SECTION 330.3. Definitions

Unless otherwise noted, all terms contained in this section are defined by their plain meaning. This section contains definitions for terms that appear throughout this chapter. Additional definitions may appear in the specific section to which they apply. The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) 100-year flood--A flood that has a 1.0% or greater chance of recurring in any given year or a flood of a magnitude equaled or exceeded once in 100 years on the average over a significantly long period.

(2) Active disposal area--All landfill working faces and areas covered with daily and alternative daily cover.

(3) Active life--The period of operation beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste and ending at certification/completion of closure activities in accordance with §§330.451, 330.453, 330.455, 330.457, and 330.459 of this title (relating to Applicability; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Stopped Receiving Waste Prior to October 9, 1991, Type IV Landfills, and Municipal Solid Waste Sites; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Received Waste on or after October 9, 1991, but Stopped Receiving Waste Prior to October 9, 1993; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Receive Waste on or after October 9, 1993; and Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Storage and Processing Units).

(4) Active portion--That part of a facility or unit that has received or is receiving wastes and that has not been closed in accordance with §§330.451, 330.453, 330.455, 330.457, and 330.459 of this title (relating to Applicability; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Stopped Receiving Waste Prior to October 9, 1991, Type IV Landfills, and Municipal Solid Waste Sites; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Received Waste on or after October 9, 1991, but Stopped Receiving Waste Prior to October 9, 1993; Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Units that Receive Waste on or after October 9, 1993; and Closure Requirements for Municipal Solid Waste Storage and Processing Units).

(5) Airport--A public-use airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities.

(6) Ancillary equipment--Any device that is used to distribute, meter, or control the flow of solid waste from its point of generation to a storage or processing tank(s), between solid waste storage and processing tanks to a point of disposal on-site, or to a point of shipment for disposal off-site. Such devices include, but are not limited to, piping, fittings, flanges, valves, and pumps.

(7) Animal crematory--A facility for the incineration of animal remains that meets the following criteria:

(A) control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion;

(B) containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and

(C) control of the emission of the combustion products.

(8) Aquifer--A geological formation, group of formations, or portion of a formation capable of yielding significant quantities of groundwater to wells or springs.

(9) Areas susceptible to mass movements--Areas of influence (i.e., areas characterized as having an active or substantial possibility of mass movement) where the movement of earth material at, beneath, or adjacent to the municipal solid waste landfill unit, because of natural or man-induced events, results in the downslope transport of soil and rock material by means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include, but are not limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil fluctuation, block sliding, and rock fall.

(10) Asbestos-containing materials--Include the following.

(A) Category I nonfriable asbestos-containing material means asbestos-containing packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering, and asphalt roofing products containing more than 1.0% asbestos as determined using the method specified in Appendix A, Subpart F, 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 763, §1, Polarized Light Microscopy.

(B) Category II nonfriable asbestos-containing material means any material, excluding Category I nonfriable asbestos-containing material, containing more than 1.0% asbestos as determined using the methods specified in Appendix A, Subpart F, 40 CFR Part 763, §1, Polarized Light Microscopy, that, when dry, cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

(C) Friable asbestos-containing material means any material containing more than 1.0% asbestos that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

(D) Nonfriable asbestos-containing material means any material containing more than 1.0% asbestos that, when dry, cannot be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

(11) ASTM--The American Society for Testing and Materials.

(12) Battery--An electrochemical device that generates electric current by converting chemical energy. Its essential components are positive and negative electrodes made of more or less electrically conductive materials, a separate medium, and an electrolyte. There are four major types:

(A) primary batteries (dry cells);

(B) storage or secondary batteries;

(C) nuclear and solar cells or energy converters; and

(D) fuel cells.

(13) Battery acid (also known as electrolyte acid)--A solution of not more than 47% sulfuric acid in water suitable for use in storage batteries, which is water white, odorless, and practically free from iron.

(14) Battery retailer--A person or business location that sells lead-acid batteries to the general public, without restrictions to limit purchases to institutional or industrial clients only.

(15) Battery wholesaler--A person or business location that sells lead-acid batteries directly to battery retailers, to government entities by contract sale, or to large-volume users, either directly or by contract sale.

(16) Bird hazard--An increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to an aircraft or injury to its occupants.

(17) Boiler--An enclosed device using controlled flame combustion and having the following characteristics.

(A) The unit must have physical provisions for recovering and exporting thermal energy in the form of steam, heated fluids, or heated gases.

(B) The unit's combustion chamber and primary energy recovery section(s) must be of integral design. To be of integral design, the combustion chamber and the primary energy recovery section(s) (such as waterwalls and superheaters) must be physically formed into one manufactured or assembled unit. A unit in which the combustion chamber and the primary energy recovery section(s) are joined only by ducts or connections carrying flue gas is not integrally designed; however, secondary energy recovery equipment (such as economizers or air preheaters) need not be physically formed into the same unit as the combustion chamber and the primary energy recovery section. The following units are not precluded from being boilers solely because they are not of integral design:

(i) process heaters (units that transfer energy directly to a process stream); and

(ii) fluidized bed combustion units.

