15A NCAC 02L .0102. DEFINITIONS

The definition of any word or phrase used in these Rules shall be the same as given in G.S. 143‑212 and G.S. 143‑213 except that the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:

(1)           "Bedrock" means any consolidated rock encountered in the place in which it was formed or deposited and which cannot be readily excavated without the use of explosives or power equipment.

(2)           "Commission" means the Environmental Management Commission as organized under G.S. 143B.

(3)           "Compliance boundary" means a boundary around a disposal system at and beyond which groundwater quality standards may not be exceeded and only applies to facilities which have received a permit issued under the authority of G.S. 143‑215.1 or G.S. 130A.

(4)           "Contaminant" means any substance occurring in groundwater in concentrations which exceed the groundwater quality standards specified in Rule .0202 of this Subchapter.

(5)           "Corrective action plan" means a plan for eliminating sources of groundwater contamination or for achieving groundwater quality restoration or both.

(6)           "Director" means Director of the Division of Environmental Management.

(7)           "Division" means the Division of Environmental Management.

(8)           "Exposure pathway" means a course taken by a contaminant by way of a transport medium after its release to the environment.

(9)           "Free product" means a non‑aqueous phase liquid which may be present within the saturated zone or in surface water.

(10)         "Fresh groundwaters" means those groundwaters having a chloride concentration equal to or less than 250 milligrams per liter.

(11)         "Groundwaters" means those waters occurring in the subsurface under saturated conditions.

(12)         "Hazardous substance" means any substance as defined by Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).

(13)         "Licensed geologist" means a person who has been duly licensed as a geologist in accordance with the requirements of G.S. 89E.

(14)         "Natural remediation" means those natural processes acting to restore groundwater quality, including dilution, filtration, sorption, ion‑exchange, chemical transformation and biodegradation.

(15)         "Practical Quantitation Limit" means the lowest concentration of a given material that can be reliably achieved among laboratories within specified limits of precision and accuracy by a given analytical method during routine laboratory analysis.

(16)         "Natural conditions" means the physical, biological, chemical and radiological conditions which occur naturally.

(17)         "Potable waters" means those waters suitable for drinking by humans.

(18)         "Professional Engineer" means a person who has been duly registered and licensed as a professional engineer in accordance with the requirements of G.S. 89C.

(19)         "Receptor" means any human, plant, animal, or structure which is, or has the potential to be, adversely effected by the release or migration of contaminants.  Any well constructed for the purpose of monitoring groundwater and contaminant concentrations shall not be considered a receptor.

(20)         "Review boundary" means a boundary around a permitted disposal facility, midway between a waste boundary and a compliance boundary at which groundwater monitoring is required.

(21)         "Saline groundwaters" means those groundwaters having a chloride concentration of more than 250 mg/l.

(22)         "Saturated zone" means that part of the subsurface below the water table in which all the interconnected voids are filled with water under pressure at or greater than atmospheric.  It does not include the capillary fringe.

(23)         "Standards" means groundwater quality standards as specified in Rule .0202 of this Subchapter.

(24)         "Suitable for drinking" means a quality of water which does not contain substances in concentrations which, either singularly or in combination if ingested into the human body, may cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, congenital defects, genetic mutations, or result in an incremental lifetime cancer risk in excess of 1x10‑6, or render the water unacceptable due to aesthetic qualities, including taste, odor or appearance.

(25)         "Time of travel" means the time required for contaminants in groundwater to move a unit distance.

(26)         "Waste boundary" means the perimeter of the permitted waste disposal area.

(27)         "Water table" means the surface of the saturated zone below which all interconnected voids are filled with water and at which the pressure is atmospheric.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 143‑214.1; 143‑215; 143B‑282;

Eff. June 10, 1979.

Amended Eff. October 1, 1993; August 1, 1989; July 1, 1988; March 1, 1985.