18 AAC 83.990 - Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter

(1) "administrator" means the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or an authorized representative;

(2) "Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" or "APDES" means the state's program, approved by EPA under 33 U.S.C. 1342(b), for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements under 33 U.S.C. 1317, 1328, 1342, and 1345;

(3) "animal feeding operation" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.23, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(4) "applicable standards and limitations" means all state, interstate, and federal standards and limitations to which a discharge or a related activity is subject under 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 (Clean Water Act), including effluent limitations, water quality standards, standards of performance, toxic effluent standards or prohibitions, best management practices and pretreatment standards under 33 U.S.C. 1311 - 1314, 1316 - 1318, and 1343;

(5) "application" means a submission of required information on

(A) the EPA standard national forms for applying for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.305; or

(B) the department equivalent forms adopted by the state for use in the APDES program and approved by EPA for use by the state, including any approved modifications or revisions;

(6) "aquaculture project" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.25, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(7) "average monthly discharge limitation" means the highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar month, calculated as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month;

(8) "average weekly discharge limitation" means the highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar week, calculated as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar week divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that week;

(9) "best management practices" means

(A) schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States; and

(B) treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage;

(10) "bypass" means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a treatment facility;

(11) "commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation;

(12) "concentrated animal feeding operation" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.23, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(13) "concentrated aquatic animal production facility" means a hatchery, fish farm, or other facility that meets the criteria in Appendix C to 40 C.F.R. Part 122, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010, or that the department designates under 18 AAC 83.620(b);

(14) "contiguous zone" means the entire zone established by the United States under Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone;

(15) "continuous discharge" means a discharge that occurs without interruption throughout the operating hours of the facility, except for infrequent shutdowns for maintenance, process changes, or other similar activities;

(16) "Clean Water Act" means the federal law codified at 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387, also known or referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972);

(17) "Clean Water Act and regulations" means 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 and applicable regulations promulgated under 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387, including the APDES requirements;

(18) "daily discharge" means the discharge of a pollutant measured during a calendar day or any 24-hour period that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling; the daily discharge is calculated for a pollutant with limitations expressed in

(A) units of mass, as the total mass of the pollutant discharged over the day, and

(B) other units of measurement, as the average measurement of the pollutant over the day;

(19) "department" means the Department of Environmental Conservation;

(20) "direct discharge" means the discharge of a pollutant;

(21) "director" means the commissioner or the commissioner's designee assigned to administer the APDES program or a portion of it, unless the context identifies an EPA director;

(22) "discharge" when used without qualification means the discharge of a pollutant;

(23) "discharge of a pollutant"

(A) means any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants

(i) to waters of the United States from any point source; or

(ii) to waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other floating craft that is being used as a means of transportation;

(B) includes any addition of pollutants into waters of the United States from

(i) surface runoff that is collected or channeled by humans;

(ii) discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances owned by a state, municipality, or other person that do not lead to a treatment works; and

(iii) discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances leading into privately owned treatment works;

(C) does not include an addition of pollutants by any indirect discharger;

(24) "discharge monitoring report" means the EPA uniform national form, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.410(d), for the reporting of self-monitoring results by permittees, including any department equivalent modified to substitute the department's name, address, logo, and other similar information, as appropriate, in place of information pertaining to EPA;

(25) "draft permit" means a document prepared under 18 AAC 83.115, indicating the department's tentative decision to issue or deny, modify, revoke and reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit;

(26) "effluent limitation" or "effluent limit" means any restriction imposed by the department on quantities, discharge rates, and concentrations of pollutants that are discharged from point sources into waters of the United States, the waters of the contiguous zone, or the ocean;

(27) "effluent limitations guidelines" means a regulation published by the administrator under 33 U.S.C. 1314(b) to adopt or revise effluent limitations, and adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(28) "Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency;

(29) "facility or activity" means any point source or any other facility or activity, including land or appurtenances, that is subject to regulation under the APDES program;

(30) "federal Indian reservation" means all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and including rights-of-way running through the reservation;

(31) "general permit" means an APDES permit issued under 18 AAC 83.205, or an NPDES permit issued by EPA under 40 C.F.R. 122.28 before the state's acceptance of delegation of the NPDES program, authorizing a category of discharges under 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 within a geographical area;

(32) "hazardous substance" means any substance designated under 40 C.F.R. Part 116 in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1321;

(33) "Indian tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, group, or community recognized by the United States Secretary of the Interior and exercising governmental authority over a federal Indian reservation;

(34) "indirect discharger" means a nondomestic discharger introducing pollutants to a POTW;

(35) "individual control strategy" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 123.46(c), revised as of July 1, 2005, adopted by reference;

(36) "interstate agency" means an agency of two or more states established by or under an agreement or compact approved by the United States Congress, or any other agency of two or more states having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the administrator under 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 and regulations adopted under those provisions;

(37) "major facility" means any NPDES facility or activity classified as a major facility by the regional administrator, or any APDES facility or activity classified as a major facility by the regional administrator in conjunction with the department;

(38) "maximum daily discharge limitation" means the highest allowable daily discharge;

(39) "minor facility" means any facility that is not a major facility;

