310 CMR 16.02 - Definitions

The following words when used in 310 CMR 16.00, except as otherwise required by the context, shall have the following meaning:

Abutter means the owner of land sharing a common boundary or corner with the site of the proposed activity in any direction, including, but not limited to, land located directly across a street, way, creek, river, stream, brook or canal.

Adjacent Area means a parcel of land contiguous to a site or in close enough proximity to be directly impacted by water, air or soil borne pollutants, not exceeding a ½ mile radius from the site.

Adjudicatory Hearing or Hearing means the portion of the adjudicatory proceeding initiated by filing a notice of claim with the Office of Administrative Appeals pursuant to 310 CMR 1.01: Adjudicatory Proceeding Rules for the Department of Environmental Protection, where parties may present evidence on issues of fact and argument on issues of law, and concluded by the Commissioner's issuance of a final decision pursuant to 310 CMR 1.01(14): Decisions.

Adjudicatory Proceeding means a proceeding under M.G.L. c. 30A that may culminate in an adjudicatory hearing and the Commissioner's issuance of a final decision pursuant to 310 CMR 1.01(14): Decisions. It is a proceeding before the Department in which the legal rights, duties or privileges of specifically named persons are required by constitutional right, by provisions of M.G.L. c. 30A, or by any other provision of the General Laws to be determined after opportunity for a Department hearing, but does not include the types of proceedings described in M.G.L. c. 30A, § 1(a) through (f).

Adverse Impact means an injurious impact which is significant in relation to the public health, safety, or environmental interest being protected.

Aerobic Digestion means a process of accelerated biodegradation of organic materials using microorganisms under controlled conditions in the presence of oxygen.

Aggrieved Person means any person who, because of an act or failure to act by the Department, may suffer an injury in fact which is different either in kind or magnitude from that suffered by the general public and which is within the scope of the interests protected by 310 CMR 16.00.

Agricultural Material means organic materials produced from the raising and processing of plants and animals as part of agronomic, horticultural, aquacultural or silvicultural operations including, but not limited to, animal manures, animal products and by-products (including carcasses), bedding materials and plant materials.

Anaerobic Digestion means a process of accelerated biodegradation of organic materials using microorganisms under controlled conditions in the absence of oxygen.

Applicant means the person named in the application as the owner of a property interest in the site or the operator of the proposed facility or operation where the owner has entered into an agreement with an operator at the time the application is filed.

Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) means an area designated by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs pursuant to 301 CMR 12.00: Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

Asphalt Pavement, Brick, and Concrete Rubble means rubble that contains only weathered (cured) asphalt pavement, clay bricks and attached mortar normally used in construction, or concrete that may contain rebar. The rubble shall not be painted, coated or impregnated with any substance. The rubble shall not be mixed with or contaminated by any other wastes or debris.

Biodegradable or Biodegradation means capable of being broken down into carbon dioxide, water and humus by biological organisms including, but not limited to, microorganisms.

Biodegradable Product means a product that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6400 and D6868 as of November 23, 2012.

Board of Health or (Board) means the legally designated health authority of the municipality or other legally constituted governmental unit within the Commonwealth having the usual powers and duties of the board of health of a municipality, or its authorized agent or representative; provided that in any case in which a solid waste management facility extends into two or more municipalities, said boards may coordinate activities in effecting compliance with 310 CMR 16.00 for the management of solid waste or recycling, composting or conversion operations. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, "the board of health" means the board of health of the municipality in which the proposed activity is located.

Clean Wood means discarded material consisting of trees, stumps and brush including, but not limited to, sawdust, chips, shavings, bark, and new or used lumber. Clean wood does not include:

(a) wood from commingled construction and demolition waste;

(b) engineered wood products; and

(c) wood containing or likely to contain:

1. asbestos;

2. chemical preservatives such as, but not limited to, chromated copper arsenate (CCA), creosote or pentachlorophenol; or

3. paints, stains or other coatings, or adhesives.

Combustion Facility means a facility established in accordance with a valid site assignment and Department-issued permit and employing an enclosed system including, but not limited to, a refuse disposal incerator using controlled flame combustion, the primary purpose of which is to thermally break down solid waste and producing ash that contains little or no combustible materials.

Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection or his or her designee.

Composting or Composted means a process of accelerated biodegradation of organic materials using microorganisms under controlled conditions in the presence of oxygen using windrows or piles including, but not limited to, covered aerated piles or bays. For the purposes of 310 CMR 16.00, composting is not aerobic digestion or conversion.

