Definitions

Community water system: means a public water system which serves at least 15 service connections used by year–round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year–round residents. Any public water system serving 7 or more homes, 10 or more apartment units, or 10 or more condominium units shall be considered a community water system unless information is available to indicate that 25 year–round residents will not be served.

Driven point well or sand point well: means a well constructed by joining a drive point with lengths of pipe, and driving the assembly into the ground with percussion equipment or by hand, but without first removing material below the 10-foot depth.

High capacity well: means a well constructed on a high capacity property.

High capacity property: means one property on which a high capacity well system exists or is to be constructed.

High capacity well system: means one or more wells, drillholes or mine shafts used or to be used to withdraw water for any purpose on one property, if the total pumping or flowing capacity of all wells, drillholes or mine shafts on one property is 70 gallons perminute based on the pump curve at the lowest system pressure setting, or based on the flow rate.

Licensed: means registered by the department to engage in the business of well drilling or pump installing in Wisconsin.

Non-community water system: means a public water system that serves fewer than 25 year–round residents.

Private water system: means any water system supplying water that is not a public water system.

Public water system: means a system for the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption if such system has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days per year. A public water system is either a "community water system" or a "non–community water system." Such systems include:

1. Any collection, treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such system; and
2. any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are used primarily in connection with such system.

School: means a public or private educational facility in which a program of educational instruction is provided to children in any grade or grades from kindergarten through the 12th grade. Water systems serving athletic fields, school forests, environmental centers, home-based schools, day–care centers and Sunday schools are not school water systems.

Water supply: means the sources, wells, pumps and intake and storage structures from which water is supplied for any purpose.

Water system: means the water supply, storage, treatment facilities and all structures and piping by which water is provided for any purpose.

Well: means any drillhole or other excavation or opening deeper than it is wide that extends more than 10 feet below the ground surface constructed for the purpose of obtaining groundwater.

Best management practices: "BMPs" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, structural controls, source area controls, treatment requirements, operating procedures, outdoor storage containment and other management practices to prevent or reduce pollutants in runoff entering waters of the state.

Construction erosion control plan: Required by certain commercial and industrial businesses that disturb land for new business creation or expansion. The plan details how to control erosion, short-term and long term. The plan must cover methods to control erosion before, during and after land-disturbing activities. (Examples include installing silt fencing and using erosion blankets to stop sediment). A guidance document is available through the Wisconsin DNR (ordering information found in the Storm water runoff permits webpage)

NOTE: You must complete this plan prior to applying for the Construction Site Storm Water Management Permit and prior to any land-disturbing activities.

Construction site: means a site upon which land disturbing activities affecting one or more acres of land are occurring, including areas that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale where multiple separate and distinct construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules but under one plan such that the total disturbed area is one or more acres.

Contaminated storm water: means storm water that comes into contact with material handling equipment or activities, raw materials, intermediate products, final products, waste materials, byproducts or industrial machinery.

Erosion: means the detachment and movement of soil, sediment or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity.

Event mean concentration: means the flow-weighted concentration over the duration of a single runoff event.

Final stabilization: means that all soil disturbing activities at the site have been completed and that a uniform perennial vegetative cover has been established with a density of 70 percent of the cover for the unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures or that employ equivalent permanent stabilization measures.

One acre or greater: includes not only land disturbed at one time, but also any land that will be disturbed in the future that is part of a larger common plan for your site.

General WPDES permit: means a permit for the discharge of pollutants issued by the department under s. 283.35, Stats.

Illicit discharge: means any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is not composed entirely of storm water except discharges with a WPDES permit or other discharges allowed locally.

Infiltration system: means a device or practice that encourages surface water to percolate or penetrate into underlying soil, including but not limited to infiltration trenches, grassed waterways and infiltration basins.

Land disturbing construction activity: means any man–made change of the land surface resulting in a change in the topography, existing vegetative and non–vegetative soil cover or the existing soil topography which may result in storm water runoff and lead to increased soil erosion and movement of sediment into waters of the state. Land disturbing construction activities include, but are not limited to clearing and grubbing, demolition, excavating, pit trench dewatering, filling and grading activities, but does not include agricultural land uses.

Landowner: means any person holding fee title, an easement or other interest in property which allows the person to undertake land disturbing construction activity on the property.

