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"7Q10 Flow" - that lowest average stream flow expected to occur for seven consecutive days with an average frequency of once in ten years.
"Act" - the Georgia Water Quality Control Act, as amended;
"Acute criteria" - corresponds to EPA's definition for Criteria Maximum Concentration which is defined in 40 CFR 131.36 as the highest concentration of a pollutant to which aquatic life can be exposed for a short period of time (1-hour average) without deleterious effects.
"Anaerobic digestion" - the biochemical decomposition of organic matter in sewage sludge into methane gas and carbon dioxide by microorganisms in the absence of air.
"Annual average stream flow" - that flow measured daily at the nearest listed U.S. Geologic Survey stream gauge, averaged for the entire period of record, and adjusted by comparison to the size of the drainage area in which the discharge is located.
"Annual pollutant loading rate" - the maximum amount of a pollutant that may be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day period.
"Annual sludge application rate" - the maximum amount of sewage sludge (dry weight basis) that may be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day period.
"Applier" - the person who applies bulk sewage sludge to the land.
"Aquaculture project" - any point source which meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.25;
"Area Wide Permit" - either an individual or a general permit issued to a municipality or a group of municipalities.
"Associated with Industrial Activity" - any industrial activity or industrial facility identified in 40 C.F.R. 122.26(b)(14).
"Basin" - that area within one of the fourteen river drainages listed below comprising the sum of the watersheds within that basin.
"Biological integrity" - is functionally defined as the condition of the aquatic community inhabiting least impaired waterbodies of a specified habitat measured by community structure and function.
"Biosolids" - any sewage sludge, as defined in 391-3-6-.17(2)(gg), that fulfills all requirements under this chapter, and is used in a beneficial manner.
"Board" - the Board of Natural Resources of the State of Georgia;
"Bulk sewage sludge or bulk biosolids" - sewage sludge that is not sold or given away in a bag or other container for application to the land.
"Chronic criteria" - corresponds to EPA=s definition for Criteria Continuous Concentration which is defined in 40 CFR 131.36 as the highest concentration of a pollutant to which aquatic life can be exposed for an extended period of time (4 days) without deleterious effects.
"Coastal waters" - are those littoral recreational waters on the ocean side of the Georgia coast.
"Concentrated animal feeding operation" - any point source which meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.23;
"Concentrated aquatic animal production facility" - any point source which meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.24;
"Construction" - any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment (including contractual obligations to purchase such facilities or equipment) at the premises where such equipment will be used, including preparation work at such premises;
"Cover crop" - a temporary crop, such as winter rye or clover, planted to protect the soil from erosion and to provide humus or nitrogen when plowed under.
"Critical conditions" - are the collection of conditions for a particular waterbody used to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), determine NPDES permit limits, or assess the protection of water quality standards. The Division considers appropriate critical conditions to represent the event that would occur once in ten years on the average or less often, unless otherwise stated.
"Cumulative pollutant loading rate" - the maximum amount of an inorganic pollutant that may be applied to an area of land.
"Density of microorganisms" - the number of microorganisms per unit mass of total solids (dry weight) in the sewage sludge.
"Department" - the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Georgia;
"Dilution factor" - a numerical representation of the dilution of the permitted effluent from the wastewater treatment facility in the receiving stream. It shall be used to calculate instream concentrations of priority pollutants when the effluent concentration is known and to calculate effluent limitations from the instream criteria concentration listed in 391-3-6-.03(5)(e).
"Director" - the Director of the Division of Environmental Protection of the Department of Natural Resources, State of Georgia;
"Diversion" - turning aside or altering of the natural course of surface water.
"Division" - the Division of Environmental Protection of the Department of Natural Resources, State of Georgia;
"Domestic and personal uses" - uses for drinking, cooking, washing, sanitary purposes, and all health related activities.
"Domestic sewage" - waste and wastewater from humans or from household operations that are discharged to or that otherwise enter a treatment works.
"Dry weight basis" - calculated on the basis of having been dried at 105 degrees Celsius until reaching a constant mass (i.e., essentially 100 percent solids content).
