Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-200 - Water quality standards for groundwaters of the state of Washington › Section 173-200-020 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Activity" means any site, area,
			 facility, structure, vehicle, installation, or discharge which may produce
			 pollution.
(2) "Artificial
			 groundwater" means groundwater that has been put in place through means, such
			 as irrigation, other than natural recharge.
(3) "Background water quality" means the
			 concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, or radiological constituents,
			 or other characteristics in or of groundwater at a particular point in time and
			 upgradient of an activity that have not been affected by that
			 activity.
(4) "Beneficial uses"
			 means uses of waters of the state which include but are not limited to use for
			 domestic, stock watering, industrial, commercial, agricultural, irrigation,
			 mining, fish and wildlife maintenance and enhancement, recreation, generation
			 of electric power and preservation of environmental and aesthetic values, and
			 all other uses compatible with the enjoyment of the public waters of the
			 state.
(5) "Best management
			 practices" or "BMPs" mean schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices,
			 maintenance of procedures, and other management practices, to prevent or reduce
			 the pollution of groundwaters of the state. BMPs also include treatment
			 requirements, operating procedures and practices to control plant site runoff,
			 spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal, or drainage from raw material
			 storage.
(6) "Carcinogen" means any
			 substance or agent that produces or tends to produce cancer in humans. For
			 implementation of this chapter, the term carcinogen will apply to all
			 substances on the United States Environmental Protection Agency Integrated Risk
			 Information System, IRIS data base, of A (known human) and B1 and B2 (probable
			 human) carcinogens for which IRIS listed an oral slope factor.
(7) "Contaminant" means any chemical,
			 physical, biological, or radiological substance that does not occur naturally
			 in groundwater or that occurs at concentrations greater than those in the
			 natural levels.
(8) "Criteria"
			 means numerical values or narrative standards that represent the maximum
			 allowable contaminant concentrations in the groundwater.
(9) "Department" means the Washington state
			 department of ecology.
(10) "Early
			 warning value" means a concentration set in accordance with WAC
			 173-200-070 that is a percentage
			 of a groundwater quality enforcement limit.
(11) "Enforcement limit" means the value
			 assigned to any contaminant for the purposes of regulating that
			 contaminant.
(12) "Groundwater"
			 means water in a saturated zone or stratum beneath the surface of land or below
			 a surface water body.
(13)
			 "Human-caused pollution" means pollution resulting from human
			 activity.
(14) "Isolated
			 groundwater" means groundwater fully separated from other groundwaters by an
			 impermeable layer of rock or strata.
(15) "Maximum contaminant level" or "MCL"
			 means the maximum concentration of a contaminant in water established by the
			 Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (
			 42 U.S.C.
			 300f et seq.) and published in 40 C.F.R. 141
			 as presently promulgated or as subsequently amended or repromulgated.
(16) "Maximum contaminant level goal" or
			 "MCLG" means the maximum concentration of a contaminant established by the
			 Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (
			 42 U.S.C.
			 300f et seq.) and published in 40 C.F.R. 141
			 as presently promulgated or subsequently amended or repromulgated, for which no
			 known or anticipated adverse effects on human health occur including an
			 adequate margin of safety.
(17)
			 "Natural groundwater quality" means groundwater quality that was present before
			 any human-caused pollution.
(18)
			 "Naturally nonpotable groundwater" means groundwater that is unsuitable for
			 drinking water because of natural groundwater quality and for which current
			 treatment methods are considered unreasonable and impractical.
(19) "Permit" means a department
			 authorization, license, or equivalent control document issued to a facility,
			 activity, or entity authorized to treat, store, dispose, or discharge materials
			 or wastes. This includes, but is not limited to, state waste discharge permits
			 issued pursuant to chapter 173-216 WAC, permits for dangerous waste management
			 facilities issued pursuant to chapter 173-303 WAC, and permits for groundwater
			 withdrawal issued pursuant to
			 chapter
			 90.44 RCW.
(20) "Person" means any political
			 subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private
			 corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity
			 whatsoever.
(21) "Point of
			 compliance" means the location, set in accordance with WAC
			 173-200-060, where the
			 groundwater quality enforcement limit shall not be exceeded.
(22) "Pollution" means such contamination, or
			 other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties, of any
			 waters of the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity,
			 or odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid,
			 radioactive, or other substance into any waters of the state as will or is
			 likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful, detrimental or
			 injurious to the public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial,
			 industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial uses, or
			 to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other aquatic life.
(23) "Practical quantification level" or
			 "PQL" means the lowest concentration of a substance that can be reliably
			 achieved within specific limits of precision, accuracy, representativeness,
			 completeness, and comparability during routine laboratory operating
			 conditions.
(24) "Root zone" means
			 the zone that extends from the surface of the soil to the depth of the lowest
			 root and is specific to a species of plant, group of plants, or crop.
(25) "Saturated zone" means the zone below
			 the water table in which all interstices are filled with water.
(26) "Seasonal groundwater" means groundwater
			 that exists for a temporary period of the year and is usually associated with a
			 particular activity or phenomenon.
(27) "State waste discharge permit" means a
			 permit issued in accordance with the state waste discharge permit program,
			 chapter 173-216 WAC.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				  90.48.035. 90-22-023, § 173-200-020,
				  filed 10/31/90, effective 12/1/90.