Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-340 - Model Toxics Control Act-Cleanup › Part 2 - DEFINITIONS AND USAGE › Section 173-340-200 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions
				  apply unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
"Acute toxicity"
means the ability of a
				  hazardous substance to cause injury or death to an organism as a result of a
				  short-term exposure to a hazardous substance.
"Agreed order"
means an order issued by ecology
				  under WAC
				  173-340-530 with which the
				  potentially liable person receiving the order agrees to comply. An agreed order
				  may be used to require or approve any cleanup or other remedial actions, but it
				  is not a settlement under
				  RCW
				     70A.305.040(4) and does not
				  contain a covenant not to sue, or provide protection from claims for
				  contribution, or provide eligibility for public funding of remedial actions
				  under RCW    70A.305.190(4)(a)(v) and
				  (vi).
"Aliphatic hydrocarbons"
or
"aliphatics"
means organic compounds that are characterized by a
				  straight, branched, or cyclic (nonbenzene ring) arrangement of carbon atoms and
				  that do not contain halogens (such as chlorine). See also "aromatic
				  hydrocarbons."
"All practicable methods of treatment"
means all
				  technologies or methods currently available and demonstrated to work under
				  similar site circumstances or through pilot studies, and applicable to the site
				  at reasonable cost. These include "all known available and reasonable methods
				  of treatment" (AKART) for discharges or potential discharges to waters of the
				  state, and "best available control technologies" (BACT) for releases of
				  hazardous substances into the air resulting from cleanup actions.
"Applicable state and federal laws"
means all
				  legally applicable requirements specified in WAC
				  173-340-710(3) and those requirements that ecology determines, based on the criteria in WAC
				  173-340-710(4),
				  are relevant and appropriate requirements.
"Area background"
means the concentration of a
				  hazardous substance consistently present in the environment in the vicinity of
				  a site as the result of human activities unrelated to releases from that site.
				  Compare "natural background."
"Aromatic hydrocarbons"
or
"aromatics"
means organic compounds that are characterized by one
				  or more benzene rings, with or without aliphatic hydrocarbon substitutions of
				  hydrogen atoms on the rings, and that do not contain halogens (such as
				  chlorine). See also "aliphatic hydrocarbons."
"Averaging time"
means the time over which the
				  exposure is averaged. For noncarcinogens, the averaging time typically equals
				  the exposure duration. For carcinogens, the averaging time equals the life
				  expectancy of a person.
"Bioconcentration factor"
means the ratio of the
				  concentration of a hazardous substance in the tissue of an aquatic organism
				  divided by the hazardous substance concentration in the ambient water in which
				  the organism resides.
"Carcinogen"
means any substance or agent that
				  produces or tends to produce cancer in humans. For implementation of this
				  chapter, the term carcinogen applies to substances on the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency lists of A (known human) and B (probable human)
				  carcinogens, and any substance that causes a significant increased incidence of
				  benign or malignant tumors in a single, well conducted animal bioassay,
				  consistent with the weight of evidence approach specified in the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment as
				  set forth in 51 FR 33992 et seq.
"Carcinogenic potency factor"
or
"CPF"
means the upper 95th percentile confidence limit of the
				  slope of the dose response curve and is expressed in units of (mg/kg-day)-1.
				  When derived from human epide miological data, the carcinogenic potency factor
				  may be a maximum likelihood estimate.
"Chronic reference dose"
means an estimate (with
				  an uncertainty spanning an order of magnitude or more) of a daily exposure
				  level for the human population, including sensitive subpopulations, that is
				  likely to be without an appreciable risk of adverse effects during a
				  lifetime.
"Chronic toxicity"
means the ability of a
				  hazardous substance to cause injury or death to an organism resulting from
				  repeated or constant exposure to the hazardous substance over an extended
				  period of time.
"Cleanup"
means the implementation of a cleanup
				  action or interim action.
"Cleanup action"
means any remedial action,
				  except interim actions, taken at a site to eliminate, render less toxic,
				  stabilize, contain, immobilize, isolate, treat, destroy, or remove a hazardous
				  substance that complies with WAC
				  173-340-350 through
				  173-340-390.
"Cleanup action alternative"
means one or more
				  treatment technology, containment action, removal action, engineered control,
				  institutional control or other type of remedial action ("cleanup action
				  components") that, individually or, in combination, achieves a cleanup action
				  at a site.
"Cleanup action plan"
means the document
				  prepared under WAC
				  173-340-380 that documents the
				  selected cleanup action and specifies the cleanup standards and other
				  requirements the cleanup action must meet.
"Cleanup level"
means the concentration of a
				  hazardous substance in soil, water, air, or sediment that is determined to be
				  protective of human health and the environment under specified exposure
				  conditions.
"Cleanup standards"
means the standards adopted
				  under RCW
				     70A.305.030(2)(e).
