Part I. Definitions
9VAC20-81-10. Definitions.
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Active life" means the period of operation beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste and ending at completion of closure activities required by this chapter.
"Active portion" means that part of a facility or unit that has received or is receiving wastes and that has not been closed in accordance with this chapter.
"Agricultural waste" means all solid waste produced from farming operations.
"Airport" means, for the purpose of this chapter, a military airfield or a public-use airport open to the public without prior permission and without restrictions within the physical capacities of available facilities.
"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or a portion of a formation capable of yielding significant quantities of groundwater to wells or springs.
"Ash" means the fly ash or bottom ash residual waste material produced from incineration or burning of solid waste or from any fuel combustion.
"Base flood" see "Hundred-year flood."
"Bedrock" means the rock that underlies soil or other unconsolidated, superficial material at a site.
"Benchmark" means a permanent monument constructed of concrete and set in the ground surface below the frostline with identifying information clearly affixed to it. Identifying information will include the designation of the benchmark as well as the elevation and coordinates on the local or Virginia state grid system.
"Beneficial use" means a use that is of benefit as a substitute for natural or commercial products and does not contribute to adverse effects on health or environment.
"Beneficial use of CCR" means the CCR meet all of the following conditions:
1. The CCR must provide a functional benefit;
2. The CCR must substitute for the use of a virgin material, conserving natural resources that would otherwise need to be obtained through practices such as extraction;
3. The use of the CCR must meet relevant product specifications, regulatory standards, or design standards when available, and when such standards are not available, the CCR is not used in excess quantities; and
4. When unencapsulated use of CCR involving placement on the land of 12,400 tons or more in nonroadway applications, the user must demonstrate and keep records, and provide such documentation upon request, that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air are comparable to or lower than those from analogous products made without CCR, or that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil, and air will be at or below relevant regulatory and health-based benchmarks for human and ecological receptors during use.
"Bioremediation" means remediation of contaminated media by the manipulation of biological organisms to enhance the degradation of contaminants.
"Bird hazard" means an increase in the likelihood of bird/aircraft collisions that may cause damage to the aircraft or injury to its occupants.
"Board" means the Virginia Waste Management Board.
"Bottom ash" means ash or slag that has been discharged from the bottom of the combustion unit after combustion.
"Capacity" means the maximum permitted volume of solid waste, inclusive of daily and intermediate cover, that can be disposed in a landfill. This volume is measured in cubic yards.
"Captive industrial landfill" means an industrial landfill that is located on property owned or controlled by the generator of the waste disposed of in that landfill.
"CCR landfill" means an area of land or an excavation that receives CCR and that is not a surface impoundment, an underground injection well, a salt dome formation, a salt bed formation, an underground or surface coal mine, or a cave. For purposes of this chapter, a CCR landfill also includes sand and gravel pits and quarries that receive CCR, CCR piles, and any practice that does not meet the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.
"CCR surface impoundment" means a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area that is designed to hold an accumulation of CCR and liquids, and the unit treats, stores, or disposes of CCR.
"Clean wood" means solid waste consisting of untreated wood pieces and particles that do not contain paint, laminate, bonding agents, or chemical preservatives or are otherwise unadulterated.
"Closed facility" means a solid waste management facility that has been properly secured in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
"Closure" means that point in time when a permitted landfill has been capped, certified as properly closed by a professional engineer, inspected by the department, and closure notification is performed by the department in accordance with 9VAC20-81-160 D.
"Coal combustion byproducts" or "CCB" means residuals, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas emission control waste produced by burning coal. CCB includes both CCR and other non-CCR wastes identified in this definition.
"Coal combustion residuals" or "CCR" means fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials generated from burning coal for the purpose of generating electricity by electric utilities and independent power producers. CCR is a specific type of CCB.
"Combustion unit" means an incinerator, waste heat recovery unit, or boiler.
"Commercial waste" means all solid waste generated by establishments engaged in business operations other than manufacturing or construction. This category includes solid waste resulting from the operation of stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, and shopping centers.
"Compliance schedule" means a time schedule for measures to be employed on a solid waste management facility that will ultimately upgrade it to conform to this chapter.
"Compost" means a stabilized organic product produced by a controlled aerobic decomposition process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.
