[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 24]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR270.2]

[Page 271-274]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
                           AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 270--EPA ADMINISTERED PERMIT PROGRAMS: THE HAZARDOUS WASTE PERMIT PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart A--General Information
 
Sec. 270.2  Definitions.

    The following definitions apply to parts 270, 271 and 124. Terms not 
defined in this section have the meaning given by RCRA.
    Administrator means the Administrator of the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, or an authorized representative.
    Application means the EPA standard national forms for applying for a 
permit, including any additions, revisions or modifications to the 
forms; or forms approved by EPA for use in approved States, including 
any approved modifications or revisions. Application also includes the 
information required by the Director under Secs. 270.14 through 270.29 
(contents of part B of the RCRA application).
    Approved program or approved State means a State which has been 
approved or authorized by EPA under part 271.
    Aquifer means a geological formation, group of formations, or part 
of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water 
to a well or spring.
    Closure means the act of securing a Hazardous Waste Management 
facility pursuant to the requirements of 40 CFR part 264.
    Component means any constituent part of a unit or any group of 
constituent parts of a unit which are assembled to perform a specific 
function (e.g., a pump seal, pump, kiln liner, kiln thermocouple).
    Corrective Action Management Unit or CAMU means an area within a 
facility that is designated by the Regional Administrator under part 264 
subpart S, for the purpose of implementing corrective action 
requirements under Sec. 264.101 and RCRA section 3008(h). A CAMU shall 
only be used for the management of remediation wastes pursuant to 
implementing such corrective action requirements at the facility.
    CWA means the Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
amendments of 1972) Pub. L. 92-500, as amended by Pub. L. 92-217 and 
Pub. L. 95-576; 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
    Director means the Regional Administrator or the State Director, as 
the context requires, or an authorized representative. When there is no 
approved State program, and there is an EPA administered program, 
Director means the Regional Administrator. When there is an approved 
State program, Director normally means the State Director. In some 
circumstances, however, EPA retains the authority to take certain 
actions even when there is an approved State program. In such cases, the 
term Director means the Regional Administrator and not the State 
Director.
    Disposal means 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.
    Disposal facility means a facility or part of a facility at which 
hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on

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the land or water, and at which hazardous waste will remain after 
closure. The term disposal facility does not include a corrective action 
management unit into which remediation wastes are placed.
    Draft permit means a document prepared under Sec. 124.6 indicating 
the Director's tentative decision to issue or deny, modify, revoke and 
reissue, terminate, or reissue a permit. A notice of intent to terminate 
a permit, and a notice of intent to deny a permit, as discussed in 
Sec. 124.5, are types of draft permits. A denial of a request for 
modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination, as discussed in 
Sec. 124.5 is not a ``draft permit.'' A proposed permit is not a draft 
permit.
    Elementary neutralization unit means a device which:
    (a) Is used for neutralizing wastes only because they exhibit the 
corrosivity characteristic defined in Sec. 261.22 of this chapter, or 
are listed in subpart D of part 261 of this chapter only for this 
reason; and
    (b) Meets the definition of tank, tank system, container, transport 
vehicle, or vessel in Sec. 260.10 of this chapter.
    Emergency permit means a RCRA permit issued in accordance with 
Sec. 270.61.
    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) means the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency.
    EPA means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
    Existing hazardous waste management (HWM) facility or existing 
facility means a facility which was in operation or for which 
construction commenced on or before November 19, 1980. A facility has 
commenced construction if:
    (a) The owner or operator has obtained the Federal, State and local 
approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction; and 
either
    (b)(1) A continuous on-site, physical construction program has 
begun; or
    (2) The owner or operator has entered into contractual obligations 
which cannot be cancelled or modified without substantial loss--for 
physical construction of the facility to be completed within a 
reasonable time.
    Facility mailing list means the mailing list for a facility 
maintained by EPA in accordance with 40 CFR 124.10(c)(1)(ix).
    Facility or activity means any HWM facility or any other facility or 
activity (including land or appurtenances thereto) that is subject to 
regulation under the RCRA program.
    Federal, State and local approvals or permits necessary to begin 
physical construction means permits and approvals required under 
Federal, State or local hazardous waste control statutes, regulations or 
ordinances.
    Final authorization means approval by EPA of a State program which 
has met the requirements of section 3006(b) of RCRA and the applicable 
requirements of part 271, subpart A.
    Functionally equivalent component means a component which performs 
the same function or measurement and which meets or exceeds the 
performance specifications of another component.
    Generator means any person, by site location, whose act, or process 
produces ``hazardous waste'' identified or listed in 40 CFR part 261.
    Ground water means water below the land surface in a zone of 
saturation.
    Hazardous waste means a hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 261.3.
    Hazardous Waste Management facility (HWM facility) means all 
contiguous land, and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements 
on the land, used for treating, storing, or disposing of hazardous 
waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal 
operational units (for example, one or more landfills, surface 
impoundments, or combinations of them).
    HWM facility means Hazardous Waste Management facility.
    Injection well means a well into which fluids are being injected.
    In operation means a facility which is treating, storing, or 
disposing of hazardous waste.
    Interim authorization means approval by EPA of a State hazardous 
waste program which has met the requirements of section 3006(g)(2) of 
RCRA and applicable requirements of part 271, subpart B.
    Major facility means any facility or activity classified as such by 
the Regional Administrator, or, in the case of approved State programs, 
the Regional