(C) While in operation, the unit must maintain a thermal energy recovery efficiency of at least 60%, calculated in terms of the recovered energy compared with the thermal value of the fuel.

(D) The unit must export and utilize at least 75% of the recovered energy, calculated on an annual basis. In this calculation, no credit shall be given for recovered heat used internally in the same unit. Examples of internal use are the preheating of fuel or combustion air, and the driving of induced or forced draft fans or feedwater pumps.

(18) Brush--Cuttings or trimmings from trees, shrubs, or lawns and similar materials.

(19) Buffer zone--A zone free of municipal solid waste processing and disposal activities within and adjacent to the facility boundary on property owned or controlled by the owner or operator.

(20) Citizens' collection station--A facility established for the convenience and exclusive use of residents (not commercial or industrial users or collection vehicles), except that in small communities where regular collections are not available, small quantities of commercial waste may be deposited by the generator of the waste. The facility may consist of one or more storage containers, bins, or trailers.

(21) Class 1 wastes--Any industrial solid waste or mixture of industrial solid wastes that because of its concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics is toxic, corrosive, flammable, a strong sensitizer or irritant, a generator of sudden pressure by decomposition, heat, or other means, or may pose a substantial present or potential danger to human health or the environment when improperly processed, stored, transported, or disposed of or otherwise managed, as further defined in §335.505 of this title (relating to Class 1 Waste Determination).

(22) Class 2 wastes--Any individual solid waste or combination of industrial solid waste that are not described as Hazardous, Class 1, or Class 3 as defined in §335.506 of this title (relating to Class 2 Waste Determination).

(23) Class 3 wastes--Inert and essentially insoluble industrial solid waste, usually including, but not limited to, materials such as rock, brick, glass, dirt, and certain plastics and rubber, etc., that are not readily decomposable, as further defined in §335.507 of this title (relating to Class 3 Waste Determination).

(24) Collection--The act of removing solid waste (or materials that have been separated for the purpose of recycling) for transport elsewhere.

(25) Collection system--The total process of collecting and transporting solid waste. It includes storage containers; collection crews, vehicles, equipment, and management; and operating procedures. Systems are classified as municipal, contractor, or private.

(26) Commence physical construction--The initiation of physical on-site construction on a site for which an application to authorize a municipal solid waste management unit is pending, the construction of which requires approval of the commission. Construction of actual waste management units and necessary appurtenances requires approval of the commission, but other features not specific to waste management are allowed without commission approval.

(27) Commercial solid waste--All types of solid waste generated by stores, offices, restaurants, warehouses, and other nonmanufacturing activities, excluding residential and industrial wastes.

(28) Compacted waste--Waste that has been reduced in volume by a collection vehicle or other means including, but not limited to, dewatering, composting, incineration, and similar processes, with the exception of waste that has been reduced in volume by a small, in-house compactor device owned and/or operated by the generator of the waste.

(29) Composite liner--A liner system consisting of two components: the upper component must consist of a minimum 30-mil geomembrane liner or minimum 60-mil high-density polyethylene, and the lower component must consist of at least a two-foot layer of re-compacted soil deposited in lifts with a hydraulic conductivity of no more than 1 x 10^-7 centimeters/second. The geomembrane liner component must be installed in direct and uniform contact with the compacted soil component.

(30) Compost--The stabilized product of the decomposition process that is used or sold for use as a soil amendment, artificial top soil, growing medium amendment, or other similar uses.

(31) Composting--The controlled biological decomposition of organic materials through microbial activity.

(32) Conditionally exempt small-quantity generator--A person that generates no more than 220 pounds of hazardous waste in a calendar month.

(33) Construction or demolition waste--Waste resulting from construction or demolition projects; includes all materials that are directly or indirectly the by-products of construction work or that result from demolition of buildings and other structures, including, but not limited to, paper, cartons, gypsum board, wood, excelsior, rubber, and plastics.

(34) Container--Any portable device in which a material is stored, transported, or processed.

(35) Contaminate--To alter the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of ground or surface water by man-made or man-induced means.

(36) Contaminated water--Leachate, gas condensate, or water that has come into contact with waste.

(37) Controlled burning--The combustion of solid waste with control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion; containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and control of the emission of the combustion products, i.e., incineration in an incinerator.

(38) Discard--To abandon a material and not use, re-use, reclaim, or recycle it. A material is abandoned by being disposed of; burned or incinerated (except where the material is being burned as a fuel for the purpose of recovering usable energy); or physically, chemically, or biologically treated (other than burned or incinerated) in lieu of or prior to being disposed.

