WAC 173-240-020   Definitions.  (1) "Approval" means written approval.

     (2) "Construction quality assurance plan" means a plan describing the methods by which the professional engineer in responsible charge of inspection of the project will determine that the facilities were constructed without significant change from the department approved plans and specifications.

     (3) "Department" means the Washington state department of ecology.

     (4) "Domestic wastewater" means water carrying human wastes, including kitchen, bath, and laundry wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with the groundwater infiltration or surface waters that may be present.

     (5) "Domestic wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim or dispose of domestic wastewater together with the industrial waste that may be present. In the case of subsurface sewage treatment and disposal, the term is restricted to mean those facilities treating and disposing of domestic wastewater only from:

     (a) A septic tank system with subsurface sewage treatment and disposal and an ultimate design capacity exceeding fourteen thousand five hundred gallons per day at any common point; or

     (b) A mechanical treatment system or lagoon followed by subsurface disposal with an ultimate design capacity exceeding three thousand five hundred gallons per day at any common point.

     Where the proposed system using subsurface disposal has received a state construction grant or a federal construction grant under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended, such a system is a "domestic wastewater facility" regardless of size.

     (6) "Engineering report" means a document that thoroughly examines the engineering and administrative aspects of a particular domestic or industrial wastewater facility. The report shall contain the appropriate information required in WAC 173-240-060 or 173-240-130. In the case of a domestic wastewater facility project, the report describes the recommended financing method.

     The facility plan described in federal regulation 40 CFR 35 is an "engineering report." This federal regulation describes the Environmental Protection Agency's municipal wastewater construction grants program.

     (7) "General sewer plan" means the:

     (a) Sewerage general plan adopted by counties under chapter 36.94 RCW; or

     (b) Comprehensive plan for a system of sewers adopted by sewer districts under chapter 56.08 RCW; or

     (c) Plan for a system of sewerage adopted by cities under chapter 35.67 RCW; or

     (d) Comprehensive plan for a system of sewers adopted by water districts under chapter 57.08 RCW; or

     (e) Plan for sewer systems adopted by public utility districts under chapter 54.16 RCW and by port districts under chapter 53.08 RCW.

     (f) The "general sewer plan" is a comprehensive plan for a system of sewers adopted by a local government entity. The plan includes the items specified in each respective statute. It includes the general location and description of treatment and disposal facilities, trunk and interceptor sewers, pumping stations, monitoring and control facilities, local service areas and a general description of the collection system to serve those areas. The plan also includes preliminary engineering in adequate detail to assure technical feasibility, provides for the method of distributing the cost and expense of the sewer system, and indicates the financial feasibility of plan implementation.

     (8) "Industrial wastewater" means the water or liquid that carries waste from industrial or commercial processes, as distinct from domestic wastewater. These wastes may result from any process or activity of industry, manufacture, trade or business, from the development of any natural resource, or from animal operations such as feedlots, poultry houses, or dairies. The term includes contaminated stormwater and also leachate from solid waste facilities.

     (9) "Industrial wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim or dispose of industrial wastewater.

     (10) "Owner" means the state, county, city, town, federal agency, corporation, firm, company, institution, person or persons, or any other entity owning a domestic or industrial wastewater facility.

     (11) "Plans and specifications" means the detailed drawings and specifications used in the construction or modification of domestic or industrial wastewater facilities. Except as otherwise allowed, plans and specifications are preceded by an approved engineering report. For some industrial facilities final conceptual drawings for all or parts of the system may be substituted for plans and specifications with the permission of the department.

     (12) "Sewerage system" means a system of sewers and appurtenances for the collection, transportation, pumping, treatment and disposal of domestic wastewater together with industrial waste that may be present. By definition a sewerage system is a "domestic wastewater facility."

     (13) "Sewer line extension" means any pipe added or connected to an existing sewerage system, together with any pump stations: Provided, That the term does not include gravity side sewers that connect individual building or dwelling units to the sewer system when these side sewers are less than one hundred fifty feet in length and not over six inches in diameter.

     (14) "Subsurface sewage treatment and disposal" means the physical, chemical, or bacteriological treatment and disposal of domestic wastewater within the soil profile by placement beneath the soil surface in trenches, beds, seepage pits, mounds, or fills.

     (15) "Waters of the state" means all lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, groundwaters, salt waters, and all other waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 90.48.110. 00-15-021 (Order 00-09), § 173-240-020, filed 7/11/00, effective 8/11/00. Statutory Authority: Chapters 43.21A and 90.48 RCW. 83-23-063 (Order DE 83-30), § 173-240-020, filed 11/16/83. Statutory Authority: RCW 90.48.110. 79-02-033 (Order DE 78-10), § 173-240-020, filed 1/23/79. Formerly WAC 372-20-010.]