(Translation from German original)
FEDERAL LAW GAZETTE
for the Republic of Austria
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Year of 1996Issued on April 10th, 1996Copy 49
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164.Ordinance:LANDFILL ORDINANCE
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164.Ordinance of the Federal Minister for the Environment concerning
deposit of wastes ("LANDFILL ORDINANCE")
It is hereby decreed (i) by the Federal Minister for the Environment, in concordance with the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, on the basis of Art. 11 of the Austrian Waste Management Act ("Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz, AWG"), Fed. Law Gaz. No. 325/1990, most recently amended by Fed. Law Gaz. No. 155/1994, and (ii) by the Federal Minister for the Environment, in concordance with the Federal Minister for Forestry and Agriculture, and the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, on the basis of Arts. 14 and 29 of the Austrian Waste Management Act, as well as (iii) by the Federal Minister for the Environment on the basis of Art. 17 of the Austrian Waste Management Act, as follows:
SECTION I
General Provisions
Scope of Validity
Art. 1
(1)In order to realize the objectives and principles according to Art. 1, Paras. 1 and 2 of the Austrian Waste Management Act ("AWG"), and in order to safeguard public interests in the sense of Art. 1, Para. 3 of the AWG, this Ordinance shall regulate the state-of-the-art outfitting and operation of deposits on landfills according to Arts. 28 and 29 of the AWG.
(2) Not covered within this scope of validity shall be:
1.Underground storage,
2.facilities in which waste is stored, in order to keep it available or prepare it for further transport to another location for purposes of recovery or treatment, and
3.temporary deposit of wastes prior to their recycling or treatment, limited to a period of less than one year.
(3)The party liable in the sense of this Ordinance shall be the landfill operator and, subject to Art. 25, the Head of the Acceptance Inspection Department as well as, subject to Art. 32, the Landfill Supervisor.
Definitions
Art. 2
As they apply to this Ordinance, the terms below shall be defined as follows:
1.A waste charge is a quantity of one specific type of waste which is delivered to a landfill within one calendar day.
2.One type of waste is that belonging to one specific waste owner, and identified by a single identification code (corresponding to e.g. a five-digit code number in accordance with the Austrian Standard ÖNORM S 2100 of the "Waste Catalogue" ["Abfallkatalog"] issued on March 1st, 1990). The chemical composition of such waste must not exceed the normal fluctuation limits for the type of waste concerned.
3.Solidified wastes are those which have been subjected to a treatment process for solidly binding them into a matrix. Wastes can be bound by means of hydraulic, latent-hydraulic, or other binding agents setting in chemical reaction. Furthermore, the term "solidification" means pouring into bitumen, sulphur, thermoplastics, and the like.
4.Demolition waste is a mixture of materials resulting from construction or demolition work, such as materials from excavations, broken-up concrete, torn-up asphalt and mineral construction debris.
5.A landfill is a facility for long-term deposit of wastes.
6.A landfill bottom-sealing system is a technical system to prevent the escape of toxic substances into the subsoil, consisting of the landfill bottom sealing and the bottom drainage system.
7.A landfill area is a site secured by surrounding fencing or natural delimitation, consisting of the landfill body and the installations necessary for the operation of the landfill (e.g. operational building, leachate collecting basin).
8.A landfill body comprises the entirety of placed-in wastes, including technical installations designed for the landfill, such as the landfill bottom-sealing system, the landfill surface cover, and the landfill gas control system, as well as all technical constructions necessary for the stability of the landfill body, such as e.g. border and supporting walls.
9.The rough subgrade of a landfill is an underlying levelled surface on which the landfill body is erected.
10.Landfill leachate is water arising from the landfill body, which collects in the landfill primarily through the penetration of precipitation charged by leaching processes, polluted excess water from wastes with high water content, as well as reaction water accumulated due to decomposition processes.
11.Free landfill leachate discharge occurs, if such water is able to flow off from the landfill body to the atmosphere through the sole influence of gravity at the landfill base.