"Composting" means the manipulation of the natural process of decomposition of organic materials to increase the rate of decomposition.
"Construction" means the initiation of permanent physical change at a property with the intent of establishing a solid waste management unit. This does not include land-clearing activities, excavation for borrow purposes, activities intended for infrastructure purposes, or activities necessary to obtain Part A siting approval (i.e., advancing of exploratory borings, digging of test pits, groundwater monitoring well installation, etc.).
"Construction/demolition/debris landfill" or "CDD landfill" means a land burial facility engineered, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate construction waste, demolition waste, debris waste, split tires, and white goods or combinations of the above solid wastes.
"Construction waste" means solid waste that is produced or generated during construction, remodeling, or repair of pavements, houses, commercial buildings, and other structures. Construction wastes include lumber, wire, sheetrock, broken brick, shingles, glass, pipes, concrete, paving materials, and metal and plastics if the metal or plastics are a part of the materials of construction or empty containers for such materials. Paints, coatings, solvents, asbestos, any liquid, compressed gases or semi-liquids and garbage are not construction wastes.
"Contaminated soil" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a soil that, as a result of a release or human usage, has absorbed or adsorbed physical, chemical, or radiological substances at concentrations above those consistent with nearby undisturbed soil or natural earth materials.
"Container" means any portable device in which a material is stored, transported, treated, or otherwise handled and includes transport vehicles that are containers themselves (e.g., tank trucks) and containers placed on or in a transport vehicle.
"Containment structure" means a closed vessel such as a tank or cylinder.
"Convenience center" means a collection point for the temporary storage of solid waste provided for individual solid waste generators who choose to transport solid waste generated on their own premises to an established centralized point, rather than directly to a disposal facility. To be classified as a convenience center, the collection point may not receive waste from collection vehicles that have collected waste from more than one real property owner. A convenience center shall be on a system of regularly scheduled collections.
"Cover material" means compactable soil or other approved material that is used to blanket solid waste in a landfill.
"Daily disposal limit" means the amount of solid waste that is permitted to be disposed at the facility and shall be computed on the amount of waste disposed during any operating day.
"Debris waste" means wastes resulting from land-clearing operations. Debris wastes include stumps, wood, brush, leaves, soil, and road spoils.
"Decomposed vegetative waste" means a stabilized organic product produced from vegetative waste by a controlled natural decay process in such a manner that the product can be handled, stored, or applied to the land without adversely affecting public health or the environment.
"Demolition waste" means that solid waste that is produced by the destruction of structures and their foundations and includes the same materials as construction wastes.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. For purposes of submissions to the director as specified in the Waste Management Act, submissions may be made to the department.
"Discard" means to abandon, dispose of, burn, incinerate, accumulate, store, or treat before or instead of being abandoned, disposed of, burned, or incinerated.
"Discarded material" means a material that is:
1. Abandoned by being:
a. Disposed of;
b. Burned or incinerated; or
c. Accumulated, stored, or treated (but not used, reused, or reclaimed) before or in lieu of being abandoned by being disposed of, burned, or incinerated; or
2. Recycled used, reused, or reclaimed material as defined in this part.
"Disclosure statement" means a sworn statement or affirmation as required by § 10.1-1400 of the Code of Virginia (see DEQ Form DISC-01 and 02 (Disclosure Statement)).
"Displacement" means the relative movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.
"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that such solid waste or any constituent of it may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters.
"Disposal unit boundary" or "DUB" means the vertical plane located at the edge of the waste disposal unit. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer. The DUB must be positioned within or coincident to the waste management boundary.
"EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Exempt management facility" means a site used for activities that are conditionally exempt from management as a solid waste under this chapter. The facility remains exempt from solid waste management requirements provided it complies with the applicable conditions set forth in Parts II (9VAC20-81-20 et seq.) and IV (9VAC20-81-300 et seq.) of this chapter.
"Existing CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.
"Existing CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that receives CCR both before and after October 19, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 19, 2015, and receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015. A CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun prior to October 19, 2015.
"Expansion" means a horizontal expansion of the waste management boundary as identified in the Part A application. If a facility's permit was issued prior to the establishment of the Part A process, an expansion is a horizontal expansion of the disposal unit boundary.
