Pennsylvania Code › Title 25 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Part I - Department of Environmental Protection › Subpart D - Environmental Health and Safety › Article VIII - Municipal Waste › Chapter 271 - MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT-GENERAL PROVISIONS › Subchapter A - GENERAL › Section 271.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
						  article, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						  otherwise:
ASTM
-The American Society for Testing
						  and Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-1187.
Abatement
-The restoration,
						  reclamation, recovery and the like of a natural resource adversely affected by
						  the activity of a person, permittee or municipality.
Abatement standards
-Background, MCLs
						  and risk-based standards as those terms are defined under this article.
Access road
-A roadway or course
						  providing access to a municipal waste processing or disposal facility, or areas
						  within the facility, from a road that is under Federal, Commonwealth or local
						  control.
Act
-The Solid Waste Management Act
						  (35
						  P. S. §§
													6018.101-6018.1003).
Adjacent area
-Land located outside the
						  permit area, where air, surface water or groundwater, fish, wildlife,
						  vegetation or other resources protected by this article may be adversely
						  affected by municipal waste processing or disposal facilities.
Agricultural utilization
-The land
						  application of sewage sludge for its plant nutrient value or as a soil
						  conditioner as part of an agricultural operation.
Agricultural waste
-Poultry and
						  livestock manure, or residual materials in liquid or solid form generated in
						  the production and marketing of poultry, livestock, fur bearing animals, and
						  their products, if the agricultural waste is not hazardous. The term includes
						  the residual materials generated in producing, harvesting and marketing of
						  agronomic, horticultural and silvicultural crops or commodities grown on what
						  are usually recognized and accepted as farms, forests or other agricultural
						  lands.
Airport
-Public airport, as defined in
						  67 Pa. Code §
												471.2 (relating to
						  definitions).
(i) -The term includes
						military airports.
(ii) -The term
						does not include heliports.
Alternative groundwater protection
						  standard
-A risk-based remediation standard for substances that have no
						  primary MCLs under the Federal and State Safe Drinking Water Acts
						  (42 U.S.C.A. §§
													300f-300j-18; and
						  35 P. S. §§
												721.1-721.17). For carcinogens, the
						  standard represents a concentration associated with an excess lifetime cancer
						  risk level between 1 x 10-4 and 1 x
						  10-6, including the cumulative risk of all
						  contaminants. For systemic toxicants, the standard represents a concentration
						  to which the human population, including sensitive subgroups, could be exposed
						  on a daily basis that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious
						  effects during a lifetime. When several systemic toxicants affect the same
						  target organ or act by the same method of toxicity, the hazard index may not
						  exceed one.
Aluminum
-Refers to cans comprised of
						  100% aluminum.
Aquifer
-A geologic formation, group of
						  formations or part of a formation capable of yielding sufficient groundwater
						  for monitoring purposes.
Association
-A corporation,
						  partnership, limited liability company, business trust or two or more persons
						  associated in a common enterprise or undertaking.
Attenuating soil
-Soil material
						  existing in place or placed beneath solid waste that will provide natural
						  attenuation of leachate emanating from the waste.
Attenuation
-A decrease in the maximum
						  concentration or total quantity of an applied chemical or biological
						  constituent of solid waste in a fixed time or distance that results from
						  physical, chemical or biological reactions or transformations.
Autoclave
-A pressure vessel in which
						  regulated medical waste is disinfected using high temperature steam, directly
						  or indirectly, to maintain specified temperatures for retention times
						  consistent with the waste being processed.
Autofluff
-The residue from the
						  shredding of automobiles, after all fluids have been removed.
Background standard
-A numerical value
						  as determined under section 302 of the Land Recycling and Environmental
						  Remediation Standards Act (35 P. S. §
													6026.302) and §
												250.202 (relating to establishing
						  background concentrations).