12.Assessment of waste behavior in a landfill shall in particular include a description of the quality and quantity of the flux of gaseous, liquid and solid substances to be expected upon the deposit of waste, in consideration of detrimental interactions between the wastes permitted for each landfill, and in particular of the leaching processes to be expected due to landfill leachate. In individual cases, an assessment of the geo-technical performance of sludgy, pasty or fine-grained wastes may additionally become necessary.
13.Gas control systems are technical facilities such as e.g. gas-control chimneys, gas wells, gas domes, pipes and regulating facilities for the collection and controlled evacuation of landfill gases.
14.Active de-gassing is the extraction of landfill gases by means of a mechanically created partial vacuum.
15.Area drains are water-permeable, filter-stable layers which collect and draw off leachate.
16.The term zonal permeability is used to designate the water permeability of unconsolidated material or formations thereof resulting from the frequency and size distribution of pore volume.
17.The term rock permeability is used to designate the water permeability of consolidated material or formations thereof, and is composed of the water permeability of the consolidated material itself as well as that of the existing fracture systems.
18.The geogonous structure is the site-specific, native quality (constituent elements) of the earth's crust immediately adjacent.
19.The term confined ground water is used to designate ground water whose ground-water pressure surface is above that of the ground-water surface.
20.Composite sealing systems are those consisting of various sealing materials with mutually supplementary properties.
21.Water quality is established through value-neutral indication of the properties of a body of water, by the application of physical, chemical and biological parameters as well as descriptive definitions.
22.Mineral sealings are artificially built-up sealings consisting of single or multiple compressed-ply layers of inorganic (mineral) soils, supplemented by additives as necessary.
23.Samplings are considered representative if the sample taken demonstrates the same properties as the average of the total waste charge to be assessed. The quantity ratio of the various individual materials must correspond to that of the total waste charge.
24.Leachate pipes are those used for the uptake (suction) and drainage (collection) of the leachate accumulating in the area drain.
25.Tunnel excavations are defined as excavated soil arising in particular from subterranean construction work in consolidated material or formations thereof.
26.Mechanico-biological pre-treatment is defined as a combination of mechanical and biological operating processes used in the pre-treatment of waste. The purpose of the mechanical processes is to separate substances which are rather unsuitable for biological treatment, interfering substances and pollutants, as well as to optimize the biological degradation of remaining wastes by increasing both availability and homogeneity. The purpose of the biological processes is to degrade remaining organic substances to the greatest extent possible (degradation and conversion of biologically degradable substances) by the application of anaerobo-aerobic or aerobic procedures. Mechanico-biologically pre-treated waste is characterized by a marked reduction in volume, water content and gas formation potential, as well as a significant improvement in leaching and settlement behavior.
27.Natural drainage occurs when the water can discharge along the ground surface through the sole influence of gravity.
SECTION II
Types of Landfill
Art. 3
According to this Ordinance, the following types of landfill have been established:
1.Excavated-soil landfill (Art. 4, Para. 1);
2.Demolition-waste landfill (Art. 4, Para. 2);
3.Residual-materials landfill (Art. 4, Para. 3);
4.Mass-waste landfill (Art. 4, Para. 4).
Allocation of Wastes to Specific Landfill Types
Art. 4
(1)Excavated-soil landfills are designed for the authorized disposal of inert waste which meets the requirements indicated in Tables 1 and 2 of Annex 1, with the exception of solidified wastes, asbestos wastes and asbestos cement products.
(2)Demolition-waste landfills are designed for the authorized disposal of inert waste which at least meets the requirements indicated in Tables 3 and 4 of Annex 1, as well as demolition waste in the sense of Annex 2.
(3)Residual-materials landfills are designed for the authorized disposal of waste which at least meets the requirements indicated in Tables 5 and 6 of Annex 1.
(4)Mass-waste landfills are designed for the authorized disposal of waste which at least meets the requirements indicated in Tables 7 and 8 of Annex 1, as well as demolition waste in the sense of Annex 2.
(5)The mixing of waste with other materials or wastes, with the intention of obstructing or impeding requisite examinations, or falling below the limits stipulated in Tables 1 through 8 of Annex 1 solely through the mixing process itself, is not permitted. The authorized combined treatment of different wastes in a processing plant shall not be considered as a mixing process in the sense of this Ordinance.
