Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 21 - WATER QUALITY FEES › Section 21.2 - Definitions and Abbreviations

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Aquaculture--The commercial propagation
				and/or rearing of aquatic species utilizing ponds, lakes, fabricated tanks and
				raceways, or other similar structures.
(2) Flow--The total by volume of all
				wastewater discharges authorized under a permit issued in accordance with Texas
				Water Code (TWC), Chapter 26, expressed in order of preference, as an average
				flow per day, an annual average, a maximum flow per day, or an annual maximum,
				exclusive of variable or occasional storm water discharges. Generally, the flow
				amount used to calculate fees is the sum of the volumes of discharge for all
				outfalls of a facility, but excludes internal outfalls. However, for those
				facilities for which permit limitations on the volumes of discharge apply only
				to internal outfalls, the flow amount used to calculate fees is the sum of the
				volumes of discharge for all internal outfalls of the facility, exclusive of
				variable or occasional storm water discharges.
(3) Flow type--
(A) Contaminated--Sanitary wastewater,
				process wastewater flows, or any mixed wastewaters containing more than 10%
				process wastewaters, or flows containing more than one million gallons per day
				process wastewater regardless of the percent of total comprised of process
				wastewater.
(B)
				Uncontaminated--Non-contact cooling water or mixed flows containing not more
				than one million gallons per day of process wastewater, with the overall
				mixture being at least 90% non-contact cooling water.
(4) Inactive permit--A permit which
				authorizes a waste treatment facility which is not yet operational or where
				operation has been suspended, and where the commission has designated the
				permit as inactive.
(5) Land
				application (retention) permit--A permit which does not authorize the discharge
				of wastewater into surface waters in the state, including, but not limited to,
				permits for systems with evaporation ponds or irrigation systems.
(6) Major permit--A permit designated as a
				major permit, by either EPA or the commission and subject to provisions of the
				National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or Texas Pollutant Discharge
				Elimination System's permit authority.
(7) Parameter--A variable which defines a set
				of physical properties whose values determine the pollution potential for a
				waste discharge.
(8) Report only
				permit--A permit which authorizes the variable or occasional discharge of
				wastewaters with a requirement that the volume of discharge be reported, but
				without any limitation on the volume of discharge.
(9) State water--The water of the ordinary
				flow, underflow, and tides of every flowing river, natural stream, and lake,
				and of every bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico, and the storm water, floodwater,
				and rainwater of every river, natural stream, and watercourse in the state.
				State water also includes water which is imported from any source outside the
				boundaries of the state for use in the state and which is transported through
				the beds and banks of any navigable stream within the state or by utilizing any
				facilities owned or operated by the state. Additionally, state water injected
				into the ground for an aquifer storage and recovery project remains state
				water. State water does not include percolating groundwater, nor does it
				include diffuse surface rainfall runoff, groundwater seepage, or springwater
				before it reaches a watercourse.
(10) Storm water authorization--Some
				individual permits authorize the variable or occasional discharge of
				accumulated storm water and storm water runoff, but without any specific
				limitation on the volume of discharge. Storm water discharge may be the only
				discharge authorized in a permit, or it may be included in addition to other
				parameters.
(11) Toxicity rating--A
				graduated rating, with Groups I - VI, assigned to an industrial permit based on
				the source(s) of wastewater, the standard industrial classification of the
				facility, and the specific type of operation.
(12) Traditional pollutants--Certain
				parameters typically found in wastewater permits, specifically oxygen demand
				(biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic
				carbon (TOC)), total suspended solids (TSS), and ammonia
				(NH3).
(13)
				Uses of state water--Types of use of surface water authorized by water rights
				under TWC, Chapter 11.
(A) Agricultural
				use--Any use or activity involving agriculture, including irrigation. The
				definition of "agriculture use" is the same as in TWC, §11.002(12), as
				follows:
(i) cultivating the soil to produce
				crops for human food, animal feed, or planting seed or for the production of
				fibers;
(ii) the practice of
				floriculture, viticulture, silviculture, and horticulture, including the
				cultivation of plants in containers or nonsoil media, by a nursery
				grower;
(iii) raising, feeding, or
				keeping animals for breeding purposes or for the production of food or fiber,
				leather, pelts, or other tangible products having a commercial value;
(iv) raising or keeping equine animals,
				wildlife management; and
(v)
				planting cover crops, including cover crops cultivated for transplantation, or
				leaving land idle for the purposes of participating in any governmental program
				or normal crop or livestock rotation procedure.
