Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 314 CMR - DIVISION OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL › Title 314 CMR 12.00 - Operation And Maintenance And Pretreatment Standards For Wastewater Treatment Works And Indirect Dischargers › Section 12.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
When used in
				314 CMR 12.00 the following
				words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
Bypass
- the intentional or
				unintentional diversion of wastes from any portion of a treatment works.
Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Pretreatment
				Standard
- any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits
				promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Federal
				Water Pollution Control (Clean Water) Act,
				33 U.S.C., §
									1317(b) and (c), which
				applies to Industrial Users. This term includes the general and specific
				prohibitions established in
				314 CMR
				12.08(1) and (2).
Combined Sewer Overflow or CSO
- any
				intermittent overflow, bypass or other discharge from a municipal combined
				sewer system which results from a flow in excess of the dry weather carrying
				capacity of the system.
Combined Sewer System
- a sewer
				system which by design conveys both wastewaters and storm water runoff.
Department
- the Massachusetts
				Department of Environmental Protection.
Discharge or Discharge of Pollutants
- any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the
				Commonwealth from any source, including but not limited to, discharges from
				surface runoff which is collected or channeled by man, discharges through
				pipes, sewers, or other conveyances owned by a state, municipality, or other
				person which do not lead to a POTW, and discharges through pipes, sewers, or
				other conveyances, leading into privately owned treatment works. This term does
				not include an addition of pollutants by any indirect discharger.
Effluent
- a discharge of pollutants
				into the environment, whether or not treated.
Effluent Limitation or Effluent Limit
- any requirement, restriction, or standard imposed by the Department on
				quantities, discharge rates, and concentrations of pollutants which are
				discharged from point sources into waters of the Commonwealth or to treatment
				works.
Environmental Protection Agency or
				EPA
- the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Federal Act
- the Federal Water
				Pollution Control (Clean Water) Act,
				33 U.S.C., §
									1251.
Hazardous Industrial Wastewater
-
				wastewater that has been characterized as hazardous waste pursuant to 310 CMR
				30.000:
Hazardous Waste
.
Hazardous Industrial Wastewater
				Sludge
- solid or semi-solid waste that has been characterized as
				hazardous waste pursuant to 310 CMR 30.000:
Hazardous
				Waste
.
Hazardous Waste
- a hazardous waste
				as defined 310 CMR 30.000:
Hazardous Waste
.
Indirect Discharger or Industrial
				User
- the entity that introduces pollutants into a municipal
				sewer system from any non domestic source.
Industrial Waste
- any liquid,
				gaseous, or solid waste substance or a combination thereof resulting from any
				process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business, or from the development
				or recovery of any natural resources.
Industrial Wastewater
- waste in
				liquid form resulting from any process of industry, trade, or business,
				regardless of volume or pollutant content. Waste in liquid form consisting of
				only sewage is not considered industrial wastewater.
Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment
-
				the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or
				the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in industrial wastewater
				prior to or in
lieu
of discharging or otherwise introducing
				such pollutants into a collection system for a POTW.
Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment System or
				IWPS
- a treatment works for Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment
				prior to discharge into a collection system for a POTW. A treatment works
				consisting solely of one or more of the following is not considered an
				IWPS:
(a) Grease traps;
(b) Oil-and-water separators such as Metropolitan District
				Commission (MDC)-designed traps;
(c) Neutralization units which process less than 100 gallons
				per day;
(d) Small Scale silver recovery units;
(e) Limestone chip neutralization units; or
(f) Closed loop systems.
Infiltration
- water other than
				wastewater that enters a sewer system (including sewer connections and
				foundation drains) from the ground through means which include, but are not
				limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manholes.
				Infiltration does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow.
Infiltration/Inflow
- the quantity of
				water from both infiltration and inflow without distinguishing the
				source.
Inflow
- water other than sanitary
				flow that enters a sewer system (including sewer connections) from sources that
				include, but are not limited to, sump pumps, roof leaders, cellar drains, yard
				drains, area drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers,
				cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, storm
				waters, surface runoff, street wash waters, or drainage. Inflow does not
				include, and is distinguished from, infiltration.
Interference
- an inhibition or
				disruption of the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge
				processes, use or disposal, which is a cause of or significantly contributes to
				either a violation of any requirement of the POTW's permit (including an
				increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation), or to the prevention of
				sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with applicable
				federal, state or local statutes and regulations, or permits issued thereunder.
				An industrial user significantly contributes to such a permit violation or
				prevention of sludge use or disposal in accordance with applicable requirements
				whenever such user:
(a) Discharges a daily pollutant loading in excess of that
				allowed by contract with the POTW, or by federal, state or local law;
(b) Discharges wastewater which substantially differs in nature
				or constituents from the user's average discharge; or
(c) Knows or has reason to know that its discharge, alone or in
				conjunction with discharges from other sources, would result in a POTW permit
				violation, or prevent sewage sludge use or disposal in accordance with the
				requirements applicable to the POTW's selected method of sludge
				management.
Massachusetts Water Quality Standards
-
				314 CMR 4.00:
Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards
and
				314 CMR 5.00:
Ground
				Water Discharge Permit Program
.
New Source
- any building, structure,
				facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge, the
				construction of which commenced:
(a) After promulgation of pretreatment standards under the
				Federal Act, P.L. 92 500, § 307(c) as amended by P.L. 95 217 and P.L. 95
				576,
				33 U.S.C. §
									1251, which are applicable to such source;
				or
(b) After proposal of pretreatment standards in accordance with
				P.L. 92-500, § 307(c) which are applicable to such source, but only if the
				standards are promulgated in accordance with P.L. 92-500, § 307(c) within
				120 days of their proposal.
