South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-43 - STANDARDS FOR THE PERMITTING OF AGRICULTURAL ANIMAL FACILITIES › Part 50 - GENERAL DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
For purposes of this regulation, the following definitions
				apply:
"Active Animal Facility" means a facility with a minimum of
				30,000 pounds normal production animal live weight and in production.
"Affected Person" means a property owner with standing within a
				one (1)-mile radius of the proposed building footprint or permitted poultry
				facility or other animal facility, except a swine facility, who is challenging
				on his own behalf the permit, license, certificate, or other approval for the
				failure to comply with the specific grounds set forth in the applicable
				Department regulations governing the permitting of poultry facilities and other
				animal facilities, other than swine facilities.
"Agricultural animal" means an animal confined in an
				agricultural facility.
"Agricultural facility" means a lot, building, or structure,
				which is used for the commercial production of animals in an animal
				facility.
"Agronomic rate" means the animal manure and other animal
				by-products' application rate designed:
(1) to provide the amount of nitrogen needed
			 by the food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, cover crop, or vegetation grown on the
			 land;
(2) to minimize the amount of
			 nitrogen in the animal manure that passes below the root zone of the crop or
			 vegetation grown on the land to groundwater;
(3) to provide the amount of other organic
			 and inorganic plant nutrients which promote crop or vegetative growth, such as
			 calcium-carbonate equivalency; and
(4) to provide the amount of phosphorus
			 needed by the crop or vegetation grown on the land without causing an excessive
			 buildup of phosphorus in the soil.
"Animal" means any domesticated animal.
"Animal by-product" means a secondary or incidental product of
				animal production that may include bedding, spilled feed, water or soil,
				milking center washwater, contaminated milk, hair, feathers, dead animals or
				other debris. This definition may also refer to dead animal or animal manure
				compost.
"Animal facility" means an agricultural facility where animals
				are confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five (45) calendar days
				or more in a twelve (12)-month period and crops, vegetative, forage growth, or
				post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any
				portion of the lot or facility. Structures used for the storage of animal
				manure and other animal by-products from animals in the operation also are part
				of the animal facility. Two (2) or more animal facilities under common
				ownership or management are considered to be a single animal facility if they
				are adjacent.
"Animal Facility Management Plan" means a plan prepared by the
				United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation
				Service (USDA-NRCS) or a professional engineer detailing the management,
				handling, treatment, storage, or utilization of manure generated in an animal
				facility. This plan shall include facility management details and a detailed
				map of each manure utilization area showing all buffer zones and setbacks, a
				description of the land use, the crops grown on the site, the timing for
				application of manure to the land and a land use agreement if the site is not
				owned by the permittee.
"Animal Feeding Operation" means a lot or facility where
				animals have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed for a total of
				forty-five (45) calendar days or more in any twelve (12)-month period.
"Animal manure" means animal excreta or other commonly
				associated organic animal manures including, but not limited to, bedding,
				litter, feed losses, or water mixed with the manure.
"Annual animal manure application rate" means the maximum
				amount of animal manure that can be agronomically applied to a unit area of
				land during any 365-day period.
"Annual constituent loading rate" means the maximum amount of a
				constituent that can be applied to a unit area of a manure utilization area
				during any 365-day period.
"Application rate" means the amount of manure applied at any
				one time.
"Approval to Operate (ATO)" means a letter from the Department
				granting approval to place the facility into operation.
"Average animal live weight" means the sum of the average exit
				weight of the animal from the facility and the average entry weight divided by
				two, as shown by the following formula:
Average animal live weight = (Average Exit Weight + Average
				Entry Weight)/2
"Broker" means a person who accepts or purchases animal manure
				or other animal by-products from agricultural facilities and transfers this
				product to a third party for land application.
"Certification of Construction" means a document, certified by
				the consultant, PE, or NRCS staff, that a certain construction project has been
				completed in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications
				contained in the permit of applicable regulations.
"Closed facility" means an animal facility that has ceased
				operations (no confined animals at the facility) and is no longer in
				production, and all lagoons and waste storage ponds have been properly closed
				out and cannot be placed back into operation without a new permit.
"Commercial Facility" means an animal facility that produces
				animals or animal by-products for commercial sale, boards animals, rents
				animals, or provides a service utilizing the animals for a fee.
