The definitions in §26.001, §26.263, and §26.342 of the Texas Water Code are applicable to this chapter. When used in this chapter, those definitions shall have the same meaning as the following definitions unless the context in which they are used clearly indicates otherwise, or those definitions are inconsistent with the definitions listed below.

1. (1) Abandoned well--A well that has not been used for six consecutive months. A well is considered to be in use in the following cases:

   1. (A) a non-deteriorated well which contains the casing, pump and pump column in good condition; or
   2. (B) a non-deteriorated well which has been capped (as defined by Chapter 238 of this title (relating to Water Well Drillers Rules)).
2. (2) Aboveground storage tank facility--The site, tract, or other area where one or more aboveground storage tank systems is located, including all adjoining contiguous land and associated improvements.
3. (3) Aboveground storage tank system--A non-vehicular device (including any associated piping) that is made of nonearthen materials; located on or above the ground surface, or on or above the surface of the floor of a structure below ground, such as a mineworking, basement, or vault; and designed to contain an accumulation of static hydrocarbons or hazardous substances.
4. (4) Appropriate regional office--For regulated activities covered by this chapter and located in Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties, the appropriate agency regional office is Region 11, located in Austin, Texas. For regulated activities covered by this chapter and located in Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, and Comal Counties, the appropriate agency regional office is Region 13, located in San Antonio, Texas.
5. (5) Assessment of area geology--A report which is prepared by a geologist describing area and site-specific geology.
6. (6) Best management practices (BMPs)--Schedule of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of water in the State. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage. BMPs are those measures that are reasonable and necessary to achieve a performance standard that protects existing and potential uses of groundwater and maintains surface water quality in compliance with Texas Surface Water Quality Standards, as contained in technical guidance prepared by the executive director or other BMPs which are technically justified based upon studies and other information that are generally relied upon by professionals in the environmental protection field and are supported by existing or proposed performance monitoring studies, including, but not limited to, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Water Environment Research Foundation guidance.
7. (7) Commencement of construction--Construction of physical facilities including but not limited to buildings, roads, and utility infrastructure.
8. (8) Edwards Aquifer--That portion of an arcuate belt of porous, waterbearing, predominantly carbonate rocks known as the Edwards and Associated Limestones in the Balcones Fault Zone trending from west to east to northeast in Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, Comal, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties; and composed of the Salmon Peak Limestone, McKnight Formation, West Nueces Formation, Devil's River Limestone, Person Formation, Kainer Formation, Edwards Formation, and Georgetown Formation. The permeable aquifer units generally overlie the less-permeable Glen Rose Formation to the south, overlie the less-permeable Comanche Peak and Walnut formations north of the Colorado River, and underlie the less-permeable Del Rio Clay regionally.
9. (9) Edwards Aquifer protection plan--A general term which includes water pollution abatement plan, organized sewage collection system plan, underground storage tank facility plan, aboveground storage tank facility plan, or a modification or exception granted by the executive director.
10. (10) Edwards Aquifer protection plan holder--Person who is responsible for compliance with an approved water pollution abatement plan, organized sewage collection system plan, underground storage tank facility plan, aboveground storage tank facility plan, or a modification or exception granted by the executive director.
11. (11) Feedlot/concentrated animal feeding operation--A concentrated, confined livestock or poultry facility operated for meat, milk or egg production, growing, stabling, or housing, in pens or houses wherein livestock or poultry are fed at the place of confinement and crop or forage growing or production of feed is not sustained in the area of confinement.
12. (12) Geologic or manmade features--Features including but not limited to closed depressions, sinkholes, caves, faults, fractures, bedding plane surfaces, interconnected vugs, reef deposits, wells, borings, and excavations.
13. (13) Groundwater conservation district--Any groundwater district created by the Texas Legislature or the commission under the Texas Water Code, Chapter 36, as a groundwater conservation district to conserve, preserve, and protect the waters of an underground water reservoir.
14. (14) Hazardous substance--Any substance designated as such by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; regulated pursuant to §311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; or any solid waste, or other substance that is designated to be hazardous by the commission, pursuant to the Texas Water Code, §26.263 or Texas Health and Safety Code, §361.003.