Long-term storm water management plan: A plan describing what long—term storm water practices (managing flow over long periods) will be installed prior to your business start-up.

NOTE: You must complete this plan prior to applying for the Construction Site Storm Water Management Permit and prior to any land-disturbing activities.

Notice of intent (NOI): Forms to apply for permits required to help decrease the amount of sediment caused from land-disturbing activities or permits required by certain commercial and industrial facilities if they have outdoor materials or operations that could contaminate storm water. Good housekeeping practices at your small business may prevent the need for this permit.

Reconstruction: replacing previously developed commercial, residential or industrial land (not building on what was previously agricultural land).

Storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP): Details what good housekeeping practices will be in place at your business. An example is storing raw materials inside so no exposure to storm water occurs. For new facilities your plan must be developed and implemented upon to start-up.

NOTE: You must complete this plan prior to applying for the Construction Site Storm Water Management Permit and prior to any land-disturbing activities.

Waters of the state: includes those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of Wisconsin, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private, within Wisconsin or its jurisdiction.

Disposal: Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water in a manner which may permit the solid waste or any hazardous constituent to be emitted into the air to be discharged into any waters of the State or otherwise to enter the environment. Disposal does not include the generation, transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

What is disposal?: Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water. This term does not include the transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

Foam polystyrene packaging: means packaging made primarily from foam polystyrene that satisfies one of the following criteria:

1. is designed for serving food or beverages;
2. consists of loose particles intended to fill space and cushion the packaged article in a shipping container; or
3. consists of rigid materials shaped to hold and cushion the packaged article in a shipping container.

Land spreading facility: means a solid waste disposal facility in which solid waste is placed in thin layers onto the surface of the land or incorporated into the surface layers of the soil.

Landfill: means a solid waste facility for solid waste disposal.

Major appliance: means a residential or commercial air conditioner, clothes dryer, clothes washer, dishwasher, freezer, microwave oven, oven, refrigerator, furnace, boiler, dehumidifier, water heater or stove.

Plastic container: means a plastic container, as defined in s. 100.33 (1) (c), that is required to be labeled under s. 100.33 (2).

Post-consumer waste: means solid waste other than solid waste generated in the production of goods, hazardous waste, as defined in s. 291.01 (7), waste from construction and demolition of structures, scrap automobiles or high-volume industrial waste, as defined in s. 289.01 (17).

Recycling: The beneficial use, reuse or legitimate recovery or reclamation of a hazardous waste. Recycling also includes the recovery of energy from hazardous waste. As used in this report, recycling implies performing these activities either on site or off site, after the waste has been generated.

Refuse: means all matters produced from industrial or community life, subject to decomposition, not defined as sewage.

Residual: Amount of a pollutant remaining in the environment after a natural or technological process has taken place, e.g., the sludge remaining after initial wastewater treatment.

Resource recovery: means the conversion of solid waste into fuel or energy.

Sewage: means the water–carried wastes created in and to be conducted away from residences, industrial establishments, and public buildings as defined in s. 101.01 (12), with such surface water or groundwater as may be present.

Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded or salvageable materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under ch. 283, or source material, as defined in s. 254.31 (10), special nuclear material, as defined in s. 254.31 (11), or by-product material, as defined in s.254.31 (1).

Solid waste disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water. This term does not include the transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

Solid waste facility: means a facility for solid waste treatment, solid waste storage or solid waste disposal, and includes commercial, industrial, municipal, state and federal of enumeration, sanitary landfills, dumps, land disposal sites, incinerators, transfer stations, storage facilities, collection and transportation services and processing, treatment and recovery facilities. This term includes the land where the facility is located. This term does not include a facility for the processing of scrap iron, steel or nonferrous metal using large machines to produce a principal product of scrap metal for sale or use for remelting purposes. This term does not include a facility which uses large machines to sort, grade, compact or bale clean wastepaper, fibers or plastics, not mixed with other solid waste, for sale or use for recycling purposes. This term does not include an auto junk yard or scrap metal salvage yard.

Solid waste management: means planning, organizing, financing, and implementing programs to effect the storage, collection, transporting, processing, recycling or final disposal of solid wastes in a sanitary, nuisance-free manner.

Source reduction: Source reduction is the reduction or elimination of waste at the source, usually within a process. Source reduction measures include process modification, feed-stock substitutions, improvements in feed-stock purity, housekeeping and management practices, increases in the efficiency of machinery and recycling within a process. Source reduction implies any action that reduces the amount of waste exiting a process.

