SECTION 601.3. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings.

(1) Act--House Bill 1458 (71st Legislature, 1989) codified, with amendments, as Texas Water Code, §§26.401 - 26.408.

(2) Commission--Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(3) Committee--Texas Groundwater Protection Committee.

(4) Documented groundwater contamination--A case of groundwater contamination in which a member agency has an established procedure for making a determination based on the quality of groundwater and the information pertinent to making the determination is maintained by that member agency under §601.4(b) of this title (relating to Public Files).

(5) Enforcement action--Any action of the member agencies, identified in §601.2 of this title (relating to Applicability), that accomplishes or requires the identification, documentation, monitoring, assessing, or remediation of groundwater contamination.

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

(7) Groundwater contamination--The detrimental alteration of the naturally occurring physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of groundwater. Except for an underground source of drinking water granted an aquifer exemption by the commission with concurrence from the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with 40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 144 - 146, and 30 TAC Chapter 331 (relating to Underground Injection Control), groundwater contamination, for purposes of inclusion of cases in the public files and the joint groundwater monitoring and contamination report, is limited to contamination reasonably suspected of having been caused by activities or by entities under the jurisdiction of the member agencies identified in §601.2 of this title (relating to Applicability) and affecting groundwater that contains a concentration of:

(A) less than or equal to 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/liter) of dissolved solids; or

(B) greater than 10,000 mg/liter of dissolved solids if it is:

(i) currently extracted for beneficial use such as domestic, industrial, or agricultural purposes; or

(ii) hydrologically connected with, and with the potential for contaminant movement to, a surface water body or another zone of groundwater that has a concentration of less than or equal to 10,000 mg/liter of dissolved solids.

(8) Member agency--A state agency or organization designated by law under Texas Water Code, §26.403(c), to serve on the committee and be subject to its rules. Member agencies are listed in §601.2 of this title (relating to Applicability). Member agencies having responsibilities related to protection of groundwater include the commission, the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Commission of Texas, and the State Soil and Water Conservation Board.

Source Note: The provisions of this §601.3 adopted to be effective March 29, 1991, 16 TexReg 1560; amended to be effective September 13, 1998, 23 TexReg 9064; amended to be effective July 28, 2002, 27 TexReg 6535; amended to be effective August 16, 2006, 31 TexReg 6380