(39) Discharge--Includes deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow to seep, or otherwise release, or to allow, permit, or suffer any of these acts or omissions.

(40) Discharge of dredged material--Any addition of dredged material into the waters of the United States. The term includes, without limitation, the addition of dredged material to a specified disposal site located in waters of the United States and the runoff or overflow from a contained land or water disposal area.

(41) Discharge of fill material--The addition of fill material into waters of the United States. The term generally includes placement of fill necessary to the construction of any structure in waters of the United States: the building of any structure or improvement requiring rock, sand, dirt, or other inert material for its construction; the building of dams, dikes, levees, and riprap.

(42) Discharge of pollutant--Any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source or any addition of any pollutant to the waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source.

(43) Displacement--The measured or estimated distance between two formerly adjacent points situated on opposite walls of a fault (synonymous with net slip).

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

(45) Dredged material--Material that is excavated or dredged from waters of the United States.

(46) Drinking-water intake--The point at which water is withdrawn from any water well, spring, or surface water body for use as drinking water for humans, including standby public water supplies.

(47) Elements of nature--Rainfall, snow, sleet, hail, wind, sunlight, or other natural phenomenon.

(48) Endangered or threatened species--Any species listed as such under the Federal Endangered Species Act, §4, 16 United States Code, §1536, as amended or under the Texas Endangered Species Act.

(49) Essentially insoluble--Any material that, if representatively sampled and placed in static or dynamic contact with deionized water at ambient temperature for seven days, will not leach any quantity of any constituent of the material into the water in excess of the maximum contaminant levels in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 141, Subparts B and G, and 40 CFR Part 143 for total dissolved solids.

(50) Existing municipal solid waste landfill unit--Any municipal solid waste landfill unit that received solid waste as of October 9, 1993.

(51) Experimental project--Any new proposed method of managing municipal solid waste, including resource and energy recovery projects, that appears to have sufficient merit to warrant commission approval.

(52) Facility--All contiguous land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for the storage, processing, or disposal of solid waste.

(53) Fault--A fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata, rocks, or soils on one side have been displaced with respect to those on the other side.

(54) Fill material--Any material used for the primary purpose of filling an excavation.

(55) Floodplain--The lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including flood-prone areas of offshore islands, that are inundated by the 100-year flood.

(56) Garbage--Solid waste consisting of putrescible animal and vegetable waste materials resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, and consumption of food, including waste materials from markets, storage facilities, handling, and sale of produce and other food products.

(57) Gas condensate--The liquid generated as a result of any gas recovery process at a municipal solid waste facility.

(58) Gasification--A process through which recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is converted into a valuable raw, intermediate, or final product, including a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or another fuel. The term does not include incineration.

(59) Gasification facility--A facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks using gasification. The commission may not consider a gasification facility to be a hazardous waste management facility, a solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.

(60) Generator--Any person, by site or location, that produces solid waste to be shipped to any other person, or whose act or process produces a solid waste or first causes it to become regulated.

(61) Grease trap waste--Material collected in and from a grease interceptor in the sanitary sewer service line of a commercial, institutional, or industrial food service or processing establishment, including the solids resulting from dewatering processes.

(62) Grit trap waste--Grit trap waste includes waste from interceptors placed in the drains prior to entering the sewer system at maintenance and repair shops, automobile service stations, car washes, laundries, and other similar establishments.

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

(64) Hazardous waste--Any solid waste identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, 42 United States Code, §§6901 et seq. , as amended.

(65) Holocene--The most recent epoch of the Quaternary Period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present.

(66) Household waste--Any solid waste (including garbage, trash, and sanitary waste in septic tanks) derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas); does not include brush.

(67) Incinerator--Any enclosed device that:

(A) uses controlled flame combustion and neither meets the criteria for classification as a boiler, sludge dryer, or carbon regeneration unit, nor is listed as an industrial furnace, as defined in §335.1 of this title (relating to Definitions); or

(B) meets the definition of infrared incinerator or plasma arc incinerator.

(68) Industrial solid waste--Solid waste resulting from or incidental to any process of industry or manufacturing, or mining or agricultural operations.

(69) Inert material--A natural or man-made nonputrescible, nonhazardous material that is essentially insoluble, usually including, but not limited to, soil, dirt, clay, sand, gravel, brick, glass, concrete with reinforcing steel, and rock.

(70) Infrared incinerator--Any enclosed device that uses electric-powered resistance heaters as a source of radiant heat followed by an afterburner using controlled flame combustion and is not listed as an industrial furnace as defined in §335.1 of this title (relating to Definitions).

(71) Injection well--A well into which fluids are injected.

(72) In situ--In natural or original position.

(73) Karst terrain--An area where karst topography, with its characteristic surface and/or subterranean features, is developed principally as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terrains include, but are not limited to, sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.

(74) Lateral expansion--A horizontal expansion of the waste boundaries of an existing municipal solid waste landfill unit.

