South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-107 - Solid Waste Management › Subchapter 61-107.4 - Solid Waste Management: Compost and Mulch Production from Land-clearing Debris, Yard Trimmings and Organic Residuals › Part I - General Provisions › Section B - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
For the purposes of this regulation, the following terms
					 are defined as follows:
"Aerated Static Pile" means a composting process that uses
					 a controlled air distribution system to blow or draw air through the composting
					 mass. No agitation or turning of the composting mass is performed.
"Aerobic" means the biological decomposition of organic
					 substances in the presence of at least five percent oxygen by volume.
"Best management practices" (BMP) means schedules of
					 activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other
					 management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of Waters of the
					 State.
"Buffer" means the regulatory minimum separation distance
					 required for wood-grinding equipment, operational areas, storage areas, or
					 boundaries of a wood-grinding or composting site to structures.
"Carbon-to-Nitrogen ratio" ("C:N Ratio") means the quantity
					 of total carbon (C) in relation to the quantity of total nitrogen (N) in an
					 organic material or composting mass.
"Composite sampling" means a single sample for laboratory
					 analysis composed of multiple, well-blended point or sub-samples uniformly
					 distributed throughout the entire volume that, after mixing, accurately
					 represents an average or median value of the property or trait of interest for
					 a batch or general mass of compost.
"Compost" means the humus-like product of the process of
					 composting.
"Compost stability" refers to a specific stage or state of
					 organic matter during composting as characterized by the inverse measure of the
					 potential for a material to rapidly decompose.
"Compostable" means the capability of being decomposed by
					 natural biological processes.
"Compostable products" means manufactured items such as
					 cups, plates, and flatware for food service or bags and packaging intended for
					 singular use that undergoes degradation by biological processes. Only the
					 materials that meet the relevant specifications of American Society for Testing
					 Materials (ASTM) D6400 (plastics) or ASTM D6868 (coated papers and natural
					 materials) shall be considered compostable products.
"Composting" means the aerobic biological decomposition of
					 organic residuals under managed conditions and minimum time-temperature
					 relationships resulting in compost.
"Composting mass" means the result of combining feedstocks
					 in a formulaic recipe to achieve a Carbon-to-Nitrogen ratio, moisture content,
					 and porosity within the mixture that facilitates rapid aerobic decomposition of
					 the materials; the mixture of feedstocks is considered a composting mass until
					 it meets the stability requirements of this regulation.
"Control" means having access to a property through part
					 ownership, rental, lease, easement or other access agreement.
"Curing" means the process that follows composting in which
					 the compost is matured to meet market conditions.
"Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health
					 and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
"Domestic septage" means either liquid or solid material
					 removed from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, Type III marine
					 sanitation device, or similar treatment works that receives only domestic
					 sewage. Domestic septage does not include liquid or solid material removed from
					 a septic tank, cesspool, or similar treatment works that receives either
					 commercial wastewater or industrial wastewater and does not include grease
					 removed from a grease trap at a restaurant.
"Domestic sewage" means waste and wastewater from humans or
					 household operations that is discharged to or otherwise enters a treatment
					 works.
"Feedstock" means source separated, recovered organic
					 material approved by the Department or listed in the Appendix of R.61-107.4 to
					 be used in the production of compost, mulch, or other product.
"Finished compost" means the product of a composting mass
					 that has met the minimum time and temperature requirements for the composting
					 method chosen and satisfies the stability requirements and applicable quality
					 assurance and testing requirements for finished compost found in Part III.H of
					 this regulation.
"Generated on site" means residuals produced on the same
					 single tax map parcel or multiple tax parcels under the same ownership or
					 control, upon which it is managed.
"Grinding" means the act of mechanically reducing the size
					 of organic materials.
"Hearing" means a Department proceeding that is conducted
					 after notice by mail has been given to the permittee of facts or conduct that
					 warrant a permit revocation and is a proceeding where the permittee is given an
					 opportunity to show compliance with all lawful requirements for the retention
					 of the permit.
"Industrial sludge" means the solid, semi-solid, or liquid
					 residue generated during the treatment of industrial wastewater in a treatment
					 works. Industrial sludge includes, but is not limited to, scum or solids
					 removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes, and
					 a material derived from industrial sludge. Industrial sludge does not include
					 ash generated during the firing of industrial sludge in an industrial sludge
					 incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of
					 industrial wastewater in a treatment works. Industrial sludge by definition
					 does not include sludge covered under 40 CFR 503 or R.61-9.503, Standards for
					 the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge.
"Industrial solid waste" means solid waste generated by
					 manufacturing or industrial processes that is not a hazardous waste regulated
					 under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The term
					 does not include employee kitchen or cafeteria residuals, packaging waste or
					 yard-trimmings generated on site of an industrial property.
"In-process material" means ground organics that have been
					 incorporated into a composting mass and other material that is in the process
					 of being cured, but has not yet achieved the status of finished compost.