"Facility" means solid waste management facility unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Facility boundary" means the boundary of the solid waste management facility. For landfills, this boundary encompasses the waste management boundary and all ancillary activities including scales, groundwater monitoring wells, gas monitoring probes, and maintenance facilities as identified in the facility's permit application. For facilities with a permit-by-rule (PBR) the facility boundary is the boundary of the property where the permit-by-rule activity occurs. For unpermitted solid waste management facilities, the facility boundary is the boundary of the property line where the solid waste is located.
"Facility structure" means any building, shed, or utility or drainage line on the facility.
"Fault" means a fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata on one side have been displaced with respect to that on the other side.
"Floodplain" means the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including low-lying areas of offshore islands where flooding occurs.
"Fly ash" means ash particulate collected from air pollution attenuation devices on combustion units.
"Food-chain crops" means crops grown for human consumption, tobacco, and crops grown for pasture and forage or feed for animals whose products are consumed by humans.
"Fossil fuel combustion products" means coal combustion byproducts as defined in this regulation, coal combustion byproducts generated at facilities with fluidized bed combustion technology, petroleum coke combustion byproducts, byproducts from the combustion of oil, byproducts from the combustion of natural gas, and byproducts from the combustion of mixtures of coal and "other fuels" (i.e., co-burning of coal with "other fuels" where coal is at least 50% of the total fuel). For purposes of this definition, "other fuels" means waste-derived fuel product, auto shredder fluff, wood wastes, coal mill rejects, peat, tall oil, tire-derived fuel, deionizer resins, and used oil.
"Free liquids" means liquids that readily separate from the solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature and pressure as determined by the Paint Filter Liquids Test, Method 9095, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Publication SW-846.
"Garbage" means readily putrescible discarded materials composed of animal, vegetable, or other organic matter.
"Gas condensate" means the liquid generated as a result of gas control or recovery processes at the solid waste management facility.
"Governmental unit" means any department, institution, or commission of the Commonwealth and any public corporate instrumentality thereof, and any district, and shall include local governments.
"Ground rubber" means material processed from waste tires that is no larger than 1/4 inch in any dimension. This includes crumb rubber that is measured in mesh sizes.
"Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.
"Hazardous constituent" means a constituent of solid waste found listed in Appendix VIII of 9VAC20-60-261.
"Hazardous waste" means a "hazardous waste" as described by the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60).
"Holocene" means the most recent epoch of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch to the present.
"Home use" means the use of compost for growing plants that is produced and used on a privately owned residential site.
"Host agreement" means any lease, contract, agreement, or land use permit entered into or issued by the locality in which the landfill is situated that includes terms or conditions governing the operation of the landfill.
"Household hazardous waste" means any waste material derived from households (including single and multiple residences, hotels, motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas) that, except for the fact that it is derived from a household, would otherwise be classified as a hazardous waste in accordance with 9VAC20-60.
"Household waste" means any waste material, including garbage, trash, and refuse, derived from households. Households include single and multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunkhouses, ranger stations, crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day-use recreation areas. Household wastes do not include sanitary waste in septic tanks (septage) that is regulated by other state agencies.
"Hundred-year flood" means a flood that has a 1.0% or greater chance of recurring in any given year or a flood of magnitude equaled or exceeded on the average only once in a hundred years on the average over a significantly long period.
"Inactive CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that no longer receives CCR on or after October 19, 2015, and still contains both CCR and liquids on or after October 19, 2015.
"Incineration" means the controlled combustion of solid waste for disposal.
"Incinerator" means a facility or device designed for the treatment of solid waste by combustion.
"Industrial waste" means any solid waste generated by manufacturing or industrial process that is not a regulated hazardous waste. Such waste may include waste resulting from the following manufacturing processes: electric power generation; fertilizer/agricultural chemicals; food and related products/byproducts; inorganic chemicals; iron and steel manufacturing; leather and leather products; nonferrous metals manufacturing/foundries; organic chemicals; plastics and resins manufacturing; pulp and paper industry; rubber and miscellaneous plastic products; stone, glass, clay, and concrete products; textile manufacturing; transportation equipment; and water treatment. This term does not include mining waste or oil and gas waste.
