Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-15-1-.02 - Definitions
Unless otherwise defined in 335-15-1 through 335-15-8, the following words and terms shall have the meanings given below:
(a) "ADEM " is the Alabama Department of
Environmental Management.
(b)
"Applicant " is the owner , operator or prospective purchaser of a qualifying
property seeking to participate in the voluntary cleanup program by submission
of an application under 335-15-2.
(c) "Application fee " means the nonrefundable
review fee submitted with the Voluntary Cleanup Program application.
(d) "Aquifer " means a geologic formation,
group of formations or a part of a formation capable of yielding a significant
amount of groundwater to wells or springs.
(e) "Brownfield " means real property , the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence
or perceived presence of a hazardous substance , pollutant or
contaminant .
(f) "Brownfield
Redevelopment District " means any potentially affected property as described in
the Code of Alabama 1975, §§
22-30E-14,
22-30E-15, and
22-30E-16.
(g) "Brownfield Remediation Reserve Fund "
means an account established to collect contributions from responsible person
applicants authorized by the Code of Alabama 1975, §
22-30E-5.
(h) "Brownfield Remediation Reserve Fund
Contribution " means an amount provided to the Department by a responsible
person applicant pursuant to the Code of Alabama 1975, §
22-30E-5 for deposit into and to
be used for the purposes of the Brownfield Remediation Reserve Fund .
(i) "Carcinogen " means a chemical
classification for the purpose of risk assessment as an agent that is known or
suspected to cause cancer in humans, including but not limited to a known or
likely human carcinogen or a probable or possible human carcinogen under an EPA
weight-of-evidence classification system.
(j) "Certification of compliance " means a
statement prepared by a professional engineer or geologist licensed to practice
in the State of Alabama which certifies compliance with a voluntary cleanup
plan required by
335-15-4-.06.
(k) "Cleanup " means the cleaning up,
remediation, mitigation , control, or removal of contaminants from the
environment in accordance with an approved "Voluntary Cleanup Plan ".
(l) "Cleanup Properties Inventory " means the
Voluntary Cleanup Properties Inventory compiled and updated as necessary by the
Department pursuant to
335-15-6-.03(1)
for all qualifying properties for which a property assessment plan or cleanup
plan has been approved.
(m)
"Cleanup Standard " means a cleanup level which may be based on specific
requirements of relevant environmental laws or regulations (e.g., Clean Water
Act , Clean Air Act , TSCA, RCRA, CERCLA, et al.), derived using the procedures
outlined in Section 300.430(e)(2) of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances
Pollution Contingency Plan ( 40 CFR Part 300) and/or utilizing requirements
found in the Alabama Risk-based Corrective Action Guidance (ARBCA) Manual or
other appropriate risk-based corrective action principles through the
appropriate implementation of applicable response actions or land use
controls .
(n) "Commission " means
the Alabama Environmental Management Commission as defined in the
Code of Alabama 1975, §
22-22A-3.
(o) "Completion " means fulfillment of the
commitment agreed to by the participant as part of this program.
(p) "Contaminant " means any substance that
results in alteration of the chemical, physical or biological integrity of
soils, sediments, air and surface water or groundwater including:
1. Solid waste (as defined in 335-13);
or
2. Petroleum
product(s).
(q)
"Department " means the Alabama Department of Environmental Management or its
successor agency.
(r) "Director "
means the Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management or
such other person to whom the director has delegated authority.
(s) "EPA " means the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
(t) "Engineer " means a person registered as a
professional engineer with the State of Alabama Board of Registration for
Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and practicing under the Rules of
Professional Conduct, specifically Canon II.
(u) "Environment" is defined by the federal
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ,
42 U.S.C., §
9601, et seq.
1. The navigable waters, the waters of the
contiguous zone, and the ocean waters of which the natural resources are under
the exclusive management authority of the United States under the Magnuson
Fishery Conservation and Management Act .
2. Any other surface water, groundwater,
drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata, or ambient air within
the State of Alabama or under the jurisdiction of the State of
Alabama.
(v)
"Environmental Covenant" as defined in
335-5-1-.03.