(75) Land application of solid waste--The disposal or use of solid waste (including, but not limited to, sludge or septic tank pumpings or mixture of shredded waste and sludge) in which the solid waste is applied within three feet of the surface of the land.

(76) Land treatment unit--A solid waste management unit at which solid waste is applied onto or incorporated into the soil surface and that is not a corrective action management unit; such units are disposal units if the waste will remain after closure.

(77) Landfill--A solid waste management unit where solid waste is placed in or on land and which is not a pile, a land treatment unit, a surface impoundment, an injection well, a salt dome formation, a salt bed formation, an underground mine, a cave, or a corrective action management unit.

(78) Landfill cell--A discrete area of a landfill.

(79) Landfill mining--The physical procedures associated with the excavation of buried municipal solid waste and processing of the material to recover material for beneficial use.

(80) Leachate--A liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials removed from such waste.

(81) Lead acid battery--A secondary or storage battery that uses lead as the electrode and dilute sulfuric acid as the electrolyte and is used to generate electrical current.

(82) License--

(A) A document issued by an approved county authorizing and governing the operation and maintenance of a municipal solid waste facility used to process, treat, store, or dispose of municipal solid waste, other than hazardous waste, in an area not in the territorial limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality.

(B) An occupational license as defined in Chapter 30 of this title (relating to Occupational Licenses and Registrations).

(83) Liquid waste--Any waste material that is determined to contain "free liquids" as defined by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 9095 (Paint Filter Test), as described in "Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Wastes, Physical/Chemical Methods" (EPA Publication Number SW-846).

(84) Litter--Rubbish and putrescible waste.

(85) Low volume transfer station--A transfer station used for the storage of collected household waste limited to a total storage capacity of 40 cubic yards located in an unincorporated area that is not within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a city.

(86) Lower explosive limit--The lowest percent by volume of a mixture of explosive gases in air that will propagate a flame at 25 degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure.

(87) Medical waste--Treated and untreated special waste from health care-related facilities that is comprised of animal waste, bulk blood, bulk human blood, bulk human body fluids, microbiological waste, pathological waste, and sharps as those terms are defined in 25 TAC §1.132 (relating to Definitions) from the sources specified in 25 TAC §1.134 (relating to Application), as well as regulated medical waste as defined in 49 Code of Federal Regulations §173.134(a)(5), except that the term does not include medical waste produced on a farm or ranch as defined in 34 TAC §3.296(f) (relating to Agriculture, Animal Life, Feed, Seed, Plants, and Fertilizer), 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. Health care-related facilities do not include:

(A) single or multi-family dwellings; and

(B) hotels, motels, or other establishments that provide lodging and related services for the public.

(88) Monofill--A landfill or landfill cell into which only one type of waste is placed.

(89) Municipal hazardous waste--Any municipal solid waste or mixture of municipal solid wastes that has been identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(90) Municipal solid waste--Solid waste resulting from or incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, and recreational activities, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and all other solid waste other than industrial solid waste.

(91) Municipal solid waste facility--All contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may be publicly or privately owned and may consist of several processing, storage, or disposal operational units, e.g., one or more landfills, surface impoundments, or combinations of them.

(92) Municipal solid waste landfill unit--A discrete area of land or an excavation that receives household waste and that is not a land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or waste pile, as those terms are defined under 40 Code of Federal Regulations §257.2. A municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill unit also may receive other types of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle D wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, conditionally exempt small-quantity generator waste, and industrial solid waste. Such a landfill may be publicly or privately owned. An MSW landfill unit may be a new MSW landfill unit, an existing MSW landfill unit, a vertical expansion, or a lateral expansion.

(93) New facility--A municipal solid waste facility that has not begun construction.

(94) Nonpoint source--Any origin from which pollutants emanate in an unconfined and unchanneled manner, including, but not limited to, surface runoff and leachate seeps.

(95) Non-regulated asbestos-containing material--Non-regulated asbestos-containing material as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 61. This is asbestos material in a form such that potential health risks resulting from exposure to it are minimal.

(96) Notification--The act of filing information with the commission for specific solid waste management activities that do not require a permit or a registration, as determined by this chapter.

(97) Nuisance--Municipal solid waste that is stored, processed, or disposed of in a manner that causes the pollution of the surrounding land, the contamination of groundwater or surface water, the breeding of insects or rodents, or the creation of odors adverse to human health, safety, or welfare. A nuisance is further set forth in Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapters 341 and 382; Texas Water Code, Chapter 26; and any other applicable regulation or statute.

(98) Open burning--The combustion of solid waste without:

(A) control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion;

(B) containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and

(C) control of the emission of the combustion products.

(99) Operate--To conduct, work, run, manage, or control.

(100) Operating hours--The hours when the facility is open to receive waste, operate heavy equipment, and transport materials on- or off-site.