Construction and Demolition Waste means the waste building materials and rubble resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair or demolition of buildings, pavements, roads or other structures. Construction and demolition waste includes, but is not limited to, concrete, bricks, asphalt pavement, masonry, plaster, gypsum wallboard, metal, lumber, and wood.

Conversion means aerobic or anaerobic digestion or enzymatic, thermal or chemical degradation of organic materials. For purposes of 310 CMR 16.00, conversion does not include composting.

Department means the Department of Environmental Protection.

Department Report on Suitability means the report issued by the Department pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111, § 150A, stating whether a site proposed for a solid waste management facility in an application for a site assignment is suitable.

Disposal means the final dumping, land filling or placement of solid waste into or on any land or water or the combustion of solid waste.

Disposal Facility means any combustion facility or any landfill.

Downgradient means:

(a) in reference to surface water, the direction perpendicular to lines of equal elevation over a distance in which elevation continuously decreases, measured from the point or area in question; or

(b) in reference to groundwater, the direction perpendicular to lines of equipotential over a distance in which total head continuously decreases, measured from the point or area in question.

Expand a Site means to move or expand a solid waste facility's operation to a previously unassigned site that is contiguous to the original site or to modify a solid waste facility's operations causing it to exceed any capacity or total volume limit stated in its current site assignment.

Facility means a site or works, and other appurtenances thereto, which is, has been or will be used for the handling, storage, transfer, processing, treatment or disposal of solid waste, including all land, structures and improvements which are directly related to solid waste activities.

Food Material means material produced from human or animal food production, preparation and consumption activities and which consists of, but is not limited to, fruits, vegetables, grains, and fish and animal products and by products.

Group of Ten Persons means a group of at least ten persons who are residents of Massachusetts.

Handling means processing, storing, transferring or treating a material or solid waste.

Handling Area means an area used for the processing, storage, transfer or treatment of solid waste, excluding weigh stations or access roads.

Handling Facility means any facility that is not a disposal facility including, but not limited to, a transfer station, storage facility and any other facility used primarily for the storage, processing or treatment of solid waste.

Interim Wellhead Protection Area (IWPA) means that wellhead area established pursuant to 310 CMR 22.02: Definitons.

Issuance means the date on which the Department sends its permit decision to the applicant.

Land Actively Devoted to Agricultural or Horticultural Uses means that land as defined at M.G.L. c. 61A, § 3.

Landfill means a facility or part of a facility established in accordance with a valid site assignment and Department-issued permit for the disposal of solid waste into or on land.

Medical or Biological Waste means medical or biological waste as defined in 105 CMR 480.000: Minimum Requirements for the Management of Medical or Biological Waste (State Sanitary Code Chapter VIII).

New Site means a parcel of land for which an applicant seeks site assignment as a solid waste facility which has not been previously assigned and is not contiguous to an existing site assigned area.

Non-potential Drinking Water Source Area means that area defined by 310 CMR 40.0006: Terminology, Definitions and Acronyms.

Operation means recycling, composting or conversion activities, subject to 310 CMR 16.03, 16.04 or 16.05, and the property on which any such activities take place.

Operator means any person who has care, charge or control of a facility, operation or activity subject to 310 CMR 16.00 including, without limitation, an agent or lessee of the owner or an independent contractor.

Organic Material means any of the following source-separated materials: vegetative material; food material; agricultural material; biodegradable products; biodegradable paper; clean wood; or yard waste. It does not include sanitary wastewater treatment facility residuals.

Owner means any person who alone or in conjunction with others has legal ownership, a leasehold interest, or effective control over the real property upon which a facility or operation is located, or the airspace above said real property; "owner" does not mean persons holding bare legal title for the purpose of providing security for financing.

Perennial Water Course means a stream or river that flows year round.

Person(s) means any individual, partnership, association, firm, company, corporation, department, agency, group, public body (including a city, town, district, county, authority, state, federal, or other governmental unit), trust or any other entity responsible in any way for any activity, facility or operation subject to 310 CMR 16.00.

Pollution shall have the same meaning as in 310 CMR 19.006: Defintions.

Post-consumer Recyclables means the following materials which have served their intended use and have been pre-sorted:

(a) containers, films and wraps and other forms of packaging made from metal, glass, plastic or paper; and

(b) newspaper, office paper, cardboard and other grades of paper.

