Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 391-3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Subject 391-3-6 - WATER QUALITY CONTROL › Rule 391-3-6-.17 - Sewage Sludge (Biosolids) Requirements

Current through Rules and Regulations filed
				through June 27, 2024
(1)
Purpose
. The purpose of Rule
				391-3-6-.17 is to establish
				requirements for the beneficial use of sewage sludge through land application.
				This rule includes general requirements, pollutant limits, pathogen and vector
				attraction reduction requirements, operational standards, management practices,
				monitoring, record keeping reporting, and permitting requirements.
(2)
Definitions
. All terms used
				in this Rule shall be interpreted in accordance with the definitions as set
				forth in the Act unless otherwise defined in this Paragraph or in any other
				Rules of this Chapter:
(a) "Aerobic digestion"
				is the biochemical decomposition of organic matter in sewage sludge into carbon
				dioxide and water by microorganisms in the presence of air.
(b) "Agricultural land" is land on which a
				food crop, feed crop, or a fiber crop is grown. This includes land used as
				pasture.
(c) "Agronomic rate" is
				the sludge application rate based on a dry weight basis determined:
1. to provide the amount of nitrogen needed
				by the food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, cover crop or vegetation grown on the
				land; and
2. to minimize the amount
				of nitrogen in the sewage sludge that passes below the root zone of the crop or
				vegetation grown on the land to the groundwater.
(d) "Anaerobic digestion" is the biochemical
				decomposition of organic matter in sewage sludge into methane gas and carbon
				dioxide by microorganisms in the absence of air.
(e) "Annual pollutant loading rate" is the
				maximum amount of a pollutant that may be applied to a unit area of land during
				a 365-day period.
(f) "Annual
				sludge application rate" is the maximum amount of sewage sludge (dry weight
				basis) that may be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day
				period.
(g) "Applier" is the person
				who applies bulk sewage sludge to the land.
(h) "Biosolids" means any sewage sludge, as
				defined in
				391-3-6-.17(2)(gg),
				that fulfills all requirements under this chapter, and is used in a beneficial
				manner.
(i) "Bulk sewage sludge" or
				"bulk biosolids" is sewage sludge that is not sold or given away in a bag or
				other container for application to the land.
(j) "Cover crop" is a temporary crop, such as
				winter rye or clover, planted to protect the soil from erosion and to provide
				humus or nitrogen when plowed under.
(k) "Cumulative pollutant loading rate" is
				the maximum amount of an inorganic pollutant that may be applied to an area of
				land.
(l) "Density of
				microorganisms" is the number of microorganisms per unit mass of total solids
				(dry weight) in the sewage sludge.
(m) "Domestic sewage" is water waste and
				wastewater from humans or from household operations that are discharged to or
				that otherwise enter a treatment works.
(n) "Dry weight basis" means calculated on
				the basis of having been dried at 105 degrees Celsius until reaching a constant
				mass (i.e., essentially 100 percent solids content).
(o) "Exceptional quality sludge" is sewage
				sludge that meets the pollutant concentrations in
				391-3-6-.17(5)
				Table 3, one of the Class A pathogen requirements in
				391-3-6-.17(7)(a)
				and one of the vector attraction reduction requirements in
				391-3-6-.17(8)(a) through
				(h).
(p) "Facility" means any NPDES point source
				or any other system or activity that may be regulated by the Water Protection
				Branch of the EPD, including land application systems regulated under
				391-3-6-.11, and industrial
				pretreatment systems regulated under
				391-3-6-.08.
(q) "Feed crops" are crops produced primarily
				for consumption by animals.
(r)
				"Fiber crops" are crops such as flax and cotton.
(s) "Food crops" are crops consumed by
				humans. These include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, and
				tobacco.
(t) "Forest" is a tract of
				land thick with trees and underbrush.
(u) "Land application" or "applied to the
				land" means the spraying or spreading of sewage sludge on the land surface; the
				injection of sewage sludge below the land surface; or the incorporation of
				sewage sludge into the soil at agronomic rates for the purpose of soil
				conditioning or fertilization of crops or vegetation grown in the
				soil.
(v) "Land with a high
				potential for public exposure" is land that is frequently used by the public.