"Compost" means an organic soil conditioner that has been
				stabilized to a humus-like product, is free of viable human and plant pathogens
				and plant seeds, does not attract insects or vectors, can be handled and stored
				without nuisance, and is beneficial to the growth of plants.
"Composting" means the biological decomposition and
				stabilization of organic substrates, under conditions that allow development of
				thermophilic temperatures as a result of biologically produced heat, to produce
				a final product that is stable, free of pathogens and plant seeds, and can be
				beneficially applied to land. Composting requires special conditions of
				moisture and aeration to produce thermophilic temperatures.
"Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)" means as defined
				by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"Confined Animal Manure Management (CAMM) Certification" means
				an operator, manager, or owner of an animal facility or manure utilization
				area, has received certification by completing a class and passing an exam that
				is provided by Clemson University, Clemson Extension, the South Carolina
				Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the USDA Natural Resource
				Conservation Service.
"Constituent limit" means a numerical value that describes the
				amount of a constituent allowed per unit amount of animal manure (e. g.,
				milligrams per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a constituent that can
				be applied to a unit area of land (e. g., pounds per acre); or the volume of a
				material that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., gallons per
				acre).
"Cover crop" means a vegetative crop, including, but not
				limited to, oats, wheat, or barley; grasses; or other crop grown for agronomic
				use or to maintain topsoil and prevent soil erosion.
"Critical Habitat" means the term used to define those areas of
				habitat containing physical and biological features that are essential for an
				endangered or threatened species to recover and that require special management
				or protection.
"Cumulative constituent loading rate" means the maximum amount
				of a constituent that can be applied to an area of land.
"Cumulative impacts" means an increase or enlarging of impact
				to the environment or community by the successive addition or accumulation of
				animal facilities in an area.
"CWA" means the Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as the
				Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act
				Amendments of 1972) Pub. L. 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. Specific references to sections
				within the CWA shall be according to Pub. L. 92-500 notation.
"Deemed Permitted Facility" means an agricultural animal
				facility that held a valid permit from the Department for their swine facility
				prior to July 1, 1996, or for their animal facility prior to June 26,
				1998.
"Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and
				Environmental Control.
"Discharge" means any release, emission or dismissal of sewage,
				industrial waste, agriculture waste, or other waste into any Waters of the
				State, whether treated or not.
"Downwind Receptors" means virtual three-dimensional
				coordinates placed off site where the concentrations of emissions would be
				measured for comparison to air quality standards.
"Dry manure" means manure, bedding, litter, feed losses, or
				composted animal material (animal manure or dead animals) that is not in a
				liquid form. Dry animal manure can normally be easily handled with a shovel or
				other similar equipment and it can be placed in piles without liquid manure or
				leachate drainage occurring.
"Dry weight basis" means calculated on the basis of having been
				dried at 105 degrees Celsius until reaching a constant mass (i.e., essentially
				100 percent solids content).
"EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection
				Agency.
"Ephemeral stream" means a stream that flows only in direct
				response to rainfall or snowmelt in which discrete periods of flow persist no
				more than twenty-nine (29) consecutive days per event.
"Evergreen Buffer" means plants such as trees, shrubs, or
				grasses that have foliage that remain green and functional through at least
				more than one growing season and are not deciduous.
"Excessive Mortality" means total animal mortality in any one
				twenty-four (24)-hour period that exceeds the design capacity of the normal
				method of dead animal disposal. This may include utilizing the barns to compost
				the excessive mortality.
"Expansion" means an increase in the permitted number of
				animals or normal production animal live weight that will result in physical
				construction at the facility. An animal manure treatment lagoon that is
				converted to an animal manure storage pond is considered an expansion of the
				facility. For facilities permitted prior to 1998, where the treatment/storage
				design function was not clearly specified, the Department shall review the
				facility's operation records and compliance history to determine the current
				function and condition of the manure handling structures. If the existing
				structure can handle additional animals, without physical alteration,
				significant changes in the original function of the structure, or any
				significant increase in odor, the Department may allow this increase in animals
				without classifying the change as an expansion.
"Feedlot" means an animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used
				in intensive animal farming for finishing livestock.
"FEMA" means the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"Feed crops" means crops produced primarily for consumption by
				animals. These include, but are not limited to corn, grains, and
				grasses.
"Fiber crops" means crops including, but not limited to, flax
				and cotton.
"Floodplain" means land adjacent to water bodies that
				periodically becomes temporarily inundated with water during or after rainfall
				events. The land inundated from a flood whose peak magnitude would be
				experienced on an average of once every 100 years is the 100-year floodplain.
