Virginia Law

The words and terms used in this chapter shall have the meanings defined in the State Water Control Law (§ 62.1-44.2 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) and the VPDES Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31) unless the context clearly shows otherwise, except that for the purposes of this chapter:

"Best management practices" or "BMPs" means schedules of activities, practices, prohibitions of practices, structures, vegetation, maintenance procedures, and other management practices, including both structural and nonstructural practices, to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants to surface waters.

"Board" means the Virginia State Water Control Board or State Water Control Board. When used outside the context of the promulgation of regulations, including regulations to establish general permits, "board" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Closed landfill" means a landfill that, on a permanent basis, will no longer receive waste and has completed closure in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local requirements.

"Coal pile runoff" means the rainfall runoff from or through any coal storage pile.

"Colocated industrial activity" means any industrial activity, excluding the facility's primary industrial activity, located on-site that meets the description of a category included in the "industrial activity" definition. An activity at a facility is not considered colocated if the activity, when considered separately, does not meet the description of a category included in the "industrial activity" definition or identified by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code list in Table 50-2 in 9VAC25-151-50.

"Commercial treatment and disposal facilities" means facilities that receive, on a commercial basis, any produced hazardous waste (not their own) and treat or dispose of those wastes as a service to the generators. The facilities treating or disposing exclusively residential hazardous wastes are not included in this definition.

"Control measure" means any best management practice or other method (including effluent limitations) used to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants to surface waters.

"Corrective action" means any action to (i) repair, modify, or replace any stormwater control used at the facility; (ii) clean up and properly dispose of spills, releases, or other deposits at the facility; or (iii) return to compliance with permit requirements.

"Department" or "DEQ" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or an authorized representative.

"Existing discharger" means an operator applying for coverage under this permit for discharges authorized previously under a VPDES general or individual permit.

"Impaired water" means, for purposes of this chapter, a water that has been identified by Virginia pursuant to § 303(d) of the Clean Water Act as not meeting applicable water quality standards (these waters are called "water quality limited segments" under 40 CFR 30.2(j)). Impaired waters include both waters with approved or established TMDLs, and those for which a TMDL has not yet been approved or established.

"Impervious surface" means a surface composed of any material that significantly impedes or prevents natural infiltration of water into the soil.

"Industrial activity" - the following categories of facilities are considered to be engaging in "industrial activity":

1. Facilities subject to stormwater effluent limitations guidelines, new source performance standards, or toxic pollutant effluent standards under 40 CFR Subchapter N (except facilities with toxic pollutant effluent standards that are exempted under category 10 of this definition);

2. Facilities classified as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 24 (except 2434), 26 (except 265 and 267), 28 (except 283 and 285), 29, 311, 32 (except 323), 33, 3441, and 373 (Office of Management and Budget (OMB) SIC Manual, 1987);

3. Facilities classified as SIC 10 through 14 (mineral industry) (OMB SIC Manual, 1987) including active or inactive mining operations (except for areas of coal mining operations no longer meeting the definition of a reclamation area under 40 CFR 434.11(l) because the performance bond issued to the facility by the appropriate Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) (30 USC § 1201 et seq.) authority has been released, or except for areas of noncoal mining operations that have been released from applicable state or federal reclamation requirements after December 17, 1990) and oil and gas exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations, or transmission facilities that discharge stormwater contaminated by contact with or that has come into contact with any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished products, byproducts, or waste products located on the site of the operations (inactive mining operations are mining sites that are not being actively mined but have an identifiable owner or operator; inactive mining sites do not include sites where mining claims are being maintained before disturbances associated with the extraction, beneficiation, or processing of mined materials, nor sites where minimal activities are undertaken for the sole purpose of maintaining a mining claim);

4. Hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facilities, including those that are operating under interim status or a permit under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 USC § 6901 et seq.);

5. Landfills, land application sites, and open dumps that receive or have received any industrial wastes (waste that is received from any of the facilities described under this definition, and debris or wastes from VPDES regulated construction activities or sites), including those that are subject to regulation under Subtitle D of RCRA;

6. Facilities involved in the recycling of materials, including metal scrapyards, battery reclaimers, salvage yards, and automobile junkyards, including those classified as Standard Industrial Classification Codes 5015 and 5093 (OMB SIC Manual, 1987);

7. Steam electric power generating facilities, including coal handling sites;

8. Transportation facilities classified as SIC Codes 40, 41, 42 (except 4221-4225), 43, 44, 45, and 5171 (OMB SIC Manual, 1987) that have vehicle maintenance shops, equipment cleaning operations, or airport deicing operations. Only those portions of the facility that are either involved in vehicle maintenance (including vehicle rehabilitation, mechanical repairs, painting, fueling, and lubrication), equipment cleaning operation, airport deicing operation, or that are otherwise identified under categories 1 through 7 or 9 and 10 of this definition are associated with industrial activity;

9. Treatment works treating domestic sewage or any other sewage sludge or wastewater treatment device or system used in the storage treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal or domestic sewage, including land dedicated to the disposal of sewage sludge that is located within the confines of the facility, with a design flow of 1.0 MGD or more, or required to have an approved publicly owned treatment works (POTW) pretreatment program under 9VAC25-31. Not included are farm lands, domestic gardens or lands used for sludge management where sludge is beneficially reused and that are not physically located in the confines of the facility, or areas that are in compliance with 9VAC25-31-420 through 9VAC25-31-720; and

10. Facilities under SIC Codes 20, 21, 22, 23, 2434, 25, 265, 267, 27, 283, 285, 30, 31 (except 311), 323, 34 (except 3441), 35, 36, 37 (except 373), 38, 39, 4221-4225 (OMB SIC Manual, 1987).

