Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 401 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET - DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 10 - Water Quality Standards › Section 401 KAR 10:001 - Definitions for 401 KAR Chapter 10

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS 146.200 - 146.360,
				146.410 - 146.535, 146.550 - 146.570, 146.600 -146.619, 146.990, 224.1-010,
				224.1-400, 224.16-050, 224.16-070, 224.70-100 - 22.70-150, 224.71-100 -
				224.71-145, 224.73-100 - 224.73-120, 40 C.F.R. 136
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				224.10-100 authorizes the cabinet to
				promulgate administrative regulations for the prevention, abatement, and
				control of all water pollution. This administrative regulation establishes
				definitions for terms used in 401 KAR Chapter 10.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Acute criteria" means the highest
			 instream concentration of a toxic substance or an effluent to which an organism
			 can be exposed for one (1) hour without causing an unacceptable harmful
			 effect.
(2) "Acute to chronic
			 ratio" means the ratio of the acute toxicity, expressed as an LC50, of an
			 effluent or a toxic substance, to its chronic toxicity. It is used as a factor
			 to estimate chronic toxicity from acute toxicity data.
(3) "Acute toxicity" means lethality or other
			 harmful effect sustained by either an indigenous aquatic organism or a
			 representative indicator organism used in a toxicity test, due to a short-term
			 exposure, of ninety-six (96) hours or less, to a specific toxic substance or
			 mixture of toxic substances.
(4)
			 "Acute toxicity unit" means the reciprocal of the effluent dilution that causes
			 the acute effect, or LC50, by the end of the acute exposure period.
(5) "Adversely affect" or "adversely change"
			 means to alter or change the community structure or function, to reduce the
			 number or proportion of sensitive species, or to increase the number or
			 proportion of pollution tolerant aquatic species so that aquatic life use
			 support or aquatic habitat is impaired.
(6) "Balanced indigenous community" means a
			 biotic community typically characterized by diversity, the capacity to sustain
			 itself through cyclic seasonal changes, presence of necessary food chain
			 species, and a lack of domination by pollution tolerant species. The community
			 may include historically nonnative species introduced in connection with a
			 program of wildlife management and species whose presence or abundance results
			 from substantial, irreversible environmental modification. Normally, such a
			 community does not include species whose presence or abundance is attributable
			 to the introduction of pollutants that will be eliminated by compliance of all
			 sources with
			 401 KAR
			 5:065, and may not include species whose presence or
			 abundance is attributable to alternative effluent limitations imposed pursuant
			 to
			 401
			 KAR 5:055.
(7) "Bathing area" means those surface waters
			 that:
(a) Are frequented by bathers for
			 swimming;
(b) Have a lifeguard;
			 or
(c) Have a bathhouse
			 facility.
(8) "Best
			 management practices" or "BMPs" means:
(a) For
			 agriculture operations, as defined by
			 KRS
			 224.71-100(3); or
(b) For all other purposes:
1. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of
			 practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or
			 reduce the pollution of waters of the commonwealth; and
2. Treatment requirements; operating
			 procedures; and practices to control site run-off, pollution of surface water
			 and groundwater from nonpoint sources, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste
			 disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
(9) "Chronic criteria" means the highest
			 instream concentration of a toxic substance or an effluent to which organisms
			 are able to be exposed for ninety-six (96) hours without causing an
			 unacceptable harmful effect.
(10)
			 "Chronic toxicity" means lethality, reduced growth or reproduction, or other
			 harmful effect sustained by either indigenous aquatic organisms or
			 representative indicator organisms used in toxicity tests due to long-term
			 exposures, relative to the life span of the organisms or a significant portion
			 of their life span, to toxic substances or mixtures of toxic
			 substances.
(11) "Chronic toxicity
			 unit" means the reciprocal of the effluent dilution that causes twenty-five
			 (25) percent inhibition of growth or reproduction to the test organisms by the
			 end of the chronic exposure period.