"Effluent Limitation" - any restriction or prohibition established under the Act on quantities, rates, or concentrations, or a combination thereof, of chemical, physical, biological, or other constituents which are discharged from point sources into the waters of the State, including, but not limited to, schedules of compliance and whole effluent biological monitoring requirements;
"E.P.A." - The United States Environmental Protection Agency;
"EPD" - the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources;
"Exceptional quality sludge" - sewage sludge that meets the pollutant concentrations in 391-3-6-.17(5) Table 3, one of the Class A pathogen requirements in 391-3-6-.17(7)(a) and one of the vector attraction reduction requirements in 391-3-6- .17(8)(a) through (h).
"Existing instream water uses" - include water uses actually attained in the waterbody on or after November 28, 1975.
"Facility" - any NPDES point source or any other system or activity that may be regulated by the Water Protection Branch of the EPD, including land application systems regulated under 391-3-6-.11, and industrial pretreatment systems regulated under 391-3-6-.08.
"Farm uses" - irrigation of any land used for general farming, forage, aquaculture, pasture, turf production, orchards, or tree and ornamental nurseries; provisions of water supply for farm animals, poultry farming, or any other activity conducted in the course of farming operations. Farm uses shall also include the processing of perishable agricultural products and the irrigation of recreational turf, except in the Chattahoochee River watershed upstream from the Peachtree Creek confluence, where irrigation of recreational turf shall not be considered a farm use.
"Fecal Coliform Criteria" - The criteria for fecal coliform bacteria provide the regulatory framework to support the USEPA requirement that States protect all waters for the use of primary contact recreation or swimming. This is a worthy national goal, although potentially unrealistic with the current indicator organism, fecal coliform bacteria, in use today. To assure that waters are safe for swimming indicates a need to test waters for pathogenic bacteria. However, analyses for pathogenic bacteria are expensive and results are generally difficult to reproduce quantitatively. Also, to ensure the water is safe for swimming would require a whole suite of tests be done for organisms such as Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, etc. as the presence/absence of one organism would not document the presence/absence of another. This type of testing program is not possible due to resource constraints. The environmental community in the United States has based the assessment of the bacteriological quality of water on testing for pathogenic indicator organisms, principally the coliform group. The assessment of streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries in Georgia and other States is based on fecal coliform organisms.
"Federal Act" - the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, as amended;
"Feed crops" - crops produced primarily for consumption by animals.
"Fiber crops" - crops such as flax and cotton.
"Final Stabilization" - paved areas or areas covered by permanent structures or for unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures, 100% of the soil surface is uniformly covered in permanent vegetation with a density of 70% or greater, or equivalent permanent stabilization measures (such as the use of rip rap, gabions, permanent mulches or geotextiles) have been used. Permanent vegetation shall consist of: planted trees, shrubs, perennial vines; a crop of perennial vegetation appropriate for the region. For infrastructure construction projects on land used for agricultural or silvicultural purposes, final stabilization may be accomplished by stabilizing the disturbed land for its agricultural or silvicultural use.
"Food crops" - crops consumed by humans. These include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, and tobacco.
"Forest" - tract of land thick with trees and underbrush.
"General LAS Permit Application" - any application filed by any person with the Director for a general LAS permit.
"General Permit" - NPDES permit issued under Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR), Part 122.28 authorizing a category of discharges under the Federal Clean Water Act (Federal Act) within a geographical area.
"General Permit Application" - any application filed by any person with the Director for a general permit.
"Hydraulic loading rate" - the rate at which wastes or wastewaters are discharged to a land disposal or land treatment system, expressed in volume per unit area per unit time or depth of water per unit area per unit.
"Impoundment" - storing or retaining of surface water by whatever method or means.
"Indirect discharge or discharge" - the introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any non-domestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Federal Act.
"Indirect discharger" - a non-domestic discharger introducing pollutants to a publicly owned treatment works;
"Industrial user" - Rev. Feb. 2004 53 any person discharging or proposing to discharge any pollutant into a publicly owned treatment works and
then into waters of the State and is considered a source of indirect discharge.
"Instream Flow" - that minimum continuous flow reserved to the Surface Waters of the State at or immediately downstream of the point of withdrawal, diversion, or impoundment.
