Environmental Permits Handbook

Glossary

Accelerator: Any device used to impart kinetic energy to electrically charged particles including, but not limited to, electrons, protons, deuterons and helium ions. This includes equipment designed for and used only for the production of X-rays of 0.9 MeV or greater and equipment capable of discharging nuclear particles into a medium external to the accelerating device.

Acutely hazardous wastes: Wastes that EPA has determined to be so dangerous in small amounts that they are regulated the same way as are large amounts of other hazardous wastes. 40 CFR § 261 Subpart D

Air contaminant: Particulate matter, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, vapor or any combination thereof. APC Rule 1200-3-2-.01(a)

Air contaminant sources: Any and all sources of emission of air contaminants, whether privately or publicly owned or operated. This term includes all types of business, commercial and industrial plants, works, shops and stores, heating and power plants and stations, building and other structures listed in APC Rule 1200-3-2-.01(1)(b).

Air curtain destructor: A unit consisting of a combustion chamber pit and air blower designed to establish a curtain of high velocity air above the fire burning in the pit so that the products of combustion must be forced up through the curtain before they reach the outside air. APC Rule 1200-3-2(1)

Class I disposal facility: A sanitary landfill that serves a municipal, institutional, and/or rural population and is used or is to be used for disposal of domestic wastes, commercial wastes, institutional wastes, municipal wastes, bulky wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, industrial wastes, construction demolition wastes, farming wastes, discarded automotive tires, and dead animals. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class II disposal facility: A landfill that receives waste generated by one or more industrial or manufacturing plants and that is used or is to be used for the disposal of solid waste generated by such plants, which may include industrial wastes, commercial wastes, institutional wastes, farming wastes, bulky wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, construction/demolition wastes, discarded automotive tires, and dead animals. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class III disposal facility: A landfill that is used or is to be used for the disposal of farming wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, and/or certain special wastes having similar characteristics. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class IV disposal facility: A landfill that is used or is to be used for the disposal of demolition/construction wastes, certain special wastes having similar characteristics and waste tires. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class V disposal facility: A land farming facility. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class VI disposal facility: A surface impoundment used for disposal of solid waste. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Class I injection well: Injection wells that are regulated by federal and state permits. They include 1) wells used by generators of hazardous waste or owners/operators of hazardous waste management facilities to inject hazardous waste beneath the lowermost formation containing an underground source of drinking water (USDW) within a radius of one mile of the well bore; or 2) other industrial and municipal disposal wells that inject fluids beneath the lowermost formation containing a USDW within a radius of one mile of the well bore. DWS Rule 1220-4-6-.06

Class V injection wells: Injection wells or systems that are regulated either by permit or by rule and are not included in Classes I, II (oilfield brine), III (mineral extraction) or IV (hazardous waste). Class V wells include 1) air conditioning return flow wells used to return to the supply aquifer the water used for heating or cooling in a heat pump; 2) drainage wells used to drain surface fluid, primarily stormwater runoff, into a subsurface formation; 3) cooling water return flow wells used to inject water previously used for cooling; 4) recharge wells used to replenish the water in an aquifer; 5) sand backfill and other backfill wells used to inject a mixture of water and sand, mill tailings or other solids into mined-out portions of subsurface mines including radioactive waste; 6) radioactive waste disposal wells other than Class IV; and 7) other wells or systems as listed in DWS Rule 1220-4-6-.06.

Closure (landfill): Actions taken at the termination of a disposal operation which are necessary to finally close the disposal facility or disposal facility parcel. SWM Rule Chapter 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Conditionally exempt small quantity generator (CESQG): A generator who generates no more than 100 kilograms of hazardous waste in one calendar month.