"Industrial waste landfill" means a solid waste landfill used primarily for the disposal of a specific industrial waste or a waste that is a byproduct of a production process.
"Injection well" means, for the purposes of this chapter, a well or bore hole into which fluids are injected into selected geological horizons.
"Institutional waste" means all solid waste emanating from institutions such as, but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, and public or private schools. It can include regulated medical waste from health care facilities and research facilities that must be managed as a regulated medical waste.
"Interim cover systems" means temporary cover systems applied to a landfill area when landfilling operations will be temporarily suspended for an extended period (typically, longer than one year). At the conclusion of the interim period, the interim cover system may be removed and landfilling operations resume or final cover is installed.
"Karst topography" means areas where karst terrane, with its characteristic surface and subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone, dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present in karst terranes include sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, large springs, and blind valleys.
"Key personnel" means the applicant itself and any person employed by the applicant in a managerial capacity, or empowered to make discretionary decisions, with respect to the solid waste or hazardous waste operations of the applicant in Virginia, but shall not include employees exclusively engaged in the physical or mechanical collection, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of solid or hazardous waste and such other employees as the director may designate by regulation. If the applicant has not previously conducted solid waste or hazardous waste operations in Virginia, the term also includes any officer, director, partner of the applicant, or any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant. If any holder of 5.0% or more of the equity or debt of the applicant or of any key personnel is not a natural person, the term includes all key personnel of that entity, provided that where such entity is a chartered lending institution or a reporting company under the Federal Security and Exchange Act of 1934, the term does not include key personnel of such entity. Provided further that the term means the chief executive officer of any agency of the United States or of any agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, and all key personnel of any person, other than a natural person, that operates a landfill or other facility for the disposal, treatment, or storage of nonhazardous solid waste under contract with or for one of those governmental entities.
"Lagoon" means a body of water or surface impoundment designed to manage or treat waste water.
"Land-clearing activities" means the removal of flora from a parcel of land.
"Land-clearing debris" means vegetative waste resulting from land-clearing activities.
"Landfill" means a sanitary landfill, an industrial waste landfill, or a construction/demolition/debris landfill.
"Landfill gas" means gas generated as a byproduct of the decomposition of organic materials in a landfill. Landfill gas consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide.
"Landfill mining" means the process of excavating solid waste from an existing landfill.
"Leachate" means a liquid that has passed through or emerged from solid waste and contains soluble, suspended, or miscible materials from such waste. Leachate and any material with which it is mixed is solid waste; except that leachate that is pumped from a collection tank for transportation to disposal in an offsite facility is regulated as septage, leachate discharged into a waste water collection system is regulated as industrial waste water and leachate that has contaminated groundwater is regulated as contaminated groundwater.
"Lead acid battery" means, for the purposes of this chapter, any wet cell battery.
"Lift" means the daily landfill layer of compacted solid waste plus the cover material.
"Liquid waste" means any waste material that is determined to contain "free liquids" as defined by this chapter.
"Lithified earth material" means all rock, including all naturally occurring and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of older rock, that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill, concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith lying at or near the earth's surface.
"Litter" means, for purposes of this chapter, any solid waste that is discarded or scattered about a solid waste management facility outside the immediate working area.
"Lower explosive limit" means the lowest concentration by volume of a mixture of explosive gases in air that will propagate a flame at 25°C and at atmospheric pressure.
"Materials recovery facility" means a solid waste management facility for the collection, processing, and recovery of material such as metals from solid waste or for the production of a fuel from solid waste. This does not include the production of a waste-derived fuel product.
"Maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material" means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 90% or greater probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 250 years, or the maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk assessment.
"Monitoring" means all methods, procedures, and techniques used to systematically analyze, inspect, and collect data on operational parameters of the facility or on the quality of air, groundwater, surface water, and soils.
"Monitoring well" means a well point below the ground surface for the purpose of obtaining periodic water samples from groundwater for quantitative and qualitative analysis.
"Mulch" means woody waste consisting of stumps, trees, limbs, branches, bark, leaves, and other clean wood waste that has undergone size reduction by grinding, shredding, or chipping, and is distributed to the general public for landscaping purposes or other horticultural uses except composting as defined and regulated under this chapter.