Potential Private Water Supply means a potable water supply as defined at 314 CMR 5.11: Ground Water Standards, capable of yielding water of sufficient quality and quantity which is located under a parcel of land that at the time of the earlier of the following two filings, the Site Assignment Application or, where applicable, the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Environmental Notification Form, is:

(a) zoned residential or commercial;

(b) not served by a public water supply; and

(c) subject to a subdivision plan or a building permit application approved by the appropriate municipal authority.

Potentially Productive Aquifer means:

(a) any aquifers delineated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a high or medium yield aquifer; and

(b) any aquifers located east of the Cape Cod Canal (Cape Cod), on the Elizabeth Islands, on Martha's Vineyard, or on Nantucket.

Pre-sort means to separate from solid waste and to keep separate from solid waste. Pre-sorting does not require the separation of components that are integral to that material (e.g. insulation or electronic components in white goods).

Private Water Supply means a well used as a source of drinking water supplying a non-public water system with any volume of groundwater from any source.

Processing means the use of any method, technique or process to alter the physical characteristics of a material or solid waste through any means, including, without limitation, separating, baling, shredding, crushing or reworking. Storage alone does not constitute processing.

Proposed Drinking Water Source Area means the preliminary Zone II or the preliminary IWPA for a proposed water supply well that has received a site exam approval by the Department and is actively pursuing source approval under the Drinking Water Regulations at 310 CMR 22.21(1): Source Approval.

Public Water Supply means a source of drinking water supplying a public water system as defined in 310 CMR 22.00: Drinking Water.

Recyclable or Recyclable Material means a material that has the potential to be recycled and which is pre-sorted. Recyclable material includes biodegradable paper, but does not include:

(a) organic materials that will be composted or converted; or

(b) construction and demolition waste unless it has been separated and kept separate into at least the following categories: asphalt, brick and concrete; ceiling tiles; wood; metals; plaster and wallboard; roofing materials; and carpet.

Recycle or Recycled means to recover materials or by-products which will be:

(a) reused;

(b) used as an ingredient or a feedstock in an industrial or manufacturing process to make a marketable product; or

(c) used in a particular function or application as an effective substitute for a commercial product or commodity.

Recycle does not mean to recover energy from the combustion of a material or to create a fuel. Recycle does not include composting or conversion.

Recycling Drop-off Center means a location where pre-sorted post-consumer recyclables are deposited by the generators of the recyclables for collection and transfer to a facility or operation for processing or directly to a market.

Regional Disposal Facility means a solid waste facility that is a member of a regional disposal district established in accordance with M.G.L. c. 40, § 44K, or a solid waste facility that receives substantial quantities of solid waste on a regular basis from two or more municipalities.

Residence or Residential means a single, multi-family, or group home, residential unit or apartment complex. For purposes of 310 CMR 16.00, a group home means an establishment, usually resembling a private home, for providing a small group of persons with special needs, such as handicapped or elderly persons or children, with lodging and supervised care.

Residual means all waste remaining after treatment or processing. Residual remaining after treatment or processing is not pre-sorted material. Air and water discharges managed in accordance with applicable regulations are not residuals.

Responsible Official means one of the following:

(a) for a corporation: a president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function who has been duly authorized to bind the corporation pursuant to a corporate vote, or a representative of the corporation who has been duly authorized to bind the corporation pursuant to a corporate vote provided the representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facility or operation;

(b) for a limited liability company, person authorized pursuant to M.G.L. c. 156C, § 24 and the limited liability company's operating agreement to bind the company and all the members;

(c) for a trust: a trustee or any other natural person authorized:

1. to enter into contracts regarding the trust property;

2. to bind the trust; or

3. to encumber or dispose of the trust property.

(d) for a partnership: a general partner who has been duly authorized to bind the partnership;

(e) for a sole proprietorship; the sole proprietor; or

(f) for a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency including any legislatively created authority, board, commission, district, etc.: a principal executive officer or a ranking elected official who is empowered to enter into contracts on behalf of the municipality or public agency.

Restricted Area means an area specified in 310 CMR 16.40(3) and (4) from which a solid waste management facility is excluded.

Review Period means the 60 day period during which the Department shall review the Site Assignment Application and issue the Department report.

Riverfront Area means that area defined by 310 CMR 10.00: Wetlands Protection.