				  Establishing cleanup standards requires specification of the following:
(a) Hazardous substance concentrations that
				protect human health and the environment ("cleanup levels");
(b) The location on the site where those
				cleanup levels must be attained ("points of compliance"); and
(c) Additional regulatory requirements that
				apply to a cleanup action because of the type of action and/or the location of
				the site. These requirements are specified in applicable state and federal laws
				and are generally established in conjunction with the selection of a specific
				cleanup action.
"Cohen's method"
means the maximum likelihood
				  estimate of the mean and standard deviation accounting for data below the
				  method detection limit or practical quantitation limit using the method
				  described in the following publications:
(a) Cohen, A.C., 1959. "Simplified estimators
				for the normal distribution when samples are singly censored or truncated."
Tech-nometrics
. Volume 1, pages 217-237.
(b) Cohen, A.C., 1961. "Tables for maximum
				likelihood estimates: Singly truncated and singly censored samples."
Technometrics
. Volume 3, pages 535-541.
"Compliance monitoring"
means a remedial action
				  that consists of the monitoring described in WAC
				  173-340-410, including protection
				  monitoring, performance monitoring, and confirmation monitoring.
"Conceptual site model"
means a conceptual
				  understanding of a site that identifies known or suspected:
(a) Hazardous substance sources and release
				mechanisms;
(b) Hazardous substance
				types and concentrations;
(c)
				Hazardous substance transport, including preferential pathways;
(d) Contaminated environmental media,
				including the general extent and distribution of contamination within the
				media;
(e) Current and potential
				human and ecological receptors and exposure pathways (complete and incomplete);
				and
(f) Physical and habitat
				features, including current and potential future land and water uses and any
				sensitive environments.
This model is typically developed during the scoping of a
				  remedial investigation and further refined as additional information is
				  collected about the site during the remedial investigation. The model is a tool
				  used to assist in making decisions at a site.
"Conducting land use planning under chapter 36.70A
				  RCW"
as used in the definition of "industrial properties," means having
				  adopted a comprehensive plan and development regulations for the site under
				  chapter 36.70A RCW (Growth Management Act).
"Confirmation monitoring"
means a type of
				  compliance monitoring described in WAC
				  173-340-410.
"Containment"
means a container, vessel,
				  barrier, or structure, whether natural or constructed, that confines a
				  hazardous substance within a defined boundary and prevents or minimizes its
				  release into the environment.
"Contaminant"
means any hazardous substance that
				  does not occur naturally or occurs at greater than natural background
				  levels.
"Contaminated site"
means a site for which
				  ecology or PLIA has determined further remedial action is necessary under the
				  state cleanup law to:
(a) Confirm
				whether there is a threat to human health or the environment posed by a release
				or threatened release; or
(b)
				Address the threat posed by a release or threatened release, based on the
				criteria in WAC
				173-340-330(5).
A contaminated site is referred to as hazardous waste site in
				  chapter 70A.305 RCW.
"Contaminated sites list"
means a list of
				  contaminated sites maintained by ecology under WAC
				  173-340-330. For each listed
				  site, the list also identifies the site's current remedial action status. This
				  list is referred to as the hazardous sites list in chapter 70A.305 RCW.
"Curie"
means the measure of radioactivity
				  defined as that quantity of radioactive material which decays at the rate of
				  3.70 x 1010 transformations per second. This decay
				  rate is nearly equivalent to that exhibited by 1 gram of radium in equilibrium
				  with its disintegration products.
"Day"
means calendar day; however, any document
				  due on the weekend or a holiday may be submitted on the first working day after
				  the weekend or holiday.
"Decree"
means a consent decree issued under WAC
				  173-340-520. "Consent decree" is
				  synonymous with decree.
"Degradation by-products"
or
"decomposition by-products"
means the secondary product of
				  biological or chemical processes that break down chemicals into other
				  chemicals. The decomposition by-products may be more or less toxic than the
				  parent compound.
"Developmental reference dose"
means an estimate
				  (with an uncertainty of an order of magnitude or more) of an exposure level for
				  the human population, including sensitive subgroups, that is likely to be
				  without an appreciable risk of developmental effects.
"Direct contact"
means exposure to hazardous
				  substances through ingestion and/or dermal contact.
"Director"
means the director of the department
				  of ecology or the director's designee.
"Disposal"
means the discharging, discarding, or
				  abandoning of hazardous substances or the treatment, decontamination, or
				  recycling of such substances once they have been discarded or abandoned. This
				  includes the discharge, discard, or abandonment of any hazardous substances
				  into or on any land, air, or water.
"Drinking water fraction"
means the fraction of
				  drinking water that is obtained or has the potential to be obtained from the
				  site.
"Ecology"
or
"department"
means the
				  department of ecology.
"Ecology-conducted remedial action"
means a
				  remedial action conducted by ecology.
"Ecology-supervised remedial action"
means a
				  remedial action conducted by a potentially liable person or prospective
				  purchaser and supervised by ecology under an order or decree.