"Municipal solid waste" means that waste that is normally composed of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste and residues derived from combustion of these wastes.
"New CCR landfill" means a CCR landfill or lateral expansion of a CCR landfill that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR landfill has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015. Overfills are also considered new CCR landfills.
"New CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment or lateral expansion of an existing or new CCR surface impoundment that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 19, 2015. A new CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous onsite, physical construction program had begun after October 19, 2015.
"New solid waste management facility" means a facility or a portion of a facility that was not included in a previous determination of site suitability (Part A approval).
"Nuisance" means an activity that unreasonably interferes with an individual's or the public's comfort, convenience, or enjoyment such that it interferes with the rights of others by causing damage, annoyance, or inconvenience.
"Offsite" means any site that does not meet the definition of onsite as defined in this part.
"Onsite" means the same or geographically contiguous property, which may be divided by public or private right-of-way, provided the entrance and exit to the facility are controlled by the owner or the operator of the facility. Noncontiguous properties owned by the same person, but connected by a right-of-way that he controls and to which the public does not have access, are also considered onsite property.
"Open burning" means the combustion of solid waste without:
1. Control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion;
2. Containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and
3. Control of the combustion products' emission.
"Open dump" means a site on which any solid waste is placed, discharged, deposited, injected, dumped, or spilled so as to present a threat of a release of harmful substances into the environment or present a hazard to human health. Such a site is subject to the Open Dump Criteria in 9VAC20-81-45.
"Operating record" means records required to be maintained in accordance with the facility permit or this part (see 9VAC20-81-530).
"Operation" means all waste management activities at a solid waste management facility beginning with the initial receipt of solid waste for treatment, storage, disposal, or transfer and ceasing with the initiation of final closure activities at the solid waste management facility subsequent to the final receipt of waste.
"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall operation and site management of a solid waste management facility.
"Owner" means the person who owns a solid waste management facility or part of a solid waste management facility.
"PCB" means any chemical substance that is limited to the biphenyl molecule that has been chlorinated to varying degrees or any combination of substances that contain such substance (see 40 CFR 761.3, as amended).
"Perennial stream" means a well-defined channel that contains water year round during a year of normal rainfall. Generally, the water table is located above the streambed for most of the year and groundwater is the primary source for stream flow. A perennial stream exhibits the typical biological, hydrological, and physical characteristics commonly associated with the continuous conveyance of water.
"Permit" means the written permission of the director to own, operate, or construct a solid waste management facility.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, a governmental body, a municipal corporation, or any other legal entity.
"Planning District 8" means the contiguous area within the boundaries of Region 8 established by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the Regional Cooperation Act (§ 15.2-4200 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).
"Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, vessel, or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. Return flows from irrigated agriculture are not included.
"Pollutant" means any substance that causes or contributes to, or may cause or contribute to, environmental degradation when discharged into the environment.
"Poor foundation conditions" means those areas where features exist that indicate that a natural or man-induced event may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of a solid waste management facility.
"Postclosure" means the requirements placed upon solid waste disposal facilities after closure to ensure environmental and public health safety for a specified number of years after closure.
"Process rate" means the maximum rate of waste acceptance that a solid waste management facility can process for treatment and storage. This rate is limited by the capabilities of equipment, personnel, and infrastructure.
"Processing" means preparation, treatment, or conversion of waste by a series of actions, changes, or functions that bring about a desired end result.
"Professional engineer" means an engineer licensed to practice engineering in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (18VAC10-20).
"Professional geologist" means a geologist licensed to practice geology in the Commonwealth as defined by the rules and regulations set forth by the Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists (18VAC145-40).
"Progressive cover" means cover material placed over the working face of a solid waste disposal facility advancing over the deposited waste as new wastes are added keeping the exposed area to a minimum.
"Putrescible waste" means solid waste that contains organic material capable of being decomposed by micro-organisms and cause odors.
"Qualified groundwater scientist" means a scientist or engineer who has received a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree in the natural sciences or engineering and has sufficient training and experience in groundwater hydrology and related fields as may be demonstrated by professional certifications or completion of accredited university programs that enable that individual to make sound professional judgments regarding groundwater monitoring, contaminant fate and transport, and corrective action.
"RCRA" means the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC § 6901 et seq.), the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984, and any other applicable amendments to these laws.