Beneficial use
-Use or reuse of
						  residual waste or residual material derived from residual waste for commercial,
						  industrial or governmental purposes, where the use does not harm or threaten
						  public health, safety, welfare or the environment, or the use or reuse of
						  processed municipal waste for any purpose, where the use does not harm or
						  threaten public health, safety, welfare or the environment.
Biologicals
-Preparations made from
						  living organisms and their products, including vaccines, cultures, and the
						  like, intended for use in diagnosing, immunizing or treating humans or animals
						  or in research pertaining thereto.
Blood products
-A product derived from
						  human blood, including blood plasma, serum, platelets, red or white blood
						  corpuscles, licensed products such as interferon and other derived material
						  containing free-flowing blood and blood components.
Body fluids
-Liquids emanating or
						  derived from humans and limited to the following: blood; cerebrospinal,
						  synovial, pleural, peritoneal and pericardial fluids; semen and vaginal
						  secretions; and amniotic fluid. The term also includes the following fluids if
						  they contain visible blood: feces, sputum, saliva, urine and vomitus.
Byproduct material
-The Federal
						  definition for "byproduct material" in
						  10 CFR
						  20.1003 (relating to definitions) is
						  incorporated by reference.
Chemotherapeutic waste
-Waste resulting
						  from the production or use of antineoplastic agents used for the purpose of
						  inhibiting or stopping the growth of malignant cells or killing malignant
						  cells. The term does not include waste containing antineoplastic agents that
						  are hazardous wastes under Chapter 261a (relating to identification and listing
						  of hazardous waste) and 40 CFR Part 261 (relating to identification and listing
						  of hazardous waste) to the extent that Part 261 is incorporated in §
												261a.1 (relating to incorporation
						  by reference, purpose and scope).
Clean fill
-Uncontaminated,
						  nonwater-soluble, nondecomposable inert solid material used to level an area or
						  bring the area to grade. The term does not include material placed into or on
						  waters of this Commonwealth.
Closure
-The date on which a municipal
						  waste processing or disposal facility permanently ceases to accept waste, and
						  access is limited to activities necessary for postclosure care, maintenance and
						  monitoring.
Closure certification
-A written
						  document attested to by a corporate official that states that a landfill has
						  permanently ceased accepting waste and access has been limited to activities
						  necessary for postclosure care, maintenance and monitoring.
Collateral bond
-A penal bond agreement
						  in a sum certain, payable to the Department, executed by the operator and
						  supported by the deposit with the Department of cash, negotiable bonds of the
						  United States, the Commonwealth, the Turnpike Commission, the General State
						  Authority, the State Public School Building Authority or a Commonwealth
						  municipality, Commonwealth bank automatically renewable and assignable
						  certificates of deposit or irrevocable and standby Commonwealth bank letters of
						  credit.
Collection contractor
-The definition
						  from section 203 of the Small Business and Household Pollution Prevention
						  Program Act (35 P. S. §
													6029.203) is
						  incorporated by reference.
Collection event
-The definition from
						  section 203 of the Small Business and Household Pollution Prevention Program
						  Act is incorporated by reference.
Commercial establishment
-An
						  establishment engaged in nonmanufacturing or nonprocessing business, including,
						  but not limited to, stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, shopping
						  centers and theaters.
Commercial regulated medical or
						  chemotherapeutic waste facility
-A facility that processes regulated
						  medical or chemotherapeutic waste under either of the following
						  conditions:
(i) The facility does not
						generate any of the regulated medical or chemotherapeutic waste that it
						processes.
(ii) If the facility
						generates the regulated medical or chemotherapeutic waste that it processes,
						the amount of waste on a monthly average that is generated onsite and offsite
						by wholly-owned generators of the facility is less than 50% of the waste that
						it processes.
Community activities
-Events sponsored
						  in whole or in part by a municipality, or conducted within a municipality and
						  sponsored privately, which include, but are not limited to, fairs, bazaars,
						  socials, picnics and organized sporting events that will be attended by 200 or
						  more individuals per day.
Composting
-The process by which
						  organic solid waste is biologically decomposed under controlled anaerobic or
						  aerobic conditions to yield a humus-like product.