Yard waste: means leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris and brush, including clean woody vegetative material no greater than 6 inches in diameter. This term does not include stumps, roots or shrubs with intact root balls.

NR 207.02(2)
(2)"Bioaccumulation factor" means the ratio of the concentration of a substance in an aquatic organism to the concentration of the substance in water to which the organism is exposed regardless of whether the concentration in the organism results solely from body contact with the water or from body contact plus ingestion of food contaminated with the substance, as determined under ch. NR 105 and associated technical support documents. NR 101.03(1)

Wastewater means any process waste water, cooling water, sanitary waste water, treatment solids and by—products, or other wastes whose discharge requires a Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit.

(1) "Cooling water" means any water which is used primarily for cooling of raw materials, products, or equipment.

NR 207.02(3)
(3) "Exceptional resource waters" means any surface water, or portion thereof, in s. NR 102.11.

NR 101.03(2)
(2) "Facility" means a publicly owned treatment works, or an operating plant or establishment carrying on any manufacturing activity, trade, or business on a common site, including similar such plants under common ownership or control located on contiguous properties. Plants or establishments under common ownership or control located on separate sites shall be considered separate and individual facilities.

NR 207.02(4)
(4) "Fish and aquatic life water" means any surface water, or portion thereof, in s. NR 102.13.

NR 207.02(5)
(5) "Great Lakes system" means any surface water in s. NR 102.12 (1).

NR 207.02(6)
(6)

NR 207.02(6)(a)
(a) "Increased discharge" means any change in concentration, level or loading of a substance which would exceed an effluent limitation specified in a current WPDES permit.

NR 207.02(6)(b)
(b) Except as provided in par. (c), increased discharge does not include the initial imposition of effluent limitations for substances which were in a previous discharge but which had not been limited in a prior or the current permit unless the initial imposition of effluent limitations occurs due to a changed discharge location, other than a change in location necessary to accommodate a mixing zone as provided for in ch. NR 106.

NR 207.02(6)(c)
(c) For discharges of bioaccumulative chemicals of concern (BCCs), defined in s. NR 105.03 (9), to the Great Lakes system, increased discharge means:

NR 207.02(6)(c)1.
1. An increased discharge as defined in par. (a);

NR 207.02(6)(c)2.
2. The initial imposition of an effluent limitation for a BCC that occurs due to an actual or expected increase in loading of the BCC; and

NR 207.02(6)(c)3.
3. Any actual or expected increase in loading of a BCC which is caused by or will be caused by a facility expansion, a process modification, or the connection to an existing public or private wastewater treatment system of a substantial source of untreated or pretreated effluent containing BCCs, and which requires notification to the department pursuant to s. NR 205.07 (2) (a) or (3) (c) or (d). Under this subdivision, increased discharge does not include any increase in the loading of BCCs that is caused by normal operational variability, changes in intake pollutants or increasing the rate or hours of production within the existing production capacity. Normal operational variability includes, for POTWs, any additional wastewater volume within the existing capacity of the POTW from commercial, industrial or residential growth which do not normally contribute substantial quantities of BCCs to the POTW's wastewater flow.

NR 101.03(2m)
(2m) "5-year rolling average" means the average of data from the current year plus the previous 4 years of data available since the beginning of calendar year 2000. Where 5 years of data is not available, the 5–year rolling average means the average of data from the current year plus any available data from the previous 4 years since the beginning of calendar year 2000.

NR 101.03(3)
(3) "Land disposal system" means an absorption or seepage pond, a ridge and furrow, a spray irrigation, a spray runoff, a subsurface field absorption, a surface spreading, or other installation on a land area used for the disposal of effluent by absorption or percolation into the ground.

NR 101.03(4)
(4) "Limit of detection" has the meaning specified in s. NR 149.03 (15).

NR 101.03(5)
(5) "Limit of quantitation" has the meaning specified in s. NR 149.03 (16).

NR 207.02(7)
(7) "Loading" means the concentration of a substance within a discharge multiplied by the flow of that discharge.

NR 101.03(6)
(6) "Major permittee" or "minor permittee" means any WPDES permit holder thus classified by the U.S. environmental protection agency in conjunction with the department under 40 CFR 122.2.