"Intake temperature" - the natural or background temperature of a particular waterbody unaffected by any man-made discharge or thermal input.
"Interbasin Transfer" - a withdrawal or diversion in which water used is returned to a different basin than that from which it is withdrawn or diverted.
"Interference or interfere" - a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts a Publicly Owned Treatment Work's (POTW's) sewer system, treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, including use or disposal thereof; and such discharge is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES Permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation). The terms include prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in accordance with Section 405 of the Federal Act, or any criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to
State or Federal water, land or air protection laws.
"Land application or applied to the land" - the spraying or spreading of sewage sludge on the land surface; the injection of sewage sludge below the land surface; or the incorporation of sewage sludge into the soil at agronomic rates for the purpose of soil conditioning or fertilization of crops or vegetation grown in the soil.
"Land Application System (LAS)" - any method of disposing of pollutants in which the pollutants are applied to the surface or beneath the surface of a parcel of land and which results in the pollutants percolating, infiltrating, or being absorbed into the soil and then into the waters of the State.
"Land disposal system" - any method of disposing of pollutants in which the pollutants are applied to the surface or beneath the surface of a parcel of land and which results in the pollutants percolating, infiltrating, or being absorbed into the soil and then into the waters of the State. Land disposal systems exclude landfills and sanitary landfills but include ponds, basins, or lagoons used for disposal of wastes or wastewaters, where evaporation and/or percolation of the wastes or wastewaters are used or intended to be used to prevent point discharge of pollutants into waters of the State. Septic tank systems, as defined in Chapter 270-5-25.01 and as approved by appropriate County Boards of Public Health, are not considered land disposal systems for purposes of Chapter 391-3-6-.11.
"Land disposal system permit application" - an application filed by any person with the Director for a land disposal system permit;
"Land disposal system permit" - any permit issued by the Division to regulate the discharge of any pollutant into a land disposal or land treatment system;
"Land treatment system" - any land disposal system in which vegetation on the site is used to remove some of the pollutants applied;
"Land with a high potential for public exposure" - land that is frequently used by the public. This includes but is not limited to public parks, ball fields, cemeteries, plant nurseries, turf farms, and golf courses.
"Land with a low potential for public exposure" - land that the public uses infrequently. This includes, but is not limited to, agricultural land, forest, and a reclamation site located in an unpopulated area.
"Limitation" - any restriction or prohibition established under the Act on quantities, rates, or concentrations, or a combination thereof, of chemical, physical, biological, or other constituents which are discharged from industrial users into a publicly owned treatment works and then into the waters of the State, including but not limited to schedules of compliance.
"Major discharger" - defined in EPA annual operating guidance for the EPA Regional Offices and the States and specifically listed in the annual State program plan;
"Mixing Zone" - Effluents released to streams or impounded waters shall be fully and homogeneously dispersed and mixed insofar as practical with the main flow or water body by appropriate methods at the discharge point. Use of a reasonable and limited mixing zone may be permitted on receipt of satisfactory evidence that such a zone is necessary and that it will not create an objectionable or damaging pollution condition. Protection from acute toxicity shall be provided within any EPD designated mixing zone to ensure a zone of safe passage for aquatic organisms. The procedure is as described in paragraph 391-3-6- .06(4)(d)(5)(vi), except that the numerical pass/fail criteria applies to the end-of-pipe without the benefit of dilution provided by the receiving stream.
"Monthly average" - the arithmetic mean of all measurements taken during the month.
"National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)" - means the national system for the issuance of permits under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972;
"National pretreatment standard, pretreatment standard or standard" - any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Federal Act which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibited discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR Part 403.5.
"Natural conditions" - the collection of conditions for a particular waterbody used to develop numeric criteria for water quality standards which are based on natural conditions. This is commonly the case for temperature and natural dissolved oxygen standards. For this purpose the Division defines “natural conditions” as those that would remain after removal of all point sources and water intakes, would remain after removal of man made or induced nonpoint sources of pollution, but may include irretrievable effects of man’s activities, unless otherwise stated. Natural conditions shall be developed by an examination of historic data, comparisons to reference watersheds, application of mathematical models, or any other procedure deemed appropriate by the Director.
