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

1. (1) Act--House Bill 1458 (71st Session) codified as Texas Water Code §§26.401 - 26.407.
2. (2) Commission--Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (or effective September 1, 2002, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality).
3. (3) Committee--Texas Groundwater Protection Committee.
4. (4) Documented groundwater contamination--A case of groundwater contamination where an 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 the agency under §601.4(b) of this title (relating to Public Files).
5. (5) Enforcement action--Any action of the agencies, identified in §601.2 of this title (relating to Applicability), which accomplishes or requires the identification, documentation, monitoring, assessing, or remediation of groundwater contamination.
6. (6) Groundwater--Water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

7. (7) Groundwater contamination--The detrimental alteration of the naturally occurring physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of groundwater. Furthermore, groundwater contamination, for purposes of inclusion of cases in the public files and the joint groundwater monitoring and contamination report, shall be limited to contamination reasonably suspected of having been caused by activities or by entities under the jurisdiction of the agencies identified in §601.4(b) of this title (relating to Public Files), except in the case of 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, 145, and 146, and 30 TAC Chapter 331 (Underground Injection Control); and affecting groundwater which contains a concentration of:

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

   2. (B) greater than 10,000 mg/liter if it is:

      1. (i) currently extracted for beneficial use such as domestic, industrial, or agricultural purposes; or
      2. (ii) hydrologically connected with, and with the potential for contaminant movement to, a surface water body or another zone of groundwater which has a concentration of less than or equal to 10,000 mg/liter of dissolved solids.

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.