The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) 25-year, 24-hour rainfall event--The rainfall event with a recurrence interval of once in twenty-five years, with a duration of 24 hours as defined by the National Weather Service in Technical Paper Number 40, Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the United States, May 1961, and subsequent amendments, or equivalent regional or state rainfall information developed therefrom.
2. (2) Active sludge unit--A sludge unit that has not closed and/or is still receiving sewage sludge.
3. (3) Aerobic digestion--The biochemical decomposition of organic matter in sewage sludge into carbon dioxide, water and other by-products by microorganisms in the presence of free oxygen.
4. (4) Agricultural land--Land on which a food crop, a feed crop, or a fiber crop is grown. This includes range land and land used as pasture.
5. (5) Agricultural Management Unit (AMU)--A portion of a land application area contained within an identifiable boundary, such as a river, fence, or road, where the area has a known crop or land use history.

6. (6) Agronomic rate--The whole sludge application rate (dry weight basis) designed:

   1. (A) to provide the amount of nitrogen needed by the crop or vegetation grown on the land; and
   2. (B) to minimize the amount of nitrogen in the sewage sludge that passes below the root zone of the crop or vegetation grown on the land to the groundwater.
7. (7) Anaerobic digestion--The biochemical decomposition of organic matter in sewage sludge into methane gas, carbon dioxide and other by-products by microorganisms in the absence of free oxygen.
8. (8) Annual metal loading rate--The maximum amount of a pollutant (dry weight basis) that can be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day period.
9. (9) Annual whole sludge application rate--The maximum amount of sewage sludge that can be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day period.
10. (10) Apply sewage sludge or sewage sludge applied to the land--Land application or the spraying/spreading of sewage sludge onto the land surface; the injection of sewage sludge below the land surface; or the incorporation of sewage sludge into the soil.
11. (11) Aquifer--A geologic formation, group of geologic formations, or a portion of a geologic formation capable of yielding groundwater to wells or springs.
12. (12) Base flood--A flood that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year.
13. (13) Beneficial Use--Placement of sewage sludge onto land in a manner which complies with the requirements of Subchapter B of this chapter (relating to Land Application for Beneficial Use), and does not exceed the agronomic need or rate for a cover crop, or any metal or toxic constituent limitations which the cover crop may have. Placement of sewage sludge on the land at a rate below the optimal agronomic rate will be considered a beneficial use.
14. (14) Bulk sewage sludge--Sewage sludge that is not sold or given away in a bag or other container for application to the land.
15. (15) CFR--Code of Federal Regulations.
16. (16) CWA--The Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as either the Federal Water Pollution Act or the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972), Public Law 92-500, as amended by Public Law 95-217, Public Law 95-576, Public Law 96-483, Public Law 97-117, and Public Law 100.4.
17. (17) Class A Sewage sludge--Sewage sludge meeting one of the pathogen reduction requirement in §312.82(a) of this title (relating to Pathogen Reduction).
18. (18) Class B Sewage sludge--Sewage sludge meeting one of the pathogen reduction requirements in §312.82(b) of this title.
19. (19) Commission--The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
20. (20) Contaminate an aquifer--To introduce a substance that causes the maximum contaminant level for nitrate in 40 CFR §141.11 to be exceeded in ground water or that causes the existing concentration of nitrate in ground water to increase when the existing concentration of nitrate in the ground water already exceeds the maximum contaminate level for nitrate in 40 CFR §141.11.
21. (21) Cover--Soil or other material used to cover sewage sludge placed on an active sludge unit.
22. (22) Cover crop--Grasses or small grain crop, such as oats, wheat, or barley, not grown for harvest.
23. (23) Cumulative metal loading rate--The maximum amount of an inorganic pollutant (dry weight basis) that may be applied to a unit area of land.
24. (24) Density of microorganisms--The number of microorganisms per unit mass of total solids (dry weight basis) in the sewage sludge.
25. (25) Displacement--The relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.
26. (26) Disposal--The placement of sewage sludge on the land for any purpose other than beneficial use. Disposal shall not include placement onto the land where the activity has been approved by the executive director or commission as storage or temporary storage and it occurs only for the period of time expressly approved.
27. (27) Domestic septage--Either liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, Type III marine sanitation device, or similar treatment works that receives only domestic sewage. Domestic septage does not include liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar treatment works that receives either commercial wastewater or industrial wastewater and does not include grease removed from a grease trap.
28. (28) Domestic sewage--Waste and wastewater from humans or household operations that is discharged to a wastewater collection system or otherwise enters a treatment works.
29. (29) Dry weight basis--Calculated on the basis of having been dried at 105 degrees Celsius until reaching a constant mass (i.e., essentially 100% solids content).
