WAC 173-304-100   Definitions.  When used in this regulation, the following terms have the meanings given below.

     (1) "Active area" means that portion of a facility where solid waste recycling, reuse, treatment, storage, or disposal operations are being, are proposed to be, or have been conducted. Buffer zones shall not be considered part of the active area of a facility.

     (2) "Agricultural wastes" means wastes on farms resulting from the production of agricultural products including but not limited to manures, and carcasses of dead animals weighing each or collectively in excess of fifteen pounds.

     (3) "Agronomic rates" means the rates of application of sludges, manures, or crop residues in accordance with rates specified by the appropriate fertilizer guide for the crop under cultivation.

     (4) "Air quality standard" means a standard set for maximum allowable contamination in ambient air as set forth in chapter 173-400 WAC, General regulations for air pollution sources.

     (5) "Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation capable of yielding a significant amount of groundwater to wells or springs.

     (6) "Ashes" means the residue including any air pollution flue dusts from combustion or incineration of material including solid wastes.

     (7) "Balefill" means a landfill which uses compacted bales of solid waste to form discrete lifts as the landfill is filled.

     (8) "Buffer zone" means that part of a facility that lies between the active area and the property boundary.

     (9) "Bulky waste" means large items of refuse, such as appliances, furniture, and other oversize wastes which would typically not fit into reusable or disposable containers.

     (10) "Clean soils and clean dredge spoils" means soils and dredge spoils which are not dangerous wastes or problem wastes as defined in this section.

     (11) "Closure" means those actions taken by the owner or operator of a solid waste site or facility to cease disposal operations and to ensure that all such facilities are closed in conformance with applicable regulations at the time of such closures and to prepare the site for the post-closure period.

     (12) "Collecting agency" means any agency, business or service operated by a person for the collecting of solid waste.

     (13) "Compliance schedule" means a written schedule of required measures in a permit including an enforceable sequence leading to compliance with these regulations.

     (14) "Composting" means the controlled degradation of organic solid waste yielding a product for use as a soil conditioner.

     (15) "Container" means a device used for the collection, storage, and/or transportation of solid waste including but not limited to reusable containers, disposable containers, detachable containers and tanks, fixed or detachable.

     (16) "Contaminate" means to allow to discharge a substance into groundwater that would cause:

     (a) The concentration of that substance in the groundwater to exceed the maximum contamination level specified in WAC 173-304-9901, or

     (b) A statistically significant increase in the concentration of that substance in the groundwater where the existing concentration of that substance exceeds the maximum contaminant level specified in WAC 173-304-9901, or

     (c) A statistically significant increase above background in the concentration of a substance which:

     (i) Is not specified in WAC 173-304-9901, and

     (ii) Is present in the solid waste, and

     (iii) Has been determined to present a substantial risk to human health or the environment in the concentrations found at the point of compliance by the jurisdictional health department in consultation with the department and the department of social and health services.

     (17) "Cover material" means soil or other suitable material that has been approved by the jurisdictional health department as cover for wastes.

     (18) "Dangerous wastes" means any solid waste designated as dangerous waste by the department under chapter 173-303 WAC.

     (19) "Demolition waste" means solid waste, largely inert waste, resulting from the demolition or razing of buildings, roads and other man-made structures. Demolition waste consists of, but is not limited to, concrete, brick, bituminous concrete, wood and masonry, composition roofing and roofing paper, steel, and minor amounts of other metals like copper. Plaster (i.e., sheet rock or plaster board) or any other material, other than wood, that is likely to produce gases or a leachate during the decomposition process and asbestos wastes are not considered to be demolition waste for the purposes of this regulation.

     (20) "Department" means the department of ecology.

     (21) "Detachable containers" means reusable containers that are mechanically loaded or handled such as a "dumpster" or drop box.

     (22) "Disposable containers" means containers that are used once to handle solid waste such as plastic bags, cardboard boxes and paper bags.

     (23) "Disposal" or "deposition" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, leaking, or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water.

