NR 664.0143(8)(h)(h) If an owner or operator substitutes other financial assurance as specified in this section for all or part of the escrow account, the owner or operator may submit a written request to the department for release of the amount in excess of the current closure cost estimate covered by the escrow account.

NR 664.0143(8)(i)(i) Within 60 days after receiving a request from the owner or operator for release of funds as specified in par. (g) or (h), the department will instruct the escrow agent to release to the owner or operator funds as the department specifies in writing.

NR 664.0143(8)(j)(j) After beginning partial or final closure, an owner or operator or another person authorized to conduct partial or final closure may request reimbursements for partial or final closure expenditures by submitting itemized bills to the department. The owner or operator may request reimbursements for partial closure only if sufficient funds are remaining in the escrow account to cover the maximum costs of closing the facility over its remaining operating life. Within 60 days after receiving bills for partial or final closure activities, the department will instruct the escrow agent to make reimbursements in those amounts as the department specifies in writing, if the department determines that the partial or final closure expenditures are in accordance with the approved closure plan, or otherwise justified. If the department has reason to believe that the maximum cost of closure over the remaining life of the facility will be significantly greater than the value of the escrow account, the department may withhold reimbursements of amounts as the department deems prudent until the department determines, in accordance with sub. (11) that the owner or operator is no longer required to maintain financial assurance for final closure of the facility. If the department does not instruct the escrow agent to make the reimbursements, the department will provide the owner or operator with a detailed written statement of reasons.

NR 664.0143(8)(k)(k) The department will agree to termination of the escrow account when one of the following applies:

NR 664.0143(9)(9) Use of multiple financial mechanisms. An owner or operator may satisfy the requirements of this section by establishing more than one financial mechanism per facility. These mechanisms are limited to trust funds, deposits with the department, surety bonds guaranteeing payment, escrow accounts, letters of credit and insurance. The mechanisms shall be as specified in subs. (1), (2), (4), (5), (7) and (8), except that it is the combination of mechanisms, rather than the single mechanism, which shall provide financial assurance for an amount at least equal to the current closure cost estimate. The department may use any or all of the mechanisms to provide for closure of the facility.

NR 664.0143(10)(10) Use of a financial mechanism for multiple facilities. An owner or operator may use a financial assurance mechanism specified in this section to meet the requirements of this section for more than one facility. Evidence of financial assurance submitted to the department shall include a list showing, for each facility, the EPA identification number, name, address and the amount of funds for closure assured by the mechanism. If the facilities covered by the mechanism are in more than one state, identical evidence of financial assurance shall be submitted to and maintained with the state agency regulating hazardous waste or with the appropriate U.S. EPA regional administrator if the facility is located in unauthorized states. The amount of funds available through the mechanism shall be no less than the sum of funds that would be available if a separate mechanism had been established and maintained for each facility. In directing funds available through the mechanism for closure of any of the facilities covered by the mechanism, the department may direct only the amount of funds designated for that facility, unless the owner or operator agrees to the use of additional funds available under the mechanism.

NR 664.0143(11)(11) Release of the owner or operator from the requirements of this section. Within 60 days after receiving certifications from the owner or operator and a qualified professional engineer that final closure has been completed in accordance with the approved closure plan, the department will notify the owner or operator in writing that the owner or operator is no longer required by this section to maintain financial assurance for final closure of the facility, unless the department has reason to believe that final closure has not been in accordance with the approved closure plan. The department shall provide the owner or operator a detailed written statement of any reason to believe that closure has not been in accordance with the approved closure plan.

NR 664.0144(1)(1) The owner or operator of a disposal surface impoundment, disposal miscellaneous unit or landfill unit, or of a surface impoundment or waste pile required under ss. NR 664.0228 and 664.0258 to prepare a contingent closure and long-term care plan, shall have a detailed written estimate, in current dollars, of the annual cost of long-term care monitoring and maintenance of the facility according to the applicable long-term care rules in ss. NR 664.0117 to 664.0120, 664.0228, 664.0258, 664.0310 and 664.0603.