(101) Operating record--All plans, submittals, and correspondence for a municipal solid waste facility required under this chapter; required to be maintained at the facility or at a nearby site acceptable to the executive director.

(102) Operation--A municipal solid waste (MSW) site or facility is considered to be in operation from the date that solid waste is first received or deposited at the MSW site or facility until the date that the site or facility is properly closed in accordance with this chapter.

(103) Operator--The person(s) responsible for operating the facility or part of a facility.

(104) Owner--The person that owns a facility or part of a facility.

(105) Permitted landfill--Any type of municipal solid waste landfill that received a permit from the State of Texas to operate and has not completed post-closure operations.

(106) Physical construction--The first placement of permanent construction on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, the laying of underground pipework, or any work beyond the stage of excavation. Physical construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, excavating, and filling; nor does it include the installation of roads and/or walkways. Physical construction includes issuance of a building or other construction permit, provided that permanent construction commences within 180 days of the date that the building permit was issued.

(107) Plasma arc incinerator--Any enclosed device using a high intensity electrical discharge or arc as a source of heat followed by an afterburner using controlled flame combustion and not listed as an industrial furnace as defined by §335.1 of this title (relating to Definitions).

(108) Point of compliance--A vertical surface located no more than 500 feet from the hydraulically downgradient limit of the waste management unit boundary, extending down through the uppermost aquifer underlying the regulated units, and located on land owned by the owner of the facility.

(109) Point source--Any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including, but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, or discrete fissure from which pollutants are or may be discharged.

(110) Pollutant--Contaminated dredged spoil, solid waste, contaminated incinerator residue, sewage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, or biological materials discharged into water.

(111) Pollution--The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of an aquatic ecosystem.

(112) Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)--Any chemical substance that is limited to the biphenyl molecule that has been chlorinated to varying degrees or any combination of substances that contains such substance.

(113) Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) waste(s)--Those PCBs and PCB items that are subject to the disposal requirements of 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 761. Substances that are regulated by 40 CFR Part 761 include, but are not limited to: PCB articles, PCB article containers, PCB containers, PCB-contaminated electrical equipment, PCB equipment, PCB transformers, recycled PCBs, capacitors, microwave ovens, electronic equipment, and light ballasts and fixtures.

(114) Poor foundation conditions--Areas where features exist, indicating that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of a municipal solid waste landfill unit.

(115) Population equivalent--The hypothetical population that would generate an amount of solid waste equivalent to that actually being managed based on a generation rate of five pounds per capita per day and applied to situations involving solid waste not necessarily generated by individuals. It is assumed, for the purpose of these sections, that the average volume per ton of waste entering a municipal solid waste disposal facility is three cubic yards.

(116) Post-consumer waste--A material or product that has served its intended use and has been discarded after passing through the hands of a final user. For the purposes of this subchapter, the term does not include industrial or hazardous waste.

(117) Post-use polymers--Plastic polymers that derive from any household, industrial, community, commercial, or other sources of operations or activities that might otherwise become waste if not converted into a valuable raw, intermediate, or final product. Post-use polymers include used polymers that contain incidental contaminants or impurities such as paper labels or metal rings but do not include used polymers mixed with solid waste, medical waste, hazardous waste, electronic waste, tires, or construction or demolition debris.

(118) Premises--A tract of land with the buildings thereon, or a building or part of a building with its grounds or other appurtenances.

(119) Process to further reduce pathogens--The process to further reduce pathogens as described in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 503, Appendix B.

(120) Processing--Activities including, but not limited to, the extraction of materials, transfer, volume reduction, conversion to energy, or other separation and preparation of solid waste for reuse or disposal, including the treatment or neutralization of waste, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any waste to neutralize such waste, or to recover energy or material from the waste, or render the waste safer to transport, store, dispose of, or make it amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume. The term does not include pyrolysis or gasification.

(121) Public highway--The entire width between property lines of any road, street, way, thoroughfare, bridge, public beach, or park in this state, not privately owned or controlled, if any part of the road, street, way, thoroughfare, bridge, public beach, or park is opened to the public for vehicular traffic, is used as a public recreational area, or is under the state's legislative jurisdiction through its police power.

(122) Putrescible waste--Organic wastes, such as garbage, wastewater treatment plant sludge, and grease trap waste, that are capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity as to cause odors or gases or are capable of providing food for or attracting birds, animals, and disease vectors.

(123) Pyrolysis--A manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are heated in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere until melted and thermally decomposed and then cooled, condensed, and converted into a valuable raw, intermediate, or final product, including a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or another fuel. The term does not include incineration.

(124) Pyrolysis facility--A manufacturing facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts post-use polymers using pyrolysis. The commission may not consider a pyrolysis facility to be a hazardous waste management facility, a solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.

