’s plan represents the best available technology for handling the wastes for which the applicant will be permitted; and
(5) That the facility operator has demonstrated financial capabilities for site operations and site closure.
(I) The Board of Commissioners shall review the recommendation of the Advisory Board and make its final determination in writing within 45 days of receipt of the recommendation of the Advisory Board or from the date of the permit decision by state or federal agencies, whichever is latest. The Board of Commissioners shall make the findings listed in division (H) above before approving or conditionally approving the application. If the Board of Commissioners conditionally approve the application, the applicant shall submit a written agreement to all conditions specified in such approval within 60 days from the date of the approval or such approval shall be invalid.
(J) A permit shall be valid for no more than 18 months from the date it is granted by the Board of Commissioners unless the applicant begins construction of the facility within said period and continues to construct or operate the facility according to specified conditions. If a permit becomes invalid for reasons outlined in this division (J) and the applicant wishes to construct or operate the facility, it shall follow the procedures set forth in this section or § 91.07 and pay the filing fee specified in § 91.08.
(Ord. passed 6-4-1984) Penalty, see § 91.99