Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-224 - Water quality permit fees › Section 173-224-030 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The following definitions apply to this chapter.
(1) "Administrative expenses" means those
			 costs associated with issuing and administering permits under
			 RCW
			    90.48.160,
			 90.48.162, and
			 90.48.260.
(2) "Aluminum forming" means the deformation
			 of aluminum or aluminum alloys into specific shapes by hot or cold rolling,
			 drawing, extruding, or forging.
(3)
			 "Aluminum and magnesium reduction mills" means the electrolytic reduction of
			 alumina or magnesium salts to produce aluminum or magnesium metal.
(4) "Animal unit" means the following:
DAIRY ANIMAL TYPE
ANIMAL UNIT
						  MULTIPLIER
The number of animal units equals the number of
						  animals multiplied by the animal unit multiplier.
Example: 10 milk cows multiplied by 1.4 = 14
						  animal units
Dairy Cows
Milk cow
1.40
Dry cow
1.00
Heifer
0.80
(5)
			 "Annual permit fee" means the fee assessed by the department for annual
			 expenses associated with activities specified in
			 RCW
			    90.48.465. This annual fee is assessed in
			 alignment with the state's fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
(6) "bbls" means barrels of product in
			 storage for fuel and chemical storage facilities.
(7) "bbls per day" means barrels per day of
			 oil for petroleum refineries.
(8)
			 "bins per year" means total standard bins used during the last complete
			 calendar year by a facility in the fruit packing industry. The bins measure
			 approximately 47.5 inches [MULTIPLICATION] 47.4 inches [MULTIPLICATION] 29.5
			 inches and hold approximately 870 pounds of fruit.
(9) "Chemical pulp mill with chlorine
			 bleaching" means any pulp mill that uses chlorine or chlorine compounds in
			 their bleaching process.
(10) "Coal
			 mining and preparation" means extracting coal from underground or surface mines
			 using machinery or explosives. Coal preparation plants may use chemical and
			 physical processes such as leaching, distillation, retorting, slurry mining,
			 solution mining, borehole mining, fluid recovery mining, washing and
			 concentrating. Coal handling may include sorting, screening, crushing, storing,
			 or transporting.
(11) "Combined
			 food processing waste treatment facility" means a facility that treats
			 wastewater from more than one separately permitted food processor and receives
			 no domestic wastewater or waste from industrial sources other than food
			 processing.
(12) "Combined
			 industrial waste treatment" means a facility that treats wastewater from more
			 than one industry in any of the following categories: Inorganic chemicals,
			 metal finishing, ore concentration, organic chemicals, or
			 photofinishers.
(13) "Combined
			 sewer overflow (CSO) system" means a system that conveys combined waste-water
			 and stormwater to a domestic wastewater facility for treatment, but may also
			 discharge wastewater prior to the treatment facility.
(14) "Concentrated animal feeding operation
			 (CAFO) " means an animal feeding operation that meets the criteria in Appendix
			 C of  40 C.F.R.
			 122  as presently enacted and any subsequent
			 modifications thereto.
(15)
			 "Contaminants of concern" means a chemical for which an effluent limit is
			 established (this does not include pH, flow, temperature, or other "nonchemical
			 parameters"). Petroleum constituents are considered as one contaminant of
			 concern even if more than one effluent limit is established (e.g., Total
			 Petroleum Hydrocarbons and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene
			 (BTEX)).
(16) "Crane" means a
			 machine used for hoisting and lifting ship hulls.
(17) "Cubic yards per year" means the cubic
			 yards per year for total production from a sand and gravel facility during the
			 most recent completed calendar year.
(18) "Department" means the department of
			 ecology.
(19) "Director" means the
			 director of the department of ecology.
(20) "Disturbed acres" means the total area
			 of disturbance for a construction site over the life of a construction project.
			 This includes all clearing, grading, and excavating, and any other activity
			 which disturbs the surface of the land.
(21) "Domestic wastewater" means water
			 carrying human wastes, including kitchen, bath, and laundry wastes from
			 residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with
			 any groundwa-ter infiltration or surface waters that may be present.