(12) "Clean Water Act" or "CWA" means the
			 Clean Water Act as subsequently amended,
			 33 U.S.C. Section
			 1251 through
			 1387,
			 otherwise known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
(13) "Cold water aquatic habitat" or "CAH"
			 means surface waters and associated substrate that are able to support
			 indigenous aquatic life or self-sustaining or reproducing trout populations on
			 a year-round basis.
(14) "Combined
			 sewer" or "combined sewer line" means a sewer or sewer line designed to carry
			 stormwater runoff as well as sanitary wastewater.
(15) "Combined sewer overflow" or "CSO" means
			 the flow from a combined sewer in excess of the interceptor or regulator
			 capacity that is discharged into a receiving water without going to a
			 POTW.
(16) "Conventional domestic
			 water supply treatment" means or includes coagulation, sedimentation,
			 filtration, and disinfection.
(17)
			 "Criteria" or "water quality criteria" means elements of state water quality
			 standards expressed as constituent concentrations, levels, or narrative
			 statements, that represent a quality of water that supports a particular
			 designated use.
(18) "Day" means a
			 twenty-four (24) hour period.
(19)
			 "Discharge" or "discharge of a pollutant" means the addition of a pollutant or
			 combination of pollutants to waters of the commonwealth from a point
			 source.
(20) "Division" means the
			 Kentucky Division of Water, within the Department for Environmental Protection,
			 Energy and Environment Cabinet.
(21) "Domestic" means relating to household
			 wastes or other similar wastes. It is used to distinguish municipal, household,
			 or commercial water or wastewater services from industrial water or wastewater
			 services.
(22) "Domestic water
			 supply" or "DWS" means surface waters that with conventional domestic water
			 supply treatment are suitable for human consumption through a public water
			 system as defined by
			 40
			 C.F.R. 141.2, culinary purposes, or for use
			 in a food or beverage processing industry; and meet state and federal
			 regulations promulgated pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended,
			 42
			 U.S.C. 300f -
			 300j-26.
(23) "Effluent limitations" is defined by
			 KRS
			 224.1-010(11).
(24) "Environmental Protection Agency",
			 "EPA", or "U.S. EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection
			 Agency.
(25) "Epilimnion" means the
			 thermally homogeneous water layer overlying the metalimnion of a thermally
			 stratified lake or reservoir.
(26)
			 "E. coli" or "Escherichia coli" means an aerobic and facultative anaerobic gram
			 negative, nonspore forming, rod shaped bacterium that is
			 ortho-nitrophenyl-B-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) positive, and Methylumbelliferyl
			 glucuronide (MUG) positive. It is a member of the indigenous fecal flora of
			 warm-blooded animals.
(27)
			 "Eutrophication" means the enrichment of a surface water with nutrients
			 nitrogen and phosphorus resulting in adverse effects on water chemistry and the
			 indigenous aquatic community. Resulting adverse effects on water chemistry
			 manifest by daily dissolved oxygen supersaturation followed by low dissolved
			 oxygen concentrations and diurnal increase in pH. Resulting adverse effects on
			 the indigenous aquatic community include:
(a)
			 Nuisance algae blooms;
(b)
			 Proliferation of nuisance aquatic plants;
(c) Displacement of diverse fish or
			 macroinvertebrate community by species tolerant of nutrient-enriched
			 environments; or
(d) Fish kills
			 brought on by severe, sudden episodes of plant nutrient enrichment.
(28) "Exceptional water" means a
			 surface water categorized as exceptional by the cabinet pursuant to
			 401 KAR
			 10:030.
(29) "Existing use" means a legitimate use
			 being attained where the quality or habitat to support the legitimate use was
			 achieved in or on a surface water of the commonwealth on or after November 28,
			 1975, irrespective of its use designation.
(30) "Expanded discharge" means an increase
			 in pollutant loading of twenty (20) percent or greater.
(31) "°F" means degrees
			 Fahrenheit.