NR 101.03(7)
(7) "Municipality" means, as defined in s. 299.01 (8), Stats., any city, town, village, county, county utility district, town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district or metropolitan sewage district.

NR 207.02(8)
(8) "New discharge" means any point source which has not received a WPDES permit from the department prior to March 1, 1989.

NR 207.02(9)
(9) "Outstanding resource waters" means any surface water, or portion thereof, in s. NR 102.10.

NR 101.03(8)
(8) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, municipality, state agency, or interstate agency owning or operating a facility discharging wastewater to a surface water, to a land disposal system, or to a publicly owned treatment works.

NR 101.03(9)
(9) "Process waste water" means any water, except cooling water, which comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, service item, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product, and may contain in solution or suspension various components of such raw materials, items or products.

NR 101.03(10)
(10) "Publicly owned treatment works" means a sewage treatment plant owned by a municipality and the sewerage system tributary thereto.

NR 207.02(10)
(10) "Receiving water" means the portion of a surface water which will be affected by a proposed new or increased discharge.

NR 101.03(11)
(11) "Sanitary waste water" means waste water associated with personal hygiene, food preparation, or cleaning but does not include waste water from commercial or bulk production of goods or services such as, but not limited to, laundromats, commercial laundries, car washes, food production, or other manufacturing activities.

NR 207.02(11)
(11) "Significant lowering of water quality" means a lowering of water quality determined to be significant under s. NR 207.05.

NR 101.03(12)
(12) "Surface water" means those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of Wisconsin, all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, water courses, drainage systems and other surface water, natural or artificial, public or private within the state or under its jurisdiction, except those waters which are entirely confined and completely retained upon the property of a facility.

R 207.02(12)
(12) "Surface water" means all waters of the state, as designated in 281.01 (18), Stats., except groundwater.

NR 101.03(13)
(13) "Wastewater" means any process waste water, cooling water, sanitary waste water, or other wastes whose discharge requires a WPDES permit, discharged to a surface water including such discharge through a storm sewer, to a land disposal system, or to a publicly owned waste treatment works.

NR 207.02(13)
(13) "Water quality based effluent limitations" means effluent limitations established by the department pursuant to s. 283.13 (5), Stats.

NR 101.03(14)
(14) "WPDES permit" means a Wisconsin pollutant discharge elimination system permit issued by the department pursuant to ch. 283, Stats.

NR 207.02(1)
(1) "Assimilative capacity" means the difference between the water quality criterion for a substance identified in ch. NR 102 or 105 and the existing level of that substance in a surface water.

Disposal: Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water in a manner which may permit the solid waste or any hazardous constituent to be emitted into the air to be discharged into any waters of the State or otherwise to enter the environment. Disposal does not include the generation, transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

What is disposal?: Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water. This term does not include the transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

Foam polystyrene packaging: means packaging made primarily from foam polystyrene that satisfies one of the following criteria:

1. is designed for serving food or beverages;
2. consists of loose particles intended to fill space and cushion the packaged article in a shipping container; or
3. consists of rigid materials shaped to hold and cushion the packaged article in a shipping container.

Land spreading facility: means a solid waste disposal facility in which solid waste is placed in thin layers onto the surface of the land or incorporated into the surface layers of the soil.

Landfill: means a solid waste facility for solid waste disposal.

Major appliance: means a residential or commercial air conditioner, clothes dryer, clothes washer, dishwasher, freezer, microwave oven, oven, refrigerator, furnace, boiler, dehumidifier, water heater or stove.

Plastic container: means a plastic container, as defined in s. 100.33 (1) (c), that is required to be labeled under s. 100.33 (2).

Postconsumer waste: means solid waste other than solid waste generated in the production of goods, hazardous waste, as defined in s. 291.01 (7), waste from construction and demolition of structures, scrap automobiles, or high–volume industrial waste, as defined in s. 289.01 (17).

Recycling: The beneficial use, reuse or legitimate recovery or reclamation of a hazardous waste. Recycling also includes the recovery of energy from hazardous waste. As used in this report, recycling implies performing these activities either on site or off site, after the waste has been generated.

Refuse: means all matters produced from industrial or community life, subject to decomposition, not defined as sewage.

Residual: Amount of a pollutant remaining in the environment after a natural or technological process has taken place, e.g., the sludge remaining after initial wastewater treatment.

