[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 26]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR270.2]



[Page 312-315]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 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 Sec. Sec.  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.



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    Disposal facility means a facility or part of a facility at which 

hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on 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.



[[Page 314]]



    Major facility means any facility or activity classified as such by 

the Regional Administrator, or, in the case of approved State programs, 

the Regional 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 of this chapter. Permit 

includes permit by rule (Sec.  270.60), emergency permit (Sec.  270.61) 

and standardized permit (subpart J of this part). Permit does not 

include RCRA interim status (subpart G of this part), or any permit 

which has not 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 

Sec. Sec.  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.).



[[Page 315]]



    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.

    Standardized permit means a RCRA permit issued under part 124, 

subpart G of this chapter and subpart J of this part authorizing the 

facility owner or operator to manage hazardous waste. The standardized 

permit may have two parts: A uniform portion issued in all cases and a 

supplemental portion issued at the Director's discretion.

    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; 70 FR 53474, Sept. 8, 2005]