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For the purposes of this part:
Adverse weather means weather conditions that make it difficult for response equipment and personnel to clean up or respond to discharged CWA hazardous substances, accounting for impacts due to climate change, such as the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, temperature fluctuations, rising seas, storm surges, inland and coastal flooding, drought, wildfires, and permafrost melt in northern areas and that must be considered when identifying response systems and equipment in a response plan for the applicable operating environment.
Article means a manufactured item that is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacture, has end use functions dependent in whole or in part upon the shape or design during end use, and does not release or otherwise result in exposure to a CWA hazardous substance under normal conditions of processing and use.
Container means any device or portable device in which a CWA hazardous substance is processed, stored, used, transported, treated, disposed of, or otherwise handled.
Contract or other approved means is defined as:
(1) A written contractual agreement with a spill response organization that identifies and ensures the availability of the necessary personnel and equipment within appropriate response times;
(2) A written certification by the owner or operator that the necessary personnel and equipment resources, owned or operated by the facility owner or operator, are available to respond to a discharge within appropriate response times;
(3) Active membership in a local or regional spill response organization that has identified and ensures adequate access through such membership to necessary personnel and equipment to respond to a discharge within appropriate response times in the specified geographic area; or
(4) Any other specific arrangement approved by the Regional Administrator upon request of the owner or operator.
CWA Hazardous Substance means any hazardous substance designated in 40 CFR part 116.
Discharge includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping of a CWA hazardous substance, but excludes: discharges in compliance with a permit under section 402 of the CWA; discharges resulting from circumstances identified, reviewed, and made a part of the public record with respect to a permit issued or modified under section 402 of the CWA, and subject to a condition in such permit; and continuous or anticipated intermittent discharges from a point source, identified in a permit or permit application under section 402 of the CWA, that are caused by events occurring within the scope of relevant operating or treatment systems.
Distance to the endpoint means the greatest distance a CWA hazardous substance in a worst case discharge into or on the navigable waters or a conveyance to navigable waters can travel while still having the ability to cause injury to public receptors or fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments, as determined under §118.3(c)(1) and (c)(3) using endpoint concentrations enumerated in Appendix B or adversely impact a public water system as in §118.3(c)(2).
Endpoint means the concentration at which a worst case discharge of a CWA hazardous substance has the ability to cause injury to public receptors or fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments as in Appendix B or adversely impact a public water system as in §118.3(c)(2).
Exclusive economic zone means the zone contiguous to the territorial sea of the United States extending to a distance up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Facility means any mobile or fixed building, property, parcel, lease, structure, installation, equipment, pipe, or in-plant pipeline (other than a vessel or a public vessel), used in CWA hazardous substance handling, production, manufacturing, storage, processing, refining, transfer, distribution, treatment, or in which any CWA hazardous substance is used. The boundaries of a facility depend on several site-specific factors, including but not limited to, the ownership or operation of buildings, structures, and equipment on the same site and types of activity at the site. Therefore, contiguous or non-contiguous buildings, properties, parcels, leases, structures, installations, pipes, or pipelines under the ownership or operation of the same person may, for legitimate operational and response planning reasons, be considered separate facilities.
Fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments mean areas that may be identified by their legal designation or by evaluations of Area Committees (for planning) or members of the Federal On-Scene Coordinator's spill response structure (during responses). These areas may include wetlands, national and State parks, critical habitats for endangered or threatened species, wilderness and natural resource areas, marine sanctuaries and estuarine reserves, conservation areas, preserves, wildlife areas, wildlife refuges, wild and scenic rivers, recreational areas, national forests, Federal and State lands that are research national areas, heritage program areas, land trust areas, and historical and archaeological sites and parks. These areas may also include unique habitats such as aquaculture sites and agricultural surface water intakes, bird nesting areas, critical biological resource areas, designated migratory routes, and designated seasonal habitats.
Injury means a measurable adverse change, either long- or short-term, in the chemical or physical quality or the viability of a natural resource or public receptor (including to human health) resulting either directly or indirectly from exposure to a discharge, or exposure to a product of reactions (e.g., more hazardous degradation products, ignition, or reaction) resulting from a discharge.
Interconnected containers mean containers that are connected via pipes, hoses, or other conveyance (either permanent or temporary) to allow movement of a CWA hazardous substance between containers.
Maximum extent practicable means within the limitations used to determine CWA hazardous substance release planning resources for recovery, shoreline protection, and cleanup for worst case discharges from onshore non-transportation-related facilities in adverse weather. It includes the planned capability to respond to a worst case discharge, including a discharge resulting from fire or explosion, as contained in a facility response plan that meets the requirements in §118.11 or in a specific plan approved by the Regional Administrator.
Maximum quantity onsite means the maximum total aggregate quantity for each CWA hazardous substance present at all locations within the entire non-transportation-related onshore facility at any time.