				The 100-year flood has a one percent (1%) probability of occurring in one given
				year.
"Food crops" means crops produced primarily for human
				consumption. These include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, and
				grains.
"Footprint" means the area of ground covered by an agricultural
				facility (i.e., the part of the property where the animal facility is
				constructed).
"Freeboard" means additional capacity in a storage/treatment
				structure designed to provide a safety margin of storage in the event that a
				rainfall occurs when the structure is full. The design storm is normally a
				twenty-five (25) year storm of twenty-four (24) hours duration.
"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in the
				saturated zone.
"Inactive Facility" means an animal facility that is not
				considered in production, but the facility and/or lagoon(s)/waste pond(s) have
				not been properly closed out. The owner/operator/permittee will continue to pay
				the annual fees throughout the inactive period of the permit, will be required
				to maintain the facility and/or lagoon(s)/waste storage pond(s), and will be
				inspected by the Department on a routine basis.
"Integrator" or "Integrating company" means any entity or
				person(s) who contracts with agricultural animal producers to grow animals to
				be supplied to this person(s) at the time of removal from the animal growing
				houses or facilities and exercises substantial operational control over an
				animal facility, along with the owner/operator of the facility. Substantial
				operational control includes, but is not limited to, the following: directs the
				activities of persons working at the animal facility either through a contract,
				direct supervision, or on-site participation; owns the animals; or specifies
				how the animals are grown, fed, or medicated. This definition does not include
				independent producers that contract with other independent producers to
				accomplish a portion of the animal growing process under contract.
"Intermittent stream" means a stream that generally has a
				defined natural watercourse, which does not flow year-round but flows beyond
				periods of rainfall or snowmelt.
"Lagoon" means an impoundment used in conjunction with an
				animal facility, the primary function of which is to store or stabilize, or
				both, manure, organic wastes, wastewater, and contaminated runoff.
"Land application" means the spraying or spreading of manure or
				other animal by-products onto the land surface; the injection of manure below
				the land surface into the root zone; or the incorporation of manure into the
				soil so that the manure can either condition the soil or fertilize crops or
				vegetation grown in the soil.
"Land Applier" means any person who accepts or purchases manure
				or other animal by-products from agricultural facilities for use as a
				fertilizer or soil enhancer on land either owned, leased, or managed by the
				land applier.
"Large Animal Facility" means an animal facility (excluding
				swine facilities) that has a capacity for more than 500,000 pounds and less
				than 1,000,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one
				time.
"Large Swine Facility" means a swine facility with a capacity
				for greater than 500,000 pounds and less than 1,000,000 pounds of normal
				production animal live weight at any one time.
"Liquid manure" means manure that by its nature, or after being
				diluted with water, can be pumped easily and is removed, either intermittently
				or continuously, from an animal lagoon, manure storage pond, or treated
				effluent from other types of animal manure treatment systems.
"Manure" means the fecal and urinary excretion of livestock and
				poultry. This material may also contain bedding, spilled feed, water, or soil.
				It may also include wastes not associated with livestock excreta, such as
				milking center washwater, contaminated milk, hair, feathers, or other debris.
				Manure may be described in different categories as related to solids and
				moisture content, such as dry manure and liquid manure.
"Manure storage pond" means a structure used for impounding or
				storing manure, wastewater, and contaminated runoff as a component of an
				agricultural manure management system. Manure is stored for a specified period
				of time, one (1) year or not less than ninety (90) calendar days, and then the
				pond is emptied. This definition does not include tanks or other similar
				vessels.
"Manure utilization area" means land on which animal manure
				(including swine manure) is spread as a fertilizer and is synonymous with land
				application site or land application area
"Mass Burial Site" means an area of land approved by the
				Department designated to be a mass burial site for excessive mortality.
"NRCS" means the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the
				United States Department of Agriculture.
"NRCS-CPS" means the Natural Resources Conservation Service's
				Conservation Practice Standards as given in the USDA-NRCS, SC Handbook of
				Conservation Practices.
"Normal production animal live weight at any one time" means
				the maximum number of animals at the facility at any one time multiplied by the
				average animal live weight of those animals.
"Notice of Intent (NOI)" means a document provided by the
				Department used by an applicant to notify the surrounding property owners of
				the applicant's intent to construct a permitted animal facility.
