Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 1 - SUBTITLES 01-07 › Subtitle 04 - REGULATION OF WATER SUPPLY, SEWAGE DISPOSAL, AND SOLID WASTE › Chapter 26.04.11 - Composting Facilities › Section 26.04.11.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				  the following terms have the meanings indicated
B. Terms Defined
(1) "24-hour, 25-year storm event" means the
				  amount of precipitation, occurring over 24 hours, that has a probability of
				  1/25 of being met or exceeded during any 1-year period
(2) "Active composting" means the phase of
				  composting prior to curing.
(3)
				  "All-weather pad" means a pad of sufficient construction, firmness, and grading
				  so that composting equipment can manage the process during normal inclement
				  weather, including expected rain, snow, and freezing temperatures.
(4) "All-weather road" means a road of
				  sufficient construction and firmness for vehicles and equipment to traverse
				  during normal inclement weather, including expected rain, snow, and freezing
				  temperatures.
(5) "Animal
				  mortality" means an animal carcass that is generated:
(a) At a farm during the normal course of
				  operations;
(b) At another location
				  and managed by State or local government as part of roadway or other
				  maintenance activities; or
(c) At a
				  farm or other location and managed under an Emergency Exemption under
				  Regulation .06 of this chapter
(6) "Carbon-rich" means having a
				  carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of at least 60:1.
(7) "Compost" means the product of composting
				  in accordance with the standards established by the Secretary of Agriculture
				  under Agriculture Article, §
											6-221, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland
(8) "Compostable products"
				  means containers, films, or food service items, such as a bowls, plates, cups,
				  or cutlery, composed of materials such as:
(a) Vegetable matter;
(b) Paper;
(c) Cardboard; and
(d) Compostable plastics that are, within the
				  length of time and process employed at the composting facility at which they
				  are used, capable of biological decomposition to a degree that they result in
				  marketable compost meeting the standards established by the Secretary of
				  Agriculture under Agriculture Article, §
												6-221, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland
(9)
				  "Composting" means the controlled aerobic biological decomposition of organic
				  waste material
(10) Composting
				  facility.
(a) "Composting facility" means a
				  facility where composting takes place.
(b) "Composting facility" does not include a
				  facility that is required to obtain:
(i) A
				  Natural Wood Waste Recycling Facility Permit under COMAR 26.04.09;
(ii) A Sewage Sludge Utilization Permit under
				  COMAR 26.04.06; or
(iii) A Refuse
				  Disposal Permit under COMAR 26.04.07.
(c) The exclusions in §B(10)(b) of this
				  regulation apply only to the areas of a site for which one of the listed
				  permits is required.
(11) "Composting Facility Operations Plan"
				  (CFOP) means the plan required by Regulation .09 of this chapter.
(12) "Composting Facility Permit" means the
				  permit required by Regulations .05 and .06 of this chapter.
(13) Contact Water.
(a) "Contact water" means liquid, including
				  runoff from precipitation, that has been in contact with feedstocks or active
				  composting material and runs off the feedstock receiving area, feedstock
				  storage area, or active composting area.
(b) "Contact water" includes liquid that has
				  passed through or emerged from feedstocks or active composting material and
				  contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials removed from the
				  piles.
(14) "Covered"
				  means covered with:
(a) A synthetic,
				  low-permeability cover or tarp designed to prevent precipitation from
				  contacting the covered materials;
(b) A roof with either walls or sufficient
				  run-on control measures, such as berms, to prevent run-on from contacting the
				  covered materials; or
(c) An
				  alternative approved by the Department.
(15) Curing.
(a) "Curing" means the phase of the
				  composting process after:
(i) Most of the
				  readily metabolized material has been decomposed and stabilized; and
(ii) The pathogen reduction requirements in
				  Regulation .09 of this chapter have been met.
(b) "Curing" includes periods in which the
				  material is managed to increase maturity prior to use or distribution as
				  compost.
(16)
				  "Department" means the Maryland Department of the Environment.
(17) "Existing composting facility" means a
				  composting facility that began operations on or before July 1, 2015.
(18) Farm.
(a)"Farm" means the site of a business or
				  activity operated for the primary purpose of tilling, cropping, keeping,
				  pasturing, or producing an agricultural product other than compost, including
				  livestock, poultry, plants, trees, sod, food, feed, or fiber, by in-ground,
				  out-of-ground, container, or other culture.
(b) "Farm" does not include the site of a
				  business or activity operated for the primary purpose of producing
				  compost.
(19) "Flood
				  plain" means the flood plain of free-flowing waters determined by the
				  Department on the basis of the 100-year flood frequency.
(20) "Indoors" means within a structure that
				  is entirely enclosed by walls and has a roof and low-permeability floor
				  constructed of concrete, asphalt, or similar materials.