Composting facility
-A facility using
						  land for processing of municipal waste by composting. The term includes land
						  thereby affected during the lifetime of the operations, including, but not
						  limited to, areas where composting actually occurs, support facilities, borrow
						  areas, offices, equipment sheds, air and water pollution control and treatment
						  systems, access roads, associated onsite or contiguous collection,
						  transportation and storage facilities, closure and postclosure care and
						  maintenance activities and other activities in which the natural land surface
						  has been disturbed as a result of or incidental to operation of the facility.
						  The term does not include a facility for composting residential municipal waste
						  that is located at the site where the waste was generated.
Composting pad
-An area within a
						  general composting facility where compost or solid waste is processed, stored,
						  loaded or unloaded.
Conditionally exempt small quantity
						  generator
-A generator of hazardous waste generating in a calendar
						  month less than 100 kg of nonacute hazardous waste, and less than 1 kg per
						  month of acutely hazardous wastes under
						  40 CFR
						  261.31,
						  261.32 or
						  261.33(e)
						  (relating to hazardous wastes from non-specific sources; hazardous wastes from
						  specific sources; and discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification
						  species, container residues, and spill residues thereof), incorporated in
						  §
												261a.1 or a total of 100 kg of
						  residue or contaminated soil waste, or other debris resulting from the cleanup
						  of a spill, into or on land or waters of this Commonwealth, of acute hazardous
						  waste listed in 40 CFR
						  261.31,
						  261.32 or
						  261.33(e),
						  incorporated in § 261a.1.
Construction/demolition waste
-Solid
						  waste resulting from the construction or demolition of buildings and other
						  structures, including, but not limited to, wood, plaster, metals, asphaltic
						  substances, bricks, block and unsegregated concrete. The term does not include
						  the following if they are separate from other waste and are used as clean
						  fill:
(i) Uncontaminated soil, rock,
						stone, gravel, brick and block, concrete and used asphalt.
(ii) Waste from land clearing, grubbing and
						excavation, including trees, brush, stumps and vegetative material.
Construction/demolition waste
						  landfill
-A facility using land exclusively for the disposal of
						  construction/demolition waste. The term includes land affected during the
						  lifetime of the operations, including, but not limited to, areas where disposal
						  activities actually occur, support facilities, borrow areas, offices, equipment
						  sheds, air and water pollution control and treatment systems, access roads,
						  associated onsite or contiguous collection, transportation and storage
						  facilities, closure and postclosure care and maintenance activities and other
						  activities in which the natural land surface has been disturbed as a result of
						  or incidental to the operation of the facility.
Construction material
-The engineered
						  use of municipal waste as a substitute for a raw material or a commercial
						  product in a construction activity, if the waste has the same engineering
						  characteristics as the raw material or commercial product for which it is
						  substituting. The term includes the use of municipal waste as a road bed
						  material, for pipe bedding and in similar operations. The term does not include
						  valley fills, the use of municipal waste to fill open pits from coal or other
						  fills or the use of municipal waste solely to level an area or bring the area
						  to grade when a construction activity is not completed promptly after the
						  placement of the solid waste.
Container
-A portable device in which
						  waste is held for storage or transportation.
Corrugated paper
-A structural paper
						  material with an inner core shaped in rigid parallel furrows and ridges.
Department
-The Department of
						  Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth, and its authorized
						  representatives.
Disinfection
-The treatment or
						  processing of regulated medical waste so that it poses no risk of infection or
						  other health risk to individuals handling or otherwise coming into contact with
						  the waste. The term includes autoclaving; dry heat, gas or chemical
						  disinfection; radiation and irradiation; and incineration.
Disposal
-The deposition, injection,
						  dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of solid waste into or on the land or
						  water in a manner that the solid waste or a constituent of the solid waste
						  enters the environment, is emitted into the air or is discharged to the waters
						  of this Commonwealth.
Disposal area
-The part of the site
						  where disposal is occurring or will occur.
