South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-68 - Water Classifications and Standards › Section 61-68.H - CLASS DESCRIPTIONS AND SPECIFIC STANDARDS FOR GROUND WATERS

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
1. All ground
			 waters of the State, except within mixing zones, shall be identified within one
			 of the classes described below.
2.
			 It is the policy of the Department to maintain the quality of ground water
			 consistent with the highest potential uses. Most South Carolina ground water is
			 presently suitable for drinking water without treatment and the State relies
			 heavily upon ground water for drinking water. For this reason, all South
			 Carolina ground water is classified Class GB effective on June 28,
			 1985.
3. The Department recognizes
			 that Class GB may not be suitable for some ground water. Class GA is
			 established for exceptionally valuable ground water and Class GC is established
			 for ground water with little potential as an underground source of drinking
			 water.
4. In keeping with this
			 policy, the Department declares that effective June 28, 1985, all ground waters
			 of the State shall be protected to a quality consistent with the use associated
			 with the classes described herein. Further, the Department may require the
			 owner or operator of a contaminated site to restore the ground water quality to
			 a level that maintains and supports the existing and classified uses (except
			 classified uses within mixing zones, as described in this regulation). For
			 purposes of this section, the term operator means any person in control of, or
			 having responsibility for, the operation of on-site activities or property and
			 owner means a person or a previous person who has assumed legal ownership of a
			 property through the provisions of a contract of sale or other legally binding
			 transfer of ownership. The term owner also means any person who owned,
			 operated, or otherwise controlled activities at such site before the title or
			 control of which was conveyed to a unit of State or local government due to
			 bankruptcy, foreclosure, tax delinquency, abandonment, or similar means.
			 However, nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede specific
			 statutory or regulatory provision that relieves owners or operators of certain
			 contaminated sites from liability for restoration of groundwater, including,
			 without limitation, S.C. Code Section
			 44-2-80(b) and
			 (c). The term does not include a unit of
			 State or local government which acquired ownership or control involuntarily
			 through bankruptcy, tax delinquency, abandonment, or other circumstances in
			 which the government involuntarily acquires title by virtue of its function as
			 sovereign. The exclusion provided under this paragraph shall not apply to any
			 State or local government which has caused or contributed to the release or
			 threatened release of a contaminant from the site, and such a State or local
			 government shall be subject to these provisions in the same manner and to the
			 same extent, both procedurally and substantively, as any nongovernmental
			 entity.
5. A ground water
			 monitoring program approved by the Department may be required for any existing
			 or proposed disposal system or other activities to determine the ground water
			 quality affected by such systems or activities. Such monitoring program may be
			 required through the Department's permitting and certification
			 programs.
6. Those ground waters
			 which are classified Class GA or Class GC after petition and proper
			 administrative procedures other than Class GB shall be described by location
			 and listed in R.61-69.
7. Class GA
			 are those ground waters that are highly vulnerable to contamination because of
			 the hydrological characteristics of the areas under which they occur and that
			 are also characterized by either of the following two factors:
a. Irreplaceable, in that no reasonable
			 alternative source of drinking water is available to substantial populations;
			 or
b. Ecologically vital, in that
			 the ground water provides the base flow for a particularly sensitive ecological
			 system that, if polluted, would destroy a unique habitat.