Indiana’s Yard Waste Composting Registration Program

1. Indiana’s Yard Waste Composting Registration Program Presented by: Debby Baker, Program Coordinator Indiana Department of Environmental Management Office of Land Quality 317/232-0066

2. History • In 1990, General Assembly adopted HEA 1240, which mandated the development of SWM plans covering the next 20 years. • The SWM plans included elements for source reduction, alternatives for final disposition and disposal, and criteria for final disposal facilities. • In 1992, SEA 25 banned all yard waste in Indiana landfills after September 30,1994.

3. History Continued • SEA 25 was written to ensure compost facilities were designed and operated in an environmentally sound manner. • In 1995, SEA 65 limited the ban to allow only grass & woody bundles <3’ in length to go to landfills. Leaves could not go. • Due to state’s high recycling goals & yard waste ban, the yard waste composting registration program came into being.

4. Intent of Law • The intent of the law (as codified in IC 13-20-10, formerly IC 13-7-35 and PL 84-1992) was to make the siting and operation of composting facilities a straight forward and simple process, and encourage the development of these sites to assist the state in reaching its recycling goals and help preserve landfill capacity. • Environmental hazards are minimal.

5. Definition of Vegetative Matter and Compost • Vegetative Matter: Any yard waste or landscaping waste, including leaves, grass, brush, limbs, & branches, resulting from commercial, industrial, & agricultural operations, or from community activities, as a result of landscaping maintenance or land clearing projects. • Compost: Final product produced by the composting of vegetative matter resulting from the decomposition of organic matter.

6. Main Requirements of IC 13-20-10 • Compost facility must be outside the 10 year floodplain • Compost facility must be 5’ above the H20 table; if not, it must have an asphalt, clay, or concrete pad, or synthetic liner, to provide at least a 5’ separation between the compost pile and the H20 table • Facility staff must manage leachate and runoff (need NPDES permit to discharge)

7. Requirements Continued • Compost facility must be 200’ from any potable well or residence • Compost facility staff must control dust, odors, noise, litter, vectors, and any nuisance or pollution conditions • A registration is good for 5 years and can be renewed by the applicant (no fee) • Facility must submit an annual report to IDEM by February 1st of each year

8. Sites Exempt From Registration • Residence or farm (source-generated is key; sites receiving waste from outside sources require registration) • Sites accepting < 2000 lbs or 1 ton/year • Sites acting as temp. storage (<30 days) • Sites land applying grass and leaves as a soil amendment, resulting from their own activities, on-site

9. Materials Allowed • Only uncontaminated and untreated natural growth yard waste, including grass, leaves, brush, tree limbs, stumps, and, on a case-by-case basis, other approved organic wastes (for example sugar, corn syrup residues, animal bedding, etc.) that are considered benign and not a threat to human health or the environment are allowed at compost sites.

10. Problem Wastes At Composting Sites • Dairy Foods (i.e. eggs, cheese, milk, butter, dressings) • Fats, Oils, Grease (attracts insects) • Meat, Fish, Poultry (attracts rodents) • Pet/Human Feces (because of possible disease transmission) • Treated wood or painted lumber (arsenic) • Sludge (in any amount is considered sludge and requires a Land App. Permit)

11. FOR CLARIFICATION • Sludge requires a significantly greater level of monitoring and process control than untreated natural growth yard waste • Vegetative matter can be added to sludge under a Land Application Permit (per 327 IAC 6.1) • However, Sludge CAN NOT be added to vegetative matter under a Yard Waste Composting Facility Registration.

12. Inspection & Enforcement • IDEM-OLQ Inspections are performed at random and usually on a complaint basis • Screening of incoming materials by site staff is critical to quality of final compost • Disposal of non-compostable materials, control of nuisance or pollution conditions, and corrective action, are the owner/ operator’s responsibility

13. 4 Major Ingredients for Ideal Composting • Nitrogen (greens, such as vegetable scraps, grass clippings, and weeds) • Carbon (browns, such as fallen leaves, dried grass, and straw) • Oxygen (mixing or turning the pile often) • Water (keep piles moist, not H20-logged)

14. 5 Optimal Conditions for Composting • C:N Ratio: 30 - 1 • Temperature: 32 - 60 C, or 90 - 140 F • Air: > 5% aeration • Moisture: 40 - 60 % content • pH: 6 - 8

15. Handouts Distributed • Copy of Yard Waste Composting Facility Registration Application • List of 94 Currently Registered Indiana Yard Waste Composting Facilities • Copy of Composting Facility Annual Report Form/Conversion Factors • November 2000 Managing SW-Indiana Composting Facilities: 1999 Update • Y2K Composting Annual Tonnage Report

17. Sources For More Information • Lynn West, Solid Waste Rules Development Section: 317/232-3593 • Al Melvin, OPPTA Organic Grants and Recycling Program: 317/233-5623 • Aaron Lauster, Agricultural and Solid Waste Compliance and Inspection Section: 317/308-3045 • Jerry Rud, Solid Waste Permits Section-Office of Land Quality: 317/232-7200

18. For More Information About Composting Issues • Please visit our IDEM website at: • “www.state.in.us/idem/oppta/recycling/ • composting” • Contact Jeff Harmon, Land Application Permits Program, For More Information regarding Sludge: 317/232-8735

28. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION! • Remember, good composting begins with best management practices, using creative, innovative, and available technology! • - THE END -