(a) New MSWLF units and lateral expansions shall not be located in seismic impact zones, unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the Director of an approved State/Tribe that all containment structures, including liners, leachate collection systems, and surface water control systems, are designed to resist the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material for the site. The owner or operator must place the demonstration in the operating record and notify the State Director that it has been placed in the operating record.

(b) For the purposes of this section:

(1) Seismic impact zone means an area with a ten percent or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g), will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.

(2) Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90 percent or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk assessment.

(3) Lithified earth material means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth surface.

[56 FR 51016, Oct. 9, 1991; 57 FR 28627, June 26, 1992]