(32) "General permit"
			 means a:
(a) "General permit" as defined by
			 40
			 C.F.R. 122.2; or
(b) KPDES permit issued pursuant to
			 401
			 KAR 5:055 authorizing a category of discharges or
			 non-discharging facilities pursuant to KRS Chapter 224 within a geographical
			 area.
(33) "Harmonic mean
			 flow" means the reciprocal of the mean of the reciprocal daily flow
			 values.
(34) "High quality water"
			 means a surface water categorized as high quality by the cabinet pursuant to
			 401 KAR
			 10:030.
(35) "Impact" means a change in the chemical,
			 physical, or biological quality or condition of a surface water.
(36) "Impairment" means a detrimental impact
			 to a surface water that prevents attainment of a designated use.
(37) "Indigenous aquatic community" means
			 naturally occurring aquatic organisms including bacteria, fungi, algae, aquatic
			 insects, other aquatic invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. Under
			 some natural conditions one (1) or more of the above groups may be absent from
			 a surface water.
(38) "Inhibition
			 concentration of twenty-five (25) percent" or "IC25" means the concentration
			 that is determined by a linear interpolation method for estimating the
			 concentration at which a twenty-five (25) percent reduction is shown in
			 reproduction or growth in test organisms, and which statistically approximates
			 the concentration at which an unacceptable chronic effect is not
			 observed.
(39) "Intermittent water"
			 means a stream that flows only at certain times of the year.
(40) "Kentucky Pollutant Discharge
			 Elimination System" or "KPDES" means the Kentucky program for issuing,
			 modifying, revoking and reissuing, revoking, monitoring, and enforcing permits
			 to discharge, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements.
(41) "KPDES permit" means a Kentucky
			 Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to a facility, including a
			 POTW, or activity pursuant to KRS Chapter 224 for the purpose of operating the
			 facility or activity.
(42) "LC1"
			 means that concentration of a toxic substance or mixture of toxic substances
			 that is lethal, or immobilizing if appropriate, to one (1) percent of the
			 organisms tested in a toxicity test during a specified exposure
			 period.
(43) "LC50" means that
			 concentration of a toxic substance or mixture of toxic substances that is
			 lethal, or immobilizing if appropriate, to fifty (50) percent of the species
			 tested in a toxicity test during a specified exposure period.
(44) "Long-term CSO control plan" means a
			 control plan that complies with the Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy
			 issued by the U.S. EPA and published in the Federal Register on April 19, 1994
			 (59 FR 18688).
(45) "Maintain"
			 means to preserve or keep in present condition by not allowing an adverse
			 permanent or long-term change to water quality or to a population of an aquatic
			 organism or its habitat.
(46)
			 "Measurement" means the ability of the analytical method or protocol to
			 quantify as well as identify the presence of the substance in
			 question.
(47) "ng/L" means
			 micrograms per liter, same as ppb, assuming unit density.
(48) "Milligrams per liter" or "mg/L" means
			 the milligrams of substance per liter of solution, and is equivalent to parts
			 per million in water, assuming unit density.
(49) "Mixing zone" means a domain of a water
			 body contiguous to a treated or untreated wastewater discharge with quality
			 characteristics different from those of the receiving water. The discharge is
			 in transit and progressively diluted from the source to the receiving system.
			 The mixing zone is the domain where wastewater and receiving water
			 mix.
(50) "Natural water quality"
			 means those naturally occurring physical, chemical, and biological properties
			 of waters.
(51) "Nonpoint" means a
			 source of pollutants not defined by a point source.
(52) "Normal temperature" means the
			 temperature that would exist in waters of the commonwealth without the change
			 of enthalpy of artificial origin.
(53) "Other wastes" means sawdust, bark or
			 other wood debris, garbage, refuse, ashes, offal, tar, oil, chemicals, acid
			 drainage, wastes from agricultural enterprises, and other foreign substances
			 not included within the definitions of industrial wastes and sewage that may
			 cause or contribute to the pollution of waters of the Commonwealth.
(54) "Outstanding national resource water"
			 means a surface water categorized by the cabinet as an outstanding national
			 resource water pursuant to
			 401 KAR
			 10:030.
