SECTION 113.2070. Definitions

Unless specifically defined in the TCAA or in the rules of the commission, the terms used in this division have the meanings commonly ascribed to them in the field of air pollution control. In addition to the terms which are defined in the TCAA, §3.2 of this title (relating to Definitions), §101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), and §113.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), the following words and terms, when used in this division, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Biologicals - Preparations made from living organisms and their products, including vaccines, cultures, etc., intended for use in diagnosing, immunizing, or treating humans or animals or in research pertaining thereto.

(2) Blood products - Any product derived from human blood including, but not limited to, blood plasma, platelets, red or white blood corpuscles, and other derived licensed products, such as interferon, etc.

(3) Body fluids - Liquid emanating or derived from humans and limited to blood, dialysate, amniotic, cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal and pericardial fluids; and semen and vaginal secretions.

(4) Bypass stack - A device used for discharging combustion gases to avoid severe damage to the air pollution control device or other equipment.

(5) Chemotherapeutic waste - Waste material resulting from the production or use of antineoplastic agents used for the purpose of stopping or reversing the growth of malignant cells.

(6) Co-fired combustor/incinerator - A unit combusting hospital waste and/or medical/infectious waste with other fuels or wastes (e.g., coal, municipal solid waste) and subject to an enforceable requirement limiting the unit to combusting a fuel feed stream, 10% or less of the weight of which is comprised, in aggregate, of hospital waste and medical/infectious waste as measured on a calendar quarter basis. For the purposes of this definition, pathological waste, chemotherapeutic waste, and low-level radioactive waste are considered "other" wastes when calculating the percentage of hospital waste and medical/infectious waste combusted.

(7) Commercial medical waste incinerator - A facility that accepts for incineration medical waste generated outside the property boundaries of the facility.

(8) Dioxins/furans - The combined emissions of tetra- through octa-chlorinated dibenzi-para-dioxins and dibenzofurans, as measured by EPA Reference Method 23.

(9) Dry scrubber - An add-on air pollution control system that injects dry alkaline sorbent (dry injection) or sprays an alkaline sorbent (spray dryer) to react with and neutralize acid gases in the incinerator exhaust stream forming a dry powder material.

(10) Fabric filter (or baghouse) - An add-on air pollution control system that removes particulate matter and non-vaporous metals emissions by passing flue gas through filter bags.

(11) Facilities manager - The individual in charge of purchasing, maintaining, and operating the hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) or the owner/operator's representative responsible for the management of the HMIWI. Alternative titles may include director of facilities or vice president of support services.

(12) Good combustion practices - The minimum residence time and temperature in the secondary chamber as determined by the design of the incinerator, as well as the quantity and composition of the wastes incinerated, such that the incinerator can meet the emissions limits specified in §113.2072 of this title (relating to Emission Limits).

(13) High-air phase - The stage of the batch operating cycle when the primary chamber reaches and maintains maximum operating temperatures.

(14) Hospital - Any facility which has an organized medical staff, maintains at least six inpatient beds, and where the primary function of the institution is to provide diagnostic and therapeutic patient services and continuous nursing care primarily to human inpatients who are not related and who stay on average in excess of 24 hours per admission. This definition does not include facilities maintained for the sole purpose of providing nursing or convalescent care to human patients who generally are not acutely ill, but who require continuing medical supervision.

(15) Hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) or HMIWI unit - Any device that combusts any amount of hospital waste and/or medical/infectious waste.

(A) Batch HMIWI - An HMIWI unit that is designed such that neither waste charging nor ash removal can occur during combustion.

(B) Continuous HMIWI - An HMIWI unit that is designed to allow waste charging and ash removal during combustion.

(C) Intermittent HMIWI - An HMIWI unit that is designed to allow waste charging, but not ash removal, during combustion.

(D) Large HMIWI - An HMIWI unit which has a maximum design waste combustor capacity that is greater than 500 pounds per hour (lb/hr), or a continuous or intermittent HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is greater than 500 lb/hr, or a batch HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is greater than 4,000 pounds per day.

(E) Medium HMIWI - An HMIWI unit which has a maximum design waste combustor capacity that is greater than 200 lb/hr but less than or equal to 500 lb/hr, or a continuous or intermittent HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is greater than 200 lb/hr but less than or equal to 500 lb/hr, or a batch HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is greater than 1,600 pounds per day but less than or equal to 4,000 pounds per day.

