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 26.04.02 - Sewage Disposal and Certain Water Systems for Homes and Other Establishments in the Counties of Maryland Where a Public Sewage System Is Not Available › Section 26.04.02.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. The following
				  terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Approving Authority" means the Secretary
				  of the Department of the Environment or the Secretary's designee.
(2) "Aquifer" means any formation of soil,
				  sand, rock, gravel, limestone, sandstone, or other material, or any crevice
				  from which underground water is or may be produced.
(3) "At-grade system" means an on-site sewage
				  disposal system utilizing a raised bed of gravel over the natural soil surface
				  with a distribution system constructed so as to distribute sewage equally along
				  the length of the gravel bed..
(4)
				  "Best Available Technology for Removal of Nitrogen (BAT)" means a technology
				  that has been approved by the Department as a best available technology for
				  removing nitrogen from onsite sewage disposal systems.
(5) "Certified service provider" means an
				  individual who is certified by the Department to perform operation and
				  maintenance on BAT systems.
(6)
				  "Chemical toilet" means a toilet arranged to receive the nonwater-carried human
				  waste directly into a deodorizing and liquefying chemical in a watertight
				  tank.
(7) "Cistern" means a covered
				  tank in which rain water from roof drains is stored for household or other
				  purposes.
(8) "Community sewerage
				  system" means any system, whether publicly or privately owned, serving two or
				  more individual lots for the collection and disposal of domestic sewage or
				  domestic sewage combined with industrial waste including various devices for
				  the treatment of that sewage.
(9)
				  "Community water supply system" means a source of water and distribution
				  system, including treatment facilities and storage facilities whether publicly
				  or privately owned, serving two or more individual lots.
(10) "Confined aquifer" means an aquifer
				  bounded above and below by beds of distinctly lower permeability than that of
				  the aquifer itself and which contains ground water under pressure greater than
				  that of the atmosphere. This term is synonymous with the term "artesian
				  aquifer".
(11) "Contamination"
				  means the introduction into water of any substance, which may transfer
				  infectious agents or other foreign substances (organic, inorganic,
				  radiological, or biological), in concentrations which may constitute a health
				  hazard or impair the usefulness of the water.
(12) "Controlled hazardous substance" means a
				  substance identified as a hazardous substance by the Department of the
				  Environment pursuant to Environment Article, Title 7, Subtitle 2, Annotated
				  Code of Maryland, and COMAR
				  26.13.01.03B(26).
(13) "Conventional on-site sewage disposal
				  system" is a system that meets current regulations and includes a sewage
				  treatment unit or BAT with standard trench or deep trench subsurface
				  irrigation, a seepage pit on-site disposal or a sand mound system under
				  Regulation .05 of this chapter, or an at-grade system under Regulation .05 of
				  this chapter.
(14) "County water
				  and sewer plan" means a comprehensive plan and all amendments and revisions of
				  it as required by Environment Article, Title 9, Subtitle 5, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland, for the provision of adequate water and sewerage systems, whether
				  publically or privately owned throughout the county, including towns, municipal
				  corporations, and sanitary districts in the county.
(15) "Deep trench" means a trench having
				  perforated pipe in which the trench side wall and bottom area are used to
				  calculate the absorptive area in the system design. At least 2 inches of
				  gravel/stone covers the pipe and extends throughout the depth of absorptive
				  side wall to the trench bottom.
(16) "Domestic sewage" means the liquid or
				  water carried wastes derived from dwellings, including floating homes, business
				  buildings, institutions, and the like, exclusive of wastes derived from
				  industrial processes.
(17)
				  "Floating home" means any vessel, whether self-propelled or not, which is:
(a) Used, designated, or occupied as a
				  permanent dwelling unit, place of business, or for any private or social club,
				  including a structure constructed upon a barge primarily immobile and out of
				  navigation or any structure which functions substantially as a land structure
				  while the same is moored or docked within Maryland; and
(b) Which has a volume coefficient greater
				  than 3,000 square feet based upon the ratio of the habitable space of a vessel
				  measured in cubic feet and the draft of a vessel measured in feet of
				  depth.
(18) "Fall line"
				  means the contact between the unconsolidated sediments of the coastal plain
				  physiographic province and the crystalline rocks of the Maryland Piedmont
				  physiographic province (see the map of Maryland Physiographic Provinces and
				  Their Divisions in this chapter), and is approximated by the line connecting
				  the numerous waterfalls and rapids in adjacent streams.
(19) "Flood plain soils" are those soils that
				  are listed in the soil survey as either having a flood hazard or being
				  susceptible to flooding.
(20)
				  "Grease intercepter" means a receptacle designed to collect and retain grease
				  and fatty substances normally found in kitchen or similar wastes.
(21) "Ground water" means underground water
				  in a zone of saturation.
(22)
				  "Hazardous substance" means any matter:
(a)
				  That conveys toxic, lethal, or sublethal effects to plant, aquatic, or animal
				  life, or which may be injurious to human health, or persists in the
				  environment; or
(b) Which causes
				  sublethal alterations to aquatic, plant, animal, or human systems through their
				  cumulative or immediate reactions.
(23) "Holding tank" means a watertight
				  receptacle which is used, or intended to be used, for the collection of
				  sewage.
(24) "Liquid waste hauler"
				  means a person engaged in the business of cleaning and emptying septic tanks,
				  holding tanks, seepage pits, privies, or any other on-site disposal
				  facility.
(24-1) "Membrane
				  Bioreactors (MBR)" is a treatment technology that combines the
				  biological-activated sludge process and the membrane filtration process and
				  that is capable of reducing the 5 day biochemical oxygen demand (BODs), total
				  nitrogen (TN), and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations in wastewater
				  effluent to less than 1 mg/l of TSS, less than 3 mg/l of TN, and less than 3
				  mg/l of BODs.