"Engineered control"
means a containment or
				  treatment system that is designed and constructed to prevent or limit the
				  movement of, or the exposure to, a hazardous sub-stance. An engineered control
				  is a type of remedial action. Examples of engineered controls include:
(a) A layer of clean soil, asphalt or
				concrete paving or other materials placed over contaminated soils to limit
				contact with contamination;
(b) A
				groundwater flow barrier such as a bentonite slurry trench;
(c) A groundwater gradient control system
				such as a French drain or a pump and treat system; and
(d) A vapor control system.
"Environment"
means any plant, animal, natural
				  resource, surface water (including underlying sediments), groundwater, drinking
				  water supply, land surface (including tidelands and shorelands) or subsurface
				  strata, or ambient air within the state of Washington or under the jurisdiction
				  of the state of Washington.
"Equivalent carbon number"
or
"EC"
means a value assigned to a fraction of a petroleum mixture, empirically
				  derived from the boiling point of the fraction normalized to the boiling point
				  of n-alkanes or the retention time of n-alkanes in a boiling point gas
				  chromatography column.
"Exposure"
means subjection of an organism to
				  the action, influence, or effect of a hazardous substance (chemical agent) or
				  physical agent.
"Exposure duration"
means the period of exposure
				  to a hazardous substance.
"Exposure frequency"
means the portion of the
				  exposure duration that an individual is exposed to a hazardous substance,
				  expressed as a fraction. For example, if a person is exposed 250 days (five
				  days per week for 50 work weeks) over a year (365 days), the exposure frequency
				  would be equal to: (5 x 50)/365 = 0.7.
"Exposure parameters"
means those parameters
				  used to derive an estimate of the exposure to a hazardous substance.
"Exposure pathway"
means the path a hazardous
				  substance takes or could take from a source to an exposed organism. An exposure
				  pathway describes the mechanism by which an individual or population is exposed
				  or has the potential to be exposed to hazardous substances at or originating
				  from a site. Each exposure pathway includes an actual or potential source or
				  release from a source, an exposure point, and an exposure route. If the
				  exposure point differs from the source of the hazardous substance, the exposure
				  pathway also includes a transport/exposure medium.
"Facility"
means
(a) any building, structure, installation,
				equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned
				treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill,
				storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, vessel, or aircraft,
				or
(b) any site or area where a
				hazardous substance, other than a consumer product in consumer use, has been
				deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be
				located.
"Feasibility study"
means a remedial action
				  conducted under WAC
				  173-340-351 that consists of
				  developing and evaluating cleanup action alternatives to enable selection of a
				  cleanup action.
"Federal cleanup law"
means the Comprehensive
				  Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended
				  (42 U.S.C.
				  9601 et seq.).
"Financial assurance"
means a remedial action
				  that consists of an assurance provided to ecology under WAC
				  173-340-440(11) that sufficient financial resources are available to provide for the long-term
				  effectiveness of engineered or institutional controls.
"Fish diet fraction"
means the percentage of the
				  total fish and/or shellfish in an individual's diet that is obtained or has the
				  potential to be obtained from the site.
"Food crop"
means any domestic plant that is
				  produced for the purpose of, or may be used in whole or in part for,
				  consumption by people or livestock. This includes nursery, root, or seed-stock
				  to be used for the production of food crops.
"Free product"
means a nonaqueous phase liquid
				  that is present in the soil, bedrock, groundwater or surface water as a
				  distinct separate layer. Under the right conditions, if sufficient free product
				  is present, free product is capable of migrating independent of the direction
				  of flow of the groundwater or surface water.
"Gastrointestinal absorption fraction"
means the
				  fraction of a substance transported across the gastrointestinal lining and
				  taken up systemically into the body.
"Groundwater"
means water in a saturated zone or
				  stratum beneath the surface of land or below a surface water.
"Hazard index"
means the sum of two or more
				  hazard quotients for multiple hazardous substances and/or multiple exposure
				  pathways.
"Hazardous substance"
means:
(a) Any dangerous or extremely hazardous
				waste as defined in
				RCW
				   70A.300.010(1) and (7), or
				any dangerous or extremely dangerous waste as designated by rule under chapter
				70A.300 RCW;
(b) Any hazardous
				substance as defined in
				RCW
				   70A.300.010(10) or any
				hazardous substance as defined by rule under chapter 70A.300 RCW;
(c) Any substance that, on the effective date
				of this section, is a hazardous substance under section 101(14) of the federal
				cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec.
				9601(14);
(d) Petroleum or petroleum products;
				and
(e) Any substance or category
				of substances, including solid waste decomposition products, determined by the
				director by rule to present a threat to human health or the environment if
				released into the environment.
The term hazardous substance does not include any of the
				  following when contained in an underground storage tank from which there is not
				  a release: Crude oil or any fraction thereof or petroleum, if the tank is in
				  compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.
"Hazard quotient"
or
"HQ"
means the
				  ratio of the dose of a single hazardous substance over a specified time period
				  to a reference dose for that hazardous substance derived for a similar exposure
				  period.
"Health and safety plan"
means a plan prepared
				  under WAC
				  173-340-810.