Resource recovery: means the conversion of solid waste into fuel or energy.

Sewage: means the water–carried wastes created in and to be conducted away from residences, industrial establishments, and public buildings as defined in s. 101.01 (12), with such surface water or groundwater as may be present.

Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded or salvageable materials, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under ch. 283, or source material, as defined in s. 254.31 (10), special nuclear material, as defined in s. 254.31 (11), or by-product material, as defined in s.254.31 (1).

Solid waste disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water. This term does not include the transportation, storage or treatment of solid waste.

Solid waste facility: means a facility for solid waste treatment, solid waste storage or solid waste disposal, and includes commercial, industrial, municipal, state and federal of enumeration, sanitary landfills, dumps, land disposal sites, incinerators, transfer stations, storage facilities, collection and transportation services and processing, treatment and recovery facilities. This term includes the land where the facility is located. This term does not include a facility for the processing of scrap iron, steel or nonferrous metal using large machines to produce a principal product of scrap metal for sale or use for remelting purposes. This term does not include a facility which uses large machines to sort, grade, compact or bale clean wastepaper, fibers or plastics, not mixed with other solid waste, for sale or use for recycling purposes. This term does not include an auto junk yard or scrap metal salvage yard.

Solid waste management: means planning, organizing, financing, and implementing programs to effect the storage, collection, transporting, processing, recycling or final disposal of solid wastes in a sanitary, nuisance-free manner.

Source reduction: Source reduction is the reduction or elimination of waste at the source, usually within a process. Source reduction measures include process modification, feed stock substitutions, improvements in feed-stock purity, housekeeping and management practices, increases in the efficiency of machinery and recycling within a process. Source reduction implies any action that reduces the amount of waste exiting a process.

Yard waste: means leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris and brush, including clean woody vegetative material no greater than 6 inches in diameter. This term does not include stumps, roots or shrubs with intact root balls.

Accumulation: A generator that does not store hazardous waste under a Chapter NR 670, Wis. Adm. Code Interim or Final Operating License may accumulate hazardous waste for a short period of time before shipping it off–site or managing it on–site. The waste must be accumulated in either above ground tanks or containers; it may not be accumulated in underground tanks, waste piles or surface impoundments.

Generators of 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) or more of hazardous waste per month may accumulate their waste for up to 90 days before shipping it off-site or managing it on–site.

Generators of 100 kg (220 lbs) to less than 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) of hazardous waste per month may accumulate 6,000 kg (13,230 lbs) of waste for up to 180 days before shipping it off–site or managing it on–site. If the nearest treatment, storage, disposal or recycling facility to which they can send their waste is more than 200 miles away, they may accumulate their waste for up to 270 days.

Acute hazardous waste: is any hazardous waste with a Waste Code beginning with the letter "P," or any of the following "F" codes: F020, F021, F022, F023, F026, and F027. These wastes are subject to stringent quantity standards for accumulation and generation.

Characteristic waste: is classified as hazardous because it is ignitable, corrosive, reactive or toxic as determined by the TCLP test. It has a Waste Code in the range "D001" to "D043." Each of these four characteristics are defined in section NR 661 Subchapter C, Wis. Adm. Code.

Corrosive:

• an aqueous (water-containing) waste with a pH less than or equal to 2.0;
• an aqueous (water-containing) waste with a pH greater than or equal to 12.5; or
• a liquid waste that corrodes plain carbon steel at a rate greater than .25 inch per year (6.35 mm/yr).

Examples: waste rust removers, waste acid or alkaline cleaning fluids and waste battery acids.

Disposal: Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water in a manner which may permit the hazardous waste or any hazardous constituent to be emitted into the air to be discharged into any waters of the State or otherwise to enter the environment. Disposal does not include the generation, transportation, storage or treatment of hazardous waste.

EPA identification number: The EPA identification number is a 12–character number assigned by EPA to each generator, transporter, and treatment, storage or disposal facility. Facilities which are not generators but anticipate possible generation activity must also apply for and receive an EPA ID number.

Generator: A generator is a site or mobile source whose actions or processes produce hazardous waste.

Generator notification form: Every site which generates, treats, stores or disposes of hazardous waste must inform EPA and the DNR of its hazardous waste activity by filing EPA form 8700–12, Notification of Hazardous Waste Activity. After receiving the notification form, EPA assigns an identification number to the site.