				This includes but is not limited to public parks, ball fields, cemeteries,
				plant nurseries, turf farms, and golf courses.
(w) "Land with a low potential for public
				exposure" is land that the public uses infrequently. This includes, but is not
				limited to, agricultural land, forest, and a reclamation site located in an
				unpopulated area.
(x) "Monthly
				average" is the arithmetic mean of all measurements taken during the
				month.
(y) "Other container" is
				either an open or closed receptacle. This includes, but is not limited to, a
				bucket, a box, a carton, and a vehicle or trailer with a load capacity of 2,200
				pounds or less.
(z) "Pasture" means
				land on which animals feed directly on feed crops such as legumes, grasses,
				grain stubble, or stover.
(aa)
				"Pathogenic organisms" are disease-causing organisms. These include, but are
				not limited to, certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and viable helminth
				ova.
(bb) "pH" means the logarithm
				of the periodical of the hydrogen ion concentration.
(cc) "Pollutant" is an organic substance, an
				inorganic substance, a combination of organic and inorganic substances, or a
				pathogenic organism that after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion,
				inhalation, or assimilation into an organism either directly from the
				environment or indirectly by ingestion through the food chain, could, on the
				basis of information available to the Administrator of EPA, cause death,
				disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological
				malfunctions (including malfunction in reproduction), or physical deformations
				in either organisms or offspring of the organisms.
(dd) "Pollutant limit" is a numerical value
				that describes the amount of a pollutant allowed per unit amount of sewage
				sludge (e.g., milligrams per kilograms of total solids); the amount of a
				pollutant that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., pounds per acre);
				or the volume of a material that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g.,
				gallons per acre).
(ee) "Preparer"
				is either the person who generates sewage sludge during the treatment of
				domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater
				in a treatment works or the person who derives a material from sewage
				sludge.
(ff) "Reclamation site"
				means drastically disturbed land that is reclaimed using sewage sludge or
				product derived from sewage sludge. This includes, but is not limited to, strip
				mines and construction sites.
(gg)
				"Sewage sludge" means solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the
				treatment of domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial
				wastewater in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to
				scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment
				processes. Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of
				sewage sludge incinerator, grit and screenings generated during preliminary
				treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works, treated effluent, or
				materials excluded from definition of "sewage sludge" by O.C.G.A. §
										12-5-30 -.3(a)(1).
(hh) "Sludge management plan" means a
				detailed plan of operation for land application of sewage sludge, or any other
				method of sewage sludge disposal other than co-disposal in a permitted sanitary
				landfill. The plan shall, at a minimum, comply with the regulations and any
				additional requirements established by the EPD pursuant to the Federal Act
				Section 405(d), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and
				40 CFR
				503.
(ii) "Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR)" is
				the mass of oxygen consumed per unit time per unit mass of total solids (dry
				weight basis) in the sewage sludge.
(jj) "Stockpile" means to place sewage sludge
				on land in piles or in any other manner that does not constitute application to
				the land as defined in
				391-3-6-.17(2)(u).
(kk) "Total solids" are the materials in
				sewage sludge that remain as residue when the sewage sludge is dried at 103 to
				105 degrees Celsius.
(ll) "Treat or
				treatment of sewage sludge" is the preparation of sewage sludge for final use
				or disposal. This includes, but is not limited to, thickening, stabilization,
				dewatering of sewage sludge.
(mm)
				"Treatment works" is either a Federally owned, publicly owned, or privately
				owned device or system used to treat, recycle or reclaim either domestic sewage
				or combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.
(nn) "Unstabilized solids" are organic
				materials in sewage sludge that have not been treated in either an aerobic or
				anaerobic treatment process.
(oo)
				"Vector attraction" is the characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts
				rodents, flies, mosquitos, or other organisms capable of transporting
				infectious agents.
(pp) "Volatile
				solids" is the amount of the total solids in sewage sludge lost when the sewage
				sludge is combusted at 550 degrees Celsius in the presence of excess
				air.
(qq) "Wetlands" means those
				areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a
				frequency and duration to support, and that under normal circumstances do
				support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated
				soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar
				areas.