(w) "Facility " is a term synonymous with
"property ".
(x) "Fiduciary " means a
person who acts for the benefit of another person as a bona fide trustee,
executor, and/or administrator.
(y)
"Geologist " means a person registered as a professional geologist with the
State of Alabama pursuant to the Alabama Professional Geologist Licensing
Act .
(z) "Hazardous constituent" as
defined in 335-14-2-Appendix VIII and/or 335-14-5-Appendix IX.
(aa) "Hazardous substance " means any
substance included on the List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable
Quantities, codified as 40 CFR Part 302, Table 302.4, in force and effect on
the effective date of 335-15-1 (May 21, 2001) and subsequent revisions thereof,
or any substance listed on the List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their
Threshold Planning Quantities, codified as 40 CFR Part 355, Appendix A, in
force and effect on the effective date of 335-15 and subsequent revisions
thereof.
(bb) "Hazardous waste "
means any solid waste as defined in 335-14.
(cc) "Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage or
Disposal Facility " means any property or facility which is intended or used for
the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste subject to the permit
requirements of 335-14-8.
(dd)
"Land Use Controls " means any restriction or control, which serves to protect
human health or the environment, that limits the use of or exposure to, any
portion of a property , including water resources. These controls include but
are not limited to:
1. Engineering controls
for remedial actions directed toward containing or controlling the migration of
contaminants through the environment. These include, but are not limited to,
storm water conveyance systems, slurry walls, liner systems, caps, leachate
collection systems, pump and treat systems, and groundwater recovery
systems.
2. Institutional controls
which are legal or contractual restrictions on property use that remain
effective after remediation is completed and are used to meet remediation
levels. The term may include, but is not limited to, deed notations, deed
restrictions and/or, water use restrictions, restrictive covenants,
conservation easements, and limited development rights.
3. Water use restrictions which can be placed
on the use of a particular water supply source that has been identified as
being contaminated with hazardous substances or other contaminants in order to
protect human health and the environment.
(ee) "Letter of Concurrence with Conditions "
means a letter issued by the Department to an applicant upon the Department 's
concurrence with the certification of compliance that pertains to the response
action and contains a legal description of the subject area, unit, site or
qualifying property , as applicable.
(ff) "Major Modification " means any
modification that is not a minor modification .
(gg) "Minor Modification " means any
administrative and/or general information changes , correction of typographical
errors, changes in ownership and or operational control, and changes in the
frequency of, or procedures for, monitoring, reporting or sampling by the
applicant to provide for more frequent monitoring, reporting or
sampling.
(hh) "Mitigation " means
reducing to the extent possible or rectifying the adverse impact by repairing,
rehabilitating, restoring, or limiting exposure to the affected
environment.
(ii) "Noncarcinogen "
is a chemical classification for the purposes of risk assessment as an agent
for which there is either inadequate toxicological data or which is not likely
to be a carcinogen based on an EPA weight-of-evidence classification system.
(jj) "Non-responsible Person "
means any person who is not a responsible person or responsible person
applicant .
(kk) "Operation and
Maintenance " means any action(s) required to operate and/or maintain the
processes in place to minimize any potential exposures to environmental
concerns on a property .
(ll) "Owner
or Operator "
1. The definition includes the
following:
(i) In the case of a facility , any
person who is the owner or operator of the facility .
(ii) Any person who owned, operated, or
otherwise controlled activities at a facility immediately prior to title or
control of the facility being conveyed due to bankruptcy, foreclosure, tax
delinquency, abandonment, or similar means to a unit of state or local
government.
2. The
definition does not include the following:
(i)
A person who can show evidence of ownership or a deed in lieu of foreclosure
primarily to protect that person 's security interest in the facility or who
acts in good faith, solely in a fiduciary capacity and who did not actively
participate in the management, disposal, or release of hazardous wastes,
hazardous constituents, or hazardous substances from the facility .
(ii) A unit of a state or local government
which acquired ownership or control involuntarily through bankruptcy, tax
delinquency, abandonment, or other circumstances in which the government
involuntarily acquire title by virtue of its function as sovereign. This
exclusion shall not apply to any state or local government which has caused or
contributed to the release of hazardous wastes, hazardous constituents, or
hazardous substances from the facility .