(125) Qualified groundwater scientist--A licensed geoscientist or licensed engineer who has received a baccalaureate or post-graduate degree in the natural sciences or engineering and has sufficient training in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by state registration, professional certifications, or completion of accredited university programs that enable the individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, contaminant fate and transport, and corrective action.

(126) Radioactive waste--Waste that requires specific licensing under 25 TAC Chapter 289 (relating to Radiation Control), and the rules adopted by the commission under the Texas Health and Safety Code.

(127) Recoverable feedstock--One or more of the following materials, derived from recoverable waste other than coal refuse, that has been processed so that it may be used as feedstock in a gasification facility:

(A) post-use polymers; and

(B) material, including municipal solid waste containing post-use polymers and other post-industrial waste containing post-use polymers, that has been processed into a fuel or feedstock for which the commission or the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a non-waste determination under 40 Code of Federal Regulations §241.3(c).

(128) Recyclable material--A material that has been recovered or diverted from the nonhazardous waste stream for purposes of reuse, recycling, or reclamation, a substantial portion of which is consistently used in the manufacture of products that may otherwise be produced using raw or virgin materials. The term includes post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks that are converted through pyrolysis or gasification into valuable raw, intermediate, and final products. Recyclable material is not solid waste. However, recyclable material may become solid waste at such time, if any, as it is abandoned or disposed of rather than recycled, whereupon it will be solid waste with respect only to the party actually abandoning or disposing of the material.

(129) Recycling--A process by which materials that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded, used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, or processed and returned to use in the form of raw materials in the production of new products. Except for mixed municipal solid waste composting, that is, composting of the typical mixed solid waste stream generated by residential, commercial, and/or institutional sources, recycling includes the composting process if the compost material is put to beneficial use.

(130) Refuse--Same as rubbish.

(131) Registration--The act of filing information with the commission for review and approval for specific solid waste management activities that do not require a permit, as determined by this chapter.

(132) Regulated asbestos-containing material--Regulated asbestos-containing material as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 61, as amended, includes: friable asbestos material, Category I nonfriable asbestos-containing material that has become friable; Category I nonfriable asbestos-containing material that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading; or Category II nonfriable asbestos-containing material that has a high probability of becoming or has become crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material in the course of demolition or renovation operations.

(133) Regulated hazardous waste--A solid waste that is a hazardous waste as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §261.3 and that is not excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste under 40 CFR §261.4(b), or that was not generated by a conditionally exempt small-quantity generator.

(134) Resource recovery--The recovery of material or energy from solid waste.

(135) Resource recovery facility--A solid waste processing facility at which solid waste is processed for the purpose of extracting, converting to energy, or otherwise separating and preparing solid waste for reuse.

(136) Rubbish--Nonputrescible solid waste (excluding ashes), consisting of both combustible and noncombustible waste materials. Combustible rubbish includes paper, rags, cartons, wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, brush, or similar materials; noncombustible rubbish includes glass, crockery, tin cans, aluminum cans, and similar materials that will not burn at ordinary incinerator temperatures (1,600 degrees Fahrenheit to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).

(137) Run-off--Any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a facility.

(138) Run-on--Any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land onto any part of a facility.

(139) Salvaging--The controlled removal of waste materials for utilization, recycling, or sale.

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

(141) Scavenging--The uncontrolled and unauthorized removal of materials at any point in the solid waste management system.

(142) Scrap tire--Any tire that can no longer be used for its original intended purpose.

(143) Seasonal high-water level--The highest measured or calculated water level in an aquifer during investigations for a permit application and/or any groundwater characterization studies at a facility.

(144) Septage--The liquid and solid material pumped from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar sewage treatment system.

(145) Site--Same as facility.

(146) Site development plan--A document, prepared by the design engineer, that provides a detailed design with supporting calculations and data for the development and operation of a solid waste site.

(147) Site operating plan--A document, prepared by the design engineer in collaboration with the facility operator, that provides general instruction to facility management and operating personnel throughout the operating life of the facility in a manner consistent with the engineer's design and the commission's regulations to protect human health and the environment and prevent nuisances.

(148) Site operator--The holder of, or the applicant for, an authorization (or license) for a municipal solid waste facility.

(149) Sludge--Any solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water-supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, exclusive of the treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.

(150) Small municipal solid waste landfill--A municipal solid waste landfill unit (Type IAE) at which less than 20 tons of authorized types of waste are disposed of daily based on an annual average and/or a Type IVAE landfill unit at which less than 20 tons of authorized types of waste are disposed of daily based on an annual average. A Type IAE landfill permit may include additional authorization for a separate Type IVAE landfill unit. If a permit contains dual authorization for Type IAE and Type IVAE landfill units, the permit must designate separate areas for the units and where all disposal cells will be located within each unit.