Pass Through
- the discharge of
				pollutants through the POTW into waters of the Commonwealth in quantities or
				concentrations which are a cause of or significantly contribute to a violation
				of any requirement of the POTW's permit (including an increase in the magnitude
				or duration of a violation). An industrial user significantly contributes to
				such permit violation where it:
(a) Discharges a daily pollutant loading in excess of that
				allowed by contract with the POTW, or by Federal, State or local law;
(b) Discharges wastewater which substantially differs in nature
				and constituents from the user's average discharge;
(c) Knows or has reason to know that its discharge, alone or in
				conjunction with discharges from other sources, would result in a permit
				violation; or
(d) Knows or has reason to know that the POTW is violating the
				effluent limitations in its permit, and that such industrial user's discharge,
				either alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, increases
				the magnitude or duration of the POTW violations.
Permit
- an authorization issued
				pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21, § 43 and
				314 CMR
				2.00:
Permit Procedures
,
				314 CMR 3.00:
Surface
				Water Discharge Permit Program
,
				314 CMR 5.00:
Ground
				Water Discharge Permit Program
,
				314 CMR 7.00:
Sewer
				System Extension and Connection Permit Program
, or
				314 CMR 20.00:
Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards
.
Person
- any agency or political
				subdivision of the Commonwealth, the federal government, any public or private
				corporation or authority, individual, partnership or association, or other
				entity, including any officer of a public or private agency or organization,
				upon whom a duty may be imposed by or pursuant to any provisions of M.G.L. c.
				21, §§ 26 through 53.
Pollutant
- any element or property
				of sewage, agricultural, industrial or commercial waste, runoff, leachate,
				heated effluent, or other matter, in whatever form and whether originating at a
				point or major non point source, which is or may be discharged, drained or
				otherwise introduced into any sewerage system, treatment works or waters of the
				Commonwealth.
Pollution
- the presence in the
				environment of conditions or contaminants in quantities or with characteristics
				which are or may be injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property, or
				which unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and
				property throughout such areas as may be affected thereby.
Pretreatment
- the reduction of the
				amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the
				nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in
lieu
of, discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants
				into a POTW.
Public Entity
- any city, town,
				special district, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority or other existing
				governmental unit eligible to receive a grant for the construction of treatment
				works from the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Title
				II of P.L. 92-500.
Publicly Owned Treatment Works or
				POTW
- any device or system used in the treatment (including
				recycling and reclamation) of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid
				nature which is owned by a public entity. A POTW includes any sewers, pipes, or
				other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW providing
				treatment.
RCRA
- the Solid Waste Disposal Act,
				as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 ( P.L. 94 580,
				as amended by P.L. 95 609),
				42 U.S.C. §
									6901.
RCRA Facility
- a hazardous waste
				management facility as defined in
				314 CMR
				8.03:
RCRA Facilities
				Subject
to
				314 CMR 8.00:
Supplemental Requirements for Hazardous Waste Management
				Facilities
.
Sanitary Sewage or Sewage
- the
				water-carried human or animal wastes from residences, buildings, industrial
				establishments or other places.
Sanitary Sewer Overflow or SSO
- any
				overflow, spill, release, discharge or diversion of untreated or partially
				treated wastewater from a sanitary sewer system. The discharge of sewage into a
				building is not considered an SSO provided that the discharge was not the
				direct result of problems in the public sewer system.
SCADA System
- a supervisory control
				and data acquisition system which transmits real-time data on the operating
				status of treatment works.
Septage
- the liquid and solid
				wastes, primarily of sewage origin, that are removed from a cesspool, septic
				tank or similar receptacle.
Sewer Connection
- the sewer pipes
				and appurtenant works needed to connect a building or estate to a sewer
				system.
Sewer Extension
- the addition to a
				sewer system of a sewer pipe, together with appurtenant works, which when
				connected to the sewer system becomes the property of, and are operated and
				maintained by, the person owning the sewer system.
Sewer System
- pipelines or conduits,
				pumping stations, force mains, and all other structures, devices,
				appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting and conveying wastes to a
				site or works for treatment or disposal.
Sewer System Authority
- a public
				entity or agency of the Commonwealth that owns a sewer system.
State Act
- the Massachusetts Clean
				Waters Act, M.G.L. c. 21, §§ 26 through 53.
Toxic Pollutants
- those pollutants
				identified in
				314
				CMR 3.16:
Appendix A: Criteria for
				Determining a Concentrated Aquatic Animal Production Facility
, or any
				other combination of pollutants, including disease causing agents, which after
				discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any
				organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly through food
				chains, may, on the basis of information available to the Department, cause
				death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, mutations, physiological
				malfunctions, biochemical abnormalities, including malfunctions in
				reproduction, or physical deformations, in such organisms or their
				offspring.
Treatment Works
- any and all
				devices, processes, and real or personal properties, used in the collection,
				pumping, transmission, storage, treatment, disposal, recycling, reclamation or
				reuse of waterborne pollutants, but not including any works receiving off site
				hazardous waste for the purpose of treatment, storage or disposal, or
				industrial wastewater holding tanks regulated under
				314 CMR 18.00:
Industrial Wastewater Holding Tank and Container Construction,
				Operation, and Record Keeping Requirements
.
Wastewater
- sewage, industrial
				waste, other wastes or any combination of the three.
Wastewater Treatment Facility or Wastewater
				Treatment Plant
- any and all devices, processes and properties,
				real or personal, used in the storage, treatment, disposal, recycling,
				reclamation or reuse of waterborne pollutants, but not including any sewer
				system.
Waters of the Commonwealth
- all
				waters within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, including, without
				limitation, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs, impoundments, estuaries,
				wetlands, coastal waters, and ground waters.