Contingency plan (hazardous wastes):A document setting out an organized, planned and coordinated course of action to be followed in case of fire, explosion or release of hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents which could threaten public health or the environment. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2) or 40 CFR § 264 Subpart D

Construction: The fabrication, erection or installation of a stationary air emissions source or modification of such source. APC Rule 1200-3-2-.01

Convenience center: Any area which is staffed and fenced that has waste receptacles on site that are open to the public when an attendant is present to receive household waste, municipal solid waste and recyclable materials. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Corrosive: A substance that dissolves metals and other materials or burns the skin. An aqueous solution is corrosive if it has a pH of less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12. If a liquid corrodes steel (SAE 1020) at a rate greater than 6.35 mm per year at a test temperature of 55o C, it is corrosive. Examples are waste rust removers, waste acid or alkaline cleaning fluids and waste battery acid. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3) or 40 CFR § 261.22

Department: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation

Demolition: The wrecking or taking out of any load-supporting structural member of a facility together with any related handling operations or the intentional burning of any facility. APC Rule 1200-3-11-.02(1)

Disposal: The discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground water. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2)(a) or 40 CFR § 270.2

Disposal facility (hazardous waste): A facility or part of a facility at which hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on any water or land, and at which waste will remain after closure. The term disposal facility does not include a corrective action management unit into which remediation wastes are placed. SWM Rule 1200-1-11(2)(a)

Disposal facility (solid waste): A facility or part of a facility at which solid waste disposal occurs. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(2)

Exempted air contaminant: A source that has been exempted from construction and operating permits by the Division of APC. Examples are mobile sources; fuel-burning equipment of less than 500,000 BTU per hour capacity; a single stack of an air contaminant source that emits no gaseous or hazardous air contaminants and which does not have the potential for emitting more than 0.5 pound per hour of non-hazardous particulate (this exemption does not apply to incinerators or lead-emitting sources); farm equipment used for soil preparation, tending or harvesting of crops or for preparation of feed to be used on the farm where prepared; retail gasoline and diesel fuel handling facilities; sources within the counties of Davidson, Shelby, Hamilton and Knox (regulated locally); and other sources as described in APC Rule 1200 3-9-.04.

Exempted hazardous wastes: Wastes that have been exempted from RCRA but may still be subject to TDEC regulations. Examples are wastes from the extraction, beneficiation and processing of ores and minerals; slag from primary copper and lead processing; air pollution control dust/sludge from iron blast furnaces; cement kiln dust waste and others as described in APC Rule 1200 -1-11-0.02(1)(c) and 40 CFR 261.4(b).

Exempted solid waste disposal facilities and practices: Exempt disposal facilities and practices include disposal of septic tank pumpings; junkyards; reclamation of surface mines; disposal of farming wastes, landscaping and land clearing wastes, and construction/demolition wastes at facilities which are on the site of generation; burning of solid wastes for energy recovery or processing solid wastes to produce a fuel; baling, shredding and mechanical or other processing of solid waste on the site of generation; and others as listed in SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.02(1b).

Exempted underground storage tanks: Tanks removed from the ground are not subject to notification. Other exclusions are: 1) farm or residential tanks of 1,100 gallons or less capacity used for storing motor fuel for non-commercial purposes; 2) tanks used for storing heating oil for consumption on the premises where stored; 3) septic tanks; 4) pipeline facilities (including gathering lines) regulated under the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 or intrastate pipeline facilities regulated under state law; 5) surface impoundments, pits, ponds or lagoons; 6) storm water or waste water collection systems; 7) flow-through process tanks; 8) liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations; and 9) petroleum storage tanks situated in an underground area (such as basement, cellar, mine working, drift, shaft or tunnel) if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor. TCA Section 68-215-124

Fact sheet: A document that briefly sets forth the principal facts and the significant factual, legal, methodological and policy questions considered in preparing the draft permit. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.02(3)(d)

Farm pond: Any impoundment used exclusively to provide water for agricultural and domestic purposes such as livestock and poultry watering, irrigation of crops, recreation and conservation for the owner or occupant of the farm, his or her family and invited personal guests.

Financial assurance: A financial arrangement between the operator and the State that guarantees the availability of funds which the State may use to close and provide post-closure care to a landfill if the operator fails to properly execute his responsibilities under the rules and the terms of his permit. TDEC Rule Chapter 1200-1-7-.01(1)

Financial assurance (hazardous waste): A mechanism used in conjunction with closure and post-closure cost estimates to ensure that adequate funding has been set aside to provide for the orderly, structured approach to the complete abandonment of hazardous waste operations and to prevent new Superfund sites.

Financial assurance (solid waste) : A financial arrangement between the operator and the state that guarantees the availability of funds that the state may use to close and provide post-closure care to a landfill if the operator fails to properly execute his responsibilities under the rules and terms of his permit. SWM Rule 1200-1-7-.01(1)

Generator: Any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous waste identified or listed in SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02 or whose act first causes a hazardous waste in a calendar month. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2)

Generator status: Status is determined by the quantity of hazardous waste that is generated by a facility in a calendar month or accumulated prior to shipping off site: 1) a Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator will generate no more than 100 kg of hazardous waste and no more than 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste in any calendar month; 2) a Small Quantity Generator will generate more than 100 and less than 1,000 kg of hazardous waste and no more than 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste in any month; 3) a Large Quantity Generator will generate 1,000 kg or more of hazardous waste or more than 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste in any month.

Hazard criteria: The characteristics of waste that make it hazardous, i.e., ignitable, toxic, corrosive, reactive, etc. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3) and (4)

Hazardous substance: The list of hazardous substances includes hazardous wastes regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, hazardous air pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act, water pollutants regulated under Sections 311 and 307 of the Clean Water Act and other substances listed in Section 101 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 USC § 9601 (Public Law 96-510).

Hazardous waste: A solid waste that has been listed as a hazardous waste under 40 CFR Subpart D or SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(4) or is characteristic of a hazardous waste as listed under 40 CFR Subpart C or sWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3). Also, a waste is hazardous if it has been contaminated with a listed hazardous waste.

Hazardous waste (listed): The list of hazardous wastes includes:

1. F Listed wastes generated from non-specific sources and those specifically defined, e.g., tetrachloroethylene, xylene, toluene, and treatment sludges from electroplating operations.
2. K Listed wastes generated from specific sources such as emission control dust/sludge from the primary production of steel in electric furnaces.
3. P Listed wastes which are commercial chemical products, manufacturing chemical intermediates or off-specification commercial chemical products or manufacturing chemical intermediates which are acutely hazardous wastes based on toxicity and reactivity, e.g., acrolein, fluorine and Phosgene.
4. U Listed wastes which are commercial chemical products, manufacturing chemical intermediates or off-specification commercial chemical products based on toxicity, e.g., acetone, aniline and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(4) or 40 CFR § 261 Subpart D

Human Consumption: For purposes of the drinking water program, water for human consumption includes water which is ingested, comes into contact with human skin or is used in food preparation where the food is not brought to boiling temperatures after contact with water.

Ignitability: Anything that has a flash point of less than 140o F or which burns readily. Examples are paint wastes, certain degreasers and other solvents. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3) or 40 CFR § 261.21

Injection well: A well used for the emplacement of fluids into a subsurface stratum. DWS Rule 1220-4-6-.02

Interim status: The authorization by which existing facilities are allowed to continue operation while a permit application is under review. 40 CFR § 270 Subpart G

Large quantity generator: Persons who generate 1,000 kilograms or more of hazardous waste or 1 kilogram or more of acutely hazardous waste. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.08(5) (b)

Modification: Any physical change or change in the method of operation of an air contaminant source which increases the amount of any air contaminant (to which an emission standard applies or which results in the emission of any air contaminant) not previously emitted. Exceptions include routine maintenance, repair, required alterations and others as stated in APC Rule 1200-3-2-.01(aa).

Non-attainment area: A geographical area that does not meet an ambient air quality standard for the pollutant. As of October 1, 1996, the nonattainment areas of Tennessee are:

• Portions of Shelby and Williamson counties for lead

Non-hazardous wastes: Solid wastes that have been excluded from RCRA. Examples are solid wastes generated from the growing and harvesting of agricultural crops and raising of animals, including animal manure, and mining overburden returned to the mine site. These include household wastes. 40 CFR § 261.4(b) or SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(1)(b)

Petroleum: Crude oil or any fraction of crude oil that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure (60° Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute). UST Rule 1200-1-15-.01(3)

Point source: Any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, vessel or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture. 40 CFR §122.2

Pollutant: Air contaminants that fall in the categories for criteria and non-criteria pollutants. Criteria pollutants are carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and ozone (volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides are precursors of ozone). The non-criteria pollutants include fluorides, asbestos, beryllium, mercury, vinyl chloride, sulfuric acid mists, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), total reduced sulfur (including H2S), and reduced sulfur compounds (including H2S). APC Rule 1220-3-9-.01(4)(b) and Rule 1200-3-3, Table 1. For Water Pollution Control, ÒpollutantsÓ are defined as sewage, industrial waste or other wastes. SWP Rule 69-3-103.(21)

Process wastewater: Any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product or waste product.

Public water system: A system of piped water for human consumption that serves at least 15 connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals at least 60 days a year and includes: 1) any collection, treatment, storage or distribution facility under control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such system; and 2) any collection or pretreatment storage facility not under such control which is used primarily in connection with such system. TDEC Rule 1200-5-1-.04

Public water system categories: For the purposes of wellhead protection, there are four (4) public water system (PWS) categories: (Note: a community PWS serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents.)

• Category 1:
  1. all non-community PWSs. Non-community water systems typically include schools, industries, churches, convenience markets, campgrounds, retaurants, motels, etc., that are self-supplies.
  2. community PWS with fewer than 100 connections and less than 20,000 gallons per day (gpd) average daily production
• Category 2:
  1. community PWS with 100 to 999 connections and less than 315,000 gpd average daily production
  2. community PWS with fewer than 100 connections and 20,000 to 314,999 gpd average daily production
• Category 3:
  1. community PWS with 1,000 to 2,999 connections and less than 1,000,000 gpd average daily production
  2. community PWS with fewer than 1,000 connections and 315,000 to 999,999 gpd average daily production
• Category 4:
  1. community PWS with 3,000 or more connections
  2. community PWS with fewer than 3,000 connections and 1,000,000 gpd or more average daily production

Radiation machine: Any device capable of producing radiation except devices that produce radiation through utilization of a radioactive material. DRH Rule 1200-2-4-.04

Radioactive material: Any material Ñ solid, liquid or gas Ñ that emits radiation spontaneously. DRH Rule 1200-2-4-.04

Radioactive source: Material that emits radiation spontaneously or an apparatus that produces one or more forms of radiation. DRH Rule 1200-3-10-.04 (source of radiation)

RCRA exemptions: Persons who are not required to obtain a Hazardous Waste Permit include generators who accumulate hazardous waste on-site for less than 90 days; persons who own or operate facilities solely for treatment, storage or disposal of exempted hazardous wastes; conditionally exempt small quantity generators; totally enclosed treatment facilities; elementary neutralization units or on-site wastewater treatment units; transporters storing manifested shipments of hazardous waste for a period of 10 days or less; persons adding chemically stabilizing free liquids; facilities that treat or store hazardous wastes that are to be recycled; and farmers who dispose of hazardous waste pesticides from their own use. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.07(1)(b)(4)

Reactivity: A substance that is unstable or undergoes rapid or violent chemical reaction with water or other materials. Examples are cyanide plating wastes, waste bleaches and other waste oxidizers.-SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3) or 40 CFR § 261.23

Regulated Asbestos- Containing Material: Any material containing more than one percent asbestos, including 1) friable asbestos material; 2) asbestos-containing packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering and asphalt roofing products containing more than one percent asbestos material that has become friable; 3) asbestos-containing packings, gaskets, resilient floor covering and asphalt roofing products containing more than one percent asbestos material that will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting or abrading. APC Rule 1200-3-11-02(ii)

Removal (asbestos): To take out regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM) or facility components that contain or are covered with RACM from any facility. APC Rule 1200-3-11-.02 (1)

Renovation (asbestos): Altering a facility or one or more facility components in any way, including the stripping or removal of RACM from a facility component. Operations in which load-supporting structural members are wrecked or taken out are demolitions. APC Rule 1200-3-11-.02 (1)

Small quantity generator: Persons who generate less than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste or accumulate no more than one kilogram of acutely hazardous waste in any month. SWM Rule 1200-1-11.08(5)(a).

Solid Waste - Municipal : Any discarded material that is abandoned, recycled or considered inherently waste-like. This includes spent materials, sludges, by-products and scrap metal. 40 CFR§ 261.2

Solid waste exclusion: This includes domestic sewage; industrial wastewater discharges that are point source discharges subject to NPDES permits; irrigation return flows; source, special nuclear or by-product material; in situ mining waste; and reclaimed materials and other chemicals as defined in 40 CFR § 261.4(a).