(22) "Domestic wastewater facility" means all
			 structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat,
			 reclaim or dispose of domestic wastewater together with industrial waste that
			 may be present.
(23) "EPA" means
			 the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(24) "Facilities not otherwise classified"
			 means an industrial wastewater facility that does not meet the definition of
			 other permit fee categories and the discharge in gallons per day is the best
			 method to assess a permit fee. This fee category may include a variety of
			 industrial facility types.
(25)
			 "Finfish hatching and rearing" means raising (i.e., hatching, culturing,
			 rearing, and growing) finfish. An operation to raise finfish uses confined
			 spaces such as hatcheries, net pens, or other enclosed fish facilities or
			 structures. The purpose for the activity can include sales or fisheries
			 enhancement.
(26) "Federally
			 recognized tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized
			 group or community of Indians in the Federal List Act, that is recognized as
			 having a government-to-government relationship with the United States of
			 America, with the responsibili- ties, powers, limitations, and obligations to
			 that designation, and is eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of
			 Indian Affairs or successor agency.
(27) "Flavor extraction" means the recovery
			 of flavors or essential oils from organic products by steam
			 distillation.
(28) "Food
			 processing" means the preparation of food for human or animal consumption or
			 the preparation of animal by-products, excluding fruit packing. This category
			 includes, but is not limited to, fruit and vegetable processing, meat and
			 poultry products processing, dairy products processing, beer production,
			 rendering and animal feed production. Food processing wastewater treatment
			 plants that treat wastes from only one separately permitted food processor must
			 be treated as one facility for billing purposes.
(29) "Fruit packing" means preparing fruit
			 for wholesale or retail sale by washing and/or other processes in which the
			 skin of the fruit is not broken and in which the interior part of the fruit
			 does not come in direct contact with the wastewater.
(30) "gpd" means gallons per day.
(31) "gpy" means gallons per year of wine
			 produced as reported annually for the most recent completed calendar
			 year.
(32) "Hazardous waste cleanup
			 sites" means any facility where there has been confirmation of a release or
			 threatened release of a hazardous substance that requires remedial action other
			 than RCRA corrective action sites.
(33) "Inactive" means that a facility is not
			 currently discharging wastewater but maintains their permit coverage.
(34) "Inactive rate" means a fee assessment
			 that is reduced to 25 percent of the regular assessed fee, when a site is
			 inactive for a minimum of 18 months.
(35) "Industrial gross revenue" means the
			 annual amount of the sales of goods and services produced using the processes
			 regulated by the stormwater discharge permit.
(36) "Industrial stormwater" means stormwater
			 discharges associated with industrial activities that are regulated under
			 either a general permit or an individual permit for stormwater.
(37) "Industrial wastewater" means water or
			 liquid-carried waste from industrial or commercial processes, as distinct from
			 domestic wastewater. These wastes may result from any process or activity of
			 industry, manufacture, trade or business, from the development of any natural
			 resource, or from animal operations such as feed lots, poultry houses, or
			 dairies. The term includes contaminated stormwater and, also, leachate from
			 solid waste facilities.
(38)
			 "Industrial wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes
			 required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim, or dispose of industrial
			 wastewater. In this rule, it also means any facility not included in the
			 definition of municipal or domestic wastewater facility.
(39) "Manufacturing" means making goods and
			 articles by hand or machine into a manufactured product.
(40) "Median household income" means the most
			 recent available census data, updated yearly as measured by the U.S. Census
			 Bureau.
(41) "Metal finishing"
			 means preparing metal surfaces by means of electroplating, electroless plating,
			 anodizing, coating (chromating, phosphating and coloring), chemical etching and
			 milling, and printed circuit board manufacture.
(42) "MGD" means million gallons per
			 day.
(43) "Municipal or domestic
			 wastewater facility" means a publicly owned facility treating domestic
			 wastewater together with any industrial wastewaters that may be present, or a
			 privately owned facility treating solely domestic waste-water.