"Health effects assessment summary tables"
or
"HEAST"
means a database developed by the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency that provides a summary of information on the
				  toxicity of hazardous substances.
"Henry's law constant"
means the ratio of a
				  hazardous substance's concentration in the air to its concentration in water.
				  Henry's law constant can vary significantly with temperature for some hazardous
				  substances. The dimensionless form of this constant is used in the default
				  equations in this chapter.
"Highest beneficial use"
means the beneficial
				  use of a resource generally requiring the highest quality in the resource. For
				  example, for many hazardous substances, providing protection for the beneficial
				  use of drinking water will generally also provide protection for a great
				  variety of other existing and future beneficial uses of ground-water.
"Inadvertent discovery plan"
means a plan
				  prepared under WAC
				  173-340-815 that describes
				  procedures for responding to a discovery of archaeological materials or human
				  remains in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.
"Independent remedial action"
means a remedial
				  action conducted without ecology oversight or approval and not under an order
				  or decree.
"Indian tribe"
means the term as defined in
				  RCW
				     43.376.010(1).
"Indicator hazardous substances"
means the
				  subset of hazardous substances present at a site selected under WAC
				  173-340-708 for monitoring and
				  analysis during any phase of remedial action for the purpose of characterizing
				  the site or establishing cleanup requirements for that site.
"Indigenous peoples"
means individual members of
				  Indian tribes; other individual Native Americans; individual Native Alaskans,
				  Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders; and indigenous and tribal
				  community-based organizations.
"Industrial properties"
means properties that
				  are or have been characterized by, or are to be committed to, traditional
				  industrial uses such as processing or manufacturing of materials, marine
				  terminal and transportation areas and facilities, fabrication, assembly,
				  treatment, or distribution of manufactured products, or storage of bulk
				  materials, that are either:
(a) Zoned
				for industrial use by a city or county conducting land use planning under
				chapter 36.70A RCW (Growth Management Act); or
(b) For counties not planning under chapter
				36.70A RCW (Growth Management Act) and the cities within them, zoned for
				industrial use and adjacent to properties currently used or designated for
				industrial purposes.
See WAC
				  173-340-745 for additional
				  criteria to determine if a land use not specifically listed in this definition
				  would meet the requirement of "traditional industrial use" and for evaluating
				  if a land use zoning category meets the requirement of being "zoned for
				  industrial use."
"Inhalation absorption fraction"
means the
				  percent of a hazardous substance (expressed as a fraction) that is absorbed
				  through the respiratory system.
"Inhalation correction factor"
means a
				  multiplier that is used to adjust exposure estimates based on ingestion of
				  drinking water to take into account exposure to hazardous substances that are
				  volatilized and inhaled during use of the water.
"Initial investigation"
means a remedial action
				  that consists of an investigation conducted under WAC
				  173-340-310.
"Institutional control"
means a measure
				  undertaken to limit or prohibit activities that may interfere with the
				  integrity of an interim action or a cleanup action or result in exposure to
				  hazardous substances at the site. An institutional control is a type of
				  remedial action. For examples of institutional controls, see WAC
				  173-340-440(1).
"Integrated risk information system"
or
"IRIS"
means a database developed by the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency that provides a summary of information on
				  hazard identification and dose-response assessment for specific hazardous
				  substances.
"Interim action"
means a remedial action
				  conducted under WAC
				  173-340-430.
"Interspecies scaling factor"
means the
				  conversion factor used to take into account differences between animals and
				  humans.
"Land's method"
means the method for calculating
				  an upper confidence limit for the mean of a lognormal distribution, described
				  in the following publications:
(a)
				Land, C.E., 1971. "Confidence intervals for linear functions of the normal mean
				and variance."
Annals of Mathematics and Statistics
. Volume
				42, pages 1187-1205.
(b) Land,
				C.E., 1975. "Tables of confidence limits for linear functions of the normal
				mean and variance." In:
Selected Tables in Mathematical
				Statistics
, Volume III, pages 385-419. American Mathematical Society,
				Providence, Rhode Island.
"Legally applicable requirements"
means those
				  cleanup standards, standards of control, and other human health and
				  environmental protection requirements, criteria, or limitations adopted under
				  state or federal law that specifically address a hazardous substance, cleanup
				  action, location, or other circumstances at the site.
"Lowest observed adverse effect level"
or
"LOAEL"
means the lowest concentration of a hazardous substance at
				  which there is a statistically or biologically significant increase in the
				  frequency or severity of an adverse effect between an exposed population and a
				  control group.
"Maximum contaminant level"
or
"MCL"
means the maximum concentration of a contaminant established
				  by either the Washington state board of health or the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act
				  (42 U.S.C.
				  300f et seq.) and published in chapter
				  246-290 WAC or  40 C.F.R.
				  Part 141.
"Maximum contaminant level goal"
or
"MCLG"
means the maximum concentration of a contaminant
				  established by either the Washington state board of health or the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act
				  (42 U.S.C.
