S.C. Code Regs. § § 61-107.4.I.B
For the purposes of this regulation, the following terms are defined as follows:
"Aerated Static Pile" means a composting process that uses a controlled air distribution system to blow or draw air through the composting mass. No agitation or turning of the composting mass is performed.
"Aerobic" means the biological decomposition of organic substances in the presence of at least five percent oxygen by volume.
"Best management practices" (BMP) means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of Waters of the State.
"Buffer" means the regulatory minimum separation distance required for wood-grinding equipment, operational areas, storage areas, or boundaries of a wood-grinding or composting site to structures.
"Carbon-to-Nitrogen ratio" ("C:N Ratio") means the quantity of total carbon (C) in relation to the quantity of total nitrogen (N) in an organic material or composting mass.
"Composite sampling" means a single sample for laboratory analysis composed of multiple, well-blended point or sub-samples uniformly distributed throughout the entire volume that, after mixing, accurately represents an average or median value of the property or trait of interest for a batch or general mass of compost.
"Compost" means the humus-like product of the process of composting.
"Compost stability" refers to a specific stage or state of organic matter during composting as characterized by the inverse measure of the potential for a material to rapidly decompose.
"Compostable" means the capability of being decomposed by natural biological processes.
"Compostable products" means manufactured items such as cups, plates, and flatware for food service or bags and packaging intended for singular use that undergoes degradation by biological processes. Only the materials that meet the relevant specifications of American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) D6400 (plastics) or ASTM D6868 (coated papers and natural materials) shall be considered compostable products.
"Composting" means the aerobic biological decomposition of organic residuals under managed conditions and minimum time-temperature relationships resulting in compost.
"Composting mass" means the result of combining feedstocks in a formulaic recipe to achieve a Carbon-to-Nitrogen ratio, moisture content, and porosity within the mixture that facilitates rapid aerobic decomposition of the materials; the mixture of feedstocks is considered a composting mass until it meets the stability requirements of this regulation.
"Control" means having access to a property through part ownership, rental, lease, easement or other access agreement.
"Curing" means the process that follows composting in which the compost is matured to meet market conditions.
"Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
"Domestic septage" means either liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, Type III marine sanitation device, or similar treatment works that receives only domestic sewage. Domestic septage does not include liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar treatment works that receives either commercial wastewater or industrial wastewater and does not include grease removed from a grease trap at a restaurant.
"Domestic sewage" means waste and wastewater from humans or household operations that is discharged to or otherwise enters a treatment works.
"Feedstock" means source separated, recovered organic material approved by the Department or listed in the Appendix of R.61-107.4 to be used in the production of compost, mulch, or other product.
"Finished compost" means the product of a composting mass that has met the minimum time and temperature requirements for the composting method chosen and satisfies the stability requirements and applicable quality assurance and testing requirements for finished compost found in Part III.H of this regulation.
"Generated on site" means residuals produced on the same single tax map parcel or multiple tax parcels under the same ownership or control, upon which it is managed.
"Grinding" means the act of mechanically reducing the size of organic materials.
"Hearing" means a Department proceeding that is conducted after notice by mail has been given to the permittee of facts or conduct that warrant a permit revocation and is a proceeding where the permittee is given an opportunity to show compliance with all lawful requirements for the retention of the permit.
"Industrial sludge" means the solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of industrial wastewater in a treatment works. Industrial sludge includes, but is not limited to, scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes, and a material derived from industrial sludge. Industrial sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of industrial sludge in an industrial sludge incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of industrial wastewater in a treatment works. Industrial sludge by definition does not include sludge covered under 40 CFR 503 or R.61-9.503, Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge.
"Industrial solid waste" means solid waste generated by manufacturing or industrial processes that is not a hazardous waste regulated under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The term does not include employee kitchen or cafeteria residuals, packaging waste or yard-trimmings generated on site of an industrial property.
"In-process material" means ground organics that have been incorporated into a composting mass and other material that is in the process of being cured, but has not yet achieved the status of finished compost.
"In-vessel composting" means a process in which decomposing organic material is enclosed in a drum, silo, bin, tunnel, or other container for the purpose of producing compost; and in which temperature, moisture and air-borne emissions are controlled, vectors are excluded, and nuisance and odor generation minimized.
"Land-clearing debris" means material generated solely from land-clearing activities, including brush, limbs, and stumps, but does not include solid waste from agricultural or silvicultural operations.
"Manure" means the fecal and urinary excreta of livestock, poultry, or fish and may also contain bedding, spilled feed, water, soil and other substances incidental to its collection. This definition does not include excreta from household animals such as dogs and cats.
"Mulch" means the organic, non-composted product rendered by grinding Category One feedstocks.
"Municipal solid waste" means discards from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources that have not been separated at the source for recycling. Industrial process waste is excluded from the wastes that comprise municipal solid waste.
"On-site" means activities performed on property under the same ownership or control where the feedstocks were grown, produced, or otherwise generated for recycling.
"Open burning" is defined to have the same meaning as used in Air Pollution Control Regulations and Standards R.61-62.1, Definitions and General Requirements, or any future amendments, and currently means any fire or smoke-producing process that is not conducted in any boiler plant, furnace, high temperature processing unit, incinerator or flare, or in any other such equipment primarily designed for the combustion of fuel or waste material.
"Open dumping" means any unpermitted disposal or landfilling activity except as specifically exempted by regulation.
"Operational Area" means the area of a wood-grinding or composting facility where equipment maintenance, material storage, material processing, composting or curing activities are performed, or as otherwise specified by permit.
"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall operation of a wood-grinding or composting facility.
"Organic" means a substance derived from living organisms.
"Pathogen" means a disease-causing organism, such as fecal coliform, Salmonella bacteria, Ascaris parasite eggs, etc.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, unit of local government, state agency, federal agency, or other legal entity.
"Porosity" means the fraction of a material or mass that is void space.
"Putrescible" means material that contains organic matter capable of decomposition by microorganisms and of such a character and proportion that it causes obnoxious odors and the capability of attracting or providing food for birds and other animals.
"Residence" means any existing structure, all or part of which is designed or used for human habitation, that has received a final permit for electricity, permanent potable water supply, permanent sewage disposal, and, if required by the local government, a certificate of occupancy.
"Residuals" means materials that have served their original, intended use and have been source separated and diverted for recycling, grinding, or composting.
"Run-off" means any rainwater not absorbed by soil, that flows over land from any part of a facility.
"Sewage sludge" means the solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated during the treatment of municipal wastewater or domestic sewage in a treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to, domestic septage; scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced wastewater treatment processes; and a material derived from sewage sludge. Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator or grit and screenings generated during preliminary treatment of domestic or industrial sewage in a treatment works.
"Silvicultural" means produced from or pertaining to the care and cultivation of forest trees and timber, including bark and woodchips.
"Solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, or sludge from a waste treatment facility, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities. This term does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, recovered materials, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to NPDES permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, or the Pollution Control Act of South Carolina, as amended, or source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. Also excluded from this definition are application of fertilizer and animal manure during normal agricultural operations or refuse as defined and regulated pursuant to the South Carolina Mining Act, including processed mineral waste, which will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment.
"Source separated" means segregated from solid waste at the point of generation to facilitate recycling.
"Thermophilic" means a biological stage in the composting process during which microorganisms break down proteins, fats, and complex carbohydrates such as cellulose at relatively high temperatures (ranging from 113 degrees Fahrenheit to 167 degrees Fahrenheit or 45 degrees Celsius to 75 degrees Celsius).
"Turn" means to physically manipulate the compost mass in order to aerate, decrease temperatures, and increase evaporation rates.
"Unauthorized material" means any feedstock or waste material that due to its feedstock category, characteristics, or volume, causes an exempt, conditionally exempt site, or permitted facility to be in violation of this regulation or the permit conditions approved by the Department.
"Untreated wood" means raw wood or lumber that has not been chemically treated or painted.
"Vector" means a carrier that is capable of transmitting a pathogen from one organism to another including, but not limited to, flies and other insects, rodents, birds, and vermin.
"Waters of the State" means lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, artesian wells, rivers, perennial and navigable streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial limits of the State, and all other bodies of water, natural or artificial, public or private, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, which are wholly or partially within or bordering the State or within its jurisdiction. This definition does not include ephemeral or intermittent streams. This definition includes wetlands as defined in this Part.
"Wetlands" means lands that have a predominance of hydric soil, are inundated or saturated by water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, and, under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation. Normal circumstances refer to the soil and hydrologic conditions that are normally present without regard to whether the vegetation has been removed. Wetlands shall be identified through the confirmation of the three wetlands criteria: hydric soil, hydrology, and hydrophytic vegetation. All three criteria shall be met for an area to be identified as wetlands. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, and bogs.
"Yard trimmings" means residuals consisting solely of vegetative matter resulting from maintenance or alteration of public, commercial, institutional, or residential landscapes and tends to include grass clippings, leaves, discarded plants and weeds, which have been source separated and diverted for recycling.
S.C. Code Regs. § 61-107.4.I.B