(a) Basic LCRS Design--Leachate collection and removal systems (LCRS) are required for Class II landfills and surface impoundments, and for Class III landfills which have a liner or which accept sewage or water treatment sludge. The LCRS shall be installed directly above underlying containment features for landfills and waste piles, and installed between the liners for surface impoundments. LCRS requirements are summarized on Table 4.1. Class II landfills and waste piles which contain only dry wastes (not including nonhazardous solid waste and decomposable waste) may be allowed to operate without an LCRS if the discharger demonstrates, based on climatic and hydrogeologic conditions, that leachate will not be formed in, or migrate from, the Unit; nevertheless, for a Class II or Class III MSW landfill, after the Federal Deadline for installing liners at that Unit, the LCRS requirements of SWRCB Resolution No. 93-62 apply to all portions outside of the Unit's Existing Footprint.

(b) Placement--Except as otherwise provided in ¶(e or f), where an LCRS is used, it shall be installed immediately above the liner (except in the case of a surface impoundment), and between the inner and outer liner of a double-liner system, and shall be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to collect and remove twice the maximum anticipated daily volume of leachate from the Unit.

(c) Head Buildup--The RWQCB shall specify design and operating conditions in WDRs to ensure that there is no buildup of hydraulic head on the liner. The depth of fluid in the collection sump shall be kept at the minimum needed to ensure efficient pump operation.

(d) Clogging--LCRSs shall be designed and operated to function without clogging through the scheduled closure of the Unit and during the post-closure maintenance period. The systems shall be tested at least annually to demonstrate proper operation. The results of the tests shall be compared with earlier tests made under comparable conditions.

(e) Standard LCRS--LCRSs shall consist of a permeable subdrain layer which covers the bottom of the Unit and extends as far up the sides as possible, (i.e., blanket-type) except as provided in ¶(f). The LCRS shall be of sufficient strength and thickness to prevent collapse under the pressures exerted by overlying wastes, waste cover materials, and by any equipment used at the Unit.

(f) Alternative LCRS--Except as otherwise required for MSW landfills, under SWRCB Resolution No. 93-62, if a Class III landfill is required to have an artificial liner and receives only permeable waste that allows free drainage of percolating fluid, the RWQCB can allow the use of a dendritic LCRS which underlies less than 100 percent of the waste; in this type of LCRS system, only wastes which have an hydraulic conductivity which approximates that of subdrain material, and which will remain permeable throughout the active life and post-closure maintenance period of the landfill, shall be placed adjacent to the liner. Furthermore, to prevent ponding, when using this type of LCRS, all portions of the liner not overlain by a portion of the subdrain system shall be sloped towards the subdrain so that ponding is minimized and leachate is removed as quickly as possible from the base of the landfill.

(g) Leachate Handling--Except as otherwise provided under SWRCB Resolution No. 93-62 (for MSW landfills subject to 40CFR258.28), collected leachate shall be returned to the Unit(s) from which it came or discharged in another manner approved by the RWQCB. Collected leachate can be discharged to a different Unit only if:

(h) Leachate Production Rate--After July 18, 1997, for a landfill equipped with an LCRS, the discharger shall note, as a part of each regularly scheduled monitoring report [under Article 1, Subchapter 3, Chapter 3 of this division (§ 20380 et seq.)], the total volume of leachate collected each month since the previous monitoring report.