30. (30) EPA--The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
31. (31) Executive director--The executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission or his/her designee.
32. (32) Experimental Use--Non-routine beneficial use land application or reclamation projects where sewage sludge is added to the soil for research purposes, in pilot projects, feasibility studies, or similar projects.
33. (33) Facility--Includes all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for the surface disposal, land application for beneficial use, or incineration of sewage sludge.
34. (34) Fault--A fracture or zone of fractures in any materials along which strata, rocks, or soils on one side are displaced with respect to strata, rocks, or soil on the other side.
35. (35) Feed crops--Crops produced primarily for consumption by domestic livestock, such as swine, goats, cattle, or poultry.
36. (36) Fiber crops--Crops such as flax and cotton.
37. (37) Final cover--The last layer of soil or other material placed on a sludge unit at closure.
38. (38) Floodway--A channel of a river or watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the surface elevation more than one foot.
39. (39) Food crops--Crops consumed by humans. These include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, and tobacco.
40. (40) Forest--Land densely vegetated with trees and/or underbrush.
41. (41) 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.
42. (42) Ground water--Water below the land surface in the saturated zone.
43. (43) Holocene time--The most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present. Holocene time began approximately 10,000 years ago.
44. (44) Industrial wastewater--Wastewater generated in a commercial or industrial process.
45. (45) Institution--An established organization or corporation, especially of a public nature or where the public has access, such as child care facilities, public buildings, or health care facilities.
46. (46) Land application--The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land surface; the injection of sewage sludge below the land surface; or the incorporation of sewage sludge into the soil so that the sewage sludge can either condition the soil or fertilize crops or vegetation grown in the soil.
47. (47) Land with a high potential for public exposure--Land that the public uses frequently and/or is not provided with a means of restricting public access.
48. (48) Land with a low potential for public exposure--Land that the public uses infrequently and/or is provided with a means of restricting public access.
49. (49) Leachate collection system--A system or device installed immediately above a liner that is designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to collect and remove leachate from a sludge unit.
50. (50) Liner--Soil or synthetic material that has a hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10[sup]-7[/sup] centimeters per second or less. Soil liners shall be of suitable material with more than 30% passing a number 200 sieve, have a liquid limit greater than 30%, a plasticity index greater than 15, compaction of greater than 95% Standard Proctor at optimum moisture content, and will be at least two feet thick placed in six inch lifts. Synthetic liners shall be a membrane with a minimum thickness of 20 mils and include an underdrain leak detection system.
51. (51) Lower explosive limit for methane gas--The lowest percentage of methane in air, by volume, that propagates a flame at 25 degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure.
52. (52) Metal limit--A numerical value that describes the amount of a metal allowed per unit amount of sewage sludge (e.g., milligrams per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a pollutant that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g. kilograms per hectare); or the volume of a material that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., gallons per acre).
53. (53) Monofill--A landfill or landfill trench in which sewage sludge is the only type of solid waste placed.
54. (54) Municipality--A city, town, county, district, association, or other public body (including an intermunicipal agency of two or more of the foregoing entities) created by or under State law; an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization having jurisdiction over sewage sludge management; or a designated and approved management Agency under §208 of the CWA, as amended. The definition includes a special district created under State law, such as a water district, sewer district, sanitary district, or an integrated waste management facility as defined in §201(e) of the CWA, as amended, that has as one of its principal responsibilities the treatment, transport, use, or disposal of sewage sludge.
55. (55) Off-site--Property which cannot be characterized as "on-site."
56. (56) On-site--The same or contiguous property owned, controlled, or supervised by the same person. If the property is divided by public or private right-of-way, the access shall be by crossing the right-of-way or the right-of-way shall be under the control of the person.
57. (57) Operator--The person responsible for the overall operation of a facility or beneficial use site.
58. (58) Other container--Either an open or closed receptacle, including but not limited to, a bucket, box, or a vehicle or trailer with a load capacity of one metric ton (2200 pounds) or less.
59. (59) Owner--The person who owns a facility or part of a facility.
60. (60) Pasture--Land on which animals feed directly on feed crops such as legumes, grasses, grain stubble, forbs, or stover.
61. (61) Pathogenic organisms--Disease causing organisms including, but not limited to, certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and viable helminth ova.
62. (62) Person--An individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or employee thereof.
63. (63) Person who prepares sewage sludge--Either the person who generates sewage sludge during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works or the person who derives a material from sewage sludge.
64. (64) Place sewage sludge or sewage sludge placed--Disposal of sewage sludge on a surface disposal site.
