Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 27.00 - Underground Injection Control Regulations › Section 27.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in
				310 CMR 27.00, the terms in
				310 CMR 27.02 shall have the following meanings:
Aquifer
means a geological formation,
				group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated
				permeable material to yield significant quantities of water to wells and
				springs.
Aquifer Remediation Well
means any
				well used to inject fluids, nutrients, microbes, or gases into the subsurface
				for the purpose of discharging effluent from a groundwater treatment system,
				recovering contaminants (
e.g
., air sparging), or
				enhancing/effecting
in-situ
remediation
				(
e.g
., bioremediation).
Cesspool
means a subsurface pit with
				open-jointed linings or holes in the bottom and/or sidewalls into which
				untreated sanitary waste is injected; the liquid portion of the sanitary waste
				is disposed of by seeping or leaching into the surrounding soils, and the
				solids or sludge are retained in the pit. Cesspools are nonconforming systems
				pursuant to
				310 CMR 15.000:
The
				State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting,
				Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and
				Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage
.
Closure
means the act of securing an
				injection well to prevent it from contaminating an underground source of
				drinking water, or from otherwise endangering the health of persons or the
				environment. A well that has gone through the closure process is referred to as
				closed.
Commissioner
means the Commissioner of
				the Department of Environmental Protection.
Conversion
means a change in the
				operation of an injection well that results in a change in the existing
				classification of the injection well or results in a change in the injection
				well's type of injection within a specific class of injection well.
Department
means the Massachusetts
				Department of Environmental Protection.
Dry Well
means a subsurface pit with
				open-jointed lining or holes constructed above the water table so that the
				bottom and sides are typically dry except when receiving fluids.
Exempt Aquifer
means an aquifer or its
				portion that has been exempted from
				310 CMR 27.00 in accordance
				with the procedures in
				310 CMR 27.07.
Experimental Technology
means a
				technology which has not been proven feasible under the conditions in which it
				is being tested.
Fluid
means any material or substance
				that is capable of movement whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any
				other physical state.
Formation
means a body of rock
				characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity, which is prevailingly, but
				not necessarily tabular and mappable on the earth's surface or traceable in the
				subsurface.
Formation Fluid
means fluid present in
				a formation under natural conditions (as opposed to introduced fluids, such as
				drilling mud).
Groundwater
means all water that
				exists beneath the land surface in soils or geologic formations, specifically
				that part of the subsurface water in the saturated zone.
Hazardous Waste
means hazardous waste
				as defined in M.G.L. c. 21C, § 2.
Improved Sinkhole
means a naturally
				occurring karst depression or other natural crevice found in volcanic terrain
				and other geologic settings which have been modified by man for the purpose of
				directing and emplacing fluids into the subsurface.
Inactive Well
means a Class V
				injection well that is not currently being used for the purpose of underground
				injection but continues to be properly secured and maintained such that it is
				not receiving and does not have the potential to receive an underground
				injection.
Injection
means the emplacement of
				fluids into a formation by gravity or greater pressure through a well.
Injection Well
means a well into which
				fluids are being introduced.
Local Approving Authority
means the
				board of health or its authorized agent or an agent of a health district
				constituted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111, § 27, acting on behalf of the
				applicable board of health.
Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Well
means a well that receives or has received fluids from vehicular repair or
				maintenance activities, such as an auto body repair shop, automotive repair
				shop, new and used car dealerships, specialty repair shop
				(
e.g
., transmission and muffler repair shops), or any facility
				that does vehicular repair work.
Nonpoint Source
means a diffuse source
				that is not regulated as a point source and is normally associated with
				precipitation and runoff from the land or percolation.
On-site System or Disposal System
or
On-site Subsurface Sewage Disposal System
or
System
means a system or series of systems for the
				treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage below the ground surface on a
				facility.
(a) The standard components of a system are: a building sewer;
				a septic tank to retain solids and scum; a distribution box; a soil absorption
				system containing effluent distribution lines to distribute and treat septic
				tank effluent prior to injection into appropriate subsurface soils; and a
				reserve area.
(b) These terms also include
Tight
				Tanks
,
Shared Systems
and
Alternative Systems
. Unless the text of
				310 CMR 15.000:
The
				State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard
Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection,
				Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for
				the Transport and Disposal of Septage
indicates otherwise, these terms
				also include nonconforming systems as defined by
				310 CMR 15.000.
Owner
means the owner of any injection
				well subject to
				310 CMR 27.00.
Operator
means the operator of any
				injection well subject to
				310 CMR 27.00.
Person
means any individual,
				partnership, corporation, firm, association, authority, trust, or group,
				including, but not limited to a city, town, county, district, the Commonwealth
				and its agencies, and the federal government.
Plugging
means the act or process of
				stopping the flow of water, oil, or gas into or out of a formation through a
				borehole or well penetrating that formation.
Pollutant
means 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 nonpoint source, which is or may be discharged,
				drained, or otherwise introduced into any sewage system, treatment works, or
				waters of the Commonwealth.
Radioactive Waste
means any waste
				which contains radioactive material in concentrations which exceed those listed
				in federal regulations at 10 CFR Part 20 :
Appendix B, Table 2, column
				2
.
Sanitary Waste
means any liquid or
				solid wastes originating solely from humans and human activities, such as
				wastes collected from toilets, showers, wash basins, sinks used for cleaning
				domestic areas, sinks used for food preparation, clothes washing operations,
				and sinks or washing machines where food and beverage serving dishes, glasses,
				and utensils are cleaned. Sources of these wastes may include single or
				multiple residences, hotels and motels, restaurants, bunkhouses, schools,
				ranger stations, crew quarters, guard stations, campgrounds, picnic grounds,
				day-use recreation areas, other commercial facilities, and industrial
				facilities provided the waste is not mixed with industrial waste.
Soil Absorption System
means a system
				of trenches, galleries, chambers, pits, field(s) or bed(s) together with
				effluent distribution lines and aggregate which is installed in appropriate
				soils to receive and distribute fluids below the surface of the ground.
Total Dissolved Solids
means the total
				dissolved (filterable) solids as determined by the use of the method specified
				in 40 CFR Part 136 or other method approved by the Department.
Type of Injection
refers to the nature
				of the wastewater injected into the well. Types of Injection for Class V wells
				include, but are not limited to the following: open-loop geothermal,
				stormwater, water purification backwash, groundwater infiltration, non-contact
				cooling water, aquaculture, aquifer storage, motor vehicle waste disposal,
				motor vehicle rinse water, large capacity cesspools; subsidence control; and
				radioactive waste.
UIC
means the Underground Injection
				Control program under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act ( P.L. 95-523 ), as
				amended by P.L. 95-502;
				42 U.S.C. §§
									300h through
				300h-8.
Underground Injection
means the
				subsurface emplacement of fluids through a well.
Underground Source of Drinking Water
				(USDW)
means an aquifer or its portion which supplies any public
				water supply system; or which contains a sufficient quantity of groundwater to
				supply a public water supply system; and either currently supplies drinking
				water for human consumption, or contains less than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved
				solids; and which is not an exempt aquifer.
Well
means any structure, including
				but not limited to a bored, drilled, or driven shaft, a dug hole, seepage pit,
				an improved sinkhole, or a soil absorption system that injects directly to the
				subsurface regardless of the depth below ground surface of the injection. A
				ground surface injection structure is considered a well for the purpose of
				these regulations if the depth is greater than its largest surface dimension.
				Ground surface injection to a trench or seepage pit that has been filled with
				greater than 18 inches of permeable fill material is considered a well,
				regardless of the depth and width dimensions.