(nn) "Participant " means a person who has
received confirmation of eligibility and has remitted payment of the
application fee .
(oo) "Person "
means an any individual, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited
liability company or partnership, joint venture, association, trust,
unincorporated organization, governmental authority, municipal corporation or
any other legal entity.
(pp)
"Petroleum " means oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, including,
without limitation, crude oil or any fraction thereof, petroleum , gasoline ,
kerosene, fuel oil, oil sludge, used oil , substances or additives utilized in
the refining or blending of crude petroleum or petroleum stock, natural gas,
natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, synthetic gas usable for fuel, and
mixtures of natural gas and synthetic gas.
(qq) "Pollutant " includes but is not limited
to dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage
sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive
materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and
industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste. [Note: Some materials that meet
the definition of "pollutant " may not meet the criteria to be considered a
solid waste, whether hazardous or nonhazardous.]
(rr) "Post-Remediation Costs " include all
costs to which all of the following apply:
1.
Are incurred after issuance of the Letter of Concurrence with Conditions for,
or with respect to, the investigation, assessment, cleanup , remediation,
control, or removal of contaminants resultant from, in whole or part, a
preexisting release at the qualifying property that were identified and
addressed in reports, assessments, or plans approved by the Department to
demonstrate compliance with the risk reduction standards from the qualifying
property .
2. Are not incurred as a
result of non-compliance with the applicable response action or land use
controls as described in the environmental covenant by the applicant .
(ss) "Preexisting release " means a
release which occurred prior to an applicant 's application for a limitation of
liability pursuant to
335-15-4-.02.
(tt) "Property " is synonymous with "facility "
and includes any or all of the following:
1.
Any land, building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline, sewer
or publicly owned treatment works, pipe into a sewer or publicly owned
treatment works, well , pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, or
storage container.
2. Any site or
area where a hazardous waste , hazardous constituent, hazardous substance or
petroleum product has been deposited, discharged, stored, disposed of, placed,
or has otherwise come to be located.
(uu) "Prospective developer " means any person
who desires to buy or sell a brownfield property for the purpose of developing
or redeveloping that brownfield property and who did not cause or contribute to
the contamination at the brownfield property .
(vv) "Prospective purchaser " means a person
who intends to purchase a qualifying property .
(xx) "Relatives " means persons who are, or
formerly were, related by marriage, adoption, or by consanguinity.
(yy) "Release " means any intentional or
unintentional act or omission resulting in the spilling, leaking, pumping,
pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,
dumping, or disposing into the environment, including without limitation, the
abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles,
of any solid waste, hazardous waste , hazardous constituent, petroleum products,
or hazardous substance .
(zz)
"Remediation" is synonymous with "cleanup ".
(aaa) "Remediation Costs " includes all costs
incurred for, or in relation to, the investigation or cleanup of, equitable
relief relating to, or damages resultant from, in whole or in part, either of
the following:
1. A pre-existing release at a
qualifying property , including any liability to the state or any other person
for the cleanup of the property under Code of Alabama 1975, Title 22 Chapters
22 and 30A and 335-6, 335-13, and 335-14.
2. A new release of a substance, constituent,
or material which had been a part of a pre-existing release at the property ,
unless the new release results from noncompliance with an approved voluntary
property assessment plan or voluntary cleanup plan or from the negligent,
wanton, willful, or intentional conduct of the applicant .
3. These shall not include any costs incurred
as a result of the requirements in 335-4 and 335-16.
(bbb) "Remediation waste " means all solid and
hazardous wastes, and all media (including groundwater, surface water, soils,
and sediment) and debris that contain hazardous substances which are managed
for implementation of the cleanup .
(ccc) "Residential " means single family
residences of one or more dwelling units, including accessory land, buildings
or improvements incidental to such dwellings.
(ddd) "Response Action " means those actions
taken in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous waste ,
hazardous constituent, petroleum product, or hazardous substance into the
environment to remove, prevent, or minimize the release of hazardous waste ,
hazardous constituents, petroleum products, or hazardous substances so that
they do not pose a threat to public health and/or the environment.
