Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 33 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part IX - Water Quality › Subpart 1 - Water Pollution Control › Chapter 1 - General Provisions › Section IX-107 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
Act
- Act 449 of the 1979 Louisiana
					 Legislature which established Section 2001 et seq., of Title 30 of the
					 Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 and any subsequent amendment to these
					 Sections.
Activity
-any conduct, operation or
					 process which causes or may cause the discharge of pollutants into the waters
					 of the state.
Administrative Authority
- the Secretary
					 of the Department of Environmental Quality or his designee or the appropriate
					 assistant secretary or his designee.
Applicant
- the person or other legal
					 entity applying for a permit under the Louisiana Water Discharge Permit System
					 (LWDPS).
Application
- the standard LWDPS permit
					 forms for applying for a permit, including any additions, revisions or
					 modifications to the forms.
Aquifer
- a geologic formation, group of
					 formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding significant
					 groundwater to wells or springs.
Artificial Heat
- heat that is derived
					 from unnatural sources such as power plant and other industrial cooling
					 processes.
Assistant Secretary
- the assistant
					 secretary of the appropriate office of the Department of Environmental
					 Quality.
Average Monthly Discharge Limitation
- the
					 highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar month, calculated
					 as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by
					 the number of daily discharges measured during that month.
Average Weekly Discharge Limitation
- the
					 highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar week, calculated
					 as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar week divided by
					 the number of daily discharges measured during that week.
Basin
- the drainage area of the
					 designated body of water and its tributaries.
Best Available Control Technology Economically
					 Achievable (BAT)
- the degree of effluent reduction attainable through
					 the application of the very best control and treatment technology employed by a
					 specific point source within the industrial category or subcategory taking into
					 account such factors as the age of equipment and facilities involved, the
					 process employed, the engineering aspects of the application of various types
					 of control techniques, process changes, the cost of achieving such effluent
					 reduction in relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved,
					 non-water-quality environmental impact (including energy requirements), and
					 such other factors as the administrative authority deems appropriate.
Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology
					 (BCT)
- the degree of effluent reduction attainable through
					 consideration of the reasonableness of the relationship between the costs of
					 attaining a reduction in effluents and the effluent reduction benefits derived,
					 and the comparison of the cost and level of reduction of such pollutants from
					 the discharge from publicly owned treatment works to the cost and level of
					 reduction of such pollutants from a class or category of industrial sources,
					 taking into account such factors as the age of equipment and facilities
					 involved, the process employed, the engineering aspects of the application of
					 various types of control techniques, process changes, non-water-quality
					 environmental impact (including energy requirements), and such other factors as
					 the administrative authority deems appropriate.
Best Management Practices (BMP)
-
					 schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures and
					 other management practices designed to prevent or reduce the pollution of the
					 waters of the state, including treatment requirements, operating procedures,
					 and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge, or waste
					 disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
Best Practicable Control Technology Currently
					 Available (BPT)
- the degree of effluent reduction attainable through
					 the application of the average of the best existing performance by plants of
					 various sizes, ages, and unit processes within the industrial category and/or
					 subcategory taking into account consideration of the total cost of application
					 of technology in relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved
					 from such application and taking into account such factors as the age of
					 equipment and facilities involved, the process employed, the engineering
					 aspects of the application of various types of control techniques, process
					 changes, non-water-quality environmental impact (including energy
					 requirements), and such other factors as the administrative authority deems
					 appropriate.
Biological Monitoring
- the determination
					 of the effects on aquatic life, including accumulation of pollutants in tissue,
					 in receiving waters due to the discharge of pollutants (A) by techniques and
					 procedures, including sampling of organisms representative of appropriate
					 levels of the food chain appropriate to the volume and the physical, chemical,
					 and biological characteristics of the effluent, and (B) at appropriate
					 frequencies and location.
Certification
- approval by the
					 administrative authority that any activity which may result in any discharge
					 into or potential change of the waters of the state and as such requires
					 application for a federal permit, will comply with the applicable provisions of
					 Sections
					 301 (Effluent Limitations), 303
					 (Water Quality Standards and Implementation Plans), 306 (National Standards of
					 Performance) and 307 (Toxic and Pretreatment Effluent Standards) of the Federal
					 Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) as amended.
