§ 265.1101 Design and operating standards.

(a) All containment buildings must comply with the following design standards:

(1) The containment building must be completely enclosed with a floor, walls, and a roof to prevent exposure to the elements, (e.g., precipitation, wind, run-on), and to assure containment of managed wastes.

(2) The floor and containment walls of the unit, including the secondary containment system if required under paragraph (b) of this section, must be designed and constructed of materials of sufficient strength and thickness to support themselves, the waste contents, and any personnel and heavy equipment that operate within the unit, and to prevent failure due to pressure gradients, settlement, compression, or uplift, physical contact with the hazardous wastes to which they are exposed; climatic conditions; and the stresses of daily operation, including the movement of heavy equipment within the unit and contact of such equipment with containment walls. The unit must be designed so that it has sufficient structural strength to prevent collapse or other failure. All surfaces to be in contact with hazardous wastes must be chemically compatible with those wastes. EPA will consider standards established by professional organizations generally recognized by the industry such as the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) in judging the structural integrity requirements of this paragraph. If appropriate to the nature of the waste management operation to take place in the unit, an exception to the structural strength requirement may be made for light-weight doors and windows that meet these criteria:

(i) They provide an effective barrier against fugitive dust emissions under paragraph (c)(1)(iv); and

(ii) The unit is designed and operated in a fashion that assures that wastes will not actually come in contact with these openings.

(3) Incompatible hazardous wastes or treatment reagents must not be placed in the unit or its secondary containment system if they could cause the unit or secondary containment system to leak, corrode, or otherwise fail.

(4) A containment building must have a primary barrier designed to withstand the movement of personnel, waste, and handling equipment in the unit during the operating life of the unit and appropriate for the physical and chemical characteristics of the waste to be managed.