(151) Solid waste--Garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community and institutional activities. The term does not include:

(A) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Texas Water Code, Chapter 26;

(B) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the construction of surface improvements;

(C) waste materials that result from activities associated with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas under Natural Resources Code, §91.101, unless the waste, substance, or material results from activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants and is hazardous waste as defined by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended (42 United States Code (USC), §§6901 et seq. ); or

(D) post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks processed through pyrolysis or gasification that do not qualify as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC, §§6901 et seq. ).

(152) Solid waste management unit--A landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, furnace, incinerator, kiln, injection well, container, drum, salt dome waste containment cavern, land treatment unit, tank, container storage area, or any other structure, vessel, appurtenance, or other improvement on land used to manage solid waste.

(153) Source-separated recyclable material--Recyclable material from residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, recreational, industrial, and other community activities, that at the point of generation has been separated, collected, and transported separately from municipal solid waste (MSW), or transported in the same vehicle as MSW, but in separate containers or compartments. Source-separation does not require the recovery or separation of non-recyclable components that are integral to a recyclable product, including:

(A) the non-recyclable components of white goods, whole computers, whole automobiles, or other manufactured items for which dismantling and separation of recyclable from non-recyclable components by the generator are impractical, such as insulation or electronic components in white goods;

(B) source-separated recyclable material rendered unmarketable by damage during collection, unloading, and sorting, such as broken recyclable glass; and

(C) tramp materials, such as:

(i) glass from recyclable metal windows;

(ii) nails and roofing felt attached to recyclable shingles;

(iii) nails and sheetrock attached to recyclable lumber generated through the demolition of buildings; and

(iv) pallets and packaging materials.

(154) Special waste--Any solid waste or combination of solid wastes that because of its quantity, concentration, physical or chemical characteristics, or biological properties requires special handling and disposal to protect the human health or the environment. If improperly handled, transported, stored, processed, or disposed of or otherwise managed, it may pose a present or potential danger to the human health or the environment. Special wastes are:

(A) hazardous waste from conditionally exempt small-quantity generators that may be exempt from full controls under Chapter 335, Subchapter N of this title (relating to Household Hazardous Wastes);

(B) Class 1 industrial nonhazardous waste;

(C) untreated medical waste;

(D) municipal wastewater treatment plant sludges, other types of domestic sewage treatment plant sludges, and water-supply treatment plant sludges;

(E) septic tank pumpings;

(F) grease and grit trap wastes;

(G) wastes from commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plants; air pollution control facilities; and tanks, drums, or containers used for shipping or storing any material that has been listed as a hazardous constituent in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 261, Appendix VIII but has not been listed as a commercial chemical product in 40 CFR §261.33(e) or (f);

(H) slaughterhouse wastes;

(I) dead animals;

(J) drugs, contaminated foods, or contaminated beverages, other than those contained in normal household waste;

(K) pesticide (insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or rodenticide) containers;

(L) discarded materials containing asbestos;

(M) incinerator ash;

(N) soil contaminated by petroleum products, crude oils, or chemicals in concentrations of greater than 1,500 milligrams per kilogram total petroleum hydrocarbons; or contaminated by constituents of concern that exceed the concentrations listed in Table 1 of §335.521(a)(1) of this title (relating to Appendices);

(O) used oil;

(P) waste from oil, gas, and geothermal activities subject to regulation by the Railroad Commission of Texas when those wastes are to be processed, treated, or disposed of at a solid waste management facility authorized under this chapter;

(Q) waste generated outside the boundaries of Texas that contains:

(i) any industrial waste;

(ii) any waste associated with oil, gas, and geothermal exploration, production, or development activities; or

(iii) any item listed as a special waste in this paragraph;

(R) lead acid storage batteries; and

(S) used-oil filters from internal combustion engines.

(155) Stabilized sludges--Those sludges processed to significantly reduce pathogens, by processes specified in 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 257, Appendix II.

(156) Storage--The keeping, holding, accumulating, or aggregating of solid waste for a temporary period, at the end of which the solid waste is processed, disposed, or stored elsewhere.

(A) Examples of storage facilities are collection points for:

(i) only nonputrescible source-separated recyclable material;

(ii) consolidation of parking lot or street sweepings or wastes collected and received in sealed plastic bags from such activities as periodic citywide cleanup campaigns and cleanup of rights-of-way or roadside parks; and

(iii) accumulation of used or scrap tires prior to transportation to a processing or disposal facility.

(B) Storage includes operation of pre-collection or post-collection as follows:

(i) pre-collection--that storage by the generator, normally on his premises, prior to initial collection; or

(ii) post-collection--that storage by a transporter or processor, at a processing facility, while the waste is awaiting processing or transfer to another storage, disposal, or recovery facility.

(157) Storage battery--A secondary battery, so called because the conversion from chemical to electrical energy is reversible and the battery is thus rechargeable. Secondary or storage batteries contain an electrode made of sponge lead and lead dioxide, nickel-iron, nickel-cadmium, silver-zinc, or silver-cadmium. The electrolyte used is sulfuric acid. Other types of storage batteries contain lithium, sodium-liquid sulfur, or chlorine-zinc using titanium electrodes.

