Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 22a - Environmental Protection › 426 - Connecticut Water Quality Standards › Section 22a-426-1 - Definitions

Current through July 10, 2024
As used in sections 22a-426-1 to
				22a-426-9, inclusive, of the
				Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:
(1) "Acute Toxicity" means adverse effect
			 such as mortality or debilitation caused by a brief exposure to a toxic
			 substance.
(2) "Aesthetics" means
			 the appearance, odor or other characteristics of a surface water which impact
			 human senses and enjoyment of such surface water.
(3) "Antidegradation Policy" means subsection
			 (a) of section
			 22a-426-8 of the Regulations of
			 Connecticut State Agencies.
(4)
			 "Atmospheric Deposition" means the delivery of airborne substances of both
			 natural and human origin to land and water surfaces which can be deposited with
			 or without rainfall.
(5) "Benthic"
			 means associated with the bottom of a surface water body.
(6) "Benthic Macroinvertebrates" means
			 animals which are large enough to be seen by the unaided eye and which can be
			 retained by a U.S. standard No. 30 sieve (28 meshes per inch, 0.595 mm
			 openings), and which live at least part of their life cycle within or upon
			 submerged substrates in a body of water. These animals usually consist of the
			 aquatic life stages of various insects and arthropods, mollusks, leeches and
			 worms.
(7) "Best Management
			 Practices" means those practices which reduce pollution and which have been
			 determined by the Commissioner to be acceptable based on, but not limited to,
			 technical, economic and institutional feasibility.
(8) "Bioaccumulation" means the uptake and
			 retention of substances by an organism from its surrounding medium or from
			 food.
(9) "Bioconcentration" means
			 the uptake and retention of substances by an organism from its surrounding
			 medium.
(10) "Biological Condition
			 Gradient Model" means a descriptive model that describes how ecological
			 attributes change in response to increasing levels of stressors.
(11) "Biological Integrity" means the ability
			 of an aquatic ecosystem to support and maintain a balanced, integrated,
			 adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity, and
			 functional organization comparable to that of the natural habitats of a
			 region.
(12) "Biotic Community
			 (Aquatic)" means a community or group of interacting organisms in a given water
			 body, such as benthic macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages.
(13) "Biotic Community Structure" means the
			 taxonomic composition of the biotic community typically including reference to
			 the number of organisms present and their ecological function.
(14) "Chronic Toxicity" means an adverse
			 effect, such as reduced reproductive success or growth or poor survival of
			 sensitive life stages occurring as a result of exposure to a substance for a
			 period of time related to the life span of an organism and usually longer than
			 that which causes acute toxicity.
(15) "Classification" means the designation
			 of the proposed uses of surface and ground waters with alphabetic characters
			 which does not signify existing water quality.
(16) "Clean Water" means water which in the
			 judgment of the Commissioner is of a quality substantially similar to that
			 occurring naturally in the receiving stream under consideration. Clean water
			 may include minor cooling waters, residential swimming pool water, and
			 stormwater.
(17) "Coastal Waters"
			 has the same meaning as provided in section
			 22a-93 of the
			 Connecticut General Statutes.
(18)
			 "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection or
			 the Commissioner's designated agent.
(19) "Criteria" means components of the
			 Connecticut Water Quality Standards, expressed in chemical, physical, or
			 biological parameters and their concentrations, mass loading or levels, or by
			 narrative statements, representing a quality of water that supports a
			 particular use.
(20) "Department"
			 means the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
			 Protection.
(21) "Designated Use"
			 means those uses specified in the Connecticut Water Quality Standards for each
			 surface water or ground water classification, whether or not they are being
			 attained.
(22) "Discharge" has the
			 same meaning as provided in section
			 22a-423
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(23) "Domestic Sewage" means wastewater which
			 consists of water and human excretions or other waterborne wastes incidental to
			 the occupancy of a residential building or a non-residential building but does
			 not include manufacturing process water, cooling water, wastewater from water
			 softening equipment, commercial laundry wastewater, blowdown from heating or
			 cooling equipment, water from cellar or floor drains or surface water from
			 roofs, paved surfaces, or yard drains.
(24) "Dredging Activity" means the
			 excavation, removal or redistribution of sediment from surface
			 waters.
(25) "Dredged Material"
			 means sediment that is excavated or dredged from surface waters.