"Nuisance" means a condition causing annoyance or danger to a
				limited number of persons or to the general public as determined by the
				Department.
"Operator" means the person(s) who manage(s) a permitted animal
				facility and may be CAMM certified.
"Outstanding Recreational or Ecological Resource Waters (ORW)"
				means waters which are of exceptional recreational, ecological importance, or
				of unusual value. Such waters may include, but are not limited to: waters in
				national or state parks or wildlife refuges; waters supporting threatened or
				endangered species; waters under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act or
				South Carolina Scenic Rivers Act; waters known to be significant nursery areas
				for commercially important species or known to contain significant commercial
				or public shellfish resources; or waters used for or having significant value
				for scientific research and study.
"Owner" means the proprietor of any facility of activity
				subject to this regulation.
"Pasture" means land on which animals feed directly on feed
				crops including, but not limited to, legumes, grasses, grain stubble, or
				stover.
"Permit" means any license, certificate, registration,
				variance, or other approval issued by or required by the Department or any of
				its divisions, pursuant to any statute or regulation.
"Permit Extension" means a one (1)-year extension with
				justification that must be applied for in writing ten (10) calendar days prior
				to the permit expiration date.
"Permit Modification" means a minor or moderate change to a
				facility's permit that is considered, as determined by the Department, to not
				change the general operations of the permitted site but is necessary to
				continue the regulated operation of the facility. Permit Modifications are not
				required to be Public Noticed.
"Permittee" means any person authorized to conduct any activity
				or business pursuant to a valid permit issued by or filed with the
				Department.
"Permitting Decision" means any decision by the Department to
				issue, modify, deny, or withdraw the permit.
"Person" means any individual, public or private corporation,
				political subdivision, association, partnership, corporation, municipality,
				state or federal agency, industry, co-partnership, firm, trust, estate, any
				other legal entity whatsoever, or an agent or employee thereof.
"Plant Available Nitrogen (PAN)" means the quantity of nitrogen
				made available during the growing season after fertilizing materials are
				applied. A certain amount of the nitrogen is immobilized, and the remaining
				nitrogen is available to the plant.
"Potable water well" means any well designed and/or constructed
				to produce potable water for consumption by humans or animals.
"Producer" means a person who grows or confines animals; a
				person responsible for the manure produced at an animal facility; a person
				processing manure; and/or a person responsible for the land application of
				manure.
"Production" means a facility that meets the permit
				requirements based on 30,000 pounds of Normal Production Animal Live
				Weight.
"Professional Engineer" or "Engineer" means a person who, by
				reason of his or her special knowledge of the mathematical and physical
				sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design,
				acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to
				practice engineering, all as attested by his or her legal registration as a
				professional engineer in South Carolina.
"Public Hearing" means a proceeding, properly noticed in
				accordance with applicable state and federal laws, during which comments are
				received and testimony is taken to establish a record of concern prior to an
				administrative action by the Department.
"Public Notice" means the notice of an application or of
				proposed agency action published in accordance with applicable statutes and
				regulations.
"Range land" means open land with indigenous vegetation.
"Ranged Animal Facility" means the size of the range area is
				sufficient to allow for the natural degradation or utilization of the manure
				with no adverse impact to the environment. Ranged facilities shall also
				maintain adequate vegetative buffers between the animal range and the adjacent
				property lines and/or Waters of the State to mitigate runoff from reaching
				adjacent property and/or Waters of the State.
"Replacement in Kind" means construction of the same size or
				less of animal growing barn(s), and the same number or less of animal live
				weight, at the same location as the barn(s) being replaced.
"Residence" means a permanent inhabited dwelling, any existing
				church, school, hospital, or any other structure which is routinely occupied by
				the same person or persons more than twelve (12) hours per day or by the same
				person or persons under the age of eighteen (18) for more than two (2) hours
				per day, except those owned by the applicant.
"Rolling Average" means the laboratory results from the most
				recent analysis averaged with the previous manure analysis for a particular
				form of manure. The rolling average analysis sequence should be restarted after
				any major modification or changes to the lagoon/waste storage pond.
"Routinely" means a regular course of procedure.
"Runoff" means rainwater or other liquid that drains overland
				on any part of a land surface and runs off of the land surface.
"Seasonal High Water Table" means the surface between the zone
				of saturation and the zone of aeration, where the pore water pressure is equal
				to atmospheric pressure, and which exhibits the shallowest average water depth
				in relation to the surface during the wettest season.