(40) "municipality" means a city, town, borough, village, district, association, or other public body created by or under state law and having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under 33 U.S.C. 1288;

(41) "municipal separate storm sewer system" or "MS4" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.26(b)(4) and (b)(7), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(42) "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" or "NPDES"

(A) means the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements under 33 U.S.C. 1317, 1328, 1342, and 1345;

(B) includes the APDES program as approved by EPA;

(43) "new discharger"

(A) means any building, structure, facility, or installation

(i) from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants;

(ii) that did not commence the discharge of pollutants at a particular site before August 13, 1979;

(iii) that is not a new source; and

(iv) that has never received a finally effective NDPES permit for discharges at that site;

(B) includes

(i) an indirect discharger that commenced or commences discharging into waters of the United States after August 13, 1979;

(ii) any existing mobile point source other than an offshore or coastal oil and gas exploratory drilling rig or a coastal oil and gas developmental drilling rig such as a seafood processing rig, seafood processing vessel, or aggregate plant, that begins discharging at a site for which it does not have a permit; and

(iii) any offshore or coastal mobile oil and gas exploratory drilling rig or coastal mobile oil and gas developmental drilling rig that commenced or commences the discharge of pollutants after August 13, 1979, at a site under EPA's permitting jurisdiction for which it is not covered by an individual or general permit and which is located in an area determined by the regional administrator in the issuance of a final permit to be an area of biological concern considering the factors specific in 40 C.F.R. 125.122(a)(1) - (10), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010; an offshore or coastal mobile exploratory drilling rig or coastal mobile developmental drilling rig will be considered a new discharger only for the duration of its discharge in an area of biological concern;

(44) "new source"

(A) means any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced

(i) after promulgation of standards of performance under 33 U.S.C. 1316 that are applicable to a new source; or

(ii) after proposal of standards of performance in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1316 that are applicable to a new source, but only if the standards are promulgated in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1316 within 120 days of their proposal;

(B) except as otherwise provided in an applicable new source performance standard, is a source that

(i) is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;

(ii) totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

(iii) has processes which are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site, considering such factors as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source;

(C) for purposes of (A) and (B) of this paragraph, is a new source only if a new source performance standard is independently applicable to it; if there is no independently applicable standard, the source is a new discharger;

(D) for purposes of this paragraph, is construction of a new source that has commenced if the owner or operator has

(i) begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program, any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment, or significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities that is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

(ii) entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time; options to purchase or contracts that can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, contracts for feasibility engineering and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this sub-subparagraph;

(E) does not include construction on a site that results in a modification to an existing source subject to 18 AAC 83.130, if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria in (A) - (D) of this paragraph, but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment; and

(F) in (A) - (E) of this paragraph,

(i) "existing source" means any source that is not a new source or a new discharger;

(ii) "facility or equipment" means any building, structure, process or production equipment or machinery which form a permanent part of the new source and which will be used in its operation, if the facility or equipment is of such value as to represent a substantial commitment to construct, but does not include any facility or equipment used in connection with feasibility, engineering, and design studies regarding the source or water pollution treatment for the source;

(iii) "source" means any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants;

(45) "owner or operator" means the owner or operator of any facility or activity subject to regulation under the APDES program;

(46) "permit"

(A) means an authorization, license, or equivalent control document issued by the department to implement the requirements of the APDES program and this chapter;

(B) includes an APDES general permit and an EPA-issued NPDES general permit;

(47) "person" means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or employee thereof;

(48) "point source"

(A) means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, landfill leachate collection system, vessel, or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged;

(B) does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture or agricultural storm water runoff;

(49) "pollutant"

(A) means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials except those regulated under 42 U.S.C. 2011, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, or agricultural waste discharged into water;

(B) does not include sewage from vessels or water, gas, or other material that is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil and gas production and disposed of in a well, if the well

(i) is used either to facilitate production or for disposal purposes;

(ii) is approved by authority of the department; and

(iii) if the department determines that the injection or disposal will not result in the degradation of ground or surface water resources;

(50) "preliminary draft permit" means a draft permit that the department intends to provide notice of under 18 AAC 83.120 and that is provided in advance to the applicant under 18 AAC 83.115(e);

(51) "pretreatment" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 403.3(s), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(52) "primary industry category" means any industry category listed in Appendix A to 40 C.F.R. Part 122, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(53) "privately owned treatment works" means any device or system that is used to treat wastes from any facility whose operator is not the operator of the treatment works and is not a POTW;

(54) "process wastewater" means any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product;

(55) "proposed final permit" means a permit, prepared after the public comment period and any public hearing and administrative appeal, that may be sent to EPA for review before final issuance by the department;

(56) "publicly owned treatment works" or "POTW"

(A) means a treatment works as defined by 33 U.S.C. 1292 that is owned by a municipality or state; in this subparagraph "municipality" includes a municipality that has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works;

(B) includes

(i) any device and system used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature; and

(ii) any sewer, pipe, and other conveyance that conveys wastewater to a POTW treatment plant;

(57) "recommencing discharger" means a source that recommences discharge after terminating operations;