     (24) "Disposal site" means the location where any final treatment, utilization, processing, or deposition of solid waste occurs. See also the definition of interim solid waste handling site.

     (25) "Drop box facility" means a facility used for the placement of a detachable container including the area adjacent for necessary entrance and exit roads, unloading and turn-around areas. Drop box facilities normally serve the general public with loose loads and receive waste from offsite.

     (26) "Energy recovery" means the recovery of energy in a useable form from mass burning or refuse derived fuel incineration, pyrolysis or any other means of using the heat of combustion of solid waste that involves high temperature (above twelve hundred degrees Fahrenheit) processing.

     (27) "Existing facility" means a facility which is owned or leased, and in operation, or for which construction has begun, on or before the effective date of this regulation and the owner or operator has obtained permits or approvals necessary under federal, state and local statutes, regulations and ordinances. A facility has commenced construction if either:

     (a) A continuous on-site physical construction program has begun; or

     (b) The owner or operator has entered into contractual obligations which cannot be cancelled or modified without substantial financial loss for physical construction of the facility to be completed within a reasonable time.

     Lateral extensions of a landfill's active area on land purchased and permitted by the jurisdictional health department for the purpose of landfilling before the effective date of this regulation shall be considered existing facilities.

     (28) "Expanded facility" means a facility adjacent to an existing facility for which the land is purchased and approved by the jurisdictional health department after the effective date of this regulation. A vertical expansion approved and permitted by the jurisdictional health department after the effective date of this regulation shall also be considered an expanded facility.

     (29) "Facility" means all contiguous land (including buffer zones) and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for solid waste handling.

     (30) "Facility structures" means buildings, sheds, utility lines, and drainage pipes on the facility.

     (31) "Final treatment" means the act of processing or preparing solid waste for disposal, utilization, reclamation, or other approved method of use.

     (32) "Free liquids" means any sludge which produces measurable liquids when the Paint Filter Liquids Test, Method 9095 of EPA Publication Number SW-846, is used.

     (33) "One hundred-year flood plain" means any land area which is subject to one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year from any source.

     (34) "Garbage" means unwanted animal and vegetable wastes and animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food, swill and carcasses of dead animals, and of such a character and proportion as to be capable of attracting or providing food for vectors, except sewage and sewage sludge.

     (35) "Groundwater" means that part of the subsurface water which is in the zone of saturation.

     (36) "Holocene fault" means a fracture along which rocks on one side have been displaced with respect to those on the other side and that has occurred in the most recent epoch of the quaternary period extending from the end of the pleistocene to the present.

     (37) "Incineration" means reducing the volume of solid wastes by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion.

     (38) "Interim solid waste handling site" means any interim treatment, utilization or processing site engaged in solid waste handling which is not the final site of disposal. Transfer stations, drop boxes, baling and compaction sites, source separation centers, and treatment are considered interim solid waste handling sites.

     (39) "Industrial solid wastes" means waste by-products from manufacturing operations such as scraps, trimmings, packing, and other discarded materials not otherwise designated as dangerous waste under chapter 173-303 WAC.

     (40) "Inert wastes" means noncombustible, nondangerous solid wastes that are likely to retain their physical and chemical structure under expected conditions of disposal, including resistance to biological attack and chemical attack from acidic rainwater.

     (41) "Jurisdictional health department" means city, county, city-county or district public health department.

     (42) "Landfill" means a disposal facility or part of a facility at which solid waste is permanently placed in or on land and which is not a landspreading disposal facility.

     (43) "Landspreading disposal facility" means a facility that applies sludges or other solid wastes onto or incorporates solid waste into the soil surface at greater than vegetative utilization and soil conditioners/immobilization rates.

     (44) "Leachate" means water or other liquid that has been contaminated by dissolved or suspended materials due to contact with solid waste or gases therefrom.

     (45) "Local fire control agency" means a public or private agency or corporation providing fire protection such as a local fire department, the department of natural resources or the United States Forest Service.