Clean Water Act (CWA)
- the Public Law
					 92-500 as amended by Pub. L. 95-217, Pub. L. 95-576, Pub. L. 96-483 and Pub. L.
					 97-117,
					 33 U.S.C.
					 1251 et seq. The CWA was formerly referred to
					 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control
					 Act Amendments of 1972.
Construction
- the commencement of on-site
					 placement, fabrication, assembly, erection, or installation of a wastewater
					 source, treatment works, or sewer, or the reinstallation at a new site of any
					 wastewater source, existing treatment works, or sewer.
Contaminant
- any physical, chemical,
					 biological, or radiological substance or matter in water.
Conventional Pollutant
- biochemical
					 oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), pH, fecal coliform, and oil
					 and grease.
Cooling Water
- any water which is used
					 primarily for cooling of raw materials, products, or equipment.
Daily Average Concentration
- the
					 arithmetic average (weighted by flow value) of all the daily determination of
					 concentrations made during a calendar month. Daily determinations of
					 concentration made using a composite sample shall be the concentration of the
					 composite sample. When grab samples are used, the daily determination of
					 concentration shall be the arithmetic average (weighted by flow value) of all
					 the samples collected during that calendar day or specified 24-hour period that
					 reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling.
Daily Average Mass Discharge
- the total
					 discharge by weight during a calendar month divided by the number of days in
					 the month that the facility was operating. Where less than daily sampling is
					 required, the daily average discharge shall be determined by the summation of
					 all the measured daily discharges by weight divided by the number of days
					 during the calendar month when the measurements were made.
Daily Discharge
- the discharge of a
					 pollutant measured during a calendar day or within any specified 24-hour period
					 that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling. For
					 pollutants with limitations expressed in units of mass, the "daily discharge"
					 is calculated as the total mass of the pollutant discharged over the day. For
					 pollutants with limitations expressed in other units of measurement, the "daily
					 discharge" is calculated as the average measurement of the pollutant over the
					 day.
Daily Maximum Concentration
- the daily
					 determination of concentration for any calendar day or specified 24-hour period
					 that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling.
Daily Maximum Mass Discharge
- the total
					 discharge by weight during any calendar day or specified 24-hour period that
					 reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling.
Department
- the Department of
					 Environmental Quality.
DEQ
- the Department of Environmental
					 Quality.
Designated Use
- a use of the waters of
					 the state as established by the water quality standards provided in LAC
					 33:IX.1111. These uses include, but are not limited to, primary and secondary
					 contact recreation, fish and wildlife propagation, drinking water supply,
					 oyster propagation, agriculture, and outstanding natural resource
					 waters.
Discharge
- the placing, releasing,
					 spilling, percolating, draining, pumping, leaking, seeping, emitting,
					 disposing, bypassing or other escaping of pollutants into the air, waters,
					 subsurface water or ground as the result of a prior act or omission; or the
					 placing of pollutants into barrels, or similar containers under conditions and
					 circumstances that leaking, seeping, draining or escaping of the pollutants can
					 be reasonably anticipated.
Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Form
-
					 the approved state form, including any subsequent additions, revisions or
					 modifications, for the reporting of self-monitoring results by
					 permittees.
Disposal
- the discharging, depositing,
					 injecting, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid or semi-solid
					 sludge, liquid waste, hazardous waste, radioactive material, or solid waste
					 into or on any land or water so that such waste, or any constituent thereof,
					 may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any
					 waters, including ground waters.
Disposal Well
- a well which is used for
					 the injection of pollutants into subsurface strata.
Dissolved Oxygen
- the amount of oxygen
					 dissolved in water, commonly expressed as a concentration in terms of
					 milligrams per liter, mg/L.
Drilling Fluids
- any fluid sent down the
					 hole, including drilling muds and any specialty products, from the time a well
					 is begun until final cessation of drilling in that hole.
Drilling Mud
- a heavy suspension used in
					 drilling a well, introduced down the drill pipe and through the drill
					 bit.