Dredged material
-Material dredged or
						  excavated from waters for the direct or indirect purpose of establishing or
						  increasing water depth, or increasing the surface or cross-sectional area of a
						  waterway and which includes sediment, soil, mud, shells, gravel or other
						  aggregate. The material does not include waste removed or dredged from an
						  impoundment that has received solid waste.
EPA
-The United States Environmental
						  Protection Agency.
Eligible entity
-The definition from
						  section 203 of the Small Business and Household Pollution Prevention Program
						  Act is incorporated by reference.
Environmental protection acts
-The act,
						  The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. §§
													691.1-691.1001), the Municipal Waste
						  Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (53 P. S. §§
													4000.101-4000.1904), the Hazardous Sites
						  Cleanup Act (35 P. S. §§
													6020.101-6020.1305), the Low-Level
						  Radioactive Waste Disposal Act (35 P. S. §§
													7130.101-7130.905), the act of July 13, 1988
						  (P. L. 525, No. 93) (35 P. S. §§
													6019.1-6019.6), known as the Infectious and
						  Chemotherapeutic Waste Disposal Law, the Air Pollution Control Act
						  (35
						  P. S. §§
													4001-4015), the Surface
						  Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S.
						  §§
													1396.1-1396.19b), the Noncoal
						  Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P. S. §§
													3301-3326), the Dam Safety and Encroachments
						  Act (32 P. S. §§
													693.1-693.27), and other State or Federal
						  statutes relating to environmental protection or the protection of public
						  health, including statutes adopted or amended after April 9, 1988.
Environmental Stewardship and Watershed
						  Protection Act
-27 Pa.C.S. §§ 6101-6113.
FAA
-The Federal Aviation
						  Administration of the United States Department of Transportation.
Facility
-Land, structures and other
						  appurtenances or improvements where municipal waste disposal, processing or
						  beneficial use is permitted or takes place.
Feasibility study
-A study which
						  analyzes a specific municipal waste processing, recycling or disposal system to
						  assess the likelihood that the system can be successfully implemented,
						  including, but not limited to, an analysis of the prospective market, the
						  projected costs and revenues of the system, the municipal waste stream that the
						  system will rely upon and various options available to implement the system.
Final closure
-The date after which no
						  further treatment, maintenance or other action is or will be necessary at a
						  municipal waste processing or disposal facility to ensure compliance with the
						  act and this article.
Free liquids
-Liquids which readily
						  separate from the solid portion of waste under ambient temperature and
						  pressure.
Friable asbestos containing
						  waste
-Waste containing more than 1% asbestos by weight that hand
						  pressure can crumble, pulverize or reduce to powder when dry. The term also
						  includes nonfriable asbestos containing waste which is rendered friable during
						  management.
General composting facility
-A
						  composting facility other than an individual backyard composting facility or
						  yard waste composting facility operating under §
												271.103(h)
						  (relating to permit-by-rule for municipal waste processing facilities other
						  than for regulated medical or chemotherapeutic waste; qualifying facilities;
						  general requirements).
General permit
-Except as provided in
						  Subchapter J (relating to beneficial use of sewage sludge by land application),
						  a regional or Statewide permit issued by the Department for a specified
						  category of beneficial use or processing of solid waste, the terms and
						  conditions of which allow an original applicant, a registrant and a person or
						  municipality that obtains a determination of applicability, to operate under
						  the permit if the terms and conditions of the permit and certain requirements
						  of this article are met.
Generator
-A person or municipality
						  that produces or creates a municipal waste.
Groundwater
-Water beneath the surface
						  of the ground that exists in a zone of saturation.
Groundwater degradation
-A measurable
						  increase in the concentration of one or more contaminants in groundwater above
						  background concentrations for those contaminants.