NR 664.0144(1)(a)(a) The long-term care cost estimate shall be based on the costs to the owner or operator of hiring a third party to conduct long-term care activities. A third party is a party who is neither a parent corporation nor a subsidiary of the owner or operator.

NR 664.0144(1)(b)(b) The long-term care cost estimate is calculated by multiplying the annual long-term care cost estimate by the number of years of long-term care required under s. NR 664.0117.

NR 664.0144(2)(2) During the active life of the facility, the owner or operator shall adjust the long-term care cost estimate for inflation within 60 days prior to the anniversary date of the establishment of the financial instrument or instruments used to comply with s. NR 664.0145. For owners or operators of disposal facilities using the net worth test, the long-term care cost estimate shall be updated for inflation as specified in s. 289.41 (5) (d), Stats. The adjustment may be made by recalculating the long-term care cost estimate in current dollars or by using an inflation factor derived from the most recent implicit price deflator for gross domestic product published by the U.S. department of commerce in its Survey of Current Business as specified in pars. (a) and (b). The inflation factor is the result of dividing the latest published annual deflator by the deflator for the previous year.

NR 664.0144(2)(a)(a) The first adjustment is made by multiplying the long-term care cost estimate by the inflation factor. The result is the adjusted long-term care cost estimate.

NR 664.0144(2)(b)(b) Subsequent adjustments are made by multiplying the latest adjusted long-term care cost estimate by the latest inflation factor.

NR 664.0144(3)(3) During the active life of the facility, the owner or operator shall revise the long-term care cost estimate within 30 days after the department has approved the request to modify the long-term care plan, if the change in the long-term care plan increases the cost of long-term care. The revised long-term care cost estimate shall be adjusted for inflation as specified in sub. (2).

NR 664.0144(4)(4) The owner or operator shall keep the following at the facility during the operating life of the facility: The latest long-term care cost estimate prepared in accordance with subs. (1) and (3) and, when this estimate has been adjusted in accordance with sub. (2), the latest adjusted long-term care cost estimate.

NR 664.0145NR 664.0145 Financial assurance for long-term care. The owner or operator of a hazardous waste management unit subject to s. NR 664.0144 shall establish financial assurance for long-term care according to the approved long-term care plan for the facility 60 days prior to the initial receipt of hazardous waste or the effective date of the rule, whichever is later. The owner or operator shall choose from the following options:

NR 664.0145(1)(a)(a) An owner or operator may satisfy the requirements of this section by establishing a long-term care trust fund which conforms to the requirements of this subsection and submitting an originally signed duplicate of the trust agreement to the department. An owner or operator of a new facility shall submit the originally signed duplicate of the trust agreement to the department at least 60 days before the date on which hazardous waste is first received for disposal. The trustee shall be an entity which has the authority to act as a trustee and whose trust operations are regulated and examined by a federal or state agency.

NR 664.0145(1)(b)(b) The wording of the trust agreement shall be identical to the wording on the department form specified in s. NR 664.0151 (1) (a) and the trust agreement shall be accompanied by a formal certification of acknowledgment as specified in s. NR 664.0151 (1) (b). Schedule A of the trust agreement shall be updated within 60 days after a change in the amount of the current long-term care cost estimate covered by the agreement.

NR 664.0145(1)(c)(c) Payments into the trust fund shall be made annually by the owner or operator over the term of the initial license or over the remaining operating life of the facility as estimated in the closure plan, whichever period is shorter. For the purposes of this section, this period is referred to as the “pay-in period.” The payments into the long-term care trust fund shall be made as follows:

NR 664.0145(1)(c)1.1. For a new facility, the first payment shall be made before the initial receipt of hazardous waste for disposal. A receipt from the trustee for this payment shall be submitted by the owner or operator to the department before this initial receipt of hazardous waste. The first payment shall be at least equal to the current long-term care cost estimate, except as provided in sub. (9), divided by the number of years in the pay-in period. Subsequent payments shall be made no later than 30 days after each anniversary date of the first payment. The amount of each subsequent payment shall be determined by this formula: