Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-70 - Solid waste and/or refuse collection companies › Part I - GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE RULES › Section 480-70-041 - Definitions, general

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(See WAC
				  480-70-226 (Tariffs, definitions
				  used in) for definition of terms used primarily in tariff filings.) Unless the
				  language or context indicates that a different meaning is intended, the
				  following words, terms and phrases mean:
"Affiliated interest"
means a person or
				  corporation as defined in
				  RCW
				  81.16.010.
"Application docket"
means a commission
				  publication listing applications requesting operating authority, and commission
				  action taken on applications for temporary authority.
"Biomedical waste"
means the following types of
				  waste:
"Animal waste" means waste animal carcasses, body parts, and
				  bedding of animals that are known to be infected with, or that have been
				  inoculated with, human pathogenic microorganisms infectious to humans.
"Biosafety level 4 disease waste" means waste contaminated
				  with blood, excretions, exudates, or secretions from humans or animals who are
				  isolated to protect others from highly communicable infectious diseases that
				  are identified as pathogenic organisms assigned to biosafety level 4 by the
				  Centers for Disease Control, National Institute of Health,
Biosafety in
				  Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories,
current edition.
"Cultures and stocks" means wastes infectious to humans and
				  includes specimen cultures, cultures and stocks of etiologic agents, wastes
				  from production of biologicals and serums, discarded live and attenuated
				  vaccines, and laboratory waste that has come into contact with cultures and
				  stocks of etiologic agents or blood specimens. Such waste includes, but is not
				  limited to, culture dishes, blood specimen tubes, and devices used to transfer,
				  inoculate, and mix cultures.
"Human blood and blood products" means discarded waste human
				  blood and blood components, and materials containing free-flowing blood and
				  blood products.
"Pathological waste" means waste human source biopsy
				  materials, tissues, and anatomical parts that emanate from surgery, obstetrical
				  procedures, and autopsy. "Pathological waste" does not include teeth, human
				  corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or
				  cremation.
"Sharps waste" means all hypodermic needles, syringes with
				  needles attached, IV tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, and lancets
				  that have been removed from the original sterile package.
Note:
Certificates issued prior to the effective date of
								these rules may contain the terms "biohazardous waste" or "infectious waste" in
								describing services authorized. From the effective date of these rules, those
								permits shall be understood to allow the transportation of "biomedical
								waste."
"Biohazardous or biomedical waste generator"
means any person, by site, whose act or process produces infectious waste, or
				  whose act first caused an infectious waste to become subject to regulation. In
				  the case where more than one person, e.g., doctors with separate medical
				  practices, are located in the same building, each individual business entity is
				  a separate generator for the purposes of these rules.
"Biohazardous or biomedical waste transporter"
means any person who transports infectious waste over the highways in a
				  quantity equal to or exceeding one hundred pounds per month for
				  compensation.
"Biosolids"
means municipal sewage sludge that
				  is a primarily organic, semisolid product resulting from the wastewater
				  treatment process.
"Business of transporting solid waste for collection
				  and/or disposal for compensation"
means those carriers who are primarily
				  in the specialized business of solid waste for collection and/or
				  disposal.
"Cancellation"
means an act by the commission to
				  terminate a solid waste collection company certificate; or an act by a carrier
				  to discontinue the application of a tariff, a tariff supplement, or a tariff
				  item.
"Certificate"
means the certificate of public
				  convenience and necessity issued by the Washington utilities and transportation
				  commission under the provisions of
				  chapter
				  81.77 RCW for the
				  operation of solid waste collection companies.
"Certificated authority"
means the territory and
				  services granted by the commission and described in a company's certificate of
				  public convenience and necessity.
"City regulation"
means regulation of the
				  operations of a solid waste collection company by a city through issuance of a
				  contract.
"Classes of companies":
"Class A company"
means a traditional solid
				  waste collection company with an annual gross operating revenue from regulated,
				  intrastate operations of five million dollars or more.
"Class B company"
means a traditional solid
				  waste collection company with an annual gross operating revenue from regulated,
				  intrastate operations of less than five million dollars.
"Class C company"
means a solid waste collection
				  company that does not provide traditional residential or commercial solid waste
				  operations. This class includes specialized carriers generally hauling specific
				  waste products for specific customers or providing only on-call or nonscheduled
				  service.
"Classes of service"
means either commercial,
				  specialized, drop box, or residential service.
"Company"
means a solid waste collection
				  company.
"Commercial authority"
means authority to
				  provide solid waste collection service to business, institutional, or
				  industrial generators.
"Commercial recycling service"
means
				  transportation of recyclable commodities from a buy-back center, drop box, or
				  from a commercial or industrial generator of recyclable materials when those
				  recyclable materials are being transported for use other than landfill disposal
				  or incineration. Commercial recycling is regulated under
				  chapter
				  81.80 RCW.
"Commercial service"
means solid waste
				  collection service provided to a business, institutional, or industrial
				  generator.
"Commission"
means the Washington utilities and
				  transportation commission.
"Common carrier"
means any person who transports
				  solid waste by motor vehicle for compensation.
"Construction debris"
or
"construction
				  waste"
means solid waste resulting from the building or renovation of
				  buildings, roads and other man-made structures. Construction debris includes,
				  but is not limited to, materials such as plasterboard, cement, dirt, wood, and
				  brush.
"Contract carrier"
means a person holding a
				  certificate issued by the commission authorizing transportation of solid waste
				  for collection and/or disposal under special and individual contracts or
				  agreements.
"Control"
means the possession, direct or
				  indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and
				  policies of a company, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by
				  contract, or otherwise.
"Demolition waste"
or
"demolition
				  debris"
means solid waste resulting from the demolition or razing of
				  buildings, roads and other man-made structures. Demolition waste includes, but
				  is not limited to, concrete, brick, bituminous concrete, wood and masonry,
				  composition roofing and roofing paper, steel, and minor amounts of other metals
				  like copper.
"Disinfect"
means to cleanse by destroying
				  harmful microorganisms.
"Disposal site"
means the location where any
				  final treatment, utilization, processing, or deposit of solid waste occurs.
				  This term includes, but is not limited to, landfills, transfer stations, and
				  incinerators.
"Dump truck operator"
means a carrier holding a
				  permit under
				  chapter
				  81.80 RCW engaged in the
				  operation of dump trucks and similar vehicles used in the transportation of
				  sand, gravel, dirt, debris, and other similar commodities except solid waste.
				  Dump truck operations are usually conducted during the daytime; are local in
				  character; are somewhat seasonal, especially in connection with building or
				  construction projects; and the value of the commodity transported is usually
				  low.
"Filing"
means any application, petition, tariff
				  proposal, annual report, comment, complaint, pleading, or other document
				  submitted to the commission.
"Garbage"
means those materials of solid waste
				  that are putrescible.
"Garbage and refuse."
Whenever the phrase
				  "garbage and refuse" is used as a qualifying phrase, it means either garbage or
				  refuse, or both garbage and refuse.
"Hazardous waste"
means any material that is
				  subject to the Hazardous Waste Manifest Requirements of the U.S. Environmental
				  Protection Agency specified in 40 C.F.R. Part 262.
"Incineration"
means to reduce the volume of
				  solid waste by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame
				  combustion.
"Incinerator"
means a site where solid waste is
				  reduced in volume by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame
				  combustion.
"Landfill"
means a disposal facility or part of
				  a facility at which solid waste is placed in or on land and which is not a
				  land-treatment facility.
"Land-treatment facility"
means the site on
				  which the practice of applying dangerous waste onto or incorporating dangerous
				  waste into the soil surface so that it will degrade or decompose takes place.
				  The term does not include applying waste onto or into the soil surface for the
				  purpose of soil sweetening or soil amendment.
"Leachate"
means water or other liquid that has
				  been contaminated by dissolved or suspended materials due to contact with solid
				  waste or gases.
"Motor vehicle"
means any truck, trailer,
				  semi-trailer, tractor or any self-propelled or motor-driven vehicle used on any
				  public highway of this state for the purpose of transporting solid waste for
				  collection and/or disposal.
"Multiple-family residence"
or
"multifamily residence"
means any structure housing two or more
				  dwelling units.
"Multifamily service"
means residential service
				  provided to multifamily structures or locations including, but not limited to,
				  duplexes, apartments, mobile home courts, and condominiums.
"Nonputrescible"
means not capable of being
				  readily decomposed by microorganisms.
"Occasional"
means occurring at irregular and
				  infrequent intervals. The term is qualitative, not quantitative, in that the
				  term applies to services that are only performed from time-to-time, not that
				  the solid waste hauling is only a small part of services offered.
"Packer"
means a device or vehicle specially
				  designed to compress loose materials.
"Person"
means an individual, firm, corporation,
				  association, partnership, lessee, receiver, trustee, consortium, joint venture,
				  or commercial entity.
"Private carrier"
means a person who transports
				  solid waste in the person's own vehicle purely as an incidental adjunct to some
				  other established private business owned or operated by that person in good
				  faith.
EXCEPTION:
A person who transports solid waste from
								residential sources in a vehicle designed or used primarily for the transport
								of solid waste is not a private carrier.
"Private motor vehicle"
means a vehicle owned
				  or operated by a private carrier.
"Private road"
means a road not normally
				  available for use by the public.
"Public highway"
means every street, road, or
				  highway in this state normally available for use by the public.
"Putrescible"
means capable of being readily
				  decomposed by microorganisms.
"Recyclable materials"
means materials that are
				  transported for recycling, reprocessing, reclamation, or for any process that
				  extracts or modifies the commodity for reuse or another commercially valuable
				  purpose.
"Recycling"
means transforming or
				  remanufacturing materials into usable or marketable materials for use other
				  than landfill disposal or incineration.
"Refuse"
means those materials of solid waste
				  that are not putrescible.
"Residence"
means the regular dwelling place of
				  an individual or individuals.
"Residential authority"
means authority to
				  provide solid waste collection from residences.
"Residential recycling service"
means collection
				  of those solid wastes that are separated for recycling or reuse, such as paper,
				  plastic, metals, and glass, that are identified as recyclable materials
				  pursuant to a local comprehensive solid waste plan.
"Residential service"
means solid waste
				  collection from residences.
"Sewer sludge"
means a semisolid substance
				  consisting of settled sewage solids combined with varying amounts of water and
				  dissolved materials, generated from a wastewater treatment system, that does
				  not meet the requirements of chapter 70.95J RCW, and is transported to a site
				  for disposal.
"Shipping paper"
means a shipping order, bill
				  of lading, manifest, or other shipping document serving a similar purpose and
				  containing the information required in WAC
				  480-70-401 (Payment
				  options).
"Small business"
means any company that has
				  fifty or fewer employees.
"Solid waste"
or
"solid wastes"
means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes including,
				  but not limited to:
. Garbage;
. Rubbish;
. Refuse;
. Swill;
. Ashes;
. Industrial wastes;
. Sewage sludge;
. Demolition and construction wastes;
. Abandoned vehicles or parts of abandoned vehicles;
				  and
. Source-separated recyclable materials collected from single
				  and multifamily residences.
"Solid waste collection"
means collecting solid
				  waste from residential or commercial customers and transporting the solid
				  waste, using a motor vehicle, for collection and/or disposal over the highways
				  of the state of Washington for compensation.
"Solid waste collection company"
means every
				  common carrier, including a contract carrier, who provides solid waste
				  collection service.
"Source separation"
means the separation of
				  different kinds of solid waste at the place where the waste originates.
"Specialized solid waste collection company"
means a company providing other than traditional solid waste collection
				  service. Specialized companies generally haul specific waste products for
				  specific customers, provide only on-call or nonscheduled service, or provide
				  accessorial services not normally provided by traditional solid waste
				  collection companies.
"State"
means the state of Washington.
"Subsidiary"
means any company in which the
				  solid waste company owns directly or indirectly five percent or more of the
				  voting securities, unless the solid waste company demonstrates it does not have
				  control.
"Suspension"
means an act by the commission to
				  temporarily withhold a solid waste collection company's certificated authority;
				  or an act by the commission to withhold approval of a company's tariff
				  filing.
"Tariff"
means a document issued by a company,
				  and approved by the commission, containing the services provided, the rates and
				  charges the company bills its customers for those services, and the rules
				  describing how the rates and charges apply.
"Tariff service territory"
means a
				  company-defined geographic division of its certificated authority in which a
				  specific tariff applies.
"Third-party waste broker"
means a person or
				  company acting on behalf of a generator of solid waste, usually an industrial
				  or commercial generator, to arrange for collection and/or disposal of solid
				  waste.
"Traditional solid waste collection company"
means a company engaged in collecting and removing solid waste and recyclable
				  materials from private homes, and/or removing solid waste from commercial
				  establishments, industrial facilities, and other sites. Solid waste is normally
				  picked up on a daily, weekly, or other regular basis. Drivers are usually
				  assigned designated routes to collect curbside residential solid waste or
				  transport cans or containers for commercial businesses. Unless the company's
				  certificate is restricted against doing so, a traditional solid waste
				  collection company may also perform specialized solid waste collection
				  service.
"Transfer station"
means a staffed, fixed
				  supplemental facility used by persons and route collection vehicles to deposit
				  solid wastes into transfer trailers for transportation to a disposal site. The
				  definition does not usually include detachable containers. However, in counties
				  with a population of less than seventy thousand, and in any county with a
				  population of from one hundred twenty-five thousand to less than two hundred
				  ten thousand that is located east of the crest of the Cascade mountain range,
				  if detachable containers are securely fenced, staffed by an attendant during
				  all hours when the detachable container is open to the public, and tipping fees
				  that cover the cost of providing the containers and the use of the facility are
				  charged, then such detachable containers constitute a transfer station. (Refer
				  to RCW
				  36.58.030.)
"Treatment"
means incineration, sterilization,
				  or other method, technique, or process that changes the character or
				  composition of a biomedical waste so as to minimize the risk of transmitting an
				  infectious disease by making it noninfectious. Any waste, except sharps, that
				  has been treated is not considered biohazardous or biomedical waste, and may be
				  considered to be solid waste for purposes and handling.
"Vehicle"
means every device capable of
				  transporting solid waste on a public highway. The term "vehicle" does not
				  include devices moved by human or animal power or used exclusively on
				  stationary rails or tracks.
"Yard waste"
or
"yard debris"
means
				  plant material commonly created in the course of maintaining yards and gardens
				  and through horticulture, gardening, landscaping, or similar activities. Yard
				  waste includes, but is not limited to, grass clippings, leaves, branches,
				  brush, weeds, flowers, roots, windfall fruit, and vegetable garden
				  debris.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 80.01.040,
					 80.04.160,
					 81.04.160 and
					 34.05.353. 05-06-051 (Docket No.
					 A-021178 and TO-030288, General Order No. R-518), § 480-70-041, filed
					 2/28/05, effective 3/31/05. Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 81.04.160,
					 81.77.030 and
					 80.01.040. 01-08-012 (Docket No.
					 TG-990161, General Order No. R-479), § 480-70-041, filed 3/23/01,
					 effective 4/23/01.