In this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:

1. I. [Repealed.]

   I-a. "Abutter" means any person who owns property adjacent to, or across a road, railroad, or stream from the property on which a hazardous waste facility will be permitted.

   I-b. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of environmental services.

2. II. "Compliance schedule" means the timetable for meeting operator permit requirements.

   II-a. "Department" means the department of environmental services.

3. III. "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, incineration, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any waste into or onto any land or water so that the waste or any constituent of the waste may enter the environment, be emitted into the air, or be discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.

   III-a. [Repealed.]

4. IV. "Facility" means a location at which hazardous waste is subjected to treatment, storage or disposal and may include a facility where hazardous waste has been generated.
5. V. "Generation" means the act of producing hazardous waste materials.
6. VI. "Generator" means any person who owns or operates a facility where hazardous waste is generated.

7. VII. "Hazardous waste" means a solid, semi-solid, liquid or contained gaseous waste, or any combination of these wastes:

   1. (a) Which, because of either quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may:

      1. (1) Cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or
      2. (2) Pose a present or potential threat to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise mismanaged.
   2. (b) Or which has been identified as a hazardous waste by the department using the criteria established under RSA 147-A:3, I or as listed under RSA 147-A:3, II. Such wastes include, but are not limited to, those which are reactive, toxic, corrosive, ignitable, irritants, strong sensitizers or which generate pressure through decomposition, heat or other means. Such wastes do not include radioactive substances that are regulated by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or household pharmaceutical wastes collected pursuant to RSA 318-E.
8. VIII. "Hazardous waste management" means the systematic control of the generation, collection, sorting, storage, processing, treatment, recovery and disposal of hazardous waste.

9. IX. "Imminent hazard" means any condition or practice which presents an immediate and substantial threat to human health or the environment.

   IX-a. [Repealed.]

10. X. "Manifest" means the form used for identifying the origin, quantity, composition, routing and destination of hazardous waste.

    X-a. [Repealed.]

    X-b. "Mortgage" means a mortgage lien, tax lien, or other lien or encumbrance securing the payment of money or performance of an obligation.

11. XI. "Operator" means any person who, either directly or indirectly, operates or otherwise controls or directs activities at a facility.

    XI-a. "Owner" means any person who, either directly or indirectly owns a facility. The term "owner" does not include a person who, without participation in the management or actual operation of a facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a mortgage on real property on which a facility is located or a security interest in personal property located at the facility.

12. XII. "Person" means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, United States government or any agency thereof, political subdivision of the state, or any interstate body.

    XII-a. "Spent material" means any material that has been used and, as a result of contamination, can no longer serve the purpose for which it was produced without processing.

    XII-b. "Serious bodily injury" means any harm to the body which causes severe, permanent or protracted loss of or impairment to the health or the function of any part of the body.

13. XIII. "Storage" means the containment of hazardous wastes, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of the hazardous wastes.

    XIII-a. "Tax lien" means a tax lien arising under RSA 80:19, the rights acquired by the grantee in a tax sale pursuant to RSA 80:20-RSA 80:42-a, and a tax lien acquired or transferred pursuant to RSA 80:58-RSA 80:86.

14. XIV. "Trade secret" means any confidential formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in the employer's business and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. A trade secret is known to the employer and those employees to whom it is necessary to confide it.

    XIV-a. [Repealed.]

15. XV. "Transport" means the movement of hazardous wastes from the point of generation to any intermediate points and, finally, to the point of ultimate storage or disposal.
16. XVI. "Transporter" means any person who transports hazardous waste.
17. XVII. "Treatment" means any process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize the waste or to render the waste not hazardous, safer for transport, amenable to recovery, amenable to storage or reduced in volume.
18. XVIII. "Waste" means any matter consisting of: garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other spent, discarded or abandoned material including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include domestic sewage, irrigation return waters, wastewater discharges in compliance with applicable state or federal permits, or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Source. 1981, 413:2; 567:2. 1983, 137:1-3; 227:2, 3, 20; 291:1, I. 1986, 119:1; 202:6, I(e), 29, VI. 1989, 398:1. 1990, 253:1. 1991, 226:1. 1993, 159:2; 323:10. 1994, 199:10, 11. 1996, 228:31, 32, 107. 1998, 64:1-3. 1999, 53:6, eff. July 20, 1999. 2012, 83:1, eff. July 22, 2012. 2016, 214:3, eff. Aug. 6, 2016.