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Section 2
BWM MISSION & GOALS
2.1 Mission Statement
The mission of BWM is to protect public health and environmental quality from problems
associated with the generation, storage, treatment, and disposal of various forms of hazardous and
solid wastes. The bureau develops technical guidance for the regulated community, conducts
inspections of waste management facilities to evaluate compliance with applicable state/federal
waste management laws and regulations, and initiates enforcement actions to bring violators into
compliance with laws or regulations.
In addition to these regulatory activities, the bureau performs a variety of technical assistance
services. Staff members conduct workshops and seminars to inform the regulated community of
changes in the laws and regulations, prepare and distribute informational brochures that explain
program requirements, and identify environmental services available to the private sector. Staff
members also administer grant programs designed to promote the reduction, reuse or recycling of
waste, and assist county governments in the revision and implementation of solid waste
management plans for handling and disposal of municipal refuse.
BWM also oversees “Keep It Clean Kansas,” a multi-year statewide solid waste public education
and awareness program designed to influence citizen participation in local waste management
programs for waste reduction, recycling, and good disposal practices.
2.2 Historical Overview
The solid waste management functions of BWM were established in 1970 by K.S.A. 65-3401 et
seq., the Solid Waste Management Act, which provided for planning and regulation of solid waste
storage, collection, transportation and disposal systems in Kansas cities and counties. The key
element in the 1970 Act was the requirement that each county in the state develop a solid waste
management plan, which place the counties into a role which had traditionally been assumed by
the individual towns and cities. Many of these towns and cities had not taken measures to manage
solid waste in an effective and environmentally safe fashion due to small populations and
inadequate resources.
The Solid Waste Management Act marked the first official recognition that solid waste
management was an important environmental concern in Kansas. The solid waste management
systems operated by the counties were, for the most part, oriented towards the management of
mixed municipal refuse. The department, in reviewing solid waste management plans and the
implementation of these plans, recognized that there were significant amounts of non-municipal
waste produced by commercial and industrial operations that were managed outside the traditional
system by the producers of the wastes. These wastes often presented unique management
problems, which indicated that they should be managed outside the traditional system of disposal
in the municipal landfill, or publicly owned treatment works. In 1977, the department requested
that the Kansas legislature amend the Solid Waste Management Act to provide for the
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classification of certain solid wastes into a category designated as hazardous wastes. In the same
year, the legislature amended K.S.A. 65-3401 et seq. to require that the agency secretary adopt
administrative regulations governing the handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste and
to establish criminal penalties for violations of the Solid Waste Management Act.
As part of the implementation of the Kansas Water Quality Management Plan, the 1979 Kansas
legislature amended K.S.A. 65-3401 et seq. to broaden the authority of the Department’s Secretary
in relation to long-term care of hazardous waste sites. This authority was incorporated into the
Solid Waste Management Act and the Act was renamed the Solid and Hazardous Waste Act. In
1981 the legislature created a new Hazardous Waste Act (K.S.A. 65-3430 et seq.) by extracting
portions from the Solid and Hazardous Waste Act and adding new sections. The existing Solid
and Hazardous Waste Act was amended to become the Solid Waste Act. Technical amendments
were made to the Solid Waste Act and significant changes were also made to the Hazardous Waste
Act. The result of the 1981 amendments was the formation of separate solid and hazardous waste
management programs within KDHE. The revised solid waste program now functions with a
separate set of administrative regulations designed primarily for long-term management of solid
waste with renewed emphasis on resource recovery as a solid waste management option.
In 1984 and 1985, the legislature amended the Hazardous Waste Act to provide statutory
equivalency to enable Kansas to pursue authorization from the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to operate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
hazardous waste management program. In 1984 the legislature enacted a prohibition on
underground burial of hazardous waste and lowered the quantity of waste at which hazardous
waste generators are regulated from 100 kilograms per month to 25 kilograms per month. The
1985 legislature imposed additional statutory constraints upon the utilization of injection wells for
hazardous waste disposal.
The 1986 legislature created the small quantity hazardous waste collection program (as a pilot
project), amended the Hazardous Waste Act to provide equivalency with the Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments passed by the 1984 Congress, and gave KDHE statutory authority to issue
permits to commercial facilities that treat, store or dispose of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The 1989 legislature began funding a Household Hazardous Waste Program that administers a
grant fund for local units of government. These grants are used to encourage cities and counties
to develop household hazardous waste programs. The Department administers the grant program
and oversees the collection of these wastes.
The 1990 legislature addressed the disposal of waste vehicle tires through K.S.A. 65-3424. This
bill established a system of permits for waste tire processing facilities and permits for waste tire
collectors and collection centers. The bill required the secretary of KDHE to establish standards
for waste tire processing facilities, waste tire collection centers, and waste tire collectors. The bill
also established a tax imposed on the retail sale of new tires, the proceeds of which are credited to
the Waste Tire Management Fund. The bill also required the Department’s Secretary to establish
a grant program for cities and counties. The grants were to be used for enforcing laws relating to
collection and disposal of tires, encouraging recycling of tires, developing management plans for
collection, recycling, and disposal of tires, and funding the research and development for recycling
and use of waste tires. K.S.A. 65-3424 was not implemented effectively during fiscal year (FY)
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1991 due to technical issues in the bill as passed, and inadequate first-year resources. The law was
amended during the 1991 legislative session to correct these problems and the tire program was
established during FY 1992.
In 1991, EPA revised the method used by industries to determine whether wastes are classified as
hazardous wastes. This change caused industries to evaluate all wastes that they generated to
ensure that hazardous wastes were properly identified and managed.