Dystrophic Waters
- waters which are
					 stained with organic material and which are low in dissolved oxygen due to
					 natural conditions.
Effluent
- wastewater discharged to the
					 waters of the state.
Effluent Limitations
- any applicable
					 state or federal quality or quantity limitation which imposes any restriction
					 or prohibition on quantities, discharge rates, and concentrations of pollutants
					 which are discharged into the waters of the state.
Effluent Limited Segment (EL)
- any stream
					 segment where water quality is meeting and will continue to meet applicable
					 water quality standards or where there is adequate demonstration that water
					 quality will meet applicable standards after the application of effluent
					 limitations required by the Clean Water Act as amended or these
					 regulations.
Emergency Condition
- any condition which
					 could reasonably be expected to endanger the health and safety of the public,
					 cause significant adverse impact to the water environment, or cause severe
					 damage to property.
Enterococci
-a group of fecal bacteria used
					 as an indicator of fecal contamination and predictor of human illness.
EPA
- the United States Environmental
					 Protection Agency.
Facility
- a pollution source, or any
					 public or private property or site and all contiguous land and structures,
					 other appurtenances and improvements, where any activity is conducted which
					 discharges or may result in the discharge of pollutants into waters of the
					 state.
Fecal Coliform
- a gram negative,
					 non-spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria found in the intestinal tract of
					 warm-blooded animals.
Freeboard
- the distance between the fluid
					 surface in an impoundment or other container and the lowest portion of the
					 impoundment levee or other potential overflow point.
Fresh Warmwater Fish
- those fish species
					 whose populations reproduce in relatively warm water (above 20°C,
					 68°F), and low salinity (less than 2 ppt), including but not limited to,
					 black basses, and freshwater sunfish and catfish.
General Permit
- a LWDPS permit
					 authorizing a category of similar discharges within a geographical area.
Groundwater
- water in the saturated zone
					 beneath the land surface.
Hazardous Substance
- any hazardous
					 material, hazardous waste, or reusable material which has corrosive, ignitable,
					 infectious, or reactive characteristics as defined by department
					 regulations.
LC50
- the numerical limit or
					 concentration of a test material which is lethal to 50 percent of exposed
					 aquatic organisms in a specified period of time.
Land Management Plan
- a land use plan
					 approved by the United States Soil Conservation Service or the State Department
					 of Transportation and Development, Soil and Water Conservation
					 Committee.
Landfill
- a secured area in which waste
					 is deposited for ultimate disposal and covered with soil.
Leachate
- any liquid, including any
					 soluble, suspended, or miscible materials in the liquid, that has percolated
					 through, or drained from, hazardous waste or other substances.
Major Facility
- any facility classified
					 as such by the administrative authority.
Maximum Daily Discharge Limitation
- the
					 highest allowable daily discharge.
mg/L
- milligrams per liter; it is
					 essentially equivalent to parts per million in dilute aqueous solutions.
Migrating
- any movement by leaching,
					 spilling, discharging, or any other uncontained or uncontrolled manner except
					 as permitted by law or other regulations of the department.
Minor Facility
- any facility not
					 classified as a major facility by the administrative authority.
ng/L
- nanograms per liter; it is
					 essentially equivalent to parts per trillion in dilute aqueous
					 solutions.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
					 (NPDES)
- EPA's national program for issuing, modifying, revoking and
					 reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and
					 enforcing pretreatment requirements, under Sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of
					 the CWA.
Nonconventional Pollutants
- all
					 pollutants (including toxic pollutants) other than those listed as conventional
					 pollutants.
Nonpoint
Source
-
a diffuse source of water pollution
					 that does not discharge through a point source but instead flows freely across
					 exposed natural or man-made surfaces such as agricultural or urban runoff and
					 runoff from construction, mining, or silvicultural activities.
Operator-
the person or legal entity
					 responsible for the operation and/or maintenance of a facility with a discharge
					 covered by these regulations.
Owner
-t he person or legal entity holding
					 legal title to a facility with a discharge covered by these regulations.
