§ 271.907. Special definitions.
The following words and terms have the following meanings and apply only to this subchapter; other definitions may be found in § 271.1 (relating to definitions):
Agricultural land—Land on which a food crop, a feed crop, a fiber crop, a silvicultural crop or a horticultural crop is grown. The term includes range land and land used as pasture.
Agronomic rate—The annual whole sludge application rate (dry weight basis) designed to do the following:
(1) Provide the amount of nitrogen needed by the food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, silvicultural crop, cover crop, horticultural crop or vegetation grown on the land.
(2) Minimize the amount of nitrogen in the sewage sludge that passes below the root zone of the crop or vegetation grown on the land to the groundwater.
Annual whole sludge application rate—The maximum amount of sewage sludge (dry weight basis) that can be applied to a unit area of land during a 365-day period.
Apply sewage sludge or sewage sludge applied to the land or land apply—Land application of sewage sludge.
Bag or other container—Either an open or closed receptacle. The term includes, but is not limited to, a bag, bucket, box, container, vehicle or trailer, with a load capacity of 1.1 tons (or 1.0 metric ton) or less.
Cover crop—A small grain crop, such as oats, wheat or barley, not grown for harvest.
Cumulative pollutant loading rate—The maximum amount of a pollutant that can be applied to an area of land.
Domestic sewage—Waste and wastewater from humans or household operations that is discharged to or otherwise enters a treatment works.
Dry weight basis—Calculated on the basis of having been dried at 221°F (or 105°C) until reaching a constant mass (that is, essentially 100% solids content).
Feed crops—Crops produced primarily for consumption by animals.
Fiber crops—Crops such as flax and cotton.
Food crops—Crops consumed by humans. The term includes, but is not limited to, fruits, vegetables and tobacco.
Forest—A tract of land thick with trees and underbrush.
Frozen ground—Ground frozen to a depth of at least 2 inches for a period of 72-consecutive hours.
Industrial wastewater—Wastewater generated in a commercial or industrial process.
Land application—The spraying or spreading of sewage sludge onto the land surface for beneficial use; the injection of sewage sludge below the land surface for beneficial use; or the incorporation of sewage sludge into the soil for beneficial use so that the sewage sludge can either condition the soil or fertilize crops for vegetation grown in the soil.
Land application of sewage sludge general permit—A regionwide or Statewide land application of sewage sludge permit that is issued by the Department under the procedures and requirements in Chapters 91 and 92 (relating to general provisions; and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting, monitoring and compliance) and this subchapter, as applicable, for a clearly described category of activities which may involve a discharge to surface or groundwaters, when the activities are substantially similar in nature and do not have the potential to cause significant adverse environmental impact.
Land application of sewage sludge permit—A permit that is issued for an activity related to the land application of sewage sludge which may result in a discharge of pollutants to waters of this Commonwealth.
Municipality—A city, town, borough, county, township or an authority created by any of the foregoing under State law, including an intermunicipal agency of two or more of the foregoing entities.
Pasture—Land on which animals feed directly on feed crops such as legumes, grasses, grain stubble or stover.
Person—An individual, corporation, partnership, association, municipality, political subdivision or an instrumentality of State, Federal or local government, or an agent or employe thereof; or any other legal entity.
Person who prepares sewage sludge—Either the person who generates sewage sludge during the treatment or processing of domestic sewage in a treatment works or the person who derives a material from sewage sludge. The term includes a composting facility that composts sewage sludge.
Pollutant—An organic substance, an inorganic substance, a combination of organic substances, a pathogenic organism or another substance identified by the Department 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 Department 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 (for example, milligrams per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a pollutant that can be applied to a unit area of land (for example, pounds per acre or kilograms per hectare); or the volume of a material that can be applied to a unit area of land (for example, gallons per acre or liters per hectare).
Public contact site—Land with a high potential for contact by the public. The term includes, but is not limited to, public parks, ball fields, cemeteries, plant nurseries, turf farms and golf courses.
Range land—Open land with indigenous vegetation.
Reclamation site—Drastically disturbed land that is reclaimed using sewage sludge. The term includes, but is not limited to, active and abandoned coal and noncoal surface mines and construction sites.
Residential septage—Liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool or similar treatment works that receives only waste or wastewater from humans or household operations. The term includes processed residential septage from a residential septage treatment facility. The term does not include liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, Type III Marine Sanitation Device or similar treatment works, that receives either commercial wastewater or industrial wastewater, and does not include grease removed from grease traps at a restaurant.
Runoff—Rainwater, leachate or other liquid that drains overland on any part of a land surface and runs off of the land surface.
Treat or treatment of sewage sludge—The preparation of sewage sludge for land application. The term includes, but is not limited to, thickening, stabilization and dewatering of sewage sludge. The term does not include storage of sewage sludge.
Treatment works—Either a Federally owned, publicly owned or privately owned device or system used to treat (including recycle and reclaim) either domestic sewage or a combination of domestic sewage and industrial waste of a liquid nature.
Wetlands—Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions including swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 271.821 (relating to application for general permit).
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