Site Assignment means a determination by a board of health or by the Department as specified in M.G.L. c. 111, § 150A which:

(a) designates an area of land for one or more solid waste uses subject to conditions with respect to the extent, character and nature of the facility that may be imposed by the assigning agency after a public hearing in accordance with M.G.L. c. 111, § 150A; or

(b) establishes that an area of land was utilized as a site for the disposal onto land of solid waste or as a site for a refuse disposal incinerator prior to July 25, 1955 as provided in St. 1955, c. 310, § 2. The area of land site assigned under 310 CMR 16.02: Site Assignment shall be limited to the lateral limits of the waste deposition area ("the footprint"), or the area occupied by the incinerator, as they existed on July 25, 1955, except as otherwise approved by the Department in approved plans. Said assignment shall apply only to uninterrupted solid waste disposal activities within the footprint or plan-approved area and shall have no legal force or effect at any time after the cessation of disposal activities except as otherwise provided at 310 CMR 16.21.

Sludge means the accumulated solids and/or semisolids deposited or removed by the processing and/or treatment of gasses, water or other fluids.

Sole Source Aquifer means an aquifer so designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or by the Department under the authority of a state program as may be established, that supplies 50% or more of the drinking water for the aquifer service area, and the volume of water which could be supplied by alternative sources is insufficient to replace the petitioned aquifer should it become contaminated.

Solid Waste or Waste means useless, unwanted or discarded solid, liquid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, municipal or household activities that is disposed or is stored, treated, processed or transferred pending such disposal, but does not include:

(a) hazardous wastes as defined and regulated pursuant to 310 CMR 30.000: Hazardous Waste;

(b) sludge or septage which is land applied in compliance with 310 CMR 32.00: Land Application of Sludge and Septage;

(c) waste-water treatment facility residuals and sludge ash from either publicly or privately owned waste-water treatment facilities that treat only sewage and which is treated and/or disposed at a site regulated pursuant to M.G.L. c. 83, §§ 6 and 7 and/or M.G.L. c. 21, §§ 26 through 53 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, unless the waste-water treatment residuals and/or sludge ash are co-disposed with solid waste;

(d) septage and sewage as defined and regulated pursuant to 314 CMR 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program, and regulated pursuant to either M.G.L. c. 21, §§ 26 through 53 or 310 CMR 15.00: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage, provided that 310 CMR 16.00 does apply to solid waste management facilities which co-dispose septage and sewage with solid waste;

(e) ash produced from the combustion of coal when reused as prescribed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111, § 150A;

(f) solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows;

(g) source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954;

(h) materials and by-products generated from and reused within an original manufacturing process;

(i) materials which are recycled, composted, or converted in compliance with 310 CMR 16.03, 16.04 or 16.05; and

(j) organic material when handled at a Publicly Owned Treatment Works as defined in 314 CMR 12.00: Operation and Maintenance and Pretreatment Standards for Wastewater Treatment Works and Indirect Dischargers and as approved by the Department pursuant to 314 CMR 12.00: Operation and Maintenance and Pretreatment Standards for Wastewater Treatment Works and Indirect Dischargers.

Solid Waste Management Facility means Facility.

Source Separated means separated from solid waste at the point of generation and kept separate from solid waste. Source separated does not require the separation of components that are integral to that material (e.g. insulation or electronic components in white goods).

Storage means temporary containment of a material or solid waste in a manner which does not constitute disposal.

Storage Facility means a handling facility where solid waste is stored.

Suitable means a determination by the Department that a proposed site meets the Site Suitability Criteria as set forth in 310 CMR 16.00.

Transfer Station means a handling facility where solid waste is brought, stored and transferred from one vehicle or container to another vehicle or container for transport off-site to a solid waste handling or disposal facility.

Treatment means the use of any method, technique or process to change the chemical, biological character or composition of material or waste; to neutralize such material or waste; to render such material or waste safer to transport, store or dispose; or make such material or waste amenable to recovery, storage or volume reduction. Storage alone does not constitute treatment.

Upgradient means:

(a) in reference to surface water, the direction perpendicular to lines of equal elevation over a distance in which elevation continuously increases, measured from the point or area in question; or

(b) in reference to groundwater, the direction perpendicular to lines of equipotential over a distance in which total head continuously increases, measured from the point or area in question.

Vegetative Material means plant material.

Watershed means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Yard Waste means deciduous and coniferous seasonal deposition (e.g., leaves), grass clippings, weeds, hedge clippings, garden materials and brush.

Zone A means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Zone B means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Zone C means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Zone of Contribution means the recharge area that provides water to a well

Zone I means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Zone II means that area defined by 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions.

Notes

310 CMR 16.02

Amended by Mass Register Issue 1404, eff. 11/15/2019.