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Administrator in conjunction with the State Director.
    Manifest means the shipping document originated and signed by the 
generator which contains the information required by subpart B of 40 CFR 
part 262.
    National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System means the national 
program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, 
monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing 
pretreatment requirements, under sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of the 
CWA. The term includes an approved program.
    NPDES means National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
    New HWM facility means a Hazardous Waste Management facility which 
began operation or for which construction commenced after November 19, 
1980.
    Off-site means any site which is not on-site.
    On-site means on the same or geographically continguous property 
which may be divided by public or private right(s)-of-way, provided the 
entrance and exit between the properties is at a cross-roads 
intersection, and access is by crossing as opposed to going along, the 
right(s)-of-way. Non-contiguous properties owned by the same person but 
connected by a right-of-way which the person controls and to which the 
public does not have access, is also considered on-site property.
    Owner or operator means the owner or operator of any facility or 
activity subject to regulation under RCRA.
    Permit means an authorization, license, or equivalent control 
document issued by EPA or an approved State to implement the 
requirements of this part and parts 271 and 124. Permit includes permit 
by rule (Sec. 270.60), and emergency permit (Sec. 270.61). Permit does 
not include RCRA interim status (subpart G of this part), or any permit 
which has not yet been the subject of final agency action, such as a 
draft permit or a proposed permit.
    Permit-by-rule means a provision of these regulations stating that a 
facility or activity is deemed to have a RCRA permit if it meets the 
requirements of the provision.
    Person means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, 
municipality, State or Federal agency, or an agent or employee thereof.
    Physical construction means excavation, movement of earth, erection 
of forms or structures, or similar activity to prepare an HWM facility 
to accept hazardous waste.
    POTW means publicly owned treatment works.
    Publicly owned treatment works (POTW) means any device or system 
unsed in the treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of 
municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature which is owned 
by a State or municipality. This definition includes sewers, pipes, or 
other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW providing 
treatment.
    RCRA means the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-580, as amended by 
Pub. L. 95-609 and Pub. L. 96-482, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)
    Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator of the 
appropriate Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency or 
the authorized representative of the Regional Administrator.
    Remedial Action Plan (RAP) means a special form of RCRA permit that 
a facility owner or operator may obtain instead of a permit issued under 
Secs. 270.3 through 270.66, to authorize the treatment, storage or 
disposal of hazardous remediation waste (as defined in Sec. 260.10 of 
this chapter) at a remediation waste management site.
    Schedule of compliance means a schedule of remedial measures 
included in a permit, including an enforceable sequence of interim 
requirements (for example, actions, operations, or milestone events) 
leading to compliance with the Act and regulations.
    SDWA means the Safe Drinking Water Act (Pub. L. 95-523, as amended 
by Pub. L. 95-1900; 42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.).
    Site means the land or water area where any facility or activity is 
physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in 
connection with the facility or activity.

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    State means any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    State Director means the chief administrative officer of any State 
agency operating an approved program, or the delegated representative of 
the State Director. If responsibility is divided among two or more State 
agencies, State Director means the chief administrative officer of the 
State agency authorized to perform the particular procedure or function 
to which reference is made.
    State/EPA Agreement means an agreement between the Regional 
Administrator and the State which coordinates EPA and State activities, 
responsibilities and programs.
    Storage means the holding of hazardous waste for a temporary period, 
at the end of which the hazardous waste is treated, disposed, or stored 
elsewhere.
    Transfer facility means any transportation-related facility 
including loading docks, parking areas, storage areas and other similar 
areas where shipments of hazardous waste are held during the normal 
course of transportation.
    Transporter means a person engaged in the off-site transportation of 
hazardous waste by air, rail, highway or water.
    Treatment means any method, technique, or process, including 
neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological 
character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize such 
wastes, or so as to recover energy or material resources from the waste, 
or so as to render such waste non-hazardous, or less hazardous; safer to 
transport, store, or dispose of; or amenable for recovery, amenable for 
storage, or reduced in volume.
    UIC means the Underground Injection Control Program under part C of 
the Safe Drinking Water Act, including an approved program.
    Underground injection means a well injection.
    Underground source of drinking water (USDW) means an aquifer or its 
portion:
    (a)(1) Which supplies any public water system; or
    (2) Which contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply a 
public water system; and
    (i) Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or
    (ii) Contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids; and
    (b) Which is not an exempted aquifer.
    USDW means underground source of drinking water.
    Wastewater treatment unit means a device which:
    (a) Is part of a wastewater treatment facility which is subject to 
regulation under either section 402 or 307(b) of the Clean Water Act; 
and
    (b) Receives and treats or stores an influent wastewater which is a 
hazardous waste as defined in Sec. 261.3 of this chapter, or generates 
and accumulates a wastewater treatment sludge which is a hazardous waste 
as defined in Sec. 261.3 of this chapter, or treats or stores a 
wastewater treatment sludge which is a hazardous waste as defined in 
Sec. 261.3 of this chapter; and
    (c) Meets the definition of tank or tank system in Sec. 260.10 of 
this chapter.

[48 FR 14228, Apr. 1, 1983, as amended at 48 FR 30113, June 30, 1983; 53 
FR 34087, Sept. 2, 1988; 53 FR 37935, Sept. 28, 1988; 58 FR 8685, Feb. 
16, 1993; 60 FR 33914, June 29, 1995; 60 FR 63433, Dec. 11, 1995; 63 FR 
65941, Nov. 30, 1998]