Permitting and Operating Solid Waste Transfer Stations
This guidance document is advisory in nature but is binding on an agency until amended by such agency. A guidance document does not include internal procedural documents that only affect the internal operations of the agency and does not impose additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties or include confidential information or rules and regulations made in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. If you believe that this guidance document imposes additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties, you may request a review of the document.

Form #: 06-243 Guidance Documents Revised: 1/13/23


Permitting and Operating Solid Waste Transfer Stations

A "solid waste transfer station" is any site, location, tract of land, installation, or building that is used or intended to be used primarily for the purpose of transferring solid wastes that are generated off of the premises of the facility from vehicles or containers into other vehicles or containers for transportation to a solid waste disposal area or solid waste processing facility.

Permit Required For:
  • A facility that receives waste from a vehicle designed to compact solid waste (typically garbage trucks).

Partial Exception Facility:
  • A facility receiving waste from vehicles other than those designed to compact solid waste. These facilities would generally be drop off stations where individuals who haul their own waste drop it off.

Partial exception transfer stations must be operated according to requirements found in Chapter 2 of Title 132. A permit is not required for these facilities, but the following criteria must be met:
  • Operations must not constitute a hazard or a threat to human health or the environment;
  • Effective litter and disease vector control programs must be implemented;
  • Applicable air quality standards of Title – 129 Nebraska Air Quality Regulations must be complied with;
  • Discharge of surface water runoff to waters of the State shall is prohibited; and
  • Operations must comply with storage capacity and designated storage area restrictions.

Permit Requirements

The following criteria must be considered and addressed when permitting a solid waste transfer station:

Locational Criteria (Title 132, Chapter 6, §002)
  • Wetlands

Construction/Design Criteria (Title 132, Chapter 6, §003)
  • Protective of human health and the environment.
  • Protective of waters of the state.


Operational Criteria (Title 132, Chapter 6, §004)
  • Operations must not constitute a hazard or a threat to human health or the environment;
  • Effective litter and disease vector control programs must be implemented;
  • Operations must be in compliance with applicable air quality standards developed under Title 129- Nebraska Air Quality Regulations;
  • Discharge of surface water runoff to waters of the State shall is prohibited;
  • Operations must comply with storage capacity and designated storage area restrictions;
  • Procedures for excluding the receipt of hazardous waste or TSCA regulated PCB wastes must be implemented;
  • Public access to the site must be controlled; and
  • An operational plan must be developed that describes the methods of operations at the facility.

Closure Plan Criteria (Title 132, Chapter 6, §005)

Operations must develop:
  • A description of the activities required to close the site in a manner protective of human health and the environment;
  • A description of the post-closure plans for the inactive site;
  • Methods or means for notifying facility users of the closure of the facility; and
  • A description of the location where all materials remaining at the site will be disposed when applicable.

Financial Assurance Criteria (Title 132, Chapter 8)

Financial assurance is required and is applicable to the owners or operators of all solid waste transfer station facilities except owners or operators who are:
  • State or federal government entities whose debts and liabilities are debts and liabilities of a state or the United States; or
  • A municipality, county or solid waste agency.

For those facilities required to obtain financial assurance, a detailed written estimate of the cost of hiring a third party to close the facility and properly dispose of all materials or wastes left at the site must be provided. This estimate must include the cost of disposing the maximum amount of accumulated waste or materials that would ever be stored at the facility at any one time. The financial assurance mechanism must be obtained prior to the initial receipt of waste.

Recordkeeping Requirements (Title 132, Chapter 2, §007)

An owner or operator of a permitted solid waste transfer station must maintain an operating record near the facility which must include evidence of compliance with:
  • All applicable permits;
  • Locational criteria;
  • Construction/Design criteria;
  • Operational criteria;
  • Closure criteria; and
  • Financial Assurance criteria.

Permit Application Fees (Title 132, Chapter 9)

Permits to operate solid waste transfer station facilities are issued for a term of not more than 10 years. Non-refundable fees in the following amounts must be paid in full at the time of application for a permit to operate a facility, for renewal of a permit, or for a major modification to any permitted facility.


Initial
Major Modification
Renewal
Solid Waste Transfer Station
$500
$250
$150


If more than one type of permitted facility is located on the same premises, refer to Title 132, Chapter 9, §003 for fee information.

Annual Operating Fees (Title 132, Chapter 10)

Annual operating fees for a solid waste transfer station must be submitted to the Department by October 1 of each year following the first full year of operation.
Annual operating fee amount: Solid Waste Transfer Station - $500
If more than one type of facility is located on the same premises, refer to Title 132, Chapter 10, §
005 for fee information.

RESOURCES:

Contacts:
  • NDEE Waste Management Section (402) 471-4210
  • NDEE Toll Free Number (877) 253-2603
  • NDEE Hazardous Waste Compliance Assistant (402) 471-8308
  • Email questions to: NDEE.moreinfo@nebraska.gov

NDEE Publications:


Produced by: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, P.O. Box 98922, Lincoln, NE 68509-8922; phone (402) 471-2186. To view this, and other information related to our agency, visit our web site at http://dee.ne.gov.