Waste Management 2015 Annual Report Download - page 74

releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances into the environment that have created actual or
potential environmental hazards. CERCLA’s primary means for addressing such releases is to impose
strict liability for cleanup of disposal sites upon current and former site owners and operators,
generators of the hazardous substances at the site and transporters who selected the disposal site and
transported substances thereto. Liability under CERCLA is not dependent on the intentional release of
hazardous substances; it can be based upon the release or threatened release, even as a result of lawful,
unintentional and non-negligent action, of hazardous substances as the term is defined by CERCLA
and other applicable statutes and regulations. The EPA may issue orders requiring responsible parties
to perform response actions at sites, or the EPA may seek recovery of funds expended or to be
expended in the future at sites. Liability may include contribution for cleanup costs incurred by a
defendant in a CERCLA civil action or by an entity that has previously resolved its liability to federal
or state regulators in an administrative or judicially-approved settlement. Liability under CERCLA
could also include obligations to a potentially responsible party, or PRP, that voluntarily expends site
clean-up costs. Further, liability for damage to publicly-owned natural resources may also be imposed.
We are subject to potential liability under CERCLA as an owner or operator of facilities at which
hazardous substances have been disposed and as a generator or transporter of hazardous substances
disposed of at other locations.
• The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, as amended, known as the Clean Water Act,
regulates the discharge of pollutants into streams, rivers, groundwater, or other surface waters from a
variety of sources, including solid and hazardous waste disposal sites. If run-off from our operations
may be discharged into surface waters, the Clean Water Act requires us to apply for and obtain
discharge permits, conduct sampling and monitoring, and, under certain circumstances, reduce the
quantity of pollutants in those discharges. In 1990, the EPA issued additional standards for
management of storm water runoff that require landfills and other waste-handling facilities to obtain
storm water discharge permits. In addition, if a landfill or other facility discharges wastewater through
a sewage system to a publicly-owned treatment works, the facility must comply with discharge limits
imposed by the treatment works. Also, before the development or expansion of a landfill can alter or
affect “wetlands,” a permit may have to be obtained providing for mitigation or replacement wetlands.
The Clean Water Act provides for civil, criminal and administrative penalties for violations of its
provisions.
• The Clean Air Act of 1970, as amended, provides for increased federal, state and local regulation of the
emission of air pollutants. Certain of our operations are subject to the requirements of the Clean Air Act,
including large municipal solid waste landfills and landfill gas-to-energy facilities. In 1996 the EPA issued
new source performance standards (“NSPS”) and emission guidelines controlling landfill gases from new
and existing large landfills. In January 2003, the EPA issued Maximum Achievable Control Technology
(“MACT”) standards for municipal solid waste landfills subject to the NSPS. These regulations impose
limits on air emissions from large municipal solid waste landfills, subject most of our large municipal solid
waste landfills to certain operating permit requirements under Title V of the Clean Air Act and, in many
instances, require installation of landfill gas collection and control systems to control emissions or to treat
and utilize landfill gas on- or off-site. The EPA entered into a settlement agreement with the Environmental
Defense Fund to evaluate the 1996 NSPS for new landfills as required by the Clean Air Act every eight
years and revise them if deemed necessary. The EPA published a proposed NSPS rule July 17, 2014,
followed by a supplemental proposed NSPS rule and a proposed emission guidelines rule on August 27,
2015. The EPA entered into a consent decree to finalize the NSPS rule in July 2016. The EPA also expects
to finalize the emission guidelines rule in July 2016. Where we identified potential for increased capital and
operating expenses, we provided formal comment and technical support to the EPA to minimize the impact
to our operations. We expect the EPA will address our comments in the final rule. Where the EPA does not
address our comments in the final rule, we will re-assess the capital and operating cost impact to our
operations. Should the EPA adopt more stringent requirements, capital expenditures and operating costs may
increase. However, we do not believe that the regulatory changes would have a material adverse impact on
our business as a whole.
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