SECTION III
Waste Quality and Inspection upon Acceptance
Prohibition of Waste Disposal in Landfills
Art. 5
The disposal of the following types of waste is forbidden:
1.Sludgy, pasty or fine-grained waste, to the extent that the operational capability of the landfill's bottom-drainage system could be impaired, or the stability of the landfill body cannot be guaranteed;
2.Liquid wastes, with the exception of re-circulated landfill leachate;
3.Wastes which are to be assessed as explosive, oxidizing or highly flammable;
4.Gases under pressure;
5.Substances which react violently upon contact with water;
6.Infectious waste from hospitals or other medical or veterinary institutions according to Directive 91/689/EEC concerning dangerous wastes (Quality H9 according to Annex 3), Official Gazette No. L377 dated December 31st, 1991, as well as wastes according to Category 14 of Annex 1.A of said Directive.
7.Wastes containing more than 5 percent by weight of organic carbon (TOC); excepted therefrom shall be
a)wastes solidified with synthetics or bitumen with respect to the solidifying medium;
b)wastes contaminated with asbestos fibres which are stored in separated cells of mass-waste landfills;
c)Wastes containing carbon which originates from unburnt elemental carbon, coal or coke, as long as it does not consist of charged activated coal or charged activated coke;
d)Demolition waste according to Annex 2;
e)Earth and soil under observance of Annex 1;
f)Wastes from mechanico-biological pre-treatment which are stored in separated cells of mass-waste landfills, to the extent that the combustion value (upper calorific value) of these wastes, determined from the dry substance, does not exceed 6,000 kJ/kg. The mixing of wastes from mechanico-biological pre-treatment with materials or wastes of low calorific value, in order to meet the above-mentioned limit, is not permitted.
8.Wastes which are not in compliance with the requirements of Art. 4;
9.Wastes which are deemed undisposable on the basis of the results of a comprehensive assessment;
10.Wastes specified in the Catalog according to Art. 1, Para. 4 of the Directive 91/689/EEC concerning hazardous wastes, unless proof can be submitted in the sense of Art. 6, Para. 2, Sec. 4 that these wastes display no hazardous properties according to Annex 3 of the Directive 91/689/EEC concerning dangerous wastes.
Comprehensive Assessment of Wastes
Art. 6
(1)The disposal of waste shall only be permitted if a comprehensive assessment corresponding to Paras. 2 through 8 concerning these wastes is available, unless otherwise stipulated in Art. 7.
(2)The comprehensive assessment must include:
1.A description of the waste according to Annex 4;
2.An evaluation concerning the permissibility of disposal in the relevant landfill in consideration of (i) Art. 4 (Allocation of Wastes to Specific Landfill Types, including the observance of limits for total pollutant contents as well as pollutant contents of the eluate according to Annex I), and (ii) Art. 5 (Interdiction of Disposal Above Ground) as well as (iii) the behavior of the waste in the landfill to be expected. With respect to sludgy, pasty or fine-grained wastes, the geo-technical reaction processes must be taken into consideration in individual cases;
3.Statement of any necessary pre-treatment measures for the purpose of safeguarding public interests according to Art. 1, Para. 3 of the Austrian Waste Management Act (AWG);
4.Evidence that the waste displays no hazardous properties upon disposal according to Directive 91/689/EEC concerning dangerous wastes. The evaluation of Criteria H 1 through H 3 and H 12 through H 14 of the Directive concerning hazardous wastes is included in the assessment according to Sec. 2. For those wastes stipulated in the Catalog according to Art. 1, Para. 4 of the Directive 91/689/EEC concerning hazardous wastes, a supplementary assessment is to be undertaken, to establish whether risks according to Criteria H 4 through H 11 arise from these wastes under landfill conditions.
(3)The comprehensive assessment is to be drawn up by an authorized expert or specialized institution no earlier than four months prior to the date of acceptance inspection.
(4)In each case, the comprehensive assessment must be based on a chemical analysis, unless a representative sampling is not possible. The sampling is to be carried out by the same authorized expert, specialized institution or its personnel who/which performs the comprehensive assessment. Most of the analyses necessary for the comprehensive assessment must be carried out by such expert, specialized institution or its personnel. Annex 5 shall be applicable.