Hazardous waste: A solid waste which possesses at least one of four characteristics or appears on special DNR lists. The regulatory definition of hazardous waste is found in section NR 661.03, Wis. Adm. Code.

Ignitable:

• a liquid waste with a flash point less than 140°F; the flash point is the temperature at which the vapor above the liquid will ignite when a flame is introduced;
• any waste that is an ignitable compressed gas; or
• any waste material that can cause fire through friction, absorption of moisture or spontaneous chemical changes.

Examples: paint wastes, certain nonchlorinated degreasers or other solvents, adhesives, thinners and mineral spirits.

Listed wastes: Those wastes specifically named in section 661, Subchapter D Wis. Adm. Code.

Large quantity generator (LQG): is defined by the following criteria:

1. generated in one or more months during the calendar year, 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) or more of hazardous waste; or more than 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of acute hazardous waste, or more than 100 kg (220 lbs) of acute hazardous waste spill cleanup material; or
2. accumulated at any time during the calendar year more than 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of acute hazardous waste; or 100 kg (220 lbs) of acute hazardous spill cleanup material; and
3. accumulated hazardous waste in above ground tanks or containers during the calendar year for 90 days or less.

Chapters NR 661 to 679, Wisconsin Administrative Code: cover hazardous waste management and regulate the generation, transportation, treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste. The Chapter NR 600 series is adopted pursuant to the "Hazardous Waste Management Act" in sections 291.001 to 291.97, Wisconsin Statutes.

Publicly–owned treatment works (POTW): is a municipal sewerage or liquid industrial waste treatment device or system owned by the State or a municipality.

Reactive:

• is normally unstable and readily undergoes violent changes without detonating;
• reacts violently with water;
• forms potentially explosive mixtures with water;
• generates toxic gases or fumes when mixed with water;
• is a cyanide or sulfide that can generate toxic gases, vapors or fumes;
• is capable of detonation or explosive reactions under certain conditions; or
• is a forbidden, Class A or Class B explosive.

Example: cyanide plating wastes, sulfide containing wastes and waste toluene diisocyanate.

Resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA): is the federal statute that regulates the generation, treatment, storage or disposal or recycling of solid and hazardous waste.

Recycling: The beneficial use, reuse or legitimate recovery or reclamation of a hazardous waste. Recycling also includes the recovery of energy from hazardous waste. As used in this report, recycling implies performing these activities either on–site or off-site, after the waste has been generated.

Residual: Amount of a pollutant remaining in the environment after a natural or technological process has taken place, e.g., the sludge remaining after initial wastewater treatment.

Solid waste: is any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded or salvageable materials including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations and from community activities. Wastes excluded from this definition are solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under Chapter 147, Wisconsin Statutes, or source, special nuclear or by-products material as defined under section 140.52, Wisconsin Statutes.

Source reduction: Source reduction is the reduction or elimination of waste at the source, usually within a process. Source reduction measures include process modification, feed-stock substitutions, improvements in feed-stock purity, housekeeping and management practices, increases in the efficiency of machinery, and recycling within a process. Source reduction implies any action that reduces the amount of waste exiting a process.

Small quantity generator (SQG): is defined by the following criteria:

1. in every single month during the calendar year, the site generated less than 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) of hazardous waste;
2. the site accumulated at any time during the calendar year 6,000 kg (13,230 lbs) or less or hazardous waste; and
3. accumulated hazardous waste in above ground tanks or containers during the calendar year for 180 or 270 days (depending on the distance the waste is transported) or less.

Standard industrial classification (SIC) code: The SIC code is a four-digit coding system developed by the federal Census Bureau and Office of Management and Budget, that categorizes the principal product or group of products produced or distributed, or services rendered at site's physical location.

Storage: Containment of hazardous waste for a temporary period in a manner that does not constitute disposal (section 291.01 (18) Wisconsin Statutes).

temporary holding of waste pending treatment or disposal. Storage methods include containers, tanks, waste piles and surface impoundments.

Toxic: This characteristic is based on the amount of certain heavy metals, pesticides, semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds of hazardous waste that can be extracted from a laboratory sample of the waste. The laboratory test used to determine this characteristic is called the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP).