65. (65) Pollutant--An organic or inorganic substance, or a pathogenic organism that, after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into an organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through the food chain, could, on the basis of information available to the executive director, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunction in reproduction), or physical deformations in either organisms or offspring of the organisms.
66. (66) Process or Processing--For the purposes of this chapter, these terms shall have the same meaning as "treat" or "treatment".
67. (67) Public contact site--Land with a high potential for contact by the public. This includes, but is not limited to, public parks, ball fields, cemeteries, plant nurseries, turf farms, and/or golf courses.
68. (68) Qualified groundwater scientist--An individual with a baccalaureate or post graduate degree in the natural sciences or engineering who has sufficient training and experience in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by State registration, professional certification, or completion of accredited university programs that enable the individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, pollutant fate and transport, and corrective action.
69. (69) Range land--Open land with indigenous vegetation.
70. (70) Reclamation site--Drastically disturbed land that is reclaimed using sewage sludge. This includes, but is not limited to, strip mines and/or construction sites.
71. (71) Runoff--Rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains overland on any part of a land surface and runs off the land surface.
72. (72) Seismic impact zone--An area that has a 10% or greater probability that the horizontal ground level acceleration of the rock in the area exceeds 0.10 gravity once in 250 years.
73. (73) Sewage Sludge--Solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to, domestic septage, scum, or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes; and material derived from sewage sludge. Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sludge incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works.
74. (74) Sewage Sludge Debris--Solid material such as rubber, plastic, glass, or other trash which may pass through a wastewater treatment process or sludge process or may be collected with septage. This solid material is visibly distinguishable from sewage sludge. This material does not include grit or screenings removed during the preliminary treatment of domestic sewage at a treatment works, nor does it include grit trap waste.
75. (75) Sludge lagoon--An existing surface impoundment located on-site at a wastewater treatment plant for the storage of sewage sludge. Any other type impoundment shall be considered an active sludge unit, as defined in this section.
76. (76) Sludge unit--Land on which only sewage sludge is placed for disposal. A sludge unit shall be used for sewage sludge. This does not include land on which sewage sludge is either stored or treated.
77. (77) Sludge unit boundary--The outermost perimeter of a surface disposal site.
78. (78) Source Separated Yard Waste--For purposes of this chapter, shall have the same definition as found in Chapter 332 of this title (relating to Composting).
79. (79) Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR)--The mass of oxygen consumed per unit time per unit mass of total solids (dry weight basis) in the sewage sludge.
80. (80) Staging--Temporary holding of sewage sludge at a beneficial use site, for up to a maximum of seven calendar days, prior to the land application of the sewage sludge.
81. (81) Store or storage--The placement of sewage sludge on land for longer than seven days.
82. (82) Temporary Storage--Storage of waste regulated under this chapter by a transporter, which has been approved in writing by the executive director, in accordance with §312.147 of this title, (relating to Temporary Storage).
83. (83) Three-hundred-sixty-five (365) day period--A running total which covers the period between sludge application to a site and the nutrient uptake of the cover crop.
84. (84) Total solids--The materials in sewage sludge that remain as residue if the sewage sludge is dried at 103 degrees Celsius to 105 degrees Celsius.
85. (85) Transporter--Any person who collects, conveys, or transports sewage sludge, water treatment plant sludges, grit trap waste, grease trap waste, chemical toilet waste and/or septage by roadway, ship, rail, or other means.
86. (86) Treat or treatment of sewage sludge--The preparation of sewage sludge for final use or disposal. This includes, but is not limited to, thickening, stabilization, and dewatering of sewage sludge. This does not include storage of sewage sludge.
87. (87) Treatment works--Either a Federally owned, publicly owned, or privately owned device or system used to treat (including recycle and reclaim) either domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial waste of a liquid nature.
88. (88) Unstabilized solids--Organic materials in sewage sludge that have not been treated in either an aerobic or anaerobic treatment process.
89. (89) Unstable area--Land subject to natural or human induced forces that may damage the structural components of an active sewage sludge unit. This includes, but is not limited to, land on which the soils are subject to mass movement.
90. (90) Vector attraction--The characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts rodents, flies, mosquitoes, or other organisms capable of transporting infectious agents.
91. (91) Volatile solids--The amount of the total solids in sewage sludge lost when the sewage sludge is combusted at 550 degrees Celsius in the presence of excess oxygen.
92. (92) Water Treatment Sludge--Sludge generated during the treatment of either surface water or ground water for potable use, which is not an industrial solid waste as defined in §335.1 of this title (relating to Definitions).
93. (93) Wetlands--Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Source Note:The provisions of this §312.8 adopted to be effective October 13, 1995, 20 TexReg 7840.