"Reclaimed material" means a material that is processed or reprocessed to recover a usable product or is regenerated to a usable form.
"Refuse" means all solid waste products having the character of solids rather than liquids and that are composed wholly or partially of materials such as garbage, trash, rubbish, litter, residues from clean up of spills or contamination, or other discarded materials.
"Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)" means a type of municipal solid waste produced by processing municipal solid waste through shredding and size classification. This includes all classes of refuse-derived fuel including low-density fluff refuse-derived fuel through densified refuse-derived fuel and pelletized refuse-derived fuel.
"Regulated hazardous waste" means a solid waste that is a hazardous waste, as defined in the Virginia Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-60), that is not excluded from those regulations as a hazardous waste.
"Regulated medical waste" means solid wastes so defined by the Regulated Medical Waste Management Regulations (9VAC20-121) as promulgated by the Virginia Waste Management Board.
"Release" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injection, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment solid wastes or hazardous constituents of solid wastes (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing solid waste). This definition does not include any release that results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace; release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 923); and the normal application of fertilizer. For the purpose of this chapter, release also means substantial threat of release.
"Remediation waste" means all solid waste, including all media (groundwater, surface water, soils, and sediments) and debris, that are managed for the purpose of remediating a site in accordance with 9VAC20-81-45 or Part III (9VAC20-81-100 et seq.) of this chapter or under the Voluntary Remediation Regulations (9VAC20-160) or other regulated remediation program under DEQ oversight. For a given facility, remediation wastes may originate only from within the boundary of that facility, and may include wastes managed as a result of remediation beyond the boundary of the facility. Hazardous wastes as defined in 9VAC20-60, as well as "new" or "as generated" wastes, are excluded from this definition.
"Remediation waste management unit" or "RWMU" means an area within a facility that is designated by the director for the purpose of implementing remedial activities required under this chapter or otherwise approved by the director. An RWMU shall only be used for the management of remediation wastes pursuant to implementing such remedial activities at the facility.
"Responsible official" means one of the following:
1. For a business entity, such as a corporation, association, limited liability company, or cooperative: a duly authorized representative of such business entity if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the business entity;
2. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or
3. For a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency: a duly authorized representative of the locality if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit. The authority to sign documents must be assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the locality.
"Rubbish" means combustible or slowly putrescible discarded materials that include trees, wood, leaves, trimmings from shrubs or trees, printed matter, plastic and paper products, grass, rags, and other combustible or slowly putrescible materials not included under the term "garbage."
"Runoff" means any rainwater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a solid waste management facility.
"Run-on" means any rainwater, wastewater, leachate, or other liquid that drains over land onto any part of the solid waste management facility.
"Salvage" means the authorized, controlled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.
"Sanitary landfill" means an engineered land burial facility for the disposal of household waste that is so located, designed, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate the waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. A sanitary landfill also may receive other types of solid wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, hazardous waste from very small quantity generators, construction demolition debris, and nonhazardous industrial solid waste.
"Saturated zone" means that part of the earth's crust in which all voids are filled with water.
"Scavenging" means the unauthorized or uncontrolled removal of waste materials from a solid waste management facility.
"Scrap metal" means metal parts such as bars, rods, wire, empty containers, or metal pieces that are discarded material and can be used, reused, or reclaimed.
"Secondary containment" means an enclosure into which a container or tank is placed for the purpose of preventing discharge of wastes to the environment.
"Seismic impact zone" means an area with a 10% or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g), will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.
"Semiannual" means an interval corresponding to approximately 180 days. For the purposes of scheduling monitoring activities, sampling within 30 days of the 180-day interval will be considered semiannual.
"Site" means all land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on them used for treating, storing, and disposing of solid waste. This term includes adjacent land within the facility boundary used for the utility systems such as repair, storage, shipping or processing areas, or other areas incident to the management of solid waste.
"Sludge" means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility exclusive of treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.
"Small landfill" means a landfill that disposed of 100 tons/day or less of solid waste during a representative period prior to October 9, 1993, and did not dispose of more than an average of 100 tons/day of solid waste each month between October 9, 1993, and April 9, 1994.
"Solid waste" means any of those materials defined as "solid waste" in 9VAC20-81-95.