The 1992 legislature passed House Bill 2801 which provided for significant changes to the existing
solid waste program. Many of these changes resulted from the need to maintain consistency with
federal solid waste regulations [Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Part 258]
promulgated by EPA in August of 1991. Several of the key changes in House Bill 2801 included:
redefining the local solid waste management planning process; requiring a civil and criminal
background check of applicants for solid waste permits; increasing the administrative penalty
authority for violations of the solid waste law from $500 to $5,000; providing the Secretary the
authority to increase application and renewal fees; and establishing a solid waste tonnage fee of
$1.50/ton on all solid wastes disposed on land. The latter is perhaps the most significant change
of House Bill 2801. The monies generated from the tonnage fee enabled KDHE to develop a solid
waste management program able to face the challenges presented by the federal Subtitle D
regulations and to implement the provisions of House Bill 2801.
The 1993 legislature passed House Bill 2428, which primarily addresses two areas in the solid
waste program. The bill required that KDHE report to the legislature on or before January 20th of
each year any rules or regulations that exceed federal requirements. Also, any more stringent
regulations adopted by KDHE cannot become effective until 45 days after the next ensuing session
of the legislature. House Bill 2428 also provided much needed clarification as to the applicability
of the $1.50 per ton fee on solid waste. Several wastes, which are exempt from the fee, were
specifically identified in the bill. In July 1995 K.S.A. 65-3415b was amended to change the tipping
fee to $1.00 per ton.
The passage of House Bill 2226 in April 1997 added “industrial waste” to definition of
“reclamation facility” to encourage recycling of industrial waste materials such as waste oil filters
and fluorescent lamps. This amendment to KSA 65-3402 made it clear that “industrial wastes”
were not “recyclables” and processing industrial wastes to produce recyclables in the state of
Kansas required a solid waste processing permit. Facilities that had once managed industrial waste
as recyclables were now required to obtain a permit for those solid waste processing activities. In
May 1997 the BWM published policy 97-01 to establish the annual permit renewal fee for a
reclamation facility at $1000 and allow variances to the permit fee provided there is adequate
demonstration that the fee diminishes the ability of a facility to operate a reclamation program.
In December 1999, a Kansas Division of Environment inter-bureau agreement between BWM,
BAR, and BEFS was published in response to the USEPA’s Hazardous Waste Combustion (HWC)
MACT rulemaking In September 1999. The promulgation of new federal regulations under the
Title V air permitting program allow facilities to meet regulatory compliance under either program,
RCRA Hazardous Waste or Title V of the clean air act. The inter-bureau agreement established
guidance for coordination between BWM, BAR, and BEFS as an interim measure prior to the
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adoption of 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart EEE under K.A.R. 28-19-750 by the BAR in June 1999. The
BWM provided oversight for the comprehensive and confirmatory tests associated with HWC
emissions, until the BAR assumed all oversight responsibilities for HWC MACT compliance
standards among permitted hazardous waste burners in Kansas.
In 1999 the BWM amended K.A.R. 28-29-3 definitions and added K.A.R. 28-29-25a through
K.A.R. 28-29-25f regulations for various composting activities. Regulations for small yard waste
composting sites, yard waste composting facilities, manure composting, dead animal composting,
source-separated composting, and solid waste composting were published to establish rules and
regulations to allow composting of organic materials that would otherwise end up in Kansas
landfills. The regulations establish minimal standards of operations for composting facilities to be
protective of public health and the environment.
In 2000 the BWM published new household hazardous waste (HHW) regulations containing HHW
management requirements for HHW collection facilities. These regulations were established to
prevent the disposal of hazardous waste in Kansas solid waste landfills by requiring all HHW
determined to be unsuitable for reuse, to be manifested and disposed of as hazardous waste. The
requirement for manifesting also prevents the incineration of certain waste containing dioxin or
dioxin forming compounds at facilities not permitted nor designed to control release of hazardous
substances to the environment. The regulation establishes requirements for containment, storage,
recordkeeping, and training.
In 2007 the BWM added and amended waste tire regulations to address the changes in the waste
tire statutes. The statutory changes included addition of the specific definition of “beneficial use”
for waste tires under K.S.A. 65-3424, requirements for mosquito control under K.S.A. 65-3424b,
requirements for waste tire transporters under K.S.A. 65-3424a, and revisions to the financial
assurance requirements.
In September 2009 the USEPA approved the Kansas Research, Development, and Demonstration
permit program. Approval of this program allows Kansas to administer RD&D permits at
municipal solid waste landfills meeting the criteria established under the federal regulations. This
allowed operators of MSWLFs to request variances for the use of alternative final covers, surface
water run-on controls, and liquids restrictions, as long as the alternatives are demonstrated to be
equivalently effective at protecting human health and the environment.
Kansas hazardous waste permitting regulations amendments which adopt the federal rules
promulgated through July 2006 were published in April 2011. Amendments to the Kansas
hazardous waste permitting regulations were necessary to maintain the states authority to
administer the RCRA hazardous waste permitting program and remain consistent with the federal
regulations. The BWM has published state and federal regulatory adoption language that is
equivalent or broader in scope than the federal rules.
In 2012 the BWM updated the solid waste regulations with amendments to the construction and
demolition (C&D) landfill regulations to address hazardous and explosive gas associated with
C&D landfill saturation resulting from the historically limited design and siting requirements for
these types of landfills. The regulations were amended to establish minimum siting and design