(158) Structural components--Liners, leachate collection systems, final covers, run-on/run-off systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation of the municipal solid waste landfill that is necessary for protection of human health and the environment.

(159) Surface impoundment--A natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials) that is designed to hold an accumulation of liquids; examples include holding, storage, settling, and aeration pits, ponds, and lagoons.

(160) Surface water--Surface water as included in water in the state.

(161) Tank--A stationary device, designed to contain an accumulation of solid waste, which is constructed primarily of non-earthen materials (e.g., wood, concrete, steel, plastic) that provide structural support.

(162) Tank system--A solid waste storage or processing tank and its associated ancillary equipment and containment system.

(163) Transfer station--A facility used for transferring solid waste from collection vehicles to long-haul vehicles (one transportation unit to another transportation unit). It is not a storage facility such as one where individual residents can dispose of their wastes in bulk storage containers that are serviced by collection vehicles.

(164) Transportation unit--A truck, trailer, open-top box, enclosed container, rail car, piggy-back trailer, ship, barge, or other transportation vehicle used to contain solid waste being transported from one geographical area to another.

(165) Transporter--A person that collects, conveys, or transports solid waste; does not include a person transporting his or her household waste.

(166) Trash--Same as Rubbish.

(167) Treatment--Same as Processing.

(168) Triple rinse--To rinse a container three times using a volume of solvent capable of removing the contents equal to 10% of the volume of the container or liner for each rinse.

(169) Uncompacted waste--Any waste that is not a liquid or a sludge, has not been mechanically compacted by a collection vehicle, has not been driven over by heavy equipment prior to collection, or has not been compacted prior to collection by any type of mechanical device other than small, in-house compactor devices owned and/or operated by the generator of the waste.

(170) Unified soil classification system--The standardized system devised by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for classifying soil types.

(171) Universal waste--Any of the following hazardous wastes that are subject to the universal waste requirements of Chapter 335, Subchapter H, Division 5 of this title (relating to Universal Waste Rule):

(A) batteries, as described in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §273.2;

(B) pesticides, as described in 40 CFR §273.3;

(C) thermostats, as described in 40 CFR §273.4;

(D) paint and paint-related waste, as described in §335.262(b) of this title (relating to Standards for Management of Paint and Paint-Related Waste); and

(E) lamps, as described in 40 CFR §273.5.

(172) Unloading areas--Areas designated for unloading, including all working faces, active disposal areas, storage areas, and other processing areas.

(173) Unstable area--A location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terrains.

(174) Uppermost aquifer--The geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer; includes lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility's property boundary.

(175) Vector--An agent, such as an insect, snake, rodent, bird, or animal capable of mechanically or biologically transferring a pathogen from one organism to another.

(176) Washout--The carrying away of solid waste by waters.

(177) Waste acceptance hours--Those hours when waste is received from off-site.

(178) Waste management unit boundary--A vertical surface located at the perimeter of the unit. This vertical surface extends down into the uppermost aquifer.

(179) Waste-separation/intermediate-processing center--A facility, sometimes referred to as a materials recovery facility, to which recyclable materials arrive as source-separated materials, or where recyclable materials are separated from the municipal waste stream and processed for transport off-site for reuse, recycling, or other beneficial use.

(180) Waste-separation/recycling facility--A facility, sometimes referred to as a material recovery facility, in which recyclable materials are removed from the waste stream for transport off-site for reuse, recycling, or other beneficial use.

(181) Water in the state--Groundwater, percolating or otherwise, lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico inside the territorial limits of the state, and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, navigable or non-navigable, and including the beds and banks of all watercourses and bodies of surface water, that are wholly or partially inside or bordering the state or inside the jurisdiction of the state.

(182) Water table--The upper surface of the zone of saturation at which water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure, except where that surface is formed by a confining unit.

(183) Waters of the United States--All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, with their tributaries and adjacent wetlands, interstate waters and their tributaries, including interstate wetlands; all other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, and wetlands, the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters that are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes; from which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce; that are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce; and all impoundments of waters otherwise considered as navigable waters; including tributaries of and wetlands adjacent to waters identified herein.

(184) Wetlands--As defined in Chapter 307 of this title (relating to Texas Surface Water Quality Standards).

(185) White goods--Discarded large household appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, or dishwashers.

(186) Working face--Areas in a landfill where waste has been deposited for disposal but has not been covered.

(187) Yard waste--Leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris, and brush, including clean woody vegetative material not greater than six inches in diameter, that results from landscaping maintenance and land-clearing operations. The term does not include stumps, roots, or shrubs with intact root balls.

Source Note: The provisions of this §330.3 adopted to be effective March 27, 2006, 31 TexReg 2502; amended to be effective October 29, 2020, 45 Texeg 7605