(26) "Dredged Material Disposal Area" means
			 an area which has been approved by the Commissioner for disposal of dredged
			 material, including but not limited to federally designated dredged material
			 disposal areas in Long Island Sound.
(27) "Ecosystem Function" means the physical,
			 chemical and biological processes that operate within an ecosystem and that are
			 essential for the continuing existence of the ecosystem.
(28) "Effluent" means treated waste process
			 waters or cooling waters discharged from a waste treatment or manufacturing
			 facility.
(29) "Endangered Species"
			 means species listed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
			 Protection pursuant to chapter 495 of the Connecticut General Statutes as
			 endangered species.
(30) "Existing
			 uses" means those uses actually attained in a water body on or after November
			 28, 1975, whether or not they are included in water quality standards as
			 defined in
			 40
			 CFR 131.3.
(31) "Eutrophic" means water highly enriched
			 with plant nutrients and with high biological productivity characterized by
			 occasional blooms of algae or extensive areas of dense macrophyte
			 beds.
(32) "Fill material" means
			 any material deposited or placed which has the effect of raising the level of
			 the ground surface, whether such surface is above, at, or below the water
			 table, or to replace surface waters with dry land. Fill material includes, but
			 is not limited to consolidated material such as concrete and brick and
			 unconsolidated material such as sand, gravel and stone.
(33) "Geometric Mean" means a measure of
			 central tendency calculated by determining the anti-log of the mean of the
			 logarithms of the values to be averaged.
(34) "Ground Waters" means waters flowing
			 through earth materials beneath the ground surface.
(35) "Ground Water of Natural Quality" means
			 ground water which is free from pollution by solid waste, wastewater
			 discharges, chemical spills or leaks, pesticides or other anthropogenic sources
			 of water pollution other than acid rain.
(36) "High Quality Waters" means surface
			 waters where the water quality is better than necessary to meet the minimum
			 criteria established in the Connecticut Water Quality Standards for the
			 applicable classification and related designated uses.
(37) "Highly Eutrophic" means water
			 excessively enriched with plant nutrients and with high biological
			 productivity, characterized by severe blooms of algae or extensive areas of
			 dense macrophyte beds.
(38)
			 "Indicator" means a metric or combination of metrics which provides a measure
			 or estimate of the physical, chemical or biological condition.
(39) "Indicator bacteria" means a species or
			 group of microbes which are used to conduct microbiological examinations of
			 water in order to determine its sanitary quality and provide evidence of recent
			 fecal contamination from humans or other warm blooded animals.
(40) "Indigenous" means animal or plant life
			 which naturally occurs in a particular geographic region.
(41) "Invertebrates" means animals lacking a
			 backbone.
(42) "Marine Sanitation
			 Device" or "MSD" means a device installed or used on watercraft for the
			 collection, treatment or disposal of human wastes.
(43) "Mesotrophic" means water moderately
			 enriched with plant nutrients and with moderate biological productivity
			 characterized by intermittent blooms of algae or small areas of macrophyte
			 beds.
(44) "Most Sensitive Use"
			 means the designated use (drinking, swimming, boating, fish and aquatic life
			 propagation, irrigation etc.) which is most susceptible to degradation by a
			 specific pollutant.
(45) "Moving
			 Average" means the mean of consecutive values in a time series of a specified
			 duration. For example, a twelve month moving average is calculated by averaging
			 the monthly values for a parameter for the most recent twelve consecutive
			 months; thus as time progresses and more new values are available, old values
			 are dropped resulting in an average value which is always based on the twelve
			 most recent consecutive monthly values.
(46) "Native" means indigenous to an
			 area.
(47) "Natural" means the
			 biological, chemical and physical conditions and communities that occur within
			 the environment which are unaffected or minimally affected by human
			 influences.
(48) "Non-point source"
			 means any unconfined and diffuse source of pollution such as stormwater or
			 snowmelt runoff, atmospheric deposition, or ground water not conveyed to a
			 surface water discharge point within a discrete conveyance.
(49) "Oligotrophic" means water low in plant
			 nutrients and with low biological productivity characterized by the absence of
			 macrophyte beds.
(50) "Outstanding
			 National Resource Waters" means High Quality Waters within national and state
			 parks and wildlife refuges and waters of exceptional recreation or ecological
			 significance, such as water bodies that are important, unique or sensitive
			 ecologically.
