South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-47 - Shellfish › Section 61-47.B - GROWING AREA SURVEY AND CLASSIFICATION

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
1. Sanitary Survey. A sanitary survey of
			 shellfish growing areas shall be conducted by the Department, and each area
			 shall be classified prior to its approval for shellfish harvesting. Sanitary
			 Surveys and reports will be conducted and prepared consistent with the National
			 Shellfish Sanitation Program Guide for the Control of Molluscan
			 Shellfish.
2. Classification of
			 Growing Area. Shellfish growing areas shall be identified and assigned
			 harvesting classifications of approved, conditionally approved, restricted,
			 conditionally restricted, or prohibited. The assigned classification will be
			 based upon a sanitary survey conducted by the Department. Growing areas for
			 which a sanitary survey has not been completed shall be classified as
			 prohibited. The Department may also designate a growing area as a closed area
			 and prohibit harvesting when it determines that conditions have occurred that
			 may potentially render shellfish unsafe for human consumption.
3. Approved Area. Growing areas shall be
			 classified approved when the sanitary survey concludes that fecal material,
			 pathogenic microorganisms, and poisonous or deleterious substances are not
			 present in concentrations that would render shellfish unsafe for human
			 consumption. Approved classifications shall be determined upon a sanitary
			 survey that includes water samples collected from stations in the designated
			 area adjacent to actual or potential sources of pollution. For waters sampled
			 under adverse pollution conditions, the median fecal coliform Most Probable
			 Number (MPN) or the geometric mean MPN shall not exceed fourteen per one
			 hundred milliliters, nor shall more than ten percent of the samples exceed a
			 fecal coliform MPN of forty-three per one hundred milliliters (per five tube
			 decimal dilution). For waters sampled under a systematic random sampling plan,
			 the geometric mean fecal coliform MPN shall not exceed fourteen per one hundred
			 milliliters, nor shall the estimated ninetieth percentile exceed an MPN of
			 forty three per one hundred milliliters (per five tube decimal dilution).
			 Computation of the estimated ninetieth percentile shall be determined using
			 National Shellfish Sanitation Program Guide for the Control of Molluscan
			 Shellfish methodology.
4.
			 Conditionally Approved Area.
(a) Growing
			 areas may be classified conditionally approved when they are subject to
			 temporary conditions of actual or potential pollution. When such events are
			 predictable, as in non-point source pollution from rainfall runoff or discharge
			 of a major river, a management plan describing conditions under which
			 harvesting will be allowed shall be adopted by the Department prior to
			 classifying an area as conditionally approved. Where appropriate, the
			 management plan for each conditionally approved area shall include performance
			 standards for sources of controllable pollution (e.g., wastewater treatment and
			 collection systems), evaluation of each source of pollution, and means of
			 rapidly closing and subsequently reopening areas to shellfish harvesting.
			 Memorandums of agreements shall be a part of these management plans where
			 appropriate.
(b) Shellfish shall
			 not be directly marketed from a conditionally approved area until conditions
			 for an approved classification have been met for a period of time likely to
			 ensure the shellfish are safe for consumption.
(c) Shellstock from conditionally approved
			 areas that have been subjected to temporary conditions of actual or potential
			 pollution may be relayed to approved areas for purification or depurated
			 through controlled purification operations only by special permit issued by the
			 Department.