"Industrial stormwater" means stormwater runoff from industrial activity.

"Land application unit" means an area where wastes are applied onto or incorporated into the soil surface (excluding manure spreading operations) for treatment or disposal.

"Landfill" means an area of land or an excavation in which wastes are placed for permanent disposal, and that is not a land application unit, surface impoundment, injection well, or waste pile.

"Minimize" means reduce or eliminate to the extent achievable using control measures (including best management practices) that are technologically available and economically practicable and achievable in light of best industry practice.

"Municipal separate storm sewer system" or "MS4" means a conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains): (i) owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body (created by or pursuant to state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater, or other wastes, including special districts under state law (e.g., a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under § 208 of the Clean Water Act that discharges to surface waters of the state); (ii) designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater; (iii) that is not a combined sewer; and (iv) that is not part of a POTW.

"No exposure" means all industrial materials or activities are protected by a storm-resistant shelter to prevent exposure to rain, snow, snowmelt, or runoff.

"Primary industrial activity" includes any activities performed on-site that are:

1. Identified by the facility's primary SIC code; or

2. Included in the narrative descriptions of the definition of "industrial activity."

Narrative descriptions in the "industrial activity" definition include: category 1 activities subject to stormwater effluent limitations guidelines, new source performance standards, or toxic pollutant effluent standards; category 4 hazardous waste treatment storage or disposal facilities, including those that are operating under interim status or a permit under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); category 5 landfills, land application sites, and open dumps that receive or have received industrial wastes; category 7 steam electric power generating facilities; and category 9 sewage treatment works with a design flow of 1.0 mgd or more.

For colocated activities covered by multiple SIC codes, the primary industrial determination should be based on the value of receipts or revenues, or, if the information is not available for a particular facility, the number of employees or production rate for each process may be compared. The operation that generates the most revenue or employs the most staff is the operation in which the facility is primarily engaged. In situations where the vast majority of on-site activity falls within one SIC code, that activity may be the primary industrial activity.

"Runoff coefficient" means the fraction of total rainfall that will appear at the conveyance as runoff.

"Significant materials" includes raw materials; fuels; materials (e.g., solvents, detergents, and plastic pellets); finished materials (e.g., metallic products); raw materials used in food processing or production; hazardous substances designated under § 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 USC § 9601 et seq.); any chemical the facility is required to report pursuant to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) § 313; fertilizers; pesticides; and waste products (e.g., ashes, slag and sludge) that have the potential to be released with stormwater discharges.

"Significant spills" includes releases of oil or hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities under § 311 of the Clean Water Act (see 40 CFR 110.10 and 40 CFR 117.21) or § 102 of CERCLA (see 40 CFR 302.4).

"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.

"Stormwater" means stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.

"Stormwater discharge associated with industrial activity" means the discharge from any conveyance that is used for collecting and conveying stormwater and that is directly related to manufacturing, processing, or raw materials storage areas at an industrial plant. The term does not include discharges from facilities or activities excluded from the VPDES program under 9VAC25-31. For the categories of industries identified in the "industrial activity" definition, the term includes stormwater discharges from industrial plant yards; immediate access roads and rail lines used or traveled by carriers of raw materials, manufactured products, waste material, or byproducts used or created by the facility; material handling sites; refuse sites; sites used for the application or disposal of process wastewaters; sites used for the storage and maintenance of material handling equipment; sites used for residual treatment, storage, or disposal; shipping and receiving areas; manufacturing buildings; storage areas (including tank farms) for raw materials, and intermediate and final products; and areas where industrial activity has taken place in the past and significant materials remain and are exposed to stormwater. For the purposes of this definition, material handling activities include the storage, loading and unloading, transportation, or conveyance of any raw material, intermediate product, final product, byproduct, or waste product. The term excludes areas located on plant lands separate from the plant's industrial activities, (e.g., office buildings and accompanying parking lots) as long as the drainage from the excluded areas is not mixed with stormwater drained from these described areas. Industrial facilities include those that are federally, state, or municipally owned or operated that meet the description of the facilities listed in the "industrial activity" definition. The term also includes those facilities designated under the provisions of 9VAC25-31-120 A 1 c, or under 9VAC25-31-120 A 7 a (1) or (2) of the VPDES Permit Regulation.

"SWPPP" means stormwater pollution prevention plan.

"Total maximum daily load" or "TMDL" means a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources. A TMDL includes wasteload allocations (WLAs) for point source discharges and load allocations (LAs) for nonpoint sources or natural background and must include a margin of safety (MOS) and account for seasonal variations.

"Virginia Environmental Excellence Program" or "VEEP" means a voluntary program established by the department to provide public recognition and regulatory incentives to encourage higher levels of environmental performance for program participants that develop and implement environmental management systems (EMSs). The program is based on the use of EMSs that improve compliance, prevent pollution, and utilize other measures to improve environmental performance.

"Waste pile" means any noncontainerized accumulation of solid, nonflowing waste that is used for treatment or storage.