Mitigation or mitigation system(s) means specific activities, technologies, or equipment designed or deployed to capture or control substances upon loss of containment to minimize exposure of the public or the environment. Passive mitigation means equipment, devices, or technologies that function without human, mechanical, or other energy input.
Navigable waters mean waters of the United States as defined in 40 CFR 120.2, adjoining shorelines, and the exclusive economic zone.
Non-transportation-related onshore facility means any facility of any kind located in, on, or under any land within the United States and excludes movement of CWA hazardous substances in interstate or intrastate commerce under active shipping papers by rail, pipeline, highway vehicle, or vessel pursuant to 49 CFR parts 171-180.
Offshore facility means any facility of any kind (other than a vessel or public vessel) located in, on, or under any of the navigable waters of the United States, and any facility of any kind that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is located in, on, or under any other waters.
Offsite means areas beyond the property boundary of a facility, and areas within the property boundary to which the public has routine and unrestricted access during or outside business hours.
Onshore facility means any facility of any kind located in, on, or under any land within the United States other than submerged land. Furthermore, this extends to in, on, or under any submerged land as delegated to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to 40 CFR part 112 Appendix B.
Owner or operator means any person owning or operating an onshore facility or an offshore facility, and in the case of any abandoned offshore facility, the person who owned or operated or maintained the facility immediately prior to such abandonment.
Person means an individual, firm, corporation, association, or partnership.
Planning distance means the distance to an endpoint such that a worst case discharge of CWA hazardous substances into or on the navigable waters or a conveyance to navigable waters from a non-transportation-related onshore facility could adversely impact a public water system or cause injury to fish, wildlife, and sensitive environments or public receptors, as described in §118.10.
Publicly Owned Treatment Works is defined in 40 CFR 403.3 and includes Federally Owned Treatment Works.
Public receptors mean parks, recreational areas, docks, or other public spaces inhabited, occupied, or used by the public at any time where members of the public could be injured as a result of a worst case discharge into or on the navigable waters or a conveyance to navigable waters.
Public vessel as defined by section 311(a)(4) of the CWA means a vessel owned or bareboat-chartered and operated by the United States, or a State or political subdivision thereof, or by a foreign nation, except when such vessel is engaged in commerce.
Public water system is a system as defined in 40 CFR 141.2. A public water system is either a “community water system” or a “non-community water system.”
Qualified individual (QI) means the individual having full authority to implement response actions and required to initiate immediate communications with the appropriate Federal official and the persons providing personnel and equipment to respond, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst case discharge and to mitigate or prevent a substantial threat of such a discharge.
Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator of the EPA, in and for the Region in which the non-transportation-related onshore facility is located.
Reportable quantities mean quantities that may be harmful as set forth in §117.3, the discharge into the environment during a 24-hour period, which is a violation of Clean Water Act section 311(b)(3) and requires notice as set forth in §117.21.
Respond or response means containment, removal, remediation, neutralization, source control, mechanical recovery, bioremediation, or other release countermeasures, in accordance with the applicable Regional Contingency Plan and Area Contingency Plan, of the CWA hazardous substances from the water and adjoining shorelines or the taking of such other actions that may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the environment, public health, or welfare, including, but not limited to, persons, fish, shellfish, wildlife, public water systems, and public and private property, shorelines, and beaches.
Response equipment means equipment (including firefighting equipment), or other mitigating substances and devices, available to an owner or operator and Federal, State, and local or Tribal agencies, designed or used to ensure an effective and immediate response to a discharge, and to ensure mitigation or prevention of a substantial threat of a discharge.
Response resources means the personnel, equipment, supplies, and other capability necessary to perform the response activities identified in the facility response plan required under this part.
Source water protection area means the area delineated by the State for a public water system or including numerous public water systems, whether the source is ground water or surface water or both, as part of the State Source Water Assessment Program approved by EPA under section 1453 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-13).
Spill response organization (SRO) means an entity that provides spill response resources to mitigate or remove CWA hazardous substances from the environment and mitigate associated impacts.
Transportation or transport means the movement of property and loading, unloading, or storage incidental to movement pursuant to 49 CFR part 171-199.
Transportation-related onshore facility means any facility of any kind, in, on, or under any land within the United States which provides movement or conveyances of CWA hazardous substances in interstate or intrastate commerce by rail, pipeline, highway vehicle, or vessel pursuant to 49 CFR parts 171-199.
United States means the States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Island Governments.
Vessel as defined by section 101(28) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), means every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water; and, as defined by section 311(a)(3) of the CWA, means every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water other than a public vessel.
Water distribution system means a system to connect water treatment plants or water sources (in the absence of treatment) to customers via a network of pipes, storage facilities, valves, and pumps.
Wellhead protection area means the surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well or wellfield, supplying a public water system, through which contaminants are reasonably likely to move toward and reach such water well or wellfield.
Worst case discharge means the largest foreseeable discharge in adverse weather conditions including a discharge resulting from fire or explosion.
[89 FR 21955, March 28, 2024]