(44) "Municipal sewerage system" or "publicly
			 owned treatment works (POTW) " means a publicly owned domestic wastewater
			 facility or a privately owned domestic wastewater facility.
(45) "Municipality" means a city, town,
			 county, district, association, or other public body created by or in accordance
			 with state law and that has jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial
			 wastes, or other wastes, or a designated and approved management agency under
			 33 U.S.C. Sec.
			 1288. State government agencies are not
			 included in this definition.
(46)
			 "Noncontact cooling water with additives" means water used for cooling that
			 does not come into direct contact with any raw materials, intermediate product,
			 waste product or finished product, but may contain chemicals or additives to
			 control corrosion or fouling of the cooling system.
(47) "Noncontact cooling water without
			 additives" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact
			 with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product,
			 that does not contain chemicals or additives. The noncontact cooling water fee
			 without additives category applies to those facilities that discharge only
			 noncontact cooling water and that have no other wastewater discharges required
			 to be permitted under
			 RCW
			    90.48.160,
			 90.48.162, and
			 90.48.260.
(48) "Nonferrous metals forming" means
			 manufacturing semifinished products from pure metal or metal alloys other than
			 iron or steel or of metals not otherwise classified in WAC
			 173-224-040(2).
(49) "Nonfinfish hatching and rearing" means
			 raising (i.e., hatching culturing, rearing, and growing) aquatic animals, such
			 as shellfish, other aquatic invertebrates, or other aquatic species, that are
			 not exclusively finfish. An operation to raise these species uses confined
			 spaces to grow the animals and includes feeding and cleaning activities to
			 maintain the animals. The purposes for the activity can include sales and
			 harvest enhancement.
(50)
			 "Nonoperating site" means a location where previous sand and gravel mining or
			 processing has occurred; that has not been fully reclaimed; that conducts
			 mining or processing fewer than 90 days per year, and that may include
			 stockpiles of raw materials or finished products. The permittee may add or
			 withdraw raw materials or finished products from the stockpiles for
			 transportation off-site for processing, use, or sale and still be considered a
			 nonoperating site.
(51) "NPDES
			 permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued
			 by the department under Section 402 of the federal Clean Water Act and
			 RCW
			    90.48.260.
(52) "Ore mining" refers to mine operators
			 who extract ores (metal-bearing rock) from underground or surface mines using
			 machinery, explosives, or chemicals. Extraction processes include dressing
			 (picking, sorting, washing of ores), milling (crushing, grinding, etc.), and
			 beneficiation (processing to improve purity/quality).
(53) "Person" means any political
			 subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private
			 corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity
			 whatever.
(54) "Portable facility"
			 means a facility or equipment that is designed for mobility and is moved from
			 site to site for short term operations. A portable facility or equipment
			 applies only to an asphalt batch plant, portable concrete batch plant and
			 portable rock crusher.
(55) "RCRA
			 corrective action sites" means Resource Conservation Recovery Act cleanup sites
			 required to have a wastewater discharge permit resulting from a corrective
			 action under relevant federal authorities or under chapters 70A.300 and 70A.305
			 RCW including chapters 173-303 and 173-340 WAC, and are not subject to cost
			 recovery.
(56) "Residential
			 equivalent (RE)" means a single-family residence or a unit of sewer service
			 that yields an amount of gross revenue equal to the annual user charge for a
			 single-family residence. In cases where the permit holder does not maintain
			 data on gross revenue, user charges, and/or the number of single-family
			 residences that it serves, "residential equivalent" means an influent flow of
			 250 gallons per day.
(57) "Sand and
			 gravel" means mining or quarrying sand, gravel, or rock, or producing concrete,
			 asphalt, or a combination thereof.
(58) "Seafood processing" means:
(a) Preparing fresh, cooked, canned, smoked,
			 preserved, or frozen seafoods, including marine and freshwater animals (fish,
			 shellfish, crustaceans, etc.) and plants, for human or animal consumption;
			 or
(b) Washing, shucking, and/or
			 packaging of mollusks or crustaceans.