(5)The scope of the chemical analysis must include the parameters indicated in Annex 6, unless it can be reliably assumed on the basis of the origin or type of waste that these are only present in negligible quantities and are of no significance to the landfill's reaction processes; parameters not taken into consideration are to be documented. Should it be necessary to obtain knowledge of other parameters for the assessment of the landfill's reaction processes, such parameters are to be specified. Wastes of unknown origin or with insufficient waste description must be subjected to an analysis, under inclusion of at least all the parameters according to Annex 6.
(6)If it is to be assumed that, on the basis of available information (origin, place of origin, constituent substances of the waste, etc.), the waste contains atypical contamination, quantities of pollutant compounds harmful to the environment, such as e.g. PCB, dioxin, organic phosphorus compounds or pesticides, these substances are to be specified. The result of the analysis must be included in the comprehensive assessment.
(7)Should a representative sampling not be possible due to the inhomogeneity of the waste, the comprehensive assessment is to be performed on the basis of literary data and empirical values, including sufficient substantiation.
(8)The assessment bases, such as the results of chemical analysis in particular, are to be attached to the comprehensive assessment. A form as indicated in Annex 6 is to be used for the presentation of all results of analysis.
Special Provisions concerning the comprehensive assessment
Art. 7
(1)Within the scope covered by the following provisions, a comprehensive assessment is not necessary upon
1.the disposal of altogether not more than a total of 500 kg of wastes by a single waste-owner on demolition waste, residual materials or mass-waste landfills within a period of four months, to the extent that, on the basis of available information and visual inspection, the presence of hazardous contamination in such waste can be ruled out. The total quantity disposed of according to this provision must not exceed 0.5 percent by weight of the entire wastes disposed of in each landfill concerned. A description of the waste according to Annex 4 is, however, necessary.
2.the disposal of altogether not more than a total of 15 t of waste by a single waste-owner on demolition waste, residual materials or mass-waste landfills within a period of one year, to the extent that
(a)the type, origin and place of origin of each lot of waste are definitely known, a description of waste according to Annex 4 is submitted, and no indications as to atypical contamination in the waste have been established;
(b)the relevant limits as stipulated in Annex I for each individual type of waste cannot be exceeded;
(c)the waste owner confirms in writing his compliance with the quantity threshold of 15 t;
(d)the waste owner expressly consents that an examination of the waste and of the relevant documentation according to Art. 14 of the Austrian Waste Management Act be undertaken on site according to Sec. e; and
(e)the landfill operators verify the compliance with the requirements according to Secs. a through c at regular intervals, however, at least once per year.
The wastes exempted from the comprehensive assessment according to Secs. 1, 3 and 4 need not be considered for purposes of compliance with the quantity threshold.
3.disposal of altogether not more than a total of 750 t of excavated soil (with the exception of tunnel-excavated materials) by a single waste owner on excavated-soil, demolition waste or mass-waste landfills, to the extent that
(a)the materials accumulated by excavation or clearance of essentially naturally grown soil or subsoil from a single construction project do not exceed a total of 750 t;
(b)a contamination with substances harmful to the environment cannot occur; and
(c)the portion of demolition waste in the sense of Annex 2 does not exceed 5 percent by volume.
4.the disposal of demolition waste according to Annex 2 on demolition waste or mass-waste landfills, to the extent that a contamination with substances harmful to the environment cannot occur.
(2)Furthermore, unless exceptions exist in the sense of Para. 1, the following provisions are applicable to the comprehensive assessment of excavated soil:
1.At least 1 sample for each 1,500 t or portion thereof must be taken for chemical analysis.
2.If the comprehensive assessment is undertaken prior to the commencement of excavation or clearance activity, the party undertaking the comprehensive assessment may reduce the number of samples for chemical analysis to one for each 7,500 t or portion thereof. In this case, the place where each individual sampling has been taken must be documented on a sampling grid and enclosed in the comprehensive assessment. The result of the chemical analysis for each individual place of sampling is to be included. The documentation must be submitted to the Head of the Acceptance Inspection Department prior to the first delivery to the landfill site. At the time of the delivery to the landfill site, the comprehensive assessment must not be more than two years old.