SECTION 334.481. Definitions

Except as provided in this subchapter, the following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the meanings prescribed in §334.2 of this title (relating to Definitions), unless the word or term is redefined in this subchapter or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Words used in more than one subchapter are defined in Subchapter A of this chapter (relating to General Provisions). Words widely used in more than one chapter are defined in Chapter 3 of this title (relating to Definitions).

(1) Active life--The period from the initial receipt of waste at the facility until the executive director receives certification of final closure.

(2) Active portion--That portion of a facility where treatment, or storage operations are being or have been conducted and which is not a closed portion. (See also "closed portion" and "inactive portion").

(3) Aquifer--A geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation capable of yielding groundwater to wells or springs.

(4) Area subject to active shoreline erosion--A coastal area where shoreline erosion has been documented within historic time.

(5) Areas of direct drainage--Those land areas from which surface water runoff could flow into a lake or other surface water used to supply public drinking water.

(6) Authorized--Allowed in writing by agency registration, by order, by permit, by license, or by rule.

(7) Authorized Representative--The person designated by the owner or operator to represent the facility or the person designated by the waste generator as the generator's representative.

(8) Class A facility--A facility which will at any time store or treat petroleum-substance contaminated soils generated from more than one leaking petroleum storage tank (LPST) site.

(9) Class B facility--A mobile treatment unit which will treat petroleum-substance soils from only one LPST site at a time at that LPST site. The petroleum-substance soils treated at that site must have originated from that site.

(10) Class C facility--A facility located elsewhere than the LPST site but which will store or treat petroleum-substance soils generated from only that one LPST site.

(11) Class D facility--A facility located at the LPST site which will store or treat the petroleum- substance soils generated from only that site.

(12) Clean fill standard--Soil which is no longer considered waste.

(13) Closed portion--That portion of a facility which an owner or operator has closed in accordance with the approved facility closure plan and all applicable closure requirements. (See also "active portion" and "inactive portion.")

(14) Contingency plan--A document setting out an organized, planned, and coordinated course of action to be followed in case of a fire, explosion, or release of waste or waste constituents which could threaten human health and safety or the environment.

(15) Critical habitat of a endangered species--An area that is determined by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to be a critical habitat for an endangered species.

(16) Designated facility--The authorized storage, treatment, or disposal facility that has been designated on the petroleum-substance waste manifest by the generator.

(17) Discharge--The accidental or intentional spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of waste into or on any land or water.

(18) Disposal--The discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any waste (whether containerized or noncontainerized) into or on any land or water so that such waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into or adjacent to any waters, including groundwater.

(19) Disposal facility -- A facility or part of a facility at which waste is intentionally placed into or on any land or water or adjacent to any water, and at which such waste will remain.

(20) Effective substitute--A substance which may be used in the place of another substance for the same purpose without creating adverse environmental conditions.

(21) Erosion--The group of natural processes, including weathering, deterioration, detachment, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, wearing away, and transportation, by which earthen or rock material is removed from any part of the earth's surface.

(22) Existing Portion--That land surface area of an existing waste management unit, on which wastes have been placed prior to the issuance of a registration.

(23) Facility--Includes structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land for storing or treating petroleum-substance waste. A facility may consist of several storage or treatment operational units. A facility may also be a mobile treatment unit.

(24) Facility Operator--The person responsible for the overall operation of a facility or an operation unit (i.e., part of facility), e.g., the plant manager, superintendent, or person of equivalent responsibility for the regulated activity.

(25) Facility Owner--The person who owns a facility or part of a facility.

(26) Final closure--The closure of all waste management units at the facility in accordance with all applicable closure requirements.

(27) Generator--Any person who produces petroleum-substance waste; any person who stores or treats petroleum-substance waste; any person who possesses petroleum-substance waste to be shipped to any other person; or any person whose act first causes the petroleum-substance waste to become subject to regulation under this subchapter.

(28) Groundwater--Water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

(29) Hazardous waste--Any solid waste identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 United States Code 6901 et seq., as amended.

(30) Inactive portion--That portion of a facility which is not operated. (See also "active portion" and "closed portion.")

(31) In operation--Refers to a facility which is treating or storing petroleum-substance waste.

(32) In-situ treatment--The reduction of contaminant levels in soil or groundwater which is conducted without removing the contaminated media from the ground.

(33) Interim registration--Authorization for a storage or treatment facility received by the facility up to September 25, 1992.

(34) Land disposal facility--Any landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, injection well, or other facility at which waste is finally disposed.

(35) Land surface treatment facility--A facility, unit, or part of a facility at which waste is applied onto a liner on the soil surface during treatment.