"Solid waste disposal facility" means a solid waste management facility at which solid waste will remain after closure.
"Solid waste management facility" or "SWMF" means a site used for planned treating, storing, or disposing of solid waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units.
"Special wastes" means solid wastes that are difficult to handle, require special precautions because of hazardous properties, or the nature of the waste creates waste management problems in normal operations. (See Part VI (9VAC20-81-610 et seq.) of this chapter.)
"Speculatively accumulated material" means any material that is accumulated before being used, reused, or reclaimed or in anticipation of potential use, reuse, or reclamation. Materials are not being accumulated speculatively when they can be used, reused, or reclaimed, have a feasible means of use, reuse, or reclamation available and 75% of the materials accumulated are being removed from the facility annually.
"State waters" means all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within, or bordering the Commonwealth, or within its jurisdiction.
"Storage" means the holding of waste, at the end of which the waste is treated, disposed, or stored elsewhere.
"Structural fill" means an engineered fill with a projected beneficial end use, constructed using soil or fossil fuel combustion products, when done in accordance with this chapter, spread and compacted with proper equipment, and covered with a vegetated soil cap.
"Sudden event" means a one-time, single event such as a sudden collapse or a sudden, quick release of contaminants to the environment. An example would be the sudden loss of leachate from an impoundment into a surface stream caused by failure of a containment structure.
"Surface impoundment" or "impoundment" means a facility or part of a facility that is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), that is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids and that is not an injection well.
"Surface waters" means all state waters that are not groundwater as defined in § 62.1-255 of the Code of Virginia.
"SW-846" means Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods, EPA Publication SW-846, Second Edition, 1982 as amended by Update I (April, 1984), and Update II (April, 1985) and the third edition, November, 1986, as amended.
"Tank" means a stationary device, designed to contain an accumulation of liquid or semi-liquid components of solid waste that is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials that provide structural support.
"TEF" or "Toxicity Equivalency Factor" means a factor developed to account for different toxicities of structural isomers of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans and to relate them to the toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzo-p-dioxin.
"Terminal" means the location of transportation facilities such as classification yards, docks, airports, management offices, storage sheds, and freight or passenger stations, where solid waste that is being transported may be loaded, unloaded, transferred, or temporarily stored.
"Thermal treatment" means the treatment of solid waste in a device that uses elevated temperature as the primary means to change the chemical, physical, or biological character, or composition of the solid waste.
"Tire chip" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal two square inches in size, and ranges from 1/4 inch to four inches in any dimension. Tire chips contain no wire protruding more than 1/4 inch.
"Tire shred" means a material processed from waste tires that is a nominal 40 square inches in size, and ranges from four inches to 10 inches in any dimension.
"Transfer station" means any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration, or resource recovery.
"Trash" means combustible and noncombustible discarded materials and is used interchangeably with the term rubbish.
"Treatment" means, for the purpose of this chapter, any method, technique, or process, including incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any waste to render it more stable, safer for transport, or more amenable to use, reuse, reclamation, recovery, or disposal.
"Underground source of drinking water" means an aquifer or its portion:
1. Which contains water suitable for human consumption; or
2. In which the groundwater contains less than 10,000 mg/liter total dissolved solids.
"Unit" means a discrete area of land used for the disposal of solid waste.
"Unstable area" means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terranes.
"Uppermost aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that is an aquifer, as well as, lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with this aquifer within the facility boundary.
"Used or reused material" means a material that is either:
1. Employed as an ingredient (including use as an intermediate) in a process to make a product, excepting those materials possessing distinct components that are recovered as separate end products; or
2. Employed in a particular function or application as an effective substitute for a commercial product or natural resources.
"Vector" means a living animal, insect, or other arthropod that transmits an infectious disease from one organism to another.
"Vegetative waste" means decomposable materials generated by yard and lawn care or land-clearing activities and includes leaves, grass trimmings, woody wastes such as shrub and tree prunings, bark, limbs, roots, and stumps.
"Vermicomposting" means the controlled and managed process by which live worms convert organic residues into fertile excrement.
"Vertical design capacity" means the maximum design elevation specified in the facility's permit or if none is specified in the permit, the maximum elevation based on a 3:1 slope from the waste disposal unit boundary.
