Virginia Law

Article 1
Definitions

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Board" means the State Board of Health.

"Boat" means any vessel or other watercraft, privately owned or owned by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, whether moved by oars, paddles, sails, or other power mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel or structure floating on water in the Commonwealth of Virginia, whether or not capable of self-locomotion, including but not limited to cruisers, cabin cruisers, runabouts, houseboats and barges. Excluded from this definition are commercial, passenger and cargo carrying vessels subject to the Quarantine Regulation of the United States Public Health Service adopted pursuant to Title 42 of the United States Code and ships or vessels of the U.S. Government and boats which are tenders to larger boats moored or stored at the same facility.

"Boating access facility" means any installation operating under public or private ownership that provides a boat launching ramp and has 50 or more parking spaces for boat trailers.

"Certificate" or "certificate to operate" means a written approval from the commissioner or his designated representative indicating that plans for sewerage facilities, sewerage system, and treatment works meet or satisfy the minimum requirements of this chapter and § 32.1-246 of the Code of Virginia.

"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of Health.

"Division" means the Division of Onsite Sewage and Water Services, Environmental Engineering, and Marina Programs, Office of Environmental Health Services of the department or its administrative successor.

"Dry storage" means boat storage, including boatels, valet storage, pigeon hole storage, stackominiums, or where boats rest on racks or trailers located on land, whether covered or uncovered, at a marina or other places where boats are moored.

"Expanded" means any change to a regulated facility that results in an increase in sewage volume or strength due to the addition of slips, dry storage spaces, boat trailer parking spaces, or ancillary operations.

"Live-aboard slip" means any slip where a boat is moored and used principally as a residence or a place of business. Charter and commercial fishing boats are not included unless used as a residence.

"Local health department" means the branch of the State Health Department, established in accordance with § 32.1-30 of the Code of Virginia, that has jurisdiction in the city or county where the regulated facility is located.

"Marina" means any installation operating under public or private ownership that provides dockage or moorage for boats, other than paddle or rowboats, and provides through sale, rental, fee, or free basis any equipment, supply, or service including fuel, electricity, or water for the convenience of the public or the lessee, renters, or users of the facilities.

"Marine sanitation device" means any equipment, piping, holding tanks, and appurtenances onboard a boat designed to receive, retain, treat, or discharge sewage.

"No Discharge Zone" means an area where a state has received an affirmative determination from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that there are adequate facilities for the removal of sewage from vessels (holding tank pump-out facilities) in accordance with § 312(f)(3) of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1251 et seq.) and where federal approval has been received allowing a complete prohibition of all treated or untreated discharges of sewage from all vessels.

"Office" means the Office of Environmental Health Services.

"Other places where boats are moored" means any installation operating under public or private ownership that provides dockage or moorage for boats, other than paddle or rowboats, either on a free, rental, or fee basis or for the convenience of the boater.

"Owner" means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions and any public or private institution, corporation, association, firm, or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state, or any person or group of persons acting individually or as a group who owns or proposes to own a marina, other places where boats are moored, or boating access facility.

"Pump-out facility" means any device, equipment, or method for removing sewage from a marine sanitation device and conveying such sewage to a sewerage system or treatment works including any portable, movable, or permanent holding tanks.

"Sewerage facility" means bathrooms, toilets, closets and other enclosures, including portable toilets, where commodes, water closets, lavatories, showers, urinals, sinks, or other such plumbing fixtures are installed.

"Sewage" means water-carried and non-water-carried human excrement, kitchen, laundry, shower, bath, or lavatory waste, separately or together with such underground, surface, storm, and other water and liquid industrial wastes as may be present from residences, buildings, vehicles, boats, industrial establishments, or other places.

"Sewage dump station" means a facility specifically designed to receive waste from portable sewage containers carried on boats and to convey such sewage to a sewerage system or a treatment works.

"Sewerage system" means pipelines or conduits, pump stations and force mains, and all other construction, devices, and appliances used for the collection and conveyance of sewage to a treatment works or point of ultimate disposal.

"Slip" means a berth or space where a boat may be secured to a fixed or floating structure, including a dock, finger pier, boat lift, or mooring buoy.

"Treatment works" means any device or system used in the storage, treatment, disposal, or reclamation of sewage or combinations of sewage and industrial wastes, including but not limited to pumping, power and other equipment and appurtenances, septic tanks, and any works, including land, that are or will be (i) an integral part of the treatment process or (ii) used for ultimate disposal of residues or effluents resulting from such treatment.

"VMRC" means the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.