Treatment: means any method, technique or process, including neutralization, which follows generation and which is designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize the hazardous waste, or so as to recover energy or material resources from the waste, or so as to render the waste nonhazardous for transport amenable for recovery, amenable for storage or reduced in volume. Treatment includes incineration.

Uniform hazardous waste manifest: The shipping document (DNR form 4400–66 or EPA forms 8700–22 or 8700–22a) that pertains to hazardous waste and that originates with and is signed by the generator.

Very small quantity generator (VSQG): is defined by the following criteria:

1. in every single month during the calendar year, the site generated less than 100 kg (220 lbs) of hazardous waste; and 1 kg (2.2 lbs) or less of acute hazardous waste, and 100 kg (220 lbs) or less of acute hazardous waste spill cleanup material; and
2. the site accumulated at any time during the calendar year 1,000 kg (2,205 lbs) or less or hazardous waste, and 1 kg (2.2 lbs) or less of acute hazardous waste; and 100 kg (220 lbs) or less of acute hazardous spill cleanup material.

Waste minimization: means the reduction, to the extent feasible, of hazardous waste that is generated and subsequently treated, stored, or disposed of. It includes any source reduction or recycling activity undertaken by a generator that results in:

1. the reduction of total volume or quantity of hazardous waste;
2. the reduction of toxicity of hazardous waste; or
3. both, as long as the reduction is consistent with the goal of minimizing present and future threats to human health and the environment.

Air contaminant: means dust, fumes, mist, liquid, smoke, other particulate matter, vapor, gas, odorous substances or any combination thereof but shall not include uncombined water vapor.

Air contaminant source: or "source" if not otherwise modified, means any facility, building, structure, installation, equipment, vehicle or action that emits or may emit an air contaminant directly, indirectly or in combination with another facility, building, structure, installation, equipment, vehicle or action.

Air permit: is a legal document that lists what your business must do in order to comply with the state and federal air pollution laws. Air permits may contain emission limitations, work practice standards, record keeping requirements, equipment monitoring requirements, and reporting obligations. Failure to follow the requirements listed in your air permit could result in violations of state and federal laws.

Air pollution: means the presence in the atmosphere of one or more air contaminants in such quantities and of such duration as is or tends to be injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life, or property, or would unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property.

Commence modification: Commence modification means to engage in a program of on-site modification which may include site clearance, grading, dredging or landfilling in preparation for a specific modification of a stationary source.

Construction permit: This air permit may be required if you are planning to start a new business in Wisconsin or if you wish to expand your business. The permit is required prior to the start of construction or modification of your business if your business will emit air contaminants.

The construction permit application fee is $1350.00. You must enclose a check payable to the Department of Natural Resources when you submit the application. Other permit review costs associated with the construction permit review process will vary depending on which air requirements apply to your proposed project that require a detailed review and analysis by the reviewer. For example, the additional review costs could include: $2300.00 Minor Source review fee, $2300.00 for stack test (not required for all), $700.00 air quality analysis, $400.00 for each additional emission source, for two or more units, and $2650.00 fee for expedited review (speeds up the review of your application).

The permit allows a company to build, operate and test the source. It gives you 18 months to get the project going and can have one 18-month extension unless otherwise specified. If you have not started constructing within that time frame, your permit will expire and you'll need a new one if you want to restart the project. Your business will have applied for an Operation Permit or Operation Permit Revision along with your construction permit application. This facility–wide permit will either be issued at the same time as your construction permit or, in some cases, after you have completed any required compliance emission testing for the project. See definition of Operation Permit.

Existing business: is any source that has been in operation for any length of time. Most existing businesses will require an operation permit, but any changes that occurred after 1979 may require a construction permit if either an exemption or permit was not issued at the time.

Expanding business (five types: construction, modification, reconstruction, replacement, relocation)

• Construction — To build an entirely new facility or add new equipment at an existing facility. Includes reconstruction and replacement (see below).
• Modification — A physical change to, or change in, the method of operation that produces either more air emissions of the same type or different or "new" air emissions.
• Reconstruction — To remove old and substitute new components that exceed 50 percent of the capital cost of building a new source.
• Replacement — To dismantle and substitute a process or facility with similar one.
• Relocation — To remove a process or facility from one location and place it at a different site or within the same property boundaries.