"New discharger" - any point source that meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.29;
"New Source" - any point source that meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.29;
"New Source" -
- Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Federal Act which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section provided:
- The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or
- The building, structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process or reduction equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
- The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source should be considered.
Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility or installation meeting the criteria of Sub-paragraphs 391-3-6-.08(2)(I)1 (ii) or (iii) but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
Construction of a new source as defined under this Paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has:
- Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
- Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
- (Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or (ii) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this Paragraph.
"Non-Depletable Flow" - that instream flow consisting of the 7Q10 flow plus an additional flow needed to ensure the availability of water to downstream users. Non-Depletable flow is normally calculated by adding the 7Q10 flow to the pro rata share of the downstream withdrawal, using the drainage area ratio method.
"Notice of Intent (NOI)" - a form used by potential permittee to notify the Division, within a specified time, that they intend to comply with a general permit.
"Notice of Termination (NOT)" - a form used by a permittee to notify the Division that they wish to cease coverage under a general permit.
"NPDES Permit Application" - the application filed by any person with the Director for an NPDES Permit;
"NPDES Permit" - the permit issued by the Division to regulate the discharge of pollutants from any point source into the
waters of the State;
"O.C.G.A." - Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 12, Article 2.
"Other container" - either an open or closed receptacle. This includes, but is not limited to, a bucket, a box, a carton, and a vehicle or trailer with a load capacity of 2,200 pounds or less.
"Pass through" - a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the State in quantities or concentrations which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES Permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
"Pasture" - land on which animals feed directly on feed crops such as legumes, grasses, grain stubble, or stover.
"Pathogenic organisms" - disease-causing organisms. These include, but are not limited to, certain bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and viable helminthes ova.
"Person" - any individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, county, municipality, State agency, Federal agency or facility or other entity.
"pH" - the logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration.
"Pollutant" - an organic substance, an inorganic substance, a combination of organic and inorganic substances, or a pathogenic organism that, after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into an organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through the food chain, could, on the basis of information available to the Administrator of EPA, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunction in reproduction), or physical deformations in either organisms or offspring of the organisms.
"Pollutant limit" - a numerical value that describes the amount of a pollutant allowed per unit amount of sewage sludge (e.g., milligrams per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a pollutant that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., pounds per acre); or the volume of a material that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., gallons per acre).
"POTW pretreatment program or program or approved POTW pretreatment program" - a pretreatment program administered by a POTW that meets the criteria established in 40 CFR 403.8 and 403.9 and which has been approved by the Director.
"Preparer" - either the person who generates sewage sludge during the treatment of domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in a treatment works or the person who derives a material from sewage sludge.
"Pretreatment" - the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR Part 403.6(d). Appropriate pretreatment technology includes control equipment, such as equalization tanks or facilities, for protection against surges or slug loadings that might interfere with or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW. However, where wastewater from a regulated process is mixed in an equalization facility with unregulated wastewater or with wastewater from another regulated process, the effluent from the equalization facility must meet an adjusted pretreatment limit calculated in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403.6(e).
"Pretreatment permit" - any permit issued by the EPD to regulate the discharge of pollutants from any industrial user into a publicly owned treatment works and the waters of the State.
"Pretreatment permit application" - an application filed by any person with the Director for a pretreatment permit.
"Pretreatment requirements" - any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
"Primary Permittee" - the owner or the operator of a tract of land for a project covered by the State General Permit.
"Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW" - the city, town, county, district, association, or other public body created by or pursuant to State law or Federal law that owns and operates a treatment works, and any sewers or other appurtenances that convey wastewater to the treatment works. The definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial waste of a liquid nature.
"Reasonable and necessary uses" - drinking water supplies, conservation, protection, and propagation of fish, shellfish, wildlife and other beneficial aquatic life, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and other legitimate uses.
"Reclamation site" - drastically disturbed land that is reclaimed using sewage sludge or a product derived from sewage sludge. This includes, but is not limited to, strip mines and construction sites.
"Regional Administrator" - the Regional Administrator for the EPA region which includes the State of Georgia.
"Secondary contact recreation" - contact with the water, wading, and occasional swimming.