(36) Liner--A continuous layer of man-made materials, beneath and on the sides of a surface area which restricts the downward and lateral escape of waste, waste constituents, or leachate.

(37) Maximum allowable inventory--The maximum amount of petroleum contaminated soil (not including soil that meets the "Clean fill standard" criteria) that may be at a registered facility at any one time. The maximum allowable inventory amount will be designated in the application for registration and will be the basis for the facility closure cost estimate required to meet financial assurance requirements.

(38) New petroleum-substance waste management facility--Any facility to be used for the storage or treatment of petroleum-substance waste and which is not an existing petroleum substance waste management facility.

(39) One hundred-year floodplain--Any land area which is subject to a 1.0% or greater chance of flooding in any given year from any source.

(40) On-site--The same or geographically contiguous property which may be divided by public or private rights-of-way. Noncontiguous properties owned by the same person but connected by a right- of-way which that person controls and to which the public does not have access, is also considered on- site property.

(41) PST-Waste Manifest--The form furnished by the agency to accompany shipments of petroleum- substance waste to track the movement and transference of petroleum-substance waste.

(42) Partial closure--The closure of a petroleum-substance waste management unit in accordance with the applicable closure requirements at a facility that contains other active petroleum-substance waste management units.

(43) Personnel or facility personnel--All persons who work at or oversee the operations of a waste management facility, and whose actions or failure to act may result in noncompliance with the requirements of this subchapter.

(44) Petroleum substance waste--Any waste, excluding hazardous waste and liquid wastes, which is generated as a result of a release of a petroleum substance from an underground storage tank or a petroleum product from an aboveground storage tank regulated by the commission pursuant to the Texas Water Code, Chapter 26, Subchapter I.

(45) Public water system--A system for the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption, if such system has at least 15 service connections or regularly services an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year.

(46) Registration--Written authorization issued by the executive director, which, by its conditions, may authorize the registrant to construct, install, modify, or operate a petroleum-substance waste storage or treatment facility or unit in accordance with specified limitations.

(47) Representative sample--A sample of a universe or whole (e.g., waste pile, groundwater) which can be expected to exhibit the average properties of the universe or whole.

(48) Reuse of petroleum-substance wastes--The process by which a petroleum-substance waste is utilized as an effective substitute for a commercial product, such as the proper use as a component of stabilized road base or use as fill for LPST tankholds.

(49) Run-off--Any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over or into land from any part of a facility, land surface treatment unit, or stockpile.

(50) Run-on--Any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land onto or into any part of a facility, land surface treatment unit, or stockpile.

(51) Saturated zone or zone of saturation--That part of the earth's crust in which all voids are filled with water.

(52) Secondary containment--A system designed and constructed to collect rainfall run-on and to contain spills, leaks, or discharges within the facility without environmental contamination until such waste can be removed.

(53) Shipment--Any action involving the conveyance of petroleum-substance waste by any means to or from a site.

(54) Sole-source aquifer--An aquifer designated pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act, §1424(e) which solely or principally supplies drinking water to an area, and which, if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to public health.

(55) Spill--The spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting, emptying, or dumping of wastes or materials which, when spilled, become wastes into or on any land or water.

(56) Storage--The holding of petroleum-substance waste for a temporary period, prior to the final treatment, disposal of, reuse, or storing of the waste elsewhere.

(57) Stockpile--A soil storage area from which all petroleum-substance wastes are removed for treatment or final disposition and from which all wastes are removed at the time of closure of the facility.

(58) Thermal treatment unit--An enclosed device using controlled flame combustion, microwave, UV, infrared, or other thermal treatment process.

(59) Treatment--Methods which are designed to change, by physical, chemical, or biological means, the levels of contamination of the waste to render the waste suitable for reuse or disposal.

(60) Treatment facility--A facility or unit which treats, recycles, and/or reuses petroleum-substance wastes.

(61) Transporter--Any person who conveys or transports petroleum-substance waste by truck, ship, pipeline, or other means.

(62) Unsaturated zone or zone of aeration--The zone between the land surface and the water table.

(63) Uppermost aquifer--The geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected within the facility's property boundary.

(64) Waste management area--Any area on which one or more waste management units resides.

(65) Waste management unit--A contiguous area of land on or in which petroleum substance waste is placed, or a structure or machine used to store or treat waste pursuant to a registration issued under this subchapter. Examples of waste management units include a waste stockpile, a land surface treatment area, a thermal treatment unit, a stockpile, a tank and its associated piping and underlying containment system, and a container storage area.

(66) Wetlands--Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.

Source Note: The provisions of this §334.481 adopted to be effective March 25, 1993, 18 TexReg 1691; amended to be effective December 27, 1996, 21 TexReg 12177; amended to be effective November 23, 2000, 25 TexReg 11442