"Very small quantity generator" means a generator of hazardous waste as defined in 40 CFR 260.10 as incorporated by reference in 9VAC20-60-260 that generates less than or equal to the following amounts in a calendar month: (i) 100 kilograms of nonacute hazardous waste; (ii) one kilogram of acute hazardous waste; and (iii) 100 kilograms of any residue or contaminated soil, water, or other debris resulting from the cleanup of a spill into or on any land or water of acute hazardous waste.
"VPDES" (Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) means the Virginia system for the issuance of permits pursuant to the Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31), the State Water Control Law (§ 62.1-44.2 et seq. of the Code of Virginia), and § 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1251 et seq.).
"Washout" means carrying away of solid waste by waters of the base flood.
"Waste-derived fuel product" means a solid waste or combination of solid wastes that have been treated (altered physically, chemically, or biologically) to produce a fuel product with a minimum heating value of 5,000 BTU/lb. Solid wastes used to produce a waste-derived fuel product must have a heating value, or act as binders, and may not be added to the fuel for the purpose of disposal. Waste ingredients may not be listed or characteristic hazardous wastes. The fuel product must be stable at ambient temperature, and not degraded by exposure to the elements. This material may not be "refuse derived fuel (RDF)" as defined in 9VAC5-40-890.
"Waste management boundary" means the vertical plane located at the boundary line of the area approved in the Part A application for the disposal of solid waste and storage of leachate. This vertical plane extends down into the uppermost aquifer and is within the facility boundary.
"Waste pile" means any noncontainerized accumulation of nonflowing, solid waste that is used for treatment or storage.
"Waste tire" means a tire that has been discarded because it is no longer suitable for its original intended purpose because of wear, damage, or defect. (See 9VAC20-150 for other definitions dealing with the waste tire program.)
"Wastewaters" means, for the purpose of this chapter, wastes that contain less than 1.0% by weight total organic carbon (TOC) and less than 1.0% by weight total suspended solids (TSS).
"Water pollution" means such alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state water as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters:
1. Harmful or detrimental or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to the health of animals, fish, or aquatic life or plants;
2. Unsuitable, with reasonable treatment, for use as present or possible future sources of public water supply; or
3. Unsuitable for recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other reasonable uses, provided that:
a. An alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters or a discharge or deposit of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to state waters by any owner that by itself is not sufficient to cause pollution but which in combination with such alteration or discharge or deposit to state waters by other persons is sufficient to cause pollution;
b. The discharge of untreated sewage by any person into state waters; and
c. The contribution to the degradation of water quality standards duly established by the State Water Control Board, are "pollution" for the terms and purposes of this chapter.
"Water table" means the upper surface of the zone of saturation in groundwaters in which the hydrostatic pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure.
"Waters of the United States" or "waters of the U.S." means:
1. All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;
2. All interstate waters, including interstate "wetlands";
3. All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mud flats, sand flats, "wetlands," sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including:
a. Any such waters that are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;
b. Any such waters from which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce;
c. Any such waters that are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;
d. All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;
e. Tributaries of waters identified in subdivisions 3 a through d of this definition;
f. The territorial sea; and
g. Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in subdivisions 3 a through f of this definition.
"Wetlands" means those areas that are defined by the federal regulations under 33 CFR Part 328, as amended.
"White goods" means any stoves, washers, hot water heaters, and other large appliances.
"Working face" means that area within a landfill that is actively receiving solid waste for compaction and cover.
"Yard waste" means a subset of vegetative waste and means decomposable waste materials generated by yard and lawn care and includes leaves, grass trimmings, brush, wood chips, and shrub and tree trimmings. Yard waste shall not include roots or stumps that exceed 12 inches in diameter.
Statutory Authority
§ 10.1-1402 of the Code of Virginia; 42 USC § 6941 et seq.; 40 CFR Parts 257 and 258.
Historical Notes
Derived from Virginia Register Volume 27, Issue 12, eff. March 16, 2011; amended, Virginia Register Volume 27, Issue 22, eff. August 3, 2011; Volume 32, Issue 9, eff. January 27, 2016; Volume 35, Issue 12, eff. March 6, 2019; Volume 40, Issue 4, eff. November 8, 2023.