(58) "regional administrator" means the regional administrator of EPA Region 10 or the authorized representative of the regional administrator;

(59) "schedule of compliance" means a schedule of remedial measures in a permit, including an enforceable sequence of interim requirements such as actions, operations, or milestone events, leading to compliance with 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 and this chapter;

(60) "second industry category" means any industry category that is not a primary industry category;

(61) "secretary" means the Secretary of the United States Army, acting through the chief of engineers;

(62) "septage" means the liquid and solid material pumped from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar domestic sewage treatment system, or a holding tank when the system is cleaned or maintained;

(63) "sewage from vessels" means human body wastes and the wastes from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body wastes that are discharged from vessels and regulated under 33 U.S.C. 1322;

(64) "sewage sludge"

(A) means any solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue removed during the treatment of municipal waste water or domestic sewage;

(B) includes solids removed during primary, secondary, or advanced waste water treatment, scum, septage, portable toilet pumpings, type III marine sanitation device pumpings under 33 C.F.R. Part 159, and sewage sludge products;

(C) does not include grit, screenings, or ash generated during the incineration of sewage sludge;

(65) "sewage sludge use or disposal practice" means the collection, storage, treatment, transportation, processing, monitoring, use, or disposal of sewage sludge;

(66) "significant industrial user" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 403.3(v), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(67) "silvicultural point source"

(A) means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance related to rock crushing and gravel washing, log sorting, or log storage facilities that are operated in connection with silvicultural activities and from which pollutants are discharged into waters of the United States; in this paragraph,

(i) "log sorting and log storage facilities" means facilities where discharges result from the holding of unprocessed wood, such as logs or roundwood with bark or after removal of bark held in self-contained bodies of water such as mill ponds or log ponds, or stored on land for wet decking, where water is applied intentionally on the logs; and

(ii) "rock crushing and gravel washing facilities" means facilities that process crushed and broken stone, gravel, and riprap;

(B) does not include non-point source silvicultural activities such as nursery operations, site preparation, reforestation and subsequent cultural treatment, thinning, prescribed burning, pest and fire control, harvesting operations, surface drainage, or road construction and maintenance from which there is natural runoff;

(68) "site" means the land or water area where any facility or activity is physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity;

(69) "state" means the State of Alaska;

(70) "state and EPA Agreement" means an agreement between the regional administrator and the state that coordinates EPA and state activities, responsibilities, and programs, including those under 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387;

(71) "storm water" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.26(b)(13), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(72) "storm water discharge associated with industrial activity" has the meaning given in 40 C.F.R. 122.26(b)(14), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(73) "total dissolved solids" means the total dissolved solids as determined by use of the method specified in 40 C.F.R. Part 136, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010;

(74) "toxic pollutant" means any pollutant listed as toxic under 33 U.S.C. 1317(a)(1);

(75) "upset" means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with technology-based permit effluent limitations because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the permittee; "upset" does not include the following:

(A) noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error;

(B) improperly designed or installed treatment facilities;

(C) inadequate treatment facilities;

(D) lack of preventive maintenance;

(E) careless or improper operation;

(76) "variance"

(A) means any mechanism or provision under 33 U.S.C. 1311 or 1326 or under 18 AAC 83.160, or in the applicable effluent limitations guidelines, that allows a modification or waiver of the generally applicable effluent limitation requirements or time deadlines of 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387;

(B) includes provisions at allow the establishment of alternative limitations based on fundamentally different factors or based upon 33 U.S.C. 1311(c), (g) - (i), or 1326(a);

(77) "waters of the United States" or "waters of the U.S."

(A) means

(i) all waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

(ii) all interstate waters, including interstate wetlands;

(iii) all other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams, including intermittent streams, mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce, including any such waters that are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes; from which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce; or that are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

(iv) all impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this paragraph;

(v) tributaries of waters identified in (i) through (iv) of this subparagraph;

(vi) the territorial sea;

(vii) wetlands adjacent to waters, other than waters that are themselves wetlands, identified in (i) through (vi) of this subparagraph;

(B) does not include

(i) waste treatment systems including treatment ponds or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of 33 U.S.C. 1251 - 1387 (Clean Water Act), other than cooling ponds as defined in 40 C.F.R. 423.11(m), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 83.010 that also meet the criteria of this paragraph;

(ii) prior converted cropland; however, notwithstanding the determination of an area's status as prior converted cropland by any federal agency other than EPA, the final authority regarding Clean Water Act jurisdiction remains with EPA;

(78) "wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, and generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas;

(79) "whole effluent toxicity" means the aggregate toxic effect of an effluent measured directly by a toxicity test;

(80) "severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities that causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources that can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass; in this paragraph, "severe property damage" does not include economic loss caused by delays in production.

Notes

18 AAC 83.990

Eff. 7/29/2006, Register 179; am 11/10/2007, Register 184

As of Register 187 (October 2008), the regulations attorney made a technical revision under AS 44.62.125(b)(6), to 18 AAC 83.990(51) and 18 AAC 83.990(66).

Authority:AS 44.46.020

AS 46.03.010

AS 46.03.020

AS 46.03.050

AS 46.03.100

AS 46.03.110