Solid & Hazardous Wastes, Petroleum Tanks and Land Protection

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DEQ protects human health and Virginia’s land and ground water resources while encouraging the reuse of contaminated properties. The agency ensures protection of these resources through proactive regulation of solid and hazardous waste management and facilitates cleanup of contaminated soil and groundwater. The laws listed below describe the mandates required under state environmental laws and the guidance available for compliance with them.

Laws

Laws governing the activities of DEQ’s Land Protection and Revitalization Division are the Virginia Waste Management Act and the State Water Control Law. The Virginia Waste Management Act includes laws relating to solid waste and hazardous waste, transport of hazardous materials, voluntary remediation, regulated medical waste, waste tires, coal combustion by-products and yard waste composting. The State Water Control Law governs aboveground storage tanks (AST) and underground storage tanks (UST).

Pursuant to these statutes, the Virginia Waste Management Board promulgates regulations necessary to carry out the chapter and the applicable federal acts. The State Water Control Board promulgates regulations for aboveground storage tanks and underground storage tanks. Specifically, Article 9 and Article 11 of the State Water Control Law govern underground and aboveground storage tank operations, respectively. Article 11 also addresses discharges that do not originate from storage tanks. Article 10 covers eligibility and disbursement provisions related to the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund.

Guidance is developed by DEQ to assist in the implementation of the laws and regulations.

Regulations

The Virginia Waste Management Board adopts Virginia's waste regulations. The State Water Control Board adopts Virginia's regulations for ASTs and USTs.

Proposed changes to the waste regulations can be tracked though the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website. An agency contact is provided for each regulatory action if you have any questions.

List of waste regulations

A report (a printout of multiple sections of any regulation) can be obtained by going to the below links to the Legislative Information System for each chapter listed in the Virginia Administrative Code (VAC). Once you access the VAC chapter of interest, choose the “create a report” option under that chapter.

Chapter	Description
Chapter 11	Public Participation Guidelines
Chapter 15	Regulation For Dispute Resolution
Chapter 20	Schedule Of Fees For Hazardous Waste Facility Site Certification
Chapter 30	Technical Assistance Fund Administrative Procedures
Chapter 40	Administrative Procedures For Hazardous Waste Facility Site Certification
Chapter 50	Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Criteria
Chapter 60	Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations
Chapter 70	Financial Assurance Regulations For Solid Waste Disposal, Transfer And Treatment Facilities
Chapter 81	Solid Waste Management Regulations
Chapter 85	Coal Combustion Byproduct Regulations
Chapter 90	Solid Waste Management Permit Action Fees And Annual Fees
Chapter 110	Regulations Governing The Transportation Of Hazardous Materials
Chapter 121	Regulated Medical Waste Management Regulations
Chapter 130	Solid Waste Planning And Recycling Regulations
Chapter 150	Waste Tire End User Reimbursement Regulation
Chapter 160	Voluntary Remediation Regulations
Chapter 170	Transportation Of Solid And Medical Wastes On State Waters
Chapter 190	Litter Receptacle Regulations
9VAC15-30	Regulations For The Certification Of Recycling Machinery And Equipment For Local Tax Exemption Purposes
9VAC15-90	Uniform Environmental Covenants Act Regulation

List of tank regulations

Chapter	Description
Chapter 11	Public Participation Guidelines
Chapter 31	Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit Regulation
Chapter 91	Facility and Aboveground Storage Tank Regulation
Chapter 101	Tank Vessel Oil Discharge Contingency Plan and Financial Responsibility Regulation
Chapter 120	VPDES General Permit Regulation for Discharges from Petroleum Contaminated Sites, Groundwater Remediation, and Hydrostatic Tests
Chapter 580	Underground Storage Tanks: Technical Standards and Corrective Action Requirements
Chapter 590	Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Requirements
Chapter 640	Aboveground Storage Tank and Pipeline Facility Financial Responsibility Requirements

Guidance

All regulatory guidance documents are required to be posted on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website and can be found on the Waste Management Board - Guidance Documents page. Guidance related to Petroleum Tanks can be found on the State Water Control Board - Guidance Documents page.

Solid Waste Guidance

The following documents, published on the Virginia Town Hall, are listed here for convenience.

A comprehensive list of all guidance documents that are relevant to Solid Waste Management and Compliance (including the Submission Instructions) is provided on Virginia Regulatory Town Hall here.

Recycling & Litter Prevention

Hazardous Waste Guidance

The following documents are the most commonly requested guidance. For a copy please call Leslie Romanchik at (804) 698-4129 or for a complete list, see the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall.

Draft Hazardous Waste Guidance

Emergency Permits Guidance

Waste Procedure No. 5, Hazardous Waste Emergency Permits, Updated February 16, 2018 – This guidance updates the procedures for issuing Hazardous Waste Emergency Permits and updates the personnel currently authorized to issue emergency permits. (Information requirements associated with issuance of an Emergency Permit are included as attachments.)

Emergency Permits – Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations and the RCRA Regulations – Guidance Summary, dated May 13, 2010 – The purpose of this guidance is to provide a general summary guidance document regarding the regulatory requirements associated with Emergency Permits under the VHWMR under 9 VAC-20-60. This guidance, in particular, addresses the above regulations or “exclusions” regarding the immediate response to suspected presence of military munitions, other explosive material, or an explosive device, which pose an immediate threat to human health, public safety, property, or the environment.

DEQ Correspondence regarding EOD Emergency Response Operations and Emergency Permits, dated March 4, 2011 - This correspondence provides regulatory guidance and clarification of emergency response operations associated with Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) emergency actions or any emergency operations conducted in the Commonwealth of Virginia by the military’s EOD specialists, etc. (Similar letters have been sent to other Military bases with EOD staff.)

Emergency Permit Application – Boilerplate Document, dated February 2018 –This Permit Application Boilerplate Document is to be completed and submitted by the facility to enable the DEQ to issue the written Emergency Permit. (Note that the 18 items in the Attachment of Waste Procedure No. 5, Hazardous Waste Emergency Permits, dated February 16, 2018, should be provided within the Permit Application Boilerplate Document format. Use the list of 18 items in the above Attachment to cross-check the permit application for completeness before submittal to the DEQ.

Remediation Programs

EPA Region 3 provides Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action program guidance documents and other information resources
Risk assessments conducted under the Voluntary Remediation Program generally follow the methodology described in EPA's Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS) and can be tailored to site-specific conditions.
Information and resources on the Superfund program can be found on the EPA Superfund website.

Petroleum Tanks

Below are links to the most requested guidance related to petroleum storage tanks.

Remediation and Technical Guidance

Storage Tank Program Technical Manual. 2011
Storage Tank Program Technical Manual Appendices. 2011
- The volumes below have superseded the referenced sections of the 2011 Technical Manual and Appendices:

Compliance Guidance

Reimbursement Guidance

Other Petroleum Guidance

All DEQ Guidance Documents are posted on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website.

A comprehensive list of all guidance documents that are relevant to UST Technical Standards and Corrective Action is provided on Virginia Regulatory Town Hall here. A comprehensive list of all guidance documents that are relevant to Petroleum Facilities and ASTs is provided on Virginia Regulatory Town Hall here.

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