				  300f et seq.) and published in chapter
				  246-290 WAC or  40 C.F.R. Part 141  for which no known or anticipated adverse
				  effects on human health occur, including an adequate margin of safety.
"Method detection limit"
or
"MDL"
means the minimum concentration of a compound that can be measured and reported
				  with 99 percent confidence that the value is greater than zero.
"Millirem"
or
"mrem"
means the
				  measure of the dose of any radiation to body tissue in terms of its estimated
				  biological effect relative to a dose received from an exposure to one roentgen
				  (R) of X-rays. One millirem equals 0.001 rem.
"Mixed funding"
means any funding provided to a
				  potentially liable person from the model toxics control capital account under
				  WAC 173-340-560.
"Model remedy"
means a set of technologies,
				  procedures, and monitoring protocols identified by ecology for use in routine
				  types of cleanup projects at facilities that have common features and lower
				  risk to human health and the environment.
"Model Toxics Control Act"
or
"act"
means chapter 70A.305 RCW, first passed by the voters in the November 1988
				  general election as Initiative 97 and as since amended by the
				  legislature.
"National priorities list"
or
"NPL"
means the list of sites designated as a national priority by the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency under Section 105(a)(8)(B) of the federal
				  cleanup law, 42 U.S.C.
				  9605(a)(8)(B).
"Natural attenuation"
means a variety of
				  physical, chemical or biological processes that, under favorable conditions,
				  act without human intervention to reduce the mass, toxicity, mobility, volume,
				  or concentration of hazardous substances in the environment. These in situ
				  processes include: Natural biodegradation; dispersion; dilution; sorption;
				  volatilization; and chemical or biological stabilization, transformation, or
				  destruction of hazardous substances. See WAC
				  173-340-370(7) for a description of the expected role of natural attenuation in site cleanup.
				  A cleanup action that includes natural attenuation and conforms to the
				  expectation in WAC
				  173-340-370(7) can be considered an active remedial measure.
"Natural background"
means the concentration of
				  a hazardous substance consistently present in the environment that has not been
				  influenced by localized human activities. For example, several metals and
				  radionuclides naturally occur in the bedrock, sediments, and soils of
				  Washington state due solely to the geologic processes that formed these
				  materials. The concentration of these hazardous substances would be considered
				  natural background. Also, low concentrations of some particularly persistent
				  organic compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can be found in
				  surficial soils and sediment throughout much of the state due to global
				  distribution of these hazardous substances. These low concentrations would be
				  considered natural background. Similarly, concentrations of various
				  radionuclides that are present at low concentrations throughout the state due
				  to global distribution of fallout from bomb testing and nuclear accidents would
				  be considered natural background. Compare "area background."
"Natural biodegradation"
means in situ
				  biological processes such as aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, and
				  cometabolism, that occur without human intervention and that break down
				  hazardous substances into other compounds or elements. The process is typically
				  a multiple step process and may or may not result in organic compounds being
				  completely broken down or mineralized to carbon dioxide and water.
"Natural person"
means any unincorporated
				  individual or group of individuals. The term "individual" is synonymous with
				  "natural person."
"Nonaqueous phase liquid"
or
"NAPL"
means a hazardous substance that is present in the soil, bedrock, groundwater,
				  or surface water as a liquid not dissolved in water. The term includes both
				  light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) and dense nonaqueous phase liquid
				  (DNAPL).
"No further action sites list"
means a list of
				  sites for which ecology or PLIA has determined no further remedial action is
				  necessary under state cleanup law to meet the criteria in WAC
				  173-340-330(5).
				  For each listed site, the list also identifies whether institutional controls
				  or periodic reviews remain necessary at the site. Ecology maintains the list
				  under WAC
				  173-340-335.
"No observed adverse effect level"
or
"NOAEL"
means the exposure level at which there are no
				  statistically or biologically significant increases in frequency or severity of
				  adverse effects between the exposed population and its appropriate control.
				  Some effects may be produced at this level, but they are not considered to be
				  adverse, nor precursors to specific adverse effects.
"Nonpotable"
means not a current or potential
				  source of drinking water. See WAC
				  173-340-720 and
				  173-340-730 for criteria for
				  determining if groundwater or surface water is a current or potential source of
				  drinking water.
"Null hypothesis"
means an assumption about
				  hazardous substance concentrations at a site when evaluating compliance with
				  cleanup levels established under this chapter. The null hypothesis is that the
				  site is contaminated at concentrations that exceed cleanup levels. This does
				  not apply to cleanup levels based on background concentrations where other
				  appropriate statistical methods supported by a power analysis would be more
				  appropriate to use.
"Oral RFD conversion factor"
means the
				  conversion factor used to adjust an oral reference dose (which is typically
				  based on an administered dose) to a dermal reference dose (which is based on an
				  absorbed dose).
"Order"
means an enforcement order issued under
				  WAC 173-340-540 or an agreed order
				  issued under WAC
				  173-340-530.
"Overburdened community"
means the term as
				  defined in
				  RCW
				     70A.02.010(11).
