Virginia Law

A. The owner or operator shall prepare for approval by the department, a detailed written estimate of the cost of implementing the closure plan. The written cost estimate shall be submitted concurrently with the closure plan.

1. The closure plan cost estimate shall equal the full cost of implementation of the closure plan in current dollars.

2. The closure cost estimate shall be based on and include the costs to the owner or operator of hiring a third party to implement the closure plan. The third party may not be either a parent corporation or subsidiary of the owner or operator.

3. The closure cost estimate may not incorporate any salvage value that may be realized by the sale of wastes, facility structures or equipment, land or other facility assets at the time of implementation of the closure plan.

B. During the term of the VPDES permit, the owner or operator shall adjust the implementation cost estimate for inflation within 60 days prior to the anniversary date of the establishment of the financial assurance mechanism used to comply with this chapter. The adjustment may be made by recalculating the implementation cost in current dollars, or by using an inflation factor derived from the most recent Implicit Price Deflator for Gross National Product published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in its Survey of Current Business, as specified below. The inflation factor is the result of dividing the latest published annual deflator by the deflator for the previous year.

1. The first adjustment is made by multiplying the implementation cost estimate by the latest inflation factor. The result is the adjusted implementation cost estimate.

2. Subsequent adjustments are made by multiplying the latest adjusted cost estimate by the latest inflation factor.

C. During the term of the VPDES permit, the owner or operator shall revise the implementation cost estimate concurrently with any revision made to the closure plan which increases the implementation cost. The revised implementation cost estimate shall be adjusted for inflation as specified in subdivisions B 1 and B 2 of this section.

D. The owner or operator may reduce the implementation cost estimate and the amount of financial assurance provided under this section, if it can be demonstrated that the cost estimate exceeds the cost of implementation of the closure plan. The owner or operator shall obtain the approval of the department prior to reducing the amount of financial assurance.

E. The owner or operator shall provide continuous coverage to implement the closure plan until released from financial assurance requirements by the department.