"Segment" - a portion of a water quality planning area, the surface waters of which have common hydrologic characteristics (or flow regulation patterns); common natural physical, chemical and biological characteristics and processes; and common reactions to external stresses, such as the discharge of pollutants. Segments will be classified as either a water quality segment or an effluent limitation segment as follows:
- 1. Water quality segment. Any segment where it is known that water quality does not meet applicable water quality standards and/or is not expected to meet applicable water quality standards even after the application of the effluent limitations required by sections 301(b)(1)(B) and 301(b)(2)(A) of the Act;
- 2. Effluent limitation segment. Any segment where it is known that water quality is meeting and will continue to meet applicable water quality standards or where there is adequate demonstration that water quality will meet applicable water quality standards after the application of the effluent limitations required by sections 301(b)(1)(B) and 301(b)(2)(A) of the Act."
"Separate storm sewer" - any point source which meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.26.
"Sewage sludge" - solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to, scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes. Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator, grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment works, treated effluent, or materials excluded from definition of "sewage sludge" by O.C.G.A. '12-5-30.3(a)(1).
"Shellfish" - refers to clams, oysters, scallops, mussels, and other bivalve mollusks.
"Significant industrial user" - any industrial user that:
- Is subject to any categorical pretreatment standard promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Federal Act; and any other industrial user that
- Has in its waste a toxic pollutant in toxic amounts as defined in standards issued under Section 307(a) of the Federal Act;
- Has a reasonable potential to significantly interfere with, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, the
treatment works or the quality of its effluent; or has a reasonable potential to violate any pretreatment standard or requirement;
- Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact
cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); or
- Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity
of the POTW treatment plant.
"Significant noncompliance" - industrial user means that its violation meets one or more of the following criteria:
- Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66 percent or more of all of the measurements taken during a six month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
- Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33 percent or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
- Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer-term average) that the Director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
- Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
- Failure to meet, within ninety (90) days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance;
- Failure to provide, within thirty (30) days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
- Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
- Any other violations or group of violations which the Director determines will adversely affect POTW operation or violate applicable NPDES Permit effluent limitations and requirements.
"Silvicultural point source" - any point source which meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Regulations, 40 C.F.R. 122.27;
"Sludge management plan" - a detailed plan of operation for land application of sewage sludge, or any other method of sewage sludge disposal other than co-disposal in a permitted sanitary landfill. The plan shall, at a minimum, comply with the regulations and any additional requirements established by the EPD pursuant to the Federal Act Section 405(d), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and 40 CFR 503.
"Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR)" - the mass of oxygen consumed per unit time per unit mass of total solids (dry weight basis) in the sewage sludge.
"State General Permit" - the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System general permit or permits for storm-water runoff from construction activities as is now in effect or as may be amended or reissued in the future pursuant to the state’s authority to implement the same through federal delegation under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251, et seq., and subsection (f) of Code Section 12-5-30.
"Stockpile" - to place sewage sludge on land in piles or in any other manner that does not constitute application to the land as defined in 391-3-6-.17(2) (u).
"Storm Water Point Source" - a conveyance or system of conveyances (including pipes, conduits, ditches, and channels or sheet flow which is later conveyed) primarily used for collecting and conveying storm water runoff excluding conveyances that discharge storm water runoff combined with municipal sewage.
"Streamflows" - Specific criteria or standards set for the various parameters apply to all flows on regulated streams. On unregulated streams, they shall apply to all streamflows equal to or exceeding the 7-day, 10-year minimum flow (7Q10) and/or the 1-day, 10-year minimum flow (1Q10). All references to 7-day, 10-year minimum flow (7Q10) and 1-day, 10-year minimum flow (1Q10) also apply to all flows on regulated streams. All references to annual average stream flow also apply to long-term average stream flow conditions. Numeric criteria exceedences that occur under streamflows lower than 7Q10 or 1Q10, whichever applies, do not constitute violations of water quality standards as long as all current permit conditions are met.
"Surface water(s) of the State or surface water(s)" - any and all rivers, streams, creeks, branches, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, drainage systems, springs producing in excess of 100,000 gallons per day, and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming a part of the boundaries of the State which are not entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a single individual, partnership or corporation.
