Step 4.1 Review and Evaluate Regulations and Enforcement for POPs/Hazardous Waste Identification and Transport. 

Review and evaluate the adequacy of existing regulations relating to POPs/hazardous waste definition and identification, packaging and labeling, collection and transport, and recordkeeping and reporting, to make sure there will be full and consistent POPs/hazardous waste identification and that all such waste will be disposed only at permitted HWMFs. Also, review and evaluate monitoring and enforcement of these regulations to determine if they are sufficient to prevent generators and transporters from evading the system and illegally dumping their wastes at uncontrolled sites or at HWMFs that do not have permits or who are out-of-compliance with their permit conditions. 

Step 4.2 Review and Evaluate Procedures for Planning and Approval of Facilities for Thermal Treatment of POPs/Hazardous Wastes.  

Review and evaluate HWMF environmental regulatory requirements that apply during the facility planning and approval stage, and devise a strategy of phased environmental evaluation with the scope and intensity of the evaluation increasing with each subsequent phase of site selection, environmental impact assessment (EIA), and permitting.  Make sure what types and levels of analysis and synthesis are required at each of these developmental stages. 

The US Government, for example, does not specify a particular process for site selection for HWMFs. Rather, it specifies certain criteria relating to the location of such facilities, such as natural hazards (100-year floodplains, seismic hazards, etc.), and leaves the overall siting process to be specified by the states and localities in which the facility will be located.  In addition, under US law, HWMFs are exempt from the formal EIA process, but instead must incorporate relevant environmental information and analyses in their HWMF permit application.  Other countries may have separate requirements and processes for HWMF site selection, EIA and permitting, so the project sponsor must first check with the relevant environmental regulatory authorities. 

In addition to applicable national and local siting, EIA and permitting requirements, major HWMF projects being proposed in developing or transition countries and applying for financing from an international donor, such as the World Bank, will need to comply with that institution’s environmental and social safeguard policies as well. For World Bank projects, this would include, most notably, the requirement for an EIA to be prepared, in accordance with the Bank’s content and format specifications, for any project rated as Category “A”, i.e., likely to have significant environmental impacts.  Further, several of the World Bank’s other Safeguard Policies stipulate locational factors that should be considered in the project sponsor’s facility siting, EIA and permitting processes. These include policies relating to natural habitats, forestry, involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, cultural properties, dam safety, pest management, international waterways, and disputed areas. The safeguard policies of most of the other international donors are very similar to those of the World Bank.  More information on safeguard policies of the international financial institutions can be found on their websites which are provided in Appendix 9.

Step 4.3 Review and Evaluate HWMF Design and Operating Requirements.  

Standards for these project phases vary from place to place.  For example, the US HWMF regulatory system is probably the most prescriptive and complex, relying on a mix of technology, design, emissions, performance, and risk-based standards. 

Step 4.4 Review and Evaluate Closure Requirements

Closure will include dismantling and decontamination of equipment and buildings; treatment or disposal of residual contamination, wastes, and wash waters; and permanent covering, contouring, and revegetation of waste disposal and other site areas.  The regulations may require that the length of the operation period be specified in the permit application, how the closure will be accomplished, and how much closure will cost, and how funds will be set aside from the beginning to pay those costs after the thermal treatment facility ceases to earn revenues.