"Owner or operator"
means any person that meets
				  the definition of this term in
				  RCW
				     70A.305.020(22).
"PAHs (carcinogenic)"
or
"cPAHs"
means those polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons substances, PAHs, identified as A
				  (known human) or B (probable human) carcinogens by the United States
				  Environmental Protection Agency. These include benzo(a)anthracene,
				  benzo(b)fluoran-thene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene,
				  dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene.
"Performance monitoring"
means a type of
				  compliance monitoring described in WAC
				  173-340-410.
"Periodic review"
means a remedial action that
				  consists of a review conducted by ecology under WAC
				  173-340-420.
"Permanent solution"
or
"permanent cleanup
				  action"
means a cleanup action in which cleanup standards of Part 7 of
				  this chapter can be met without further action being required at the site being
				  cleaned up or any other site involved with the cleanup action, other than the
				  approved disposal of any residue from the treatment of hazardous
				  substances.
"Person"
means an individual, firm, corporation,
				  association, partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state
				  government agency, unit of local government, federal government agency, or
				  Indian tribe.
"Picocurie"
or
"pCi"
means
				  10-12 curie.
"PLIA"
means the pollution liability insurance
				  agency.
"Point of compliance"
means the point or points
				  where cleanup levels established in accordance with WAC
				  173-340-720 through
				  173-340-760 must be attained.
				  This term includes both standard and conditional points of compliance. A
				  conditional point of compliance for particular environmental media is only
				  available as provided in WAC
				  173-340-720 through
				  173-340-760.
"Polychlorinated biphenyls"
or
"PCB
				  mixtures"
means those aromatic compounds containing two benzene nuclei
				  with two or more substituted chlorine atoms. For the purposes of this chapter,
				  PCB includes those congeners which are identified using the appropriate
				  analytical methods as specified by ecology under WAC
				  173-340-830.
"Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons"
or
"PAH"
means those hydrocarbon molecules composed of two or more
				  fused benzene rings. For the purpose of this chapter, PAH includes those
				  compounds which are identified and quantified using the appropriate analytical
				  methods specified by ecology under WAC
				  173-340-830. The specific
				  compounds generally included are acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, fluorene,
				  naphthalene, anthracene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo[a]anthracene,
				  benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[a]pyrene,
				  dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, and benzo[ghi]perylene.
"Potentially liable person"
means any person who
				  ecology finds, based on credible evidence, to be liable under
				  RCW
				     70A.305.040.
"Practicable"
means capable of being designed,
				  constructed, and implemented in a reliable and effective manner including
				  consideration of cost. An alternative is not practicable if its incremental
				  costs are disproportionate to its incremental degree of benefits, compared to
				  another alternative. Whether a cleanup action uses permanent solutions to the
				  maximum extent practicable is determined using the procedures in WAC
				  173-340-360(5).
"Practical quantitation limit"
or
"PQL"
means the lowest concentration that can be reliably measured
				  within specified limits of precision, accuracy, representativeness,
				  completeness, and comparability during routine laboratory operating conditions,
				  using ecology approved methods.
"Probabilistic risk assessment"
means a
				  mathematical technique for assessing the variability and uncertainty in risk
				  calculations. This is done by using distributions for model input parameters,
				  rather than point values, where sufficient data exists to justify the
				  distribution. These distributions are then used to compute various simulations
				  using tools such as Monte Carlo analysis to examine the probability that a
				  given outcome will result (such as a level of risk being exceeded). When using
				  probabilistic techniques under this chapter for human health risk assessment,
				  distributions may not be used to represent dose response relationships
				  (reference dose, reference concentration, cancer potency factor).
"Prospective purchaser"
means a person who is
				  not currently liable for remedial action at a site and who proposes to
				  purchase, redevelop, or reuse the site.
"Protection monitoring"
means a type of
				  compliance monitoring described in WAC
				  173-340-410.
"Public notice"
means the notice and opportunity
				  to comment required under WAC
				  173-340-600(2).
"Public participation plan"
means a plan
				  prepared under WAC
				  173-340-600 to encourage
				  coordinated and effective public involvement tailored to the public's needs at
				  a particular site.
"Rad"
means that quantity of ionizing radiation
				  that results in the absorption of 100 ergs of energy per gram of irradiated
				  material, regardless of the source of radiation.
"Radionuclide"
means a type of atom that
				  spontaneously undergoes radioactive decay. Radionuclides are hazardous
				  substances under the act.
"Reasonable maximum exposure"
means the highest
				  exposure that can be reasonably expected to occur for a human or other living
				  organisms, including a likely vulnerable population or overburdened community,
				  at a site under current and potential future site use.
"Reference dose"
or
"RFD"
means a
				  benchmark dose, derived from the NOAEL or LOAEL for a hazardous substance by
				  consistent application of uncertainty factors used to estimate acceptable daily
				  intake doses and an additional modifying factor, which is based on professional
				  judgment when considering all available data about a substance, expressed in
				  units of milligrams per kilogram body weight per day. This includes chronic
				  reference doses, subchronic reference doses, and developmental reference
				  doses.