"Total solids" - the materials in sewage sludge that remain as residue when the sewage sludge is dried at 103 to 105 degrees Celsius.
"Toxic Pollutant Monitoring" - The Division will monitor waters of the State for the presence or impact of Section 307 (a)(l) Federal Clean Water Act toxic pollutants, and other priority pollutants. The monitoring shall consist of the collection and assessment of chemical and/or biological data as appropriate from the water column, from stream bed sediments, and/or from fish tissue. Specific stream segments and chemical constituents for monitoring shall be determined by the Director on the basis of the potential for water quality impacts from toxic pollutants from point or nonpoint waste sources. Singularly or in combination, these constituents may cause an adverse effect on fish propagation at levels lower than the criteria. Instream concentrations will be as described in 391-3-6-.03 (5)(e). Additional toxic substances and priority pollutants will be monitored on a case specific basis using Section 304(a) Federal Clean Water Act guidelines or other scientifically appropriate documents.
"Treat or treatment of sewage sludge" - the preparation of sewage sludge for final use or disposal. This includes, but is not limited to, thickening, stabilization, and dewatering of sewage sludge. This does not include storage of sewage sludge.
"Treatment requirement" - any restriction or prohibition established under the Act on quantities, rates, or concentrations, or a combination thereof, of chemical, physical, biological, or other constituents which are discharged into a land disposal or land treatment system and then into the waters of the State, including but not limited to schedules of compliance;
"Treatment works" - either a Federally owned, publicly owned, or privately owned device or system used to treat, recycle or reclaim either domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastewater.
"Unaccounted for Water (UAW)" - the difference between the total amount of water pumped into the water system from the source(s) and the amount of metered water use by the customers of the water system expressed as a percentage of the total water pumped into the system. UAW generally includes system leakage and unmetered uses such as fire fighting, flushing,
broken water mains, etc. Authority: O.C.G.A. Section 12-5-31 et. seq. as amended.
"Unstabilized solids" - organic materials in sewage sludge that have not been treated in either an aerobic or anaerobic treatment process.
"Vector attraction" - the characteristic of sewage sludge that attracts rodents, flies, mosquitoes, or other organisms capable of transporting infectious agents.
"Volatile solids" - the amount of the total solids in sewage sludge lost when the sewage sludge is combusted at 550 degrees Celsius in the presence of excess air.
"Water" or "waters of the State" - Rev. Feb. 2004 7 and all rivers, streams, creeks, branches, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, drainage systems, springs, wells, wetlands, and all other bodies of surface or subsurface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming a part of the boundaries of the State which are not entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a single individual, partnership, or corporation. Areas where salt, fresh and brackish waters mix are those areas on the coast of Georgia having a salinity of 0.5 parts per thousand and greater. This includes all of the creeks, rivers, and sounds of the coastal area of Georgia and portions of the Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Satilla and St. Mary’s Rivers where those rivers flow into coastal sounds. Mixing areas are generally maintained by seawater transported through the sounds by tide and wind which is mixed with fresh water supplied by land runoff, subsurface water and river flow. Mixing areas have moving boundaries based upon but not limited to river stage, rainfall, moon phase and water use. (For the purposes of this rule salinity shall be analyzed by in situ measurement using a properly calibrated multi-parametric probe connected by hard line to a deck display or by measuring electrical conductivity according to one of the methods specified in Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 136 and applying the guidance for conversion to salinity in the same volume. Collection of salinity samples must consider river flow, precipitation, tidal influences and other variables of the estuarine environment and must conform to the National Coastal Assessment-Quality Assurance Project Plan 2001-2004 (EPA/620/R-01/002). Measurements at each sampling location must be made in a distribution in the water column according to the Quality Assurance Project Plan, with the minimum observations at each station including surface, mid-depth and near-bottom readings. In situ salinity analysis must comply with the Quality Assurance Project Plan and the manufacturer's guidance for the specific instrument used).
"Watershed" - the area of land draining into any given point of a basin.
"Wetlands" - those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface Water or ground Water at a frequency and duration to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
"Withdrawal" - the taking away of surface water from its natural course.
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