Bulletin 5: Financial Assurances Review Request Form

February 2000

To All Operators of Solid Waste Landfills:

This bulletin clarifies the process for obtaining information regarding closure, postclosure maintenance and operating liability financial assurance data from the Financial Assurances Section (FAS) of the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). Financial assurance information is an essential part of the permit and closure plan review process. To facilitate timely responses to requests, the FAS developed a specific form (Word, 124 KB or PDF, 20 KB) for obtaining this information.

Review Request Form (RRF)

The RRF (Word, 124 KB or PDF, 20 KB) when completed, provides FAS staff with sufficient data to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the financial assurance status for a facility. The RRF solicits information such as "Date Needed By", "Applicable Review Clock Closing Date", "Type of Facility", "Permit Action", "Closure Plan", and "Cost Estimates". This information requested on the RRF is vital in determining the adequacy of a financial assurance demonstration.

Review Request Procedure

The request procedure was initiated to assist in FAS staff's ability to respond in a timely manner to the requests of other CIWMB staff and Regional Water Quality Control Board staff. Since the LEA is an integral part of the permit and closure plan review the LEAs are also included in this process.

It is important to remember that a financial assurance demonstration is initially approved and then monitored for adequacy. A determination made by FAS staff in one month on a financial assurance demonstration, may not be valid 30 days later. Financial assurance demonstrations are dynamic and thus require an evaluation each time there is a permit action or closure plan review. An RRF should be submitted to the FAS for each permit action or closure plan review for each facility.

The "Applicable Review Clock Closing Date" field (the date action is expected on a permit or plan) is an important part of the form. FAS staff conducting the review will accommodate the action date in their results. The length of time a FAS review is valid is based on many different factors. Each review is done on a case-by-case basis, and there may be reasons the results of a specific review is only valid for two weeks when another may be valid for 30 days, or longer. In any case, the written results of the FAS review will note the amount of time for which the review is valid.

The RRF may be submitted to FAS staff by mail, fax or e-mail. An electronic version of the RRF is available (Adobe PDF, 20 KB | MS Word, 124 KB) available, in addition to the five FAS bulletins issued to date. If you have any questions regarding the form or process mentioned above, please contact the FAS at (916) 341-6178.

The FAS bulletins are designed to guide and assist operators of solid waste landfills to comply with state and federal statutory and regulatory financial assurance requirements.  All operators are encouraged to contact the Financial Assurances Section to address a specific topic.