Permit
- written authorization issued by
					 the administrative authority to discharge, emit or dispose of liquid, gaseous,
					 semi-solid or solid waste or reusable materials, or radioactive material from,
					 or at, a site or facility, including all conditions set forth therein.
Person
- any individual, municipality,
					 public or private corporation, partnership, firm, the United States Government
					 and any agent or subdivision thereof, or any other juridical person.
Point Source
- any discernible, confined,
					 and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel,
					 tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated
					 animal feeding operation, vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants
					 are or may be discharged. This term does not include return flows from
					 irrigated agriculture.
Pollutant
- any substance introduced into
					 the waters of the state by any means that would tend to degrade the chemical,
					 physical, biological, or radiological integrity of such environment.
Pollution Source
- the immediate site or
					 location of a discharge or potential discharge, including such surrounding
					 property necessary to secure or quarantine the area from access by the general
					 public.
Primary Contact Recreation
- any
					 recreational or other water contact use involving prolonged or regular
					 full-body contact with the water and in which the probability of ingesting
					 appreciable amounts of water is considerable. Examples of this type of water
					 use include swimming, skiing, and diving.
Priority Pollutant
- any substance listed
					 in LAC 33:IX.325. Appendix D, Tables II and III.
Process Wastewater
- any water which,
					 during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results
					 from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished
					 product, byproduct, or waste product.
Proposed Permit
- a document prepared
					 indicating the tentative decision by the administrative authority to issue,
					 deny, modify, revoke and reissue, terminate or renew a permit.
Public Water Supply
- a surface or
					 underground raw water source which, after conventional treatment, will provide
					 safe, clear, potable, and aesthetically pleasing water for uses which include,
					 but are not limited to human consumption, food processing and cooking, and as a
					 liquid ingredient in foods and beverages.
Publicly Owned Treatment Works (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 the state, or a municipality, or a parish. This definition includes
					 sewers, pipes, or other conveyances, only if they convey wastewater to a POTW
					 providing treatment.
Receiving Waters
- the waters of the state
					 into which an effluent is, or may be, discharged.
Release
- the accidental or intentional
					 spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, or dumping of pollutants which,
					 when released, become wastes into or on any land, water, or groundwater.
Sanitary Landfill
- a type of facility for
					 the disposal of solid waste by deposit in a landfill in layers, covered with
					 suitable cover material to a depth and at a frequency sufficient to control
					 disease vectors and odors, and in such a manner that protects the environment,
					 and is so located, contoured, and drained that it will not constitute a source
					 of water pollution.
Sanitary Sewage
- treated or untreated
					 wastewaters which contain human metabolic and domestic wastes.
Secondary Contact Recreation
- any
					 recreational or other water contact use in which body contact with the water is
					 either incidental or accidental and the probability of ingesting appreciable
					 amounts of water is minimal. Examples of this type of water use include
					 fishing, wading, and boating.
Secondary Treatment
- that level of
					 treatment described in LAC 33:IX.711 of these regulations.
Secretary
- the Secretary of the
					 Department of Environmental Quality.
7Q10 Flow
- the minimum seven consecutive
					 day average stream flow with a recurrence interval of once every 10
					 years.
Sewage Sludge
- any solid, semisolid, or
					 liquid residue removed during the treatment of municipal wastewater or domestic
					 sewage.
Sewage sludge
includes, but is not limited to, solids
					 removed during primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment, scum,
					 domestic septage, portable toilet pumpings, Type III marine sanitation device
					 pumpings ( 33 CFR Part 159 ), and sewage sludge products.
Sewage
					 sludge
does not include grit or screenings, or ash generated during
					 the incineration of sewage sludge.
Site
- the geographic location, other than
					 a facility, of a discharge.
Source
- a facility, activity or location
					 which discharges pollutants into the waters of the state.
Spill Event
- the accidental or
					 unauthorized leaking or releasing of a substance from its intended container or
					 conveyance structure that has the potential to be discharged or results in a
					 discharge to waters of the state. Discharges resulting from circumstances
					 identified, reviewed, and made part of the public record with respect to a
					 valid LWDPS permit are not considered spill events.
Stream Segment
- a section of a stream for
					 which hydraulic and water quality characteristics are reasonably uniform. A
					 river basin is subdivided into stream segments.