"Regulated substance"
means the term as defined
				  in chapter 173-360A WAC. All regulated substances are hazardous substances, as
				  defined in this chapter.
"Release"
means any intentional or unintentional
				  entry of any hazardous substance into the environment, including but not
				  limited to the abandonment or disposal of containers of hazardous
				  substances.
"Relevant and appropriate requirements"
means
				  those cleanup standards, standards of control, and other human health and
				  environmental requirements, criteria, or limitations established under state
				  and federal law that, while not legally applicable to the hazardous substance,
				  cleanup action, location, or other circumstance at a site, ecology determines
				  address problems or situations sufficiently similar to those encountered at the
				  site that their use is well suited to the particular site. The criteria
				  specified in WAC
				  173-340-710(4) are used to determine if a requirement is relevant and appropriate.
"Rem"
means the unit of radiation dose
				  equivalent that is the dosage in rads multiplied by a factor representing the
				  different biological effects of various types of radiation.
"Remedial investigation"
means a remedial action
				  conducted under WAC
				  173-340-350 that consists of
				  collecting and evaluating sufficient information about a site, including the
				  distribution of hazardous substances and the threat they pose to human health
				  and the environment, to enable:
(a)
				Cleanup standards to be established under Part 7 of this chapter; and
(b) Cleanup action alternatives to be
				developed and evaluated in a feasibility study under WAC
				173-340-351.
"Remedial investigation/feasibility study"
means
				  a remedial action that consists of both a remedial investigation and a
				  feasibility study.
"Remediation level (REL)"
means a concentration
				  (or other method of identification) of a hazardous substance in soil, water,
				  air, or sediment used to identify where a particular cleanup action component
				  is required as part of a cleanup action at a site. Other methods of
				  identification include physical appearance or location. A cleanup action
				  selected in accordance with WAC
				  173-340-350 through
				  173-340-390 that includes
				  remediation levels constitutes a cleanup action which is protective of human
				  health and the environment. See WAC
				  173-340-355 for a description of
				  the purpose of remediation levels and the requirements and procedures for
				  developing a cleanup action alternative that includes remediation
				  levels.
"Remedy"
or
"remedial action"
means
				  any action or expenditure consistent with the purposes of chapter 70A.305 RCW
				  to identify, eliminate, or minimize any threat posed by hazardous substances to
				  human health or the environment including any investigative and monitoring
				  activities with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous
				  substance and any health assessments or health effects studies conducted in
				  order to determine the risk or potential risk to human health.
"Restoration time frame"
means the period of
				  time needed to achieve the required cleanup levels at the points of compliance
				  established for the site.
"Risk"
means the probability that a hazardous
				  substance, when released into the environment, will cause an adverse effect in
				  exposed humans or other living organisms.
"Routine cleanup action"
means a remedial action
				  meeting all of the following criteria:
* Cleanup standards for each hazardous substance addressed by
				  the cleanup are obvious and undisputed, and allow for an adequate margin of
				  safety for protection of human health and the environment;
* It involves an obvious and limited choice among cleanup
				  action alternatives and uses an alternative that is reliable, has proven
				  capable of accomplishing cleanup standards, and with which ecology has
				  experience;
* The cleanup action does not require preparation of an
				  environmental impact statement; and
* The site qualifies under WAC
				  173-340-7491 for an exclusion
				  from conducting a simplified or site-specific terrestrial ecological
				  evaluation, or if the site qualifies for a simplified ecological evaluation,
				  the evaluation is ended under WAC
				  173-340-7492(2) or the values in Table 749-2 are used.
Routine cleanup actions consist of, or are comparable to, one
				  or more of the following remedial actions:
* Cleanup of above-ground structures;
* Cleanup of below-ground structures;
* Cleanup of contaminated soils where the action would
				  restore the site to cleanup levels; or
* Cleanup of solid wastes, including containers.
"Sampling and analysis plan"
means a plan
				  prepared under WAC
				  173-340-820.
"Saturated zone"
means the area below the water
				  table in which all interstices are filled with water.
"Schools"
means preschools, elementary schools,
				  middle schools, high schools, and similar facilities, both public and private,
				  used primarily for the instruction of minors.
"Sediment"
means the term as defined in WAC
				  173-204-505.
"Sensitive environment"
means an area of
				  particular environmental value, where a release could pose a greater threat
				  than in other areas including: Wetlands; critical habitat for endangered or
				  threatened species; national or state wildlife refuge; critical habitat,
				  breeding or feeding area for fish or shellfish; wild or scenic river; rookery;
				  riparian area; big game winter range.
"Site"
means the same as "facility."
"Site hazard assessment and ranking"
means a
				  remedial action that consists of an assessment and ranking conducted under WAC
				  173-340-320.
"Soil"
means a mixture of organic and inorganic
				  solids, air, water, and biota that exists on the earth's surface above bedrock,
				  including materials of anthropogenic sources such as slag, sludge, etc.