15. (15) Industrial wastewater discharge--Any category of wastewater except:

    1. (A) those that are primarily domestic in composition; or
    2. (B) those emanating from feedlot/concentrated animal feeding operations.
16. (16) Land application system--A wastewater disposal system designed not to discharge wastewater into a surface drainage way.
17. (17) Organized sewage collection system--Any public or private sewerage system for the collection and conveyance of sewage to a treatment and disposal system that is regulated pursuant to rules of the commission and provisions of Chapter 26 of the Texas Water Code. A system includes lift stations, force mains, gravity lines, and all appurtenances necessary for conveying wastewater from a generating facility to a treatment plant.
18. (18) Pollution--The alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of any water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or to public health, safety or welfare, or impairs the usefulness of the public enjoyment of the waters for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
19. (19) Private sewage facilities--On-site sewage facilities as defined under Chapter 285 of this title (relating to On-site Sewage Facilities).
20. (20) Private service lateral--Facilities extending from the building drain to an existing private or public sewage collection system or other place of disposal that provides service to one individual household or building whose operation and maintenance are the sole responsibility of the tenant or owner of the building. Facilities extending from the convergence of private service laterals from more than one building is considered a sewage collection system.
21. (21) Recharge zone--Generally, that area where the stratigraphic units constituting the Edwards Aquifer crop out, including the outcrops of other geologic formations in proximity to the Edwards Aquifer, where caves, sinkholes, faults, fractures, or other permeable features would create a potential for recharge of surface waters into the Edwards Aquifer. The recharge zone is identified as that area designated as such on official maps located in the appropriate regional office and groundwater conservation districts.

22. (22) Regulated activity--Any construction-related activity on the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer, such as, but not limited to: construction of buildings, utility stations, roads, highways, or railroads; clearing, excavation or any other activities which alter or disturb the topographic, geologic, or existing recharge characteristics of a site; any installation of aboveground or underground storage tank facilities on the recharge or transition zone of the Edwards Aquifer; or any other activities which may pose a potential for contaminating the Edwards Aquifer and hydrologically connected surface streams. "Regulated activity" does not include:

    1. (A) the clearing of vegetation in a 10-foot wide path, for the sole purpose of surveying;
    2. (B) agricultural activities, except feedlots/concentrated animal feeding operations;
    3. (C) activities associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil or gas or geothermal resources as defined in Chapter 335 of this title (relating to Industrial Solid Waste and Municipal Hazardous Waste);
    4. (D) the routine maintenance of existing structures that does not involve additional site disturbance, such as but not limited to, the resurfacing of existing paved roads, parking lots, sidewalks, or other development-related impervious surfaces and the building of fences, or other similar activities in which there is little or no potential for contaminating groundwater, or there is little or no change to the topographic, geologic, or existing sensitive features; or
    5. (E) construction of single-family residences on lots that are larger than five acres, where no more than one single-family residence is located on each lot.

23. (23) Sensitive feature--Permeable geologic or manmade feature located on the recharge zone or transition zone where:

    1. (A) a potential for hydraulic interconnectedness between the surface and the Edwards Aquifer exists; and
    2. (B) rapid infiltration to the subsurface may occur.
24. (24) Sewage holding tank--A tank or other containment structure used to receive and store sewage until its ultimate disposal in an approved treatment facility.
25. (25) Site--The entire area included within the legal boundaries of the property. Regulated activities on a site that is located partially on the recharge zone and transition zone, where the natural drainage in the transition zone flows back to the recharge zone, shall be treated as if the entire site is located on the recharge zone.
26. (26) Static hydrocarbon--A hydrocarbon which is liquid at atmospheric pressure and 20 degrees Centigrade.
27. (27) Stub out--A wye, tee, or other manufactured appurtenance placed in a sewage collection system providing a location for a future extension of the collection system.
28. (28) Tertiary containment--A containment method by which an additional wall or barrier is installed outside of the secondary storage vessel (e.g., tank or piping) or other secondary barrier in a manner designed to prevent a release from migrating beyond the tertiary wall or barrier before the release can be detected. Tertiary containment systems include, but are not limited to, impervious liners and vaults surrounding a secondary tank and/or piping system, or equivalent triple wall tank or piping system as approved by the executive director.
29. (29) Transition zone--That area where geologic formations crop out in proximity to and south and southeast of the recharge zone and where faults, fractures, and other geologic features present a possible avenue for recharge of surface water to the Edwards Aquifer, including portions of the Del Rio Clay, Buda Limestone, Eagle Ford Group, Austin Chalk, Pecan Gap Chalk, and Anacacho Limestone. The transition zone is identified as that area designated as such on official maps located in the appropriate regional office and groundwater conservation districts.
30. (30) Underground storage tank facility--The site, tract, or other defined area where one or more underground storage tank systems are located, including all adjoining contiguous land and associated improvements.
31. (31) Underground storage tank system--Any one or combination of underground tanks and any connecting underground pipes used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, the volume of which, including the volume of the connecting underground pipes, is 10% or more beneath the surface of the ground.
32. (32) Well--A bored, drilled or driven shaft, or an artificial opening in the ground made by digging, jetting or some other method, where the depth of the well is greater than its largest surface dimension. A well is not a surface pit, surface excavation, or natural depression.

Source Note:The provisions of this §213.3 adopted to be effective December 27, 1996, 21 TexReg 12125.