Generally available control technology (GACT) standards: are federal air pollution rules intended to protect the public from hazardous air pollutant emissions. These standards are less stringent than MACT standards (see below), but they can cover very small businesses. Because GACT standards are included under section 112 of the Clean Air Act Amendments, they may affect a facility's eligibility for permit exemptions.

General permit: is a generic permit issued to cover eligible facilities in a specific industry group. General Permits are drafted, undergo public comment, and are issued only once. Then, facilities that meet a set of eligibility requirement apply for coverage under the specific permit. General permits allow for a very streamlined application process and a turn-around time of 15 days or less on decisions to grant coverage.

Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs): are compounds that are known or suspected of causing cancer, birth defects, gene mutations, and damage to the respiratory, nervous and immune systems. HAPs are listed in the following regulations:

• federal HAPs list in s. 112(b), Clean Air Act, includes 188 compounds; and
• state HAPs list in ch. NR 445, Wis. Adm. Code, includes 550 compounds, with some overlap with the federal HAPs.

Maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards: are federal air pollution rules intended to protect the public from hazardous air pollutants. MACT standards affect source categories under section 112 of the Clean Air Act Amendments.

Maximum theoretical emissions (MTE): is the amount of air pollution a source would put into the air if the equipment was operated at maximum production capacity, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without any control device. When determining annual maximum theoretical emissions, a source shall be presumed to operate 8,760 hours per year unless its physical design precludes 8,760 hours of operation per year. Where a source's physical design restricts the number of hours it may operate, annual maximum theoretical emissions shall be calculated taking this restriction into account. In determining the maximum theoretical emissions of VOCs for a source, the design capacity or maximum production capacity shall include the use of raw materials, coatings and inks with the highest VOC content used in practice by the source. Maximum theoretical emissions considers worst case emissions and reasonable operation conditions (or bottlenecks) in annual calculations.

New source: is a facility, process line or portable source that was either constructed or modified after August 19, 1980 or to which a new emission limit applies, unless it meets certain exemptions:

• specific exemptions — based on the types of processes you have at your facility and set at maximum or actual operations levels;
• exemptions based on actual emissions — based on total actual emissions from your facility in a calendar year that stay below specified threshold levels; and
• general exemptions — based on maximum theoretical pound per hour emission rates of various air pollutants and whether you are affected by federal regulations under new source performance standards or the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants.

Follow the Permit Primer for details on the exemptions.

Nonattainment area: means an area identified by the department in a document prepared under s. 285.23 (2) where the concentration in the atmosphere of an air contaminant exceeds an ambient air quality standard.

Operation permit: is an air permit that covers all the air polluting activities at an entire facility. Operation permits need to be renewed every 5 years. All facilities that emit air pollution need an operation permit unless they they are exempt. Exemptions are similar to those available for construction permits. Follow the permit primer for the details.

The operation permit is valid for up to five years and may be renewed.

Reasonable available control technology (RACT) standards: are state air pollution rules controlling the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on certain processes or operations at the source. Most of them apply only to businesses that have those specified processes or operations and are located in Wisconsin's non–attainment area or the counties bordering that area. The nonattainment area includes the counties of: Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha.

Registration permit: is a generic permit issued to cover eligible facilities with low air pollution emissions. A Registration Permit is drafted, undergoes public comment, and is issued only once. Then, facilities meeting all the specified eligibility requirements apply for coverage under the permit. Registration Permits allow for a very streamlined application process and a turn–around time of 15 days or less on decisions to grant coverage.

Start of construction, commence construction: "Commence construction" means to engage in a program of on–site construction, including a site clearance, grading, dredging or landfilling specifically designed for a stationary source in preparation for the fabrication, erection or installation of the building components of the stationary source. This includes activities such as:

• site clearing;
• grading;
• dredging;
• landfilling;
• changing equipment;
• substituting equipment; and
• or even moving the location of equipment.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): means any organic compound which participates in atmospheric photochemical reactions. This includes any such organic compound other than compounds which have been determined to have negligible photochemical reactivity. The latter category includes methane, ethane, methylene chloride (dichloromethane), 1,1,1–trichloroethane (methyl chloroform), acetone, perchloroethylene and many of the chlorofluorocarbons, including CFC–11 (trichlorofluoromethane), CFC–12 (dichlorodifluoromethane), HCFC–22 (chlorodifluoromethane) and HFC-23 (trifluoromethane), to name a few.