(55) "Outstanding state resource water" means
			 a surface water designated by the cabinet as an outstanding state resource
			 water pursuant to
			 401 KAR
			 10:031.
(56) "pCi/L" means picocuries per
			 liter.
(57) "PCR" means primary
			 contact recreation.
(58) "Point
			 source" is defined by
			 33
			 U.S.C. 1362(14). The term
			 does not include agricultural stormwater run-off or return flows from irrigated
			 agriculture.
(59) "Pollutant" is
			 defined by
			 KRS
			 224.1-010.
(60) "POTW" means publicly owned treatment
			 works as defined by
			 KRS
			 224.1-010.
(61) "Primary contact recreation water" means
			 those waters suitable for full body contact recreation during the recreation
			 season of May 1 through October 31.
(62) "Productive aquatic community" means an
			 assemblage of indigenous aquatic life capable of reproduction and
			 growth.
(63) "Propagation" means
			 the continuance of a species by successful spawning, hatching, and development
			 or natural generation in the natural environment, as opposed to the maintenance
			 of the species by artificial culture and stocking.
(64) "Regional facility plan" means a type of
			 water quality management plan addressing point sources of pollution for the
			 purpose of areawide waste treatment management planning prepared by the
			 designated regional planning agency pursuant to Sections 201, 205, and 208 of
			 the Clean Water Act,
			 33 U.S.C.
			 1251-1387,
			 to control point sources of pollution within a planning area.
(65) "Representative indicator organism"
			 means an aquatic organism designated for use in toxicity testing because of its
			 relative sensitivity to toxicants and its widespread distribution in the
			 aquatic environment.
(66) "SCR"
			 means secondary contact recreation.
(67) "Secondary contact recreation waters"
			 means those waters suitable for partial body contact recreation, with minimal
			 threat to public health due to water quality.
(68) "Seven-Q-ten" or
			 "7Q10" means that minimum average flow that occurs
			 for seven (7) consecutive days with a recurrence interval of ten (10)
			 years.
(69) "Source" means a
			 building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a
			 discharge of pollutants.
(70)
			 "Standard" or "water quality standard" means the designated uses of a surface
			 water of the commonwealth and the water quality criteria necessary to maintain
			 and protect the designated uses as established in 401 KAR Chapter 10.
(71) "Stormwater" is defined by
			 40
			 C.F.R.
			 122.26(b)(13).
(72) "Surface waters" means those waters
			 having well-defined banks and beds, either constantly or intermittently
			 flowing; lakes and impounded waters; marshes and wetlands; and any subterranean
			 waters flowing in well-defined channels and having a demonstrable hydrologic
			 connection with the surface. Lagoons used for waste treatment and effluent
			 ditches that are situated on property owned, leased, or under valid easement by
			 a permitted discharger are not considered to be surface waters of the
			 commonwealth.
(73) "Total dissolved
			 solids" or "TDS" is defined by
			 40
			 C.F.R. 122.2.
(74) "Total suspended solids" or "TSS" means
			 the total suspended solids (nonfilterable residue) as determined by use of the
			 method specified in 40 C.F.R. Part 136 .
(75) "Toxic substance" means a substance that
			 is bioaccumulative, synergistic, antagonistic, teratogenic, mutagenic, or
			 carcinogenic and causes death, disease, a behavioral abnormality, a
			 physiological malfunction, or a physical deformity in an organism or its
			 offspring or interferes with normal propagation.
(76) "Warm water aquatic habitat" or "WAH"
			 means a surface water and associated substrate capable of supporting indigenous
			 warm water aquatic life.
(77)
			 "Wetlands" is defined by
			 40
			 C.F.R. 122.2.
(78) "Zone of initial dilution" means the
			 limited area permitted by the cabinet surrounding or downstream from a
			 discharge location where rapid, first-stage mixing occurs. The zone of initial
			 dilution is the domain where wastewater and receiving water initially
			 mix.