(51) "Point source"
			 means any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not
			 limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure,
			 container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, landfill
			 leachate collection system, or vessel or other floating craft, from which
			 pollutants are or may be discharged. Point source does not include agricultural
			 stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture.
(52) "Recreational use" means active or
			 passive water-related leisure activities such as fishing, swimming, boating,
			 and aesthetic appreciation.
(53)
			 "Sanitary Survey" means an investigation of a particular geographic area to
			 determine if unlawful or inadequately treated discharges of sewage or other
			 sources of indicator bacteria are present.
(54) "Sediments" means any natural or
			 artificial materials which constitute all or part of the banks, bed or bottom
			 of an intermittent or perennial surface water.
(55) "Sensitive-rare taxa" means taxonomic
			 groups of organisms that are sensitive to pollution and occur in low numbers in
			 natural aquatic communities.
(56)
			 "Sensitive-ubiquitous taxa" means taxonomic groups of organisms that are
			 sensitive to pollution and are typically common and abundant in natural aquatic
			 communities.
(57) "Sewage" has the
			 same meaning as provided in section
			 22a-423
			 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
(58) "Significant Natural Communities" means
			 species listed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
			 pursuant to chapter 495 of the Connecticut General Statutes as threatened or
			 endangered species or species of special concern.
(59) "Special Concern Species" means species
			 listed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
			 pursuant to chapter 495 of the Connecticut General Statutes as species of
			 special concern.
(60) "Surface
			 Water" means the waters of Long Island Sound, its harbors, embayments, tidal
			 wetlands and creeks; rivers and streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, ponds,
			 marshes, swamps, bogs, federal jurisdictional wetlands, and other natural or
			 artificial, public or private, vernal or intermittent bodies of water. Surface
			 water does not include ground water.
(61) "Taxon" (pl. Taxa) means a biological
			 classification category, usually the most specific division attainable in
			 taxonomy.
(62) "Technically
			 Practicable" means with respect to ground water remediation, the greatest
			 degree of remediation that can be achieved using sound engineering and
			 hydrogeologic practices.
(63)
			 "Technology
-
Based Treatment" means a level and type of treatment
			 required by
			 33 USC
			 1311(b) and
			 33
			 USC 1314(b), which is based on the particular manufacturing process used and
			 type of waste generated.
(64)
			 "Threatened Species" means species listed by Connecticut Department of Energy
			 and Environmental Protection pursuant to chapter 495 of the Connecticut General
			 Statutes as threatened.
(65)
			 "Tolerant Taxa" means taxonomic groups of organisms that are resistant to a
			 variety of pollution or habitat stressors and typically are the last survivors
			 in severely polluted waters.
(66)
			 "Toxic Substance" means any substance which can adversely affect the survival,
			 growth or reproduction of fish, other forms of aquatic life, other wildlife or
			 humans exposed thereto either by direct contact or through
			 consumption.
(67) "Trophic State"
			 means the level of biological productivity or amount of plant biomass within a
			 water body at the time of measurement.
(68) "Use Attainability Analysis" means a
			 structured scientific assessment of the physical, chemical, biological, and
			 economic factors affecting the ability of a surface water to achieve and
			 support uses as described in
			 40 CFR
			 131.10.
(69) "Water Quality" means the physical,
			 chemical and biological characteristics of surface or ground waters.
(70) "Wetlands" has the same meaning as
			 provided in section
			 22a-29
			 of the general statutes, section
			 22a-38 of the general
			 statutes or as provided in
			 40
			 CFR 230.3(t), as amended
			 from time to time.
(71) "Zone of
			 Influence" means an area or volume of surface water or ground water within
			 which some degradation of water quality or inconsistency with water quality
			 criteria is anticipated as a result of a pollutant discharge and which area is
			 used to describe an area impacted by thermal, conventional, or toxic pollutants
			 and allocated in accordance with subsection (l) of section
			 22a-426-4 of the Regulations of
			 Connecticut State Agencies for assimilation of such pollutants.
(72) "Zone of Passage" means an area or
			 volume of flow in surface water within which pollutants, including temperature
			 will not impede or prohibit the passage of free swimming or drifting aquatic
			 organisms.
(73) "7Q10" or
			 "Seven-Day, Ten Year Low Flow" means the lowest seven
			 consecutive
-
day mean stream flow with a recurrence interval of ten
			 years.