(F) Small HMIWI - An HMIWI unit which has a maximum design waste combustor capacity that is less than or equal to 200 lb/hr, or a continuous or intermittent HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is less than or equal to 200 lb/hr, or a batch HMIWI unit which has a maximum charge rate that is less than or equal to 1,600 pounds per day.

(G) Small-remote HMIWI - A small HMIWI unit which is located more than 50 miles from the boundary of the nearest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (as defined in Office of Management and Budget Bulletin Number 93-17 entitled "Revised Statistical Definitions for Metropolitan Areas" dated June 30, 1993), and burns less than 2,000 pounds of waste per week.

(16) Hospital waste - Discards generated at a hospital, except unused items returned to the manufacturer. The definition of hospital waste does not include human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation.

(17) Infectious agent - Any organism (such as a virus or bacteria) that is capable of being communicated by invasion and multiplication in body tissues and capable of causing diseases or adverse health impacts in humans.

(18) Low-level radioactive waste - Waste material which contains radionuclides emitting primarily beta or gamma radiation, or both, in concentrations or quantities that exceed applicable federal or state standards for unrestricted release. Low-level radioactive waste is not high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 United States Code, §2014(e)(2)).

(19) Malfunction - Any sudden, infrequent, and not reasonably preventable failure of air pollution control equipment, process equipment, or a process to operate in a normal or usual manner. Failures that are caused, in part, by poor maintenance or careless operation are not malfunctions. During periods of malfunction the operator shall operate within established parameters as much as possible, and monitoring of all applicable operating parameters shall continue until all waste has been combusted or until the malfunction ceases, whichever comes first.

(20) Maximum charge rate - For continuous and intermittent incinerators, 110% of the lowest three-hour average charge rate measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with all applicable emission limits; and for batch incinerators, 110% of the lowest daily charge rate measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with all applicable emission limits.

(21) Maximum design waste burning capacity -

(A) for intermittent and continuous incinerators,

Attached Graphic

(B) for batch incinerators,

Attached Graphic

(22) Maximum fabric filter inlet temperature - 110% of the lowest three-hour average temperature at the inlet to the fabric filter (taken, at a minimum, once every minute) measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with the dioxin/furan emission limit.

(23) Maximum flue gas temperature - 110% of the lowest three-hour average temperature at the outlet from the wet scrubber (taken, at a minimum, once every minute) measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with the mercury (Hg) emission limit.

(24) Medical waste - Waste generated by health-care-related facilities and associated with health-care activities, not including garbage or rubbish generated from offices, kitchens, or other non-health-care activities. The term includes special waste from health-care-related facilities which is comprised of animal waste, bulk blood and blood products, microbiological waste, pathological waste, and sharps as those terms are defined in 25 TAC §1.132 (relating to Definition, Treatment, and Disposition of Special Waste from Health-Care Related Facilities). The term does not include medical waste produced on farmland or ranchland as defined in Texas Agriculture Code, §252.001(6) (relating to Definitions - Farmland or Ranchland), nor does the term include artificial, nonhuman materials removed from a patient and requested by the patient including, but not limited to, orthopedic devices and breast implants.

(25) Medical/infectious waste - Any waste generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of the following biologicals:

(A) cultures and stocks of infectious agents and associated biologicals, including: cultures from medical and pathological laboratories; cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories; wastes from the production of biologicals; discarded live and attenuated vaccines; and culture dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures;

(B) human pathological waste, including: tissues; organs; and body parts and body fluids that are removed during surgery or autopsy, or other medical procedures; and specimens of body fluids and their containers;

(C) human blood and blood products, including: liquid waste human blood; products of blood; items saturated and/or dripping with human blood; or items that were saturated and/or dripping with human blood that are now caked with dried human blood; including serum, plasma, and other blood components, and their containers, which were used or intended for use in either patient care, testing and laboratory analysis, or the development of pharmaceuticals. Intravenous bags are also included in this category;

(D) sharps that have been used in animal or human patient care or treatment or in medical, research, or industrial laboratories, including: hypodermic needles; syringes (with or without the attached needle); Pasteur pipettes; scalpel blades; blood vials; needles with attached tubing; and culture dishes (regardless of presence of infectious agents). Also included are other types of broken or unbroken glassware that were in contact with infectious agents, such as slides and cover slips;