(21) In Support of Composting.
(a) "In support of composting" means used to
				  conduct any phase of the composting process, including but not limited to
				  feedstock receiving, feedstock preparation, active composting, curing, compost
				  storage, composting equipment storage or maintenance, or storage of any solid
				  waste or non-compostable materials.
(b) "In support of composting" does not
				  include:
(i) Areas used to store mobile,
				  general purpose farm equipment such as tractors and backhoes;
(ii) Areas associated with the housing or
				  movement of animals where manure may accumulate prior to composting;
				  or
(iii) Roads used for transport
				  to the composting facility or between separate composting areas on a
				  site.
(22)
				  Major Permit Modification.
(a) "Major permit
				  modification" means a significant and substantive change to an individual
				  Composting Facility Permit.
(b)
				  "Major permit modification" includes:
(i) A
				  change in the facility tier;
(ii) A
				  significant increase in facility capacity, throughput, or compost produced per
				  year;
(iii) A change in ownership
				  of the facility;
(iv) A significant
				  change to the size of the area used in support of composting; and
(v) Any other significant change to the
				  design or operation of the composting facility.
(23) "Minor permit modification" means a
				  change to an individual Composting Facility Permit that is not a major permit
				  modification.
(24) "Natural wood
				  waste" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.04.09.02.
(25) "New composting facility" means a
				  composting facility that began operations after July 1, 2015.
(26) "Organic" means any natural biological
				  substance of plant or animal origin that is capable of microbial
				  degradation.
(27) "Person" means an
				  individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, or
				  representative of any kind and any partnership, firm, association, corporation,
				  or other entity.
(28) "Physical
				  contaminants" means non-compostable items including non-compostable plastic,
				  glass, rubber, and metal.
(29)
				  "Run-on" means any rainwater or other liquid that drains over land onto any
				  part of a composting facility.
(30)
				  "Seasonal high water table" means the highest water table as determined in the
				  soil profile by the encountered indications of soil mottling or iron
				  concretions or by measuring seasonal fluctuations of the water table in a water
				  table well over a period acceptable to the Department.
(31) Stormwater.
(a) "Stormwater" means stormwater runoff,
				  snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.
(b) "Stormwater" does not include contact
				  water.
(32) "Stabilized
				  compost" is defined in COMAR 15.18.04.01.
(33) "Tier 1 Facility" means a composting
				  facility that accepts only Type 1 feedstocks.
(34) Tier 2 Facility.
(a) "Tier 2 Facility" means a composting
				  facility that accepts Type 2 feedstocks.
(b) "Tier 2 Facility" includes a composting
				  facility that accepts Type 1 feedstocks in addition to Type 2
				  feedstocks.
(c) "Tier 2 Facility"
				  does not include a composting facility that accepts Type 3
				  feedstocks.
(35) "Tier 2
				  Small Facility" means a Tier 2 Facility that produces 10,000 cubic yards or
				  less of compost per year.
(36)
				  "Tier 2 Large Facility" means a Tier 2 Facility that produces more than 10,000
				  cubic yards of compost per year.
(37) "Tier 3 Facility" means a facility that
				  accepts any Type 3 feedstocks, regardless of whether other feedstock Types are
				  also accepted.
(38) "Type 1
				  feedstock" means:
(a) Yard waste, as defined
				  in Environment Article, §
												9-1701, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland; and
(b) Other materials
				  determined by the Department to pose a low level of risk from hazardous
				  substances, human pathogens, and physical contaminants.
(39) "Type 2 feedstock" means:
(a) Source-separated organics from
				  residential curbside or drop-off programs and non-residential sources,
				  including but not limited to pre-consumer and post-consumer food scraps and
				  non-recyclable paper;
(b)
				  Department-approved animal manure and bedding, with Department approval based
				  on factors such as moisture content and pathogen risk;
(c) Department-approved industrially produced
				  food processing materials, including industrial poultry and seafood
				  residuals;
(d) Animal
				  mortalities;
(e) Manufactured
				  organic materials such as waxed-corrugated cardboard non-coated paper, and
				  compostable products; and
(f) Other
				  materials that the Department determines pose a low level of risk from
				  hazardous substances and a higher level of risk from physical contaminants and
				  human pathogens, compared to Type 1 feedstocks.
(40) "Type 3 feedstock" means:
(a) Sewage sludge, as defined in COMAR
				  26.04.06.03;
(b) Biosolids, as defined in COMAR
				  26.04.06.03;
(c) Used diapers;
(d) Mixed municipal solid waste;
				  and
(e) Any other feedstocks that
				  are not Type 1 or Type 2 feedstocks and that the Department determines pose a
				  low level of risk from hazardous substances and a higher level of risk from
				  physical contaminants and human pathogens, compared to Type 1 and Type 2
				  feedstocks.