CO Code § 25-15-101 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 25 - Public Health and Environment|Article 15 - Hazardous Waste|Part 1 - General Provisions|§ 25-15-101. Definitions

 As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:    “Commission” means the solid and hazardous waste commission created in part 3 of this article.    “Department” means the department of public health and environment created by section 25-1-102.    “Disposal” means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.    “Domestic sewage” means untreated sanitary wastes that pass through a sewer system. (4.3) “Environmental covenant” means an instrument containing environmental use restrictions created pursuant to section 25-15-321 . (4.5) “Environmental remediation project” means closure of a hazardous waste management unit or solid waste disposal site or any remediation of environmental contamination, including determinations to rely solely or partially on environmental use restrictions to protect human health and the environment but excluding interim measures that are not intended as the final remedial action, that is conducted under any of the following:   Subchapter III or IX of the federal “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976”, 42 U.S.C. secs. 6921 to 6939e and 6991 to 6991i, as amended;    Section 7002 or 7003 of the federal “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976”, 42 U.S.C. secs. 6972 and 6973, as amended;    The federal “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980”, 42 U.S.C. sec. 9601 et seq., as amended;    The federal “Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978”, 42 U.S.C. sec. 7901 et seq., as amended;    Part 1 of article 11 of this title, including any decommissioning of sites licensed under that part;    Part 3 of article 11 of this title;    Part 3 of article 15 of this title; and    Article 20 of title 30, C.R.S. (4.7) “Environmental use restriction” means a prohibition of one or more uses of or activities on specified real property, including drilling for or pumping groundwater; a requirement to perform certain acts, including requirements for maintenance, operation, or monitoring necessary to preserve such prohibition of uses or activities; or both, where such prohibitions or requirements are relied upon in the remedial decision for an environmental remediation project for the purpose of protecting human health or the environment.       “Federal act” means the federal “Solid Waste Disposal Act”, as amended by the federal “Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976”, as amended, 42 U.S.C. sec. 6901 et seq. (5.5) “Hazardous substance” means any substance that is defined as a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant under the federal “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980”, 42 U.S.C. sec. 9601 et seq., as amended, or its implementing regulations.      “Hazardous waste” means any material, alone or mixed with other materials, which has no commercial use or value, or which is discarded or is to be discarded by the possessor thereof, either of which because its quantity, concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics may:   Cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or    Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.       “Hazardous waste” does not include:   Solid or dissolved material in discharges which are point sources subject to permits under section 402 of the “Federal Water Pollution Control Act”, as amended;    Source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the federal “Atomic Energy Act of 1954”, as amended;    (A) Agricultural, horticultural, or floricultural waste from the raising of crops or animals, including animal manures, that are returned to the soil as fertilizers or soil conditioners;    Solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage;    Irrigation return flows;    Inert materials deposited for construction fill or topsoil placement in connection with actual or contemplated construction at such location or for changes in land contour for agricultural and mining purposes, if such depositing does not fall within the definition of treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste;    Any waste or other materials exempted or otherwise not regulated as a hazardous waste under the federal act, except as provided in section 25-15-302 (4);    Indigenous waste from prospecting and mining operations which is disposed of in accordance with the requirements of an approved reclamation plan contained in a permit issued pursuant to article 32 of title 34, C.R.S., or article 33 of title 34, C.R.S.;    Waste from oil and gas activities, including but not limited to drilling fluids, produced water, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy, which is disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the oil and gas commission pursuant to article 60 of title 34, C.R.S.       Any material which would be hazardous waste subject to the provisions of this article except for the fact that it has commercial use or value may be subject to regulations promulgated by the commission when it is transported or stored prior to reuse.       “Hazardous waste generation” means the act or process of producing hazardous waste.    “Hazardous waste management” means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, treatment, recovery, and disposal of hazardous waste.    “Inert material” means non-water-soluble and nondecomposable inert solids together with such minor amounts and types of other materials as will not significantly affect the inert nature of such solids according to rules and regulations of the commission. The term includes but is not limited to earth, sand, gravel, rock, concrete which has been in a hardened state for at least sixty days, masonry, asphalt paving fragments, and other non-water-soluble and nondecomposable inert solids including those the commission may identify by regulation.    “Manifest” means the document used for identifying the quantity, composition, origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of storage, treatment, or disposal. (10.5) “Notice of environmental use restrictions” or “restrictive notice” means an instrument containing environmental use restrictions created pursuant to section 25-15-321.5 .    “Operation”, when used in connection with hazardous waste management, means the use of procedures, equipment, personnel, and other resources to provide hazardous waste management.    “Operator” means the person operating a hazardous waste management facility or site either by contract or permit. (12.5) “Owner”, as used in sections 25-15-317 to 25-15-326 , means the record owner of real property and, if any, any other person or entity otherwise legally authorized to make decisions regarding the transfer of the subject property or placement of encumbrances on the subject property, other than by the exercise of eminent domain.    “Person” means any individual, public or private corporation, partnership, association, firm, trust or estate; the state or any executive department, institution, or agency thereof; any municipal corporation, county, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state; or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties. (13.5) “Remedial decision” means the administrative determination by the department, the United States environmental protection agency, or other appropriate government entity under the laws cited in subsection (4.5) of this section, that establishes the remedial requirements for the environmental remediation project.    “Resource recovery”, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means the operation of preparing and treating any such material or portion thereof for recycling or reuse or the recovery of material or energy.    “Storage”, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means the containment of hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of hazardous waste. The term “storage” does not apply to any hazardous waste generation if such waste is retained on the site by the generator in quantities or for time periods exempted by rules and regulations promulgated by the commission.    “Transportation”, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means the off-site movement of hazardous waste to any intermediate point or any point of storage, treatment, or disposal.    “Treatment”, when used in connection with an operation involved in hazardous waste management, means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization or incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of a hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such waste or to render such waste less hazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery or reuse, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume.    “Treatment, storage, or disposal site or facility” means a location at which hazardous waste is subjected to treatment, storage, or disposal and may include a facility where hazardous waste is generated.     History. Source: L. 81: Entire article R&RE, p. 1343, § 1, effective July 1. L. 83: (3.5) added, (4), (6), and (8), (10), (11), and (19) repealed, (9)(b)(I), (9)(b)(IV), and (9)(b)(VI) amended, and (9)(c) added, pp. 1088, 1105, §§ 1, 28(1), 2, effective June 3. L. 89: IP(9)(a) amended, p. 1178, § 2, effective April 23. L. 92: Entire section R&RE, p. 1255, § 14, effective August 1. L. 94: (2) amended, p. 2792, § 530, effective July 1. L. 2001: (4.3), (4.5), (4.7), (5.5), (12.5), and (13.5) added, p. 451, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2005: (6)(b)(III) amended, p. 350, § 9, effective August 8. L. 2006: (1) amended, p. 1131, § 9, effective July 1. L. 2008: (10.5) added, p. 169, § 1, effective March 24. L. 2010: (4.5)(c) and (5.5) amended,(HB 10-1422), ch. 419, p. 2105, § 124, effective August 11.    Cross references:   For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsection (2), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994.   ANNOTATION   The general assembly did not manifestly indicate its intent to include passive migration of waste within the meaning of “disposal”; hence, relying on the rule of lenity, a company's failure to remediate contaminated soil and prevent the passive migration of previously spilled hazardous waste does not constitute a continuing crime that subjects the company to the possibility of criminal charges 12 years after the last affirmative act of disposal. People v. Thoro Prods. Co., Inc., 70 P.3d 1188 (Colo. 2003).   Legal, technical meaning of “hazardous waste”. Uranium and vanadium tailings from a proposed mill are not hazardous waste, the disposal of which is prohibited under a county zoning resolution. By its own terms, the zoning resolution restricts hazardous waste disposal in the specialized context of state solid waste laws. Sheep Mt. v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 271 P.3d 597 (Colo. App. 2012).   Under the state hazardous waste management program, an electronic device or component becomes waste unless it is resold, donated, repaired, refurbished, or reused for its original intended purpose. United States v. Richter, 796 F.3d 1173 (10th Cir. 2015).