     (46) "Lower explosive limits" means the lowest percentage by volume of a mixture of explosive gases which will propagate a flame in air at twenty-five degrees centigrade and atmospheric pressure.

     (47) "Medical waste" means all the infectious, and injurious waste originating from a medical, veterinary, or intermediate care facility.

     (48) "New facility" means a facility which begins operation or construction after the effective date of this regulation (see also definition of "existing facility").

     (49) "Nonconforming site" means a solid waste handling facility which does not currently comply with the facility requirements of WAC 173-304-400 but does comply with a compliance schedule issued in a solid waste permit by the jurisdictional health department.

     (50) "Nuisance" consists in unlawfully doing an act, or omitting to perform a duty, which act or omission either annoys, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others, offends decency, or unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, any lake or navigable river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street or highway; or in any way renders other persons insecure in life, or in the use of property.

     (51) "Open burning" means the burning of solid waste materials in an open fire or an outdoor container without providing for the control of combustion or the control of emissions from the combustion.

     (52) "Performance standard" means the criteria for the performance of solid waste handling facilities.

     (53) "Permeability" means the ease with which a porous material allows liquid or gaseous fluids to flow through it. For water, this is usually expressed in units of centimeters per second and termed hydraulic conductivity. Soils and synthetic liners with a permeability for water of 1 x 10^-7 cm/sec or less may be considered impermeable.

     (54) "Permit" means an authorization issued by the jurisdictional health department which allows a person to perform solid waste activities at a specific location and which includes specific conditions for such facility operations.

     (55) "Person" means an individual, firm, association, copartnership, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, or any other entity whatsoever.

     (56) "Pile" means any noncontainerized accumulation of solid waste that is used for treatment or storage.

     (57) "Plan of operation" means the written plan developed by an owner or operator of a facility detailing how a facility is to be operated during its active life and during closure and post-closure.

     (58) "Point of compliance" means that part of groundwater that lies beneath the perimeter of a solid waste facilities' active area as that active area would exist at closure of the facility.

     (59) "Post-closure" means the requirements placed upon disposal sites after closure to ensure their environmental safety for at least a twenty-year period or until the site becomes stabilized (i.e., little or no settlement, gas production, or leachate generation).

     (60) "Premises" means a tract or parcel of land with or without habitable buildings.

     (61) "Problem wastes" means: (a) Soils removed during the cleanup of a remedial action site, or a dangerous waste site closure or other cleanup efforts and actions and which contain harmful substances but are not designated dangerous wastes, or (b) dredge spoils resulting from the dredging of surface waters of the state where contaminants are present in the dredge spoils at concentrations not suitable for open water disposal and the dredge spoils are not dangerous wastes and are not regulated by section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act (PL 95-217).

     (62) "Processing" means an operation to convert a solid waste into a useful product or to prepare it for disposal.

     (63) "Putrescible waste" means solid waste which contains material capable of being decomposed by micro-organisms.

     (64) "Pyrolysis" means the process in which solid wastes are heated in an enclosed device in the absence of oxygen to vaporization, producing a hydrocarbon-rich gas capable of being burned for recovery of energy.

     (65) "Reclamation site" means a location used for the processing or the storage of recycled waste.

     (66) "Reusable containers" means containers that are used more than once to handle solid waste such as garbage cans.

     (67) "Runoff" means any rainwater, leachate or other liquid which drains over land from any part of the facility.

     (68) "Run-on" means any rainwater or other liquid which drains over land onto any part of a facility.

     (69) "Scavenging" means the removal of materials at a disposal site, or interim solid waste handling site without the approval of the owner or operator and the jurisdictional health department.

     (70) "Septage" means a semisolid consisting of settled sewage solids combined with varying amounts of water and dissolved materials generated from a septic tank system.

     (71) "Sludge" means a semisolid substance consisting of settled sewage solids combined with varying amounts of water and dissolved materials generated from a wastewater treatment plant or other source.

     (72) "Sole source aquifer" means an aquifer designated by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 1424e of the Safe Drinking Water Act (PL 93-523).