Surface Water
- all lakes, bays, rivers,
					 streams, springs, ponds, impounding reservoirs, wetlands, swamps, marshes,
					 water sources, drainage systems and other surface water, natural or artificial,
					 public or private within the state or under its jurisdiction that are not a
					 part of a treatment system allowed by state law, regulation, or permit.
10 Year, 24 Hour Rainfall Event
- a
					 statistical projection of the maximum amount of rain that falls at a given
					 location in a 24-hour period at a frequency of once every 10 years.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- the amount
					 of solid material dissolved in water commonly expressed as a concentration in
					 terms of mg/L.
Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
- the amount
					 of solid material suspended in water commonly expressed as a concentration in
					 terms of mg/L.
Toxic Pollutants
- those priority
					 pollutants designated as such by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
					 listed in LAC 33:IX.325.Appendix D, Tables II and III.
Toxic Substances
- any element, compound,
					 or mixture which at sufficient exposure levels induces deleterious, acute or
					 chronic physiological effects on an organism.
Treatment
- any method, technique, or
					 process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical,
					 or biological character or composition of any reusable material or waste so as
					 to neutralize such reusable material or waste or render it nonhazardous, safer
					 for transport, amenable for recovery or storage, or reduced in volume. The term
					 also includes any activity or processing designed to change the physical form
					 or chemical composition of hazardous waste to render it nonhazardous.
Treatment Works
- any plant or other works
					 which accomplishes the treating, stabilizing, or holding of wastes or
					 pollutants.
ug/L
- micrograms per liter; it is
					 essentially equivalent to parts per billion in dilute aqueous solutions.
Unauthorized Discharge
- a continuous,
					 intermittent or one-time discharge, whether intentional, anticipated, or
					 unanticipated, from any source, permitted or unpermitted, which is in
					 contravention of any provision of the act or of any permit terms and
					 conditions, or of any applicable regulation, compliance schedule, variance or
					 exception of the administrative authority.
Untreated Wastes
- wastes which have not
					 been treated in any treatment works.
Vessel
- any type of watercraft used, or
					 capable of being used, as a means of transportation on the water.
Waste
- any material for which no use or
					 reuse is intended and which is to be discarded.
Waste Load Allocation
- that portion of
					 the assimilative capacity of the receiving water apportioned to a specific
					 discharger in such a way that water quality standards are maintained under
					 design conditions.
Wastewater
- liquid waste resulting from
					 commercial, municipal, private or industrial processes. This includes but is
					 not limited to, cooling and condensing waters, sanitary sewage, industrial
					 waste and contaminated rainwater runoff.
Water Pollution
- the introduction into
					 waters of the state by any means, including dredge and fill operations, of any
					 substances in concentrations which tend to degrade the chemical, physical,
					 biological, or radiological integrity of such waters, including, but not
					 limited to, the discharge of brine from salt domes which are located on the
					 coastline of Louisiana and Gulf of Mexico into any waters off said coastline
					 and extending therefrom 3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
Water Quality Limited Segment (WQL)
- any
					 stream segment where the stream does not meet applicable water quality
					 standards or will not meet applicable water quality standards even after
					 application of the effluent limitations required by the Clean Water Act, as
					 amended, or these regulations.
Water Quality Management Plan
- an
					 approved water quality management plan prepared pursuant to the Act [R.S.
					 30:1094(A)(1)].
Water Quality Standard (WQS)
- a definite
					 numerical criterion value or general criterion statement or policy statement
					 promulgated by the administrative authority to enhance or maintain water
					 quality, and to provide for, and fully protect, a designated use of the waters
					 of the state.
Waters of the State
- both the surface and
					 underground waters within the state of Louisiana including all rivers, streams,
					 lakes, estuaries, ground waters and all other water courses and waters within
					 the confines of the state, and all bordering waters and the Gulf of
					 Mexico.
Wetlands
- those areas that are inundated
					 or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient
					 to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of
					 vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil
					 conditions.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with
					 R.S.
					 30:2001 et seq., and in particular Section
					 2074(B)(3) and (B)(4).