Hazardous waste
-Garbage, refuse or
						  sludge from an industrial or other waste water treatment plant; sludge from a
						  water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility; and other
						  discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous
						  material resulting from municipal, commercial, industrial, institutional,
						  mining, or agricultural operations, and from community activities; or a
						  combination of the above, which because of its quantity, concentration or
						  physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may do one of the
						  following:
(i) Cause or significantly
						contribute to an increase in mortality or increase in morbidity in either an
						individual or the total population.
(ii) Pose a substantial present or potential
						hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored,
						transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.
The term does not include coal refuse as defined in the
						  Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P. S. §§
														30.51-30.101).The term does not include
						  treatment sludges from coal mine drainage treatment plants, disposal of which
						  is being carried on under and in compliance with a valid permit issued under
						  The Clean Streams Law (35 P. S. §§
														691.1-691.1001). The term does not include
						  solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials
						  in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources
						  subject to permits under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
						  (33 U.S.C.A. §
														1341) or source, special nuclear or byproduct
						  material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.A. §§
														2011-2284).
High grade office paper
-Bond, copier,
						  letterhead or mimeograph paper typically sold as "white ledger" paper; and
						  computer paper.
Highly virulent diseases
-Diseases
						  derived from Class IV etiologic agents, as defined by the Centers for Disease
						  Control, United States Department of Health and Human Services. Information
						  about Class IV etiologic agents may be obtained from CDC-NIH Biosafety,
						  Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories Centers for Disease Control, 1600
						  Clifton Road, N. E., Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Home self-care
-The provision of
						  medical care in the home setting (for example, private residents) through
						  either self-administration practices or by a family member or other person.
Household hazardous waste
-
(i) Waste generated by a household that could
						be chemically or physically classified as a hazardous waste under the standards
						of Article VII (relating to hazardous waste management).
(ii) For the purpose of this definition, the
						term "household" includes those places described as "households" in
						40 CFR
						261.4(b)(1) (relating to
						exclusions).
Incineration
-The act of reducing to
						  ashes by combustion.
Incinerator
-An enclosed device using
						  controlled combustion for the primary purpose of thermally breaking down solid
						  waste, and which is equipped with a flue as defined in §
												121.1 (relating to
						  definitions).
Incorporating
-Injecting sludge beneath
						  the surface of the soil or mixing sludge with the surface soil.
Industrial establishment
-An
						  establishment engaged in manufacturing or processing, including, but not
						  limited to, factories, foundries, mills, processing plants, refineries, mines
						  and slaughterhouses.
Infectious agent
-
(i) An organism, such as a virus or bacteria,
						that is capable of being communicated by invasion and multiplication in body
						tissues and capable of causing disease or adverse health impacts in
						humans.
(ii) The term does not
						include agents classified as Biosafety Level 1 by a facility engaged in the
						production or research and development of vaccines or other biologics
						classified under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) as
						Code 325414-Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing or Code
						541711-Research and Development in Biotechnology, as determined by the
						protocols established in the most recent edition of the Centers for Disease
						Control's (CDC)
Biosafety in Microbial and Biomedical
						Laboratories
(BMBL) existing at the time the waste is
						generated.
Infectious waste
-
(i)
General.
Municipal and
						residual waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, immunization or
						autopsy of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, in the
						preparation of human or animal remains for interment or cremation, or in the
						production or testing of biologicals, and which falls under one or more of the
						following categories:
(A)
Cultures and
						stocks.
Cultures and stocks of infectious agents and associated
						biologicals, including the following:
(I)
						Cultures from medical and pathological laboratories.
(II) Cultures and stocks of infectious
						agents, and cell lines that have been exposed to infectious agents from
						research and industrial laboratories.
(III) Wastes from the production of
						biologicals.
(IV) Discarded live
						and attenuated vaccines except for residue in emptied containers, as determined
						by applying the criteria in 40 CFR 261.7(b)(1) or
						(2) (relating to residues of hazardous waste
						in empty containers) to the residue remaining in the container.
(V) Culture dishes, assemblies and devices
						used to conduct diagnostic tests or to transfer, inoculate and mix
						cultures.