By returning valuable crop nutrients to land while improving the overall conditioning of soils, biosolids land application is recognized as a highly desirable and environmentally sustainable management practice. Despite its many benefits, there are some instances where biosolids land application may be unwarranted. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including financial costs, perceived public health concerns, and/or political opposition.

In these rare cases, biosolids and sewage sludge management options other than land application must be sought. Complicating this situation is that, in many jurisdictions, concern over deteriorating air quality has eliminated sludge incineration as a viable management alternative. Under these unique circumstances, disposal of sewage sludge in a permitted municipal solid waste landfill may be an option, or, preferably, the biosolids may be managed in a sewage sludge-only surface disposal facility. 

This course describes the basic regulatory and technical framework currently available under federal and state law to permanently manage biosolids and/or sewage sludge within a sewage sludge-only surface disposal facility. With growing concern over protecting landfill volume for municipal solid wastes, surface disposal is receiving renewed interest from biosolids and sewage sludge decision-makers as a preferred management option. This course has been structured to address the legal and technical concerns of a range of biosolids and sewage-sludge stakeholders including: water reclamation facility general managers and operators, public health and environmental regulators, agricultural land owners and municipal landfill owners/operators.

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