     (73) "Solid waste" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes, including but not limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, and discarded commodities. This includes all liquid, solid and semisolid, materials which are not the primary products of public, private, industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations. Solid waste includes but is not limited to sludge from wastewater treatment plants and septage, from septic tanks, woodwaste, dangerous waste, and problem wastes.

     (74) "Solid waste handling" means the management, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing or final disposal of solid wastes, including the recovery and recycling of materials from solid wastes, the recovery of energy resources from such wastes or the conversion of the energy in such wastes to more useful forms or combinations thereof.

     (75) "Solid waste management" means the systematic administration of activities which provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste.

     (76) "Storage" means the holding of solid waste materials for a temporary period.

     (77) "Twenty-five year storm" means a storm of a particular duration and of such an intensity that it has a four percent probability of being equaled or exceeded each year.

     (78) "Twenty-four hour, twenty-five year storm" means a twenty-five year storm of twenty-four hours duration.

     (79) "Stream" means the point at which any confined freshwater body of surface water reaches a mean annual flow of twenty cubic feet per second.

     (80) "Surface impoundment" means a facility or part of a facility which is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), and which is designed to hold an accumulation of liquids or sludges. The term includes holding, storage, settling, and aeration pits, ponds, or lagoons, but does not include injection wells.

     (81) "Surface water" means all lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, salt waters and all other water and water courses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.

     (82) "Transfer station" means a permanent, fixed, supplemental collection and transportation facility, used by persons and route collection vehicles to deposit collected solid waste from offsite into a larger transfer vehicle for transport to a solid waste handling facility. Transfer stations may also include recycling facilities.

     (83) "Treatment" means the physical, chemical or biological processing of solid waste to make such solid wastes safer for storage or disposal, amenable for energy or material resource recovery or reduced in volume.

     (84) "Utilization" means consuming, expending, or exhausting by use, solid waste materials.

     (85) "Vaduz zone" means that portion of a geologic formation in which soil pores contain some water, the pressure of that water is less than atmospheric pressure, and the formation occurs above the zone of saturation.

     (86) "Vector" means a living animal, insect or other arthropod which transmits an infectious disease from one organism to another.

     (87) "Waste recycling" means reusing waste materials and extracting valuable materials from a waste stream.

     (88) "Waste reduction" means reducing the amount or type of waste generated.

     (89) "Water quality standard" means a standard set for maximum allowable contamination in surface waters as set forth in chapter 173-201 WAC, Water quality standards for waters of the state of Washington.

     (90) "Wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, estuaries, and similar areas.

     (91) "Woodwaste" means solid waste consisting of wood pieces or particles generated as a by-product or waste from the manufacturing of wood products, handling and storage of raw materials and trees and stumps. This includes but is not limited to sawdust, chips, shavings, bark, pulp, hog fuel, and log sort yard waste, but does not include wood pieces or particles containing chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenate.

     (92) "Zone of saturation" means that part of a geologic formation in which soil pores are filled with water and the pressure of that water is equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure.

     (93) "Buy-back recycling center" means any facility which collects, receives, or buys recyclable materials from household, commercial, or industrial sources for the purpose of accumulating, grading, or packaging recyclable materials for subsequent shipment and reuse, other than direct application to land.

     (94) "Domestic wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim, or dispose of domestic wastewater together with such industrial waste as may be present.

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

     (96) "Liquid" means a substance that flows readily and assumes the form of its container but retains its independent volume.

     (97) "Reserved" means a section having no requirements and which is set aside for future possible rule-making as a note to the regulated community.

     (98) "Limited purpose landfills" means a landfill that receives solid waste of limited types, known and consistent composition, other than woodwastes, garbage, inert waste, and demolition waste.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 70.95.215. 88-20-066 (Order 88-28), § 173-304-100, filed 10/4/88. Statutory Authority: Chapter 43.21A RCW. 85-22-013 (Order 85-18), § 173-304-100, filed 10/28/85.]