(B) Consumptive use--The use of state water
				for domestic and municipal, industrial, agricultural, or mining purposes,
				consistent with the meaning of these uses for which water may be appropriated
				under TWC, Chapter 11.
(C)
				Hydropower use--The use of water for hydroelectric and hydromechanical power
				and for other mechanical devices of like nature.
(D) Industrial use--The use of water in
				processes designed to convert materials of a lower order of value into forms
				having greater usability and commercial value, including, without limitation,
				commercial feedlot operations, commercial fish and shellfish production, and
				the development of power by means other than hydroelectric.
(E) Irrigation use--The use of state water
				for the irrigation of crops, trees, and pasture land including, but not limited
				to golf courses and parks which do not receive water through a municipal
				distribution system. This use is now part of the definition of agriculture use
				in TWC, §11.002(12).
(F)
				Mariculture use--The propagation and rearing of aquatic species, including
				shrimp, other crustaceans, finfish, mollusks, and other similar creatures in a
				controlled environment using brackish or marine water. This use is exempt from
				the need for a water right.
(G)
				Mining use--The use of state water for mining processes including hydraulic
				use, drilling, washing sand and gravel, and oil field repressuring.
(H) Municipal--The use of potable water
				within a community or municipality and its environs for domestic, recreational,
				commercial, or industrial purposes or for the watering of golf courses, parks
				and parkways, or the use of reclaimed water in lieu of potable water for the
				preceding purposes or the application of municipal sewage effluent on land,
				pursuant to a TWC, Chapter 26, permit where:
(i) the application site is land owned or
				leased by the Chapter 26 permit holder; or
(ii) the application site is within an area
				for which the commission has adopted a no-discharge rule.
(I) Non-consumptive uses--The use of state
				water for those purposes not otherwise designated as consumptive uses under
				this section, including hydroelectric power, navigation, non-consumptive
				recreation, and other beneficial uses, consistent with the meaning of these
				uses and for which water may be appropriated under TWC, Chapter 11.
(J) Other use--Any beneficial use of state
				water not otherwise defined herein.
(K) Recharge--The use of a surface source of
				state water for injection into an aquifer, or for increasing the amount of
				natural recharge to an underground aquifer.
(L) Recreational use--The use of water
				impounded in or diverted or released from a reservoir or watercourse for
				fishing, swimming, water skiing, boating, hunting, and other forms of water
				recreation, including aquatic and wildlife enjoyment, and aesthetic land
				enhancement of a subdivision, golf course, or similar development.
(14) Wastewater permit--An order
				issued by the commission in accordance with the procedures prescribed by TWC,
				Chapter 26, establishing the treatment which shall be given to wastes being
				discharged into or adjacent to any water in the state to preserve and enhance
				the quality of the water and specifying the conditions under which the
				discharge may be made, and including those permits issued under the authority
				of TWC, Chapter 26, and other statutory provisions (such as the Texas Health
				and Safety Code, Chapter 361) for the treatment or discharge of wastewater. For
				the purpose of this subchapter, the term "permit" shall include any other
				authorization for the treatment or discharge of wastewater, including permits
				by rule and registrations and similar authorizations other than general
				permits.
(A) Individual permit--A wastewater
				permit, as defined in TWC, §26.001, including registrations and permits by
				rule, issued by the commission or the executive director to a specific person
				or persons in accordance with the procedures prescribed in TWC, Chapter 26
				(other than TWC, §26.040).
(B)
				General permit--A wastewater permit issued under the provisions of §
											205.1 of
				this title (relating to Definitions) authorizing the discharge of waste into or
				adjacent to water in the state for one or more categories of waste discharge
				within a geographical area of the state or the entire state as provided by TWC,
				§26.040.
(15) Water
				right--A right acquired under authority of TWC, Chapter 11 and the rules of the
				commission to impound, divert, store, convey, or use state water.