(E) animal waste, including: contaminated animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that were known to have been exposed to infectious agents during research (including research in veterinary hospitals); production of biologicals; or testing of pharmaceuticals;

(F) isolation wastes, including: biological waste and discarded materials contaminated with blood, excretions, exudates, or secretions from humans who are isolated to protect others from certain highly communicable diseases, or isolated animals known to be infected with highly communicable diseases;

(G) unused sharps, including the following unused, discarded sharps: hypodermic needles; suture needles; syringes; and scalpel blades; and

(H) does not include: hazardous waste identified or listed under the regulations in Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 261 (40 CFR 261); household waste, as identified in 40 CFR 261.4(b)(1); ash from incineration of medical/infectious waste, once the incineration process has been completed; human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation; and domestic sewage materials identified in 40 CFR 261.4(a)(1).

(26) Minimum sorbent flow rate - 90% of the highest three-hour average sorbent flow rate (taken, at a minimum, once every hour) measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with the applicable (dioxin/furan, mercury, and hydrogen chloride) emission limit.

(27) Minimum wet scrubber parameters - 90% of the highest three-hour average scrubber parameter (taken, at a minimum, once every minute) measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with the applicable emission limits. The parameters include:

(A) horsepower or amperage to the scrubber;

(B) pressure drop across the wet scrubber;

(C) liquid flow rate at the scrubber inlet; and

(D) liquid pH at the scrubber inlet.

(28) Minimum secondary chamber temperature - 90% of the highest three-hour average secondary chamber temperature (taken, at a minimum, once every minute) measured during the most recent performance test demonstrating compliance with the particulate matter, carbon monoxide, or dioxin/furan emission limits.

(29) Modification (or modified incinerator) - Any change to an incinerator unit after the effective date of these standards such that:

(A) the cumulative costs of the modifications, over the life of the unit, exceed 50% of the original cost of the construction and installation of the unit (not including the cost of any land purchased in connection with such construction or installation) updated to current costs; or

(B) the change involves a physical change in or change in the method of operation of the unit which increases the amount of any air pollutant emitted by the unit for which standards have been established under the FCAA, 42 United States Code, §7411 or §7429.

(30) Operating day - A 24-hour period between 12:00 a.m., midnight and the following midnight during which any amount of hospital waste or medical/infectious waste is combusted at any time in the incinerator.

(31) Operation - The period during which waste is combusted in the incinerator excluding periods of startup or shutdown.

(32) Particulate matter - The total particulate matter emitted from an incinerator as measured by EPA Reference Method 5, concerning Determination of Particulate Emissions from Stationary Sources (40 CFR 60, Appendix A, 1999), or Reference Method 29, concerning Determination of Metals Emissions from Stationary Sources (40 CFR 60, Appendix A, 1999).

(33) Pathological waste - Waste material consisting of only human or animal remains, anatomical parts, and/or tissue, the bags/containers used to collect and transport the waste material, and animal bedding (if applicable).

(34) Primary chamber - The chamber in an incinerator that receives waste material in which the waste is ignited and from which ash is removed.

(35) Pyrolysis - The endothermic gasification of hospital waste and/or medical/infectious waste using external energy.

(36) Shutdown - The period of time after all waste has been combusted in the primary chamber. For continuous incinerators, shutdown shall commence no less than two hours after the last charge to the incinerator. For intermittent incinerators, shutdown shall commence no less than four hours after the last charge to the incinerator. For batch incinerators, shutdown shall commence no less than five hours after the high-air phase of combustion has been completed.

(37) Standard conditions - A temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade) and a pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch (101.3 kilopascals).

(38) Startup - The period of time between the activation of the system and the first charge to the unit. For batch incinerators, startup is the period of time between activation of the system and ignition of the waste.

(39) Toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) - For dioxins/furans, a TEQ basis=2,3,7,8-tetrachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin toxic equivalent based on the 1989 international toxic equivalency factors.

(40) Wet scrubber - An add-on air pollution control device that utilized an alkaline scrubbing liquor to collect particulate matter (including non-vaporous metals and condensed organics) and/or to absorb and neutralize acid gases.

Source Note: The provisions of this §113.2070 adopted to be effective June 11, 2000, 25 TexReg 5365