(25) "Mobile home"
				  means a structure that can be used with or without a permanent foundation, is
				  transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, and is
				  designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required
				  utilities.
(26) "Non-conventional
				  on-site sewage disposal systems" are experimental systems and innovative
				  technologies not currently described in these regulations that are undergoing
				  evaluation by the Department of the Environment and the Approving
				  Authority.
(27) "On-site disposal"
				  means the disposal of sewage effluent beneath the land surface.
(28) "On-site sewage disposal system" means a
				  sewage treatment unit, collection system, disposal area, and related
				  appurtenances related to on-site sewage disposal.
(29) "Percolation test" means a procedure
				  used to determine the rate of movement of water through soil at the depth of
				  installation of a proposed on-site sewage disposal system.
(30) "Permeability" means the capability of a
				  soil, rock, aquifer, or confining bed to transmit waters or air.
(31) "Person" means an individual,
				  partnership, firm, corporation, cooperative enterprise, or a governmental
				  agency.
(32) "Pollution" means any
				  contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological
				  properties of any ground or surface waters of this State, including a change in
				  temperature, taste, color, turbidity, or odor of the waters or the discharge or
				  deposit of any organic matter, harmful organism, or liquid, gaseous, solid,
				  radioactive, or other substance onto the ground surface or into any waters of
				  this State that will render the ground or waters harmful or detrimental to:
(a) Public health, safety, or
				  welfare;
(b) Domestic, commercial,
				  industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial
				  uses;
(c) Livestock, wild animals,
				  or birds; or
(d) Fish or other
				  aquatic life.
(33)
				  "Potable water" means water which is free from substances or agents which may
				  cause disease or harmful physiological effects, and which complies with the
				  bacteriological and chemical quality requirements of COMAR 26.04.01 and
				  26.04.04.
(34) "Privy" means an
				  earth or watertight pit or receptacle for receiving nonwater-carried human
				  wastes over which is placed a privy house containing a seat or seats.
(35) "Sand mound system" means an on-site
				  sewage disposal system utilizing a raised bed of sand fill with a distribution
				  system constructed so as to distribute sewage equally into the sand
				  fill.
(36) "Seepage pit" means a
				  dug or drilled hole extending into porous soils for the purpose of introducing
				  sewage effluent into the ground.
(37) "Septage" means the liquid and solid
				  material pumped or removed from chemical toilets, septic tanks, seepage pits,
				  privies, cesspools, or holding tanks when the system is cleaned and
				  maintained.
(38) "Septic tank"
				  means a watertight receptacle which receives the discharge of sewage from a
				  building sewer or part of it and is designed and constructed to permit the
				  settling and the digestion of the organic matter by anaerobic bacterial
				  action.
(39) "Sewage" means
				  water-carried human, domestic and other wastes and includes all human and
				  animal excreta.
(40) "Sewage
				  treatment unit" means a device designed and constructed to receive sewage and
				  to provide treatment to reduce organic and inorganic matter and includes septic
				  tanks, BAT, aerobic treatment units, or any other approved devices.
(41) "Sewer" means the system of pipes, lift
				  stations, and other appurtenances that receive and convey sewage and is
				  designed to exclude stormwater, surface water, and ground water.
(42) "Site evaluation" means the inventory
				  and review of all site characteristics pertinent to on-site sewage disposal
				  systems including topography, geology, surface and subsurface drainage,
				  seasonal high water table, drinking water sources and wells, proximity to
				  waters of the State, soil evaluation and percolation tests.
(43) "Soil evaluation" means a description of
				  the physical properties of a soil including color, texture, structure, limiting
				  horizons, and percolation rates.
(44) "Soil survey" means the scientific
				  inventory of soil maps, soil unit descriptions, classification in the national
				  system, and interpretation for use, as conducted by the National Cooperative
				  Soil Survey by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources
				  Conservation Service, in cooperation with the Maryland Agricultural Experiment
				  Station.
(45) "Spring" means
				  groundwater seeping out of the earth where the water table intersects the
				  ground surface.
(46) "Standard
				  trench" or shallow trench means a trench having either at least 6 inches of
				  gravel or stone beneath and at least 2 inches over the perforated pipe or at
				  least 6 inches air space beneath an open chamber. Only the bottom area is used
				  to calculate the absorptive area in the design of a standard trench..
(47) "Stream" means a perennial or
				  intermittent watercourse of groundwater origin.
(48) "Subsurface sewage disposal" means the
				  process of on-site sewage disposal in which the sewage effluent is applied to
				  land by distribution beneath the surface through perforated pipes or
				  pressurized pipes and includes a standard trench, deep trench, sand mound or
				  at-grade system.
(49) "Unconfined
				  aquifer" means an aquifer not bounded above by a bed of distinctly lower
				  permeability than that of the aquifer itself and containing ground water under
				  pressure approximately equal to that of the atmosphere. This term is synonymous
				  with the term "water table aquifer".
(50) "Unconsolidated material" means
				  uncemented soil and sediment material having not more than 70 percent coarse
				  fragments (greater than 2 millimeters) by weight or 50 percent coarse fragments
				  (greater than 2 millimeters) by volume. Volume is estimated by visual
				  comparison with a standard chart.
(51) "Water supply system" means a system
				  that provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed
				  conveyances and includes all sources of water that are or may be used as
				  potable water including wells, springs, cisterns, or other sources and their
				  appurtenances, such as, pitless adaptors, pumps, pressure tanks, water lines,
				  and treatment and storage facilities.
(52) "Well" means any hole that extends more
				  than 20' below the ground surface to explore for ground water, to obtain or
				  monitor ground water, or to inject water into any underground formation from
				  which ground water may be produced or to transfer heat to or from the ground or
				  groundwater.