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<br />. . <br />" <br /> <br />- 5 - <br /> <br />EPA will examine carefully the need to further regulate land <br />disposal facilities including surface impoundments and landfills. <br />Surface impoundments and landfills handling other than hazardous <br />wastes are not now controlled, except by requirements under Sub- <br />title D of RCRA that are not Federally enforceable. EPA will con- <br />duct studies of such impoundments and landfills as to the degree <br />of danger they present, set priorities for control, review the <br />regulatory options available, and determine what additional <br />Federal controls may be needed. <br /> <br />EPA will adont guidelines for consistencv in its qround-water <br />protection programs. The guidelines are designed to protect ground <br />water for its best and highest use to the extent permitted by <br />current statutes and regulations. EPA will structure the guide- <br />lines to ensure that protection provided by EPA programs will be <br />appropria~e .to one of three types of aquifers, distinguished by <br />their respective vulnerability and use. These guidelines are <br />intended to provide a framework for the decisions that EPA and <br />States will have to make in implementing delegated EPA programs. <br />These guidelines will be used by EPA and the States to include <br />the inherent value of the resource to be protected into decisions <br />on levels of protection and cleanup under existing regulations <br />and in establishing enforcement priorities for the future. For <br />facilities receiving permits, the Agency will require the permit <br />applicant to develop the information necessary-to assess the value <br />of the resource in accordance with the guidelines. <br /> <br />The guidelines will also guide future regulations such as <br />tho:;.~ being developed by ReRA for siting future hazardous waste <br />facilities. As such, these guidelines will not alter the existing <br />technology and monitoring requirements for hazardous waste facili- <br />ties incorporated in existing regulations. <br /> <br />The classes of aquifers are as follows: <br /> <br />1) Soecial Aquifers are those with a unique geologic vul- <br />nerability and that are characterized by either of the <br />following tWO-factors: <br /> <br />a) irreplaceable, in that no reasonable alternative <br />source of drinking water is available to substantial <br />populations~ or <br /> <br />b) ecologically vital, in that the aquifer provides the <br />base flow for a particularly sensitive ecological <br />system that, if polluted, would destroy a unique <br />habitat. <br /> <br />()' 1.0 <br />