"In-vessel composting" means a process in which decomposing
					 organic material is enclosed in a drum, silo, bin, tunnel, or other container
					 for the purpose of producing compost; and in which temperature, moisture and
					 air-borne emissions are controlled, vectors are excluded, and nuisance and odor
					 generation minimized.
"Land-clearing debris" means material generated solely from
					 land-clearing activities, including brush, limbs, and stumps, but does not
					 include solid waste from agricultural or silvicultural operations.
"Manure" means the fecal and urinary excreta of livestock,
					 poultry, or fish and may also contain bedding, spilled feed, water, soil and
					 other substances incidental to its collection. This definition does not include
					 excreta from household animals such as dogs and cats.
"Mulch" means the organic, non-composted product rendered
					 by grinding Category One feedstocks.
"Municipal solid waste" means discards from residential,
					 commercial, institutional, and industrial sources that have not been separated
					 at the source for recycling. Industrial process waste is excluded from the
					 wastes that comprise municipal solid waste.
"On-site" means activities performed on property under the
					 same ownership or control where the feedstocks were grown, produced, or
					 otherwise generated for recycling.
"Open burning" is defined to have the same meaning as used
					 in Air Pollution Control Regulations and Standards R.61-62.1, Definitions and
					 General Requirements, or any future amendments, and currently means any fire or
					 smoke-producing process that is not conducted in any boiler plant, furnace,
					 high temperature processing unit, incinerator or flare, or in any other such
					 equipment primarily designed for the combustion of fuel or waste
					 material.
"Open dumping" means any unpermitted disposal or
					 landfilling activity except as specifically exempted by regulation.
"Operational Area" means the area of a wood-grinding or
					 composting facility where equipment maintenance, material storage, material
					 processing, composting or curing activities are performed, or as otherwise
					 specified by permit.
"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall
					 operation of a wood-grinding or composting facility.
"Organic" means a substance derived from living
					 organisms.
"Pathogen" means a disease-causing organism, such as fecal
					 coliform, Salmonella bacteria, Ascaris parasite eggs, etc.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, company,
					 association, partnership, unit of local government, state agency, federal
					 agency, or other legal entity.
"Porosity" means the fraction of a material or mass that is
					 void space.
"Putrescible" means material that contains organic matter
					 capable of decomposition by microorganisms and of such a character and
					 proportion that it causes obnoxious odors and the capability of attracting or
					 providing food for birds and other animals.
"Residence" means any existing structure, all or part of
					 which is designed or used for human habitation, that has received a final
					 permit for electricity, permanent potable water supply, permanent sewage
					 disposal, and, if required by the local government, a certificate of
					 occupancy.
"Residuals" means materials that have served their
					 original, intended use and have been source separated and diverted for
					 recycling, grinding, or composting.
"Run-off" means any rainwater not absorbed by soil, that
					 flows over land from any part of a facility.
"Sewage sludge" means the solid, semi-solid, or liquid
					 residue generated during the treatment of municipal wastewater or domestic
					 sewage in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to,
					 domestic septage; scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced
					 wastewater treatment processes; and a material derived from sewage sludge.
					 Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge
					 in a sewage sludge incinerator or grit and screenings generated during
					 preliminary treatment of domestic or industrial sewage in a treatment
					 works.
"Silvicultural" means produced from or pertaining to the
					 care and cultivation of forest trees and timber, including bark and
					 woodchips.
"Solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, or sludge from a
					 waste treatment facility, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility
					 and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained
					 gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and
					 agricultural operations and from community activities. This term does not
					 include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, recovered materials, or
					 solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial
					 discharges which are point sources subject to NPDES permits under the Federal
					 Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, or the Pollution Control Act of South
					 Carolina, as amended, or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as
					 defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. Also excluded from this
					 definition are application of fertilizer and animal manure during normal
					 agricultural operations or refuse as defined and regulated pursuant to the
					 South Carolina Mining Act, including processed mineral waste, which will not
					 have a significant adverse impact on the environment.
"Source separated" means segregated from solid waste at the
					 point of generation to facilitate recycling.
"Thermophilic" means a biological stage in the composting
					 process during which microorganisms break down proteins, fats, and complex
					 carbohydrates such as cellulose at relatively high temperatures (ranging from
					 113 degrees Fahrenheit to 167 degrees Fahrenheit or 45 degrees Celsius to 75
					 degrees Celsius).
"Turn" means to physically manipulate the compost mass in
					 order to aerate, decrease temperatures, and increase evaporation rates.
"Unauthorized material" means any feedstock or waste
					 material that due to its feedstock category, characteristics, or volume, causes
					 an exempt, conditionally exempt site, or permitted facility to be in violation
					 of this regulation or the permit conditions approved by the Department.
"Untreated wood" means raw wood or lumber that has not been
					 chemically treated or painted.
"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.
"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 Part.
"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.
"Yard trimmings" means residuals consisting solely of
					 vegetative matter resulting from maintenance or alteration of public,
					 commercial, institutional, or residential landscapes and tends to include grass
					 clippings, leaves, discarded plants and weeds, which have been source separated
					 and diverted for recycling.