"Small Animal Facility" means an animal facility (other than
				swine) that has a capacity for 500,000 pounds of normal production animal live
				weight or less at any one time.
"Small Swine Facility" means a swine facility with a capacity
				for 500,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight or less at any one
				time.
"Source Water Protection Area" means an area either above
				and/or below ground that is the source of water for a public drinking water
				system via a surface water intake or a water supply well that is designated by
				the State for increased protection.
"South Carolina National Heritage Corridor" means a National
				Heritage Area, federally designated in 1996, spanning seventeen (17) counties
				and 320 miles across South Carolina, and committed to promoting and preserving
				the cultural, natural, and historic resources of South Carolina.
"State" means South Carolina.
"Surface Water Runoff" means the flow of water that occurs when
				excess stormwater, meltwater, or other sources flows over the Earth's
				surface.
"Swine" means a domesticated animal belonging to the porcine
				species.
"Swine by-product" means a secondary or incidental product of
				swine production that may include bedding, spilled feed, water or soil, hair,
				dead swine, or other debris. This definition may also refer to dead swine or
				swine manure compost.
"Swine facility" means an agricultural facility where swine are
				confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five (45) calendar days or
				more in a twelve (12)-month period and crops, vegetative, forage growth, or
				post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any
				portion of the lot or facility. Structures used for the storage of swine manure
				from swine in the operation are also part of the swine facility. Two or more
				swine facilities under common ownership or management are considered a single
				swine facility if they are adjacent or utilize a common system for swine manure
				treatment and/or storage. For any new or expanding swine facility, the combined
				normal production of all swine facilities owned by the producer, and of all
				swine facilities owned by corporations having a common majority shareholder in
				common with the producer, within 25 miles of the new or expanding facility
				shall be used to determine the normal production of the new or expanding
				facility. For example, when a new facility has a proposed capacity of 300,000
				pounds of normal production and the producer owns two (2) other swine
				facilities within 25 miles of the new or expanding swine facility and the
				normal production of each facility is 400,000 pounds, the proposed swine
				facility's normal production is 1,100,000 (300,000 + 400,000 + 400,000)
				pounds.
"Swine manure" means swine excreta or other commonly associated
				organic animal manures including, but not limited to, bedding, litter, feed
				losses, or water mixed with the manure.
"Vector" means a carrier that is capable of transmitting a
				pathogen from one organism to another including, but not limited to, flies and
				other insects, rodents, birds, and vermin.
"Waiver" means a document recording the deferral of a right,
				claim, or privilege.
"Waste Storage Pond" means an earthen waste impoundment that
				temporarily stores organic wastes such as manure and wastewater.
"Wastewater" means any water that, during the confinement of
				animals or the handling, storage, or treatment of manure, dead animals, and
				litter, comes into contact with the animals, manure, litter, or spilled feed.
				Wastewater includes, but is not limited to, wash waters, contaminated milk, and
				storm water (except storm water runoff from land application areas where the
				application of manure has been properly applied) that comes into contact with
				manure.
"Watershed" means a drainage area contributing to a river,
				lake, or stream.
"Waters of the State" means lakes, bays, sounds, ponds,
				impounding reservoirs, springs, artesian wells, rivers, perennial and navigable
				streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within
				the territorial limits of the State, and all other bodies of water, natural or
				artificial, public or private, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, which are
				wholly or partially within or bordering the State or within its jurisdiction.
				This definition does not include ephemeral or intermittent streams. This
				definition includes wetlands as defined in this section.
"Wetlands" means lands that have a predominance of hydric soil,
				are inundated or saturated by water or groundwater at a frequency and duration
				sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted
				for life in saturated soil conditions, and, under normal circumstances, do
				support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation. Normal circumstances refer to
				the soil and hydrologic conditions that are normally present without regard to
				whether the vegetation has been removed. Wetlands shall be identified through
				the confirmation of the three wetlands criteria: hydric soil, hydrology, and
				hydrophytic vegetation. All three criteria shall be met for an area to be
				identified as wetlands. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, and
				bogs.
"X-Large Animal Facility" means an animal facility (excluding
				swine) with 1,000,000 pounds or more of normal production animal live weight at
				any one time.
"X-Large Swine Facility" means a swine facility with 1,000,000
				pounds or more of normal production animal live weight at any one
				time.