(eee) "Responsible Person " means, except as
otherwise provided, any person who has contributed or is contributing to a
release of any hazardous waste , hazardous constituent, or hazardous substance
at a property . This term specifically includes those persons described in
§§107(a)(1) through 107(a) (4) of the federal Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ,
42 U.S.C., §
9601
et seq. This
term specifically excludes a responsible person applicant on or before the
effective date of the Brownfield Remediation Reserve Fund Act of 2023 (Act
Number 2023-356, 2023 Regular Session) for those matters addressed in the
assessment plan and those persons described in §107(b) of the federal
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ,
42 U.S.C., §
9601
et seq. as
amended on January 11, 2002.
(fff)
"Responsible Person Applicant " means any owner or operator who makes
application and submits an assessment plan for a qualifying property into the
Voluntary Cleanup Program and who has been accepted by and whose Voluntary
Property Assessment Plan or Voluntary Property Assessment Report has been
approved by the Department on or after the effective date of the Brownfield
Remediation Reserve Fund Act of 2023 (Act Number 2023-356, 2023 Regular
Session).
(ggg) "Restricted use "
means any use other than unrestricted residential use .
(hhh) "Risk assessment " means a written
site -specific evaluation of the risks to human health and the environment posed
by conditions at the site . The process includes a written site -specific
evaluation, encompassing, but not limited to, the identification of the
contaminants present in the environmental media, the assessment of exposure and
exposure pathways, the assessment of the toxicity of the contaminants present,
the characterization of risks to humans, and the characterization of the
impacts or risks to the environment.
(iii) "Site " means any property or portion
thereof, as agreed to and defined by the participant and the Department , which
contains or may contain contaminants being addressed under this
program.
(jjj) "Source " means the
point of origin of a suspected contaminant .
(lll) "Unrestricted residential use " means
the designation of acceptable future use at a site for any and all activities
associated with residential use at which the remediation levels, based on
either background or standard residential exposure factors, shall have been
attained throughout the site in all media.
(mmm) "Used oil " means any oil that has been
refined from crude oil, or any synthetic oil, that has been used and as a
result of such use, is contaminated by physical or chemical
impurities.
(nnn) "Upper-bound
lifetime cancer risk level " means a conservative estimate of the probability of
one excess cancer occurrence in a given number of exposed individuals.
For example, a risk level of 1 x 10-6 equates to the
possibility of one additional cancer occurrence beyond the number of
occurrences that would otherwise occur in one million exposed individuals,
beyond the number of occurrences that would otherwise occur.
(ooo) "Voluntary Cleanup Plan " means any plan
approved under
335-15-4-.04 that describes in
sufficient detail those actions planned to satisfy the cleanup requirements for
the qualifying property .
(ppp)
"Voluntary Cleanup Properties Inventory " means a compiled list updated by the
Department pursuant to
335-15-6-.03(1)
for all qualifying properties for which a property assessment plan or cleanup
plan has been approved.
(qqq)
"Voluntary Cleanup Report " means a final report of the cleanup of the entire
facility in accordance with the specifications in the approved cleanup
plan.
(rrr) "Voluntary Property
Assessment Plan " means a plan that has been approved by the Department under
335-15-4-.03 and describes in
sufficient detail those actions planned to perform a risk assessment or
identify applicable cleanup requirements for the property .
(sss) "Voluntary Property Assessment Report "
means a report of the assessment and findings from a Voluntary Property
Assessment which may include a recommendation for applying cleanup standards to
the property .
(ttt) "Well " means
any shaft or pit dug or bored into the earth, generally of a cylindrical form,
and often walled with bricks or tubing to prevent the earth from caving
in.
Notes
Author: Fred A. Barnes; Keith N. West; Lawrence A. Norris; Stephen A. Cobb; Sonja B. Favors; Crystal L. Collins; Lynn T. Roper; M. Gavin Adams; Austin R. Pierce; Pamela L. Monaghan; Pamela W. Luckie
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, § 22-30E-3.
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