6. a. The owner or operator of every legacy landfill and every closed sanitary landfill facility that accepts any recyclable material, contaminated soil, wastewater treatment residual material, or construction debris shall deposit, on a monthly basis in an interest-bearing account with an accredited financial institution, an amount determined by the department after review of the estimated costs of post-closure monitoring and operational costs, but not less than $1.00 per ton of all waste or material accepted during the preceding month at the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility. In the event that any waste or material is measured, upon acceptance, by a metric other than tons, the amount to be deposited shall be calculated by using the equivalents thereof as shall be determined by the department.

The account established pursuant to this subsection shall constitute an escrow account for the post-closure monitoring and operating costs of the legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility, and no withdrawals therefrom may be made without written approval of the department, except as otherwise authorized by the department.

b. Any owner or operator of a legacy landfill or closed sanitary landfill facility who fails to deposit funds into an escrow account, as provided herein, or uses those funds for any purpose other than closure costs, as approved by the department, shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.

L.2013, c.69, s.6.