"Soil biota"
means invertebrate multicellular
				  animals that live in the soil or in close contact with the soil.
"State cleanup law"
means the Model Toxics
				  Control Act, chapter 70A.305 RCW, and the cleanup regulations adopted under
				  that act, chapters 173-340 and 173-204 WAC.
"Subchronic reference dose"
means an estimate
				  (with an uncertainty of an order of magnitude or more) of a daily exposure
				  level for the human population, including sensitive subgroups, that is likely
				  to be without appreciable risk of adverse effects during a portion of a
				  lifetime.
"Surface water"
means lakes, rivers, ponds,
				  streams, inland waters, salt waters, and all other surface waters and water
				  courses within the state of Washington or under the jurisdiction of the state
				  of Washington.
"Technically possible"
means capable of being
				  designed, constructed, and implemented in a reliable and effective manner,
				  regardless of cost.
"Terrestrial ecological receptors"
means plants
				  and animals that live primarily or entirely on land.
"Threatened or endangered species"
means species
				  listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act
				  16 U.S.C. Section
				  1533, or classified as threatened or
				  endangered by the state fish and wildlife commission under WAC
				  220-200-100 or
				  220-610-010.
"Total excess cancer risk"
means the upper bound
				  on the estimated excess cancer risk associated with exposure to multiple
				  hazardous substances and multiple exposure pathways.
"Total petroleum hydrocarbons"
or
"TPH"
means any fraction of crude oil that is contained in plant
				  condensate, crankcase motor oil, gasoline, aviation fuels, kerosene, diesel
				  motor fuel, benzol, fuel oil, and other products derived from the refining of
				  crude oil. For the purposes of this chapter, TPH generally means those
				  fractions of the above products that are the total of all hydrocarbons
				  quantified by analytical methods NWTPH-Gx; NWTPH-Dx; volatile petroleum
				  hydrocarbons (VPH) for volatile aliphatic and volatile aromatic petroleum
				  fractions; and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons (EPH) for nonvolatile
				  aliphatic and nonvolatile aromatic petroleum fractions, as appropriate, or
				  other test methods approved by ecology.
"Type I error"
means the error made when it is
				  concluded that an area of a site is below cleanup levels when it actually
				  exceeds cleanup levels. This is the rejection of a true null hypothesis.
"Underground storage tank"
or
"UST"
means the term as defined in chapter 173-360A WAC.
"Unrestricted site use conditions"
means
				  restrictions on the use of the site or natural resources affected by releases
				  of hazardous substances from the site are not required to ensure continued
				  protection of human health and the environment.
"Upper bound on the estimated excess cancer risk of one
				  in 100,000"
means the upper 95th percent confidence limit on the
				  estimated risk of one additional cancer above the background cancer rate per
				  100,000 individuals.
"Upper bound on the estimated excess cancer risk of one
				  in 1,000,000"
means the upper 95th percent confidence limit on the
				  estimated risk of one additional cancer above the background cancer rate per
				  1,000,000 individuals.
"UST system"
means the term as defined in
				  chapter 173-360A WAC.
"UST system operator"
means the same as
				  "operator" in chapter 173-360A WAC.
"UST system owner"
means the same as "owner" in
				  chapter 173-360A WAC.
"Volatile organic compound"
means those
				  carbon-based compounds listed in United States Environmental Protection Agency
				  methods 502.2, 524.2, 551, 601, 602, 603, 624, 1624C, 1666, 1671, 8011, 8015B,
				  8021B, 8031, 8032A, 8033, 8260B, and those with similar vapor pressures or
				  boiling points. For petroleum, volatile means aliphatic and aromatic
				  constituents up to and including EC12, plus naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene
				  and 2-methylnaphthalene.
"Vulnerable population"
means the term as
				  defined in
				  RCW
				     70A.02.010(14).
"Wastewater facility"
means all structures and
				  equipment required to collect, transport, treat, reclaim, or dispose of
				  domestic, industrial, or combined domestic/industrial wastewaters.
"Wetlands"
means the term as defined in WAC
				  173-201A-020.
"Wildlife"
means any nonhuman vertebrate animal
				  other than fish.
"Zoned for (a specified) use"
means the use is
				  allowed as a permitted or conditional use under the local jurisdiction's land
				  use zoning ordinances. A land use that is inconsistent with the current zoning
				  but allowed to continue as a nonconforming use or through a comparable
				  designation is not considered to be zoned for that use.
Statutory Authority:
					 Chapter
					 70.105D RCW. 01-05-024
					 (Order 97-09A), § 173-340-200, filed 2/12/01, effective 8/15/01; 96-04-010
					 (Order 94-37), § 173-340-200, filed 1/26/96, effective 2/26/96; 91-04-019,
					 § 173-340-200, filed 1/28/91, effective 2/28/91; 90-08-086, §
					 173-340-200, filed 4/3/90, effective 5/4/90.
Reviser's note:
The brackets and enclosed
					 material in the text of the above section occurred in the copy filed by the
					 agency.