Source material: This includes 1) uranium or thorium or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form, or 2) ores that contain, by weight, one-twentieth of one percent (0.05 percent) or more uranium, thorium or any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material. DRH Rule 1200-2-4-.04

Source of radiation: Material that emits radiation spontaneously or an apparatus that produces, or may produce when the associated controls are operated, one or more forms of radiation. DRH Rule 1200-2-4-.04

Special wastes: This category includes sludges, bulky wastes, pesticide wastes, medical wastes, industrial wastes, liquid wastes, exempted hazardous wastes, friable asbestos wastes, combustion wastes and other solid wastes that are difficult or dangerous to manage. SWM Rule1200-7-.01(2) Note: automotive tires and dead animals are not special wastes.

Storage (hazardous waste): The holding of hazardous waste for a temporary period at the end of which the hazardous waste is treated, disposed of or stored elsewhere. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2)(a)

Storm water discharges associated with industrial activity: The discharge from any conveyance that is used for collecting and conveying storm water and which is directly related to manufacturing, processing or raw material storage areas at an industrial plant. Federal Register November 15, 1990, pages 48065, 48066

Surface mining: All or any part of the process followed in the production of minerals from a natural mineral deposit by the open pit or open cut method, auger method, highwall mining method which requires a new cut or removal of overburden, or any other mining process in which the strata or overburden is removed or displaced in order to recover the mineral or in which the surface soil is disturbed or removed for the purpose of determining the location, quality or quantity of a natural mineral deposit. TCA § 59-8-202

Title V source: A major source which has the potential to emit 10 tons per year (tpy) or more of a single hazardous air pollutant, 25 tpy or more of a combination of hazardous air pollutants, or 100 tons per year or more of other regulated pollutants. APC Rule 1200-3-9-.02(11)(b)14

Toxic: Wastes are toxic if an extract from the waste is tested and found to exceed specific concentrations of heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium or lead) or pesticides that could be released into ground water. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.02(3) or 40 CFR § 261.24

Transporter (hazardous waste): Any person engaged in the transportation of hazardous waste. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2)(a)

"Treatment": Treatment refers to any method, technique or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste energy or material resource from the wastes, or so as to render such waste non-hazardous or less hazardous; safer to transport, store or dispose of; amenable for storage; or reduced in volume. SWM Rule 1200-1-11-.01(2)(a)

Underground storage tank (UST): Any one or more combination of tanks (including underground pipes connected thereto) used to contain an accumulation of petroleum and the volume of which (including the volume of underground pipes connected thereto) is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. UST Rule 1200-1-15-.01

Used oil: Any oil that has been refined from crude oil or any synthetic oil that has been used and as a result of such use is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. 40 CFR § 279.1

Used oil burner: A facility where used oil not meeting the specification requirements in 40 CFR § 279.11 is burned for energy recovery in devices identified in 40 CFR § 279.61(a). 40 CFR § 279.1

Used oil collection center: Any site or facility that is registered/licensed/permitted/recognized by a state/county/municipal government to manage used oil and that accepts/aggregates and stores used oil collected from used oil generators in accordance with 40 CFR § 279.24 and household do-it-yourselfers. 40 CFR § 279.1

Used oil fuel marketer: Any person who conducts either of the following activities: 1) directs a shipment of off-specification used oil from their facility to a used oil burner, or 2) first claims that used oil that is to be burned for energy recovery meets the used oil fuel specifications in 40 CFR § 279.11. 40 CFR § 279.1

Used oil generator: Any person, by site, whose act or process produces used oil or whose act first causes used oil to become subject to regulations. 40 CFR § 279.20 (a)

Used oil processor/refiner: A facility that processes used oil. 40 CFR § 279.1

Used oil transfer facility: Any transportation-related facility, including loading docks, parking areas, storage areas and other areas where shipments of used oil are held for more than 24 hours and not longer than 35 days. Transfer facilities that store used oil for more than 35 days are subject to regulation under Subpart F of 40 CFR § 279.

Used oil transporter: Any person who transports used oil, any person who collects used oil from more than one generator and transports the collected oil, and owners and operators of used oil transfer facilities. 40 CFR § 279.1

Waters: Any and all water, public or private, on or beneath the surface of the ground, which is contained within, flows through or borders on Tennessee or any portion thereof except those bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits of private property in single ownership which do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters. TCA Section 69-3-103(33)

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