40 CFR § 258.15 - Unstable areas.

(a) Owners or operators of new MSWLF units, existing MSWLF units, and lateral expansions located in an unstable area must demonstrate that engineering measures have been incorporated into the MSWLF unit's design to ensure that the integrity of the structural components of the MSWLF unit will not be disrupted. The owner or operator must place the demonstration in the operating record and notify the State Director that it has been placed in the operating record. The owner or operator must consider the following factors, at a minimum, when determining whether an area is unstable:

(1) On-site or local soil conditions that may result in significant differential settling;

(2) On-site or local geologic or geomorphologic features; and

(3) On-site or local human-made features or events (both surface and subsurface).

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) Unstable area means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and Karst terranes.

(2) Structural components means liners, leachate collection systems, final covers, run-on/run-off systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation of the MSWLF that is necessary for protection of human health and the environment.

(3) Poor foundation conditions means those areas where features exist which indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of an MSWLF unit.

(4) Areas susceptible to mass movement means those areas of influence (i.e., areas characterized as having an active or substantial possibility of mass movement) where the movement of earth material at, beneath, or adjacent to the MSWLF unit, because of natural or man-induced events, results in the downslope transport of soil and rock material by means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include, but are not limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil fluction, block sliding, and rock fall.

(5) Karst terranes means areas where karst topography, with its characteristic surface and subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terranes include, but are not limited to, sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.