S.C. Code Regs. § § 61-68.B
Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 10, October 25, 2024
Section 61-68.B - DEFINITIONS1. The definition of any word or phrase employed in this regulation shall be the same as given in the South Carolina Pollution Control Act, S.C. Code Sections 48-1-10, et seq., hereafter referred to as the Act. Words or phrases which are not defined in the Act are defined as follows:2.7Q10 means the annual minimum seven (7)-day average flow rate that occurs with an average frequency of once in ten (10) years as published or verified by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) or an estimate extrapolated from published or verified USGS data.3.30Q5 means the annual minimum thirty (30)-day average flow rate that occurs with an average frequency of once in five (5) years as published or verified by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) or an estimate extrapolated from published or verified USGS data.4.Acute means a stimulus severe enough to rapidly induce an effect; in aquatic toxicity tests, an effect observed in ninety-six (96) hours or less typically is considered acute. When referring to aquatic toxicology or human health, an acute effect is not always measured in terms of lethality.5.Acute-to-chronic ratio (ACR) means the ratio of the acute toxicity of an effluent or a toxicant to its chronic toxicity. It is used as a factor for estimating chronic toxicity on the basis of acute toxicity data, or for estimating acute toxicity on the basis of chronic toxicity data.6.Agricultural means the use of water for stock watering, irrigation, and other farm purposes.7.Annual average flow means the annual mean flow rate of a stream at a specific point as published or verified by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) or an estimated annual mean flow rate extrapolated from published or verified USGS data.8.Aquaculture means a defined managed water area which uses discharges of pollutants into that designated area for the maintenance or production of harvestable freshwater, estuarine, or marine plants or animals.9.Aquatic farm means the cultivation, production, or marketing of domestic aquatic organisms which are any fish, aquatic invertebrates, or aquatic plants that are spawned, produced, or marketed as a cultivated crop in the waters of the State.10.Aquatic toxicity test mean laboratory experiments that measure the biological effect (e.g., growth, survival, and reproduction) of effluents or receiving waters on aquatic organisms.11.Aquifer means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant quantities of ground water to wells or springs.12.Balanced indigenous aquatic community means a natural, diverse biotic community characterized by the capacity to sustain itself through cyclic seasonal changes, presence of necessary food chain species, and by a lack of domination by pollutant tolerant species.13.Best management practice (BMP) means a practice or combination of practices that are the most effective, practical ways of controlling or abating pollution from widespread or localized sources.14.Bioaccumulation means the process by which a compound is taken up and retained by an aquatic organism, both from water and through food.15.Bioavailability means a measure of the physiochemical access that a toxicant has to the biological processes of an organism. The less the bioavailability of a toxicant, the less its toxic effect on an organism.16.Bioconcentration means the process by which a compound is absorbed from water through gills or epithelial tissues and is concentrated in the body.17.Bioconcentration factor (BCF) means the ratio of a substance's concentration in tissue versus its concentration in water, in situations where the food chain is not exposed or represents equilibrium partitioning between water and organisms.18.Biological assessment means an evaluation of the biological condition of a waterbody using biological surveys and other direct measurements of resident biota in surface waters and sediments.19.Biological criteria, also known as biocriteria, mean narrative expressions or numeric values of the biological characteristics of aquatic communities based on appropriate reference conditions. Biological criteria serve as an index of aquatic community health.20.Biological monitoring, also known as biomonitoring, means a description of the living organisms in water quality surveillance used to indicate compliance with water quality standards or permit effluent limits and to document water quality trends. Methods of biological monitoring may include, but are not limited to, toxicity testing such as ambient toxicity testing, whole effluent toxicity testing, and ambient assessment of the resident biological community.21.Chlorophyll a means a photosynthetic pigment present in all types of green plants. It is used as a measure of algal biomass and is an indicator of nutrient enrichment.22.Chronic means a stimulus that lingers or continues for a relatively long period of time, often one-tenth of the life span or more. Chronic should be considered a relative term depending on the life span of an organism. The measurement of a chronic effect can be reduced growth, reduced reproduction, etc., in addition to lethality.23.Classified uses mean those uses specified in Section G for surface waters and Section H for ground waters, whether or not those uses are being attained.24.Concentrated aquatic animal production facility means a hatchery, fish farm, or other facility related to aquatic animal production which is not located in waters of the State and is subject to a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.25.Conventional treatment as applying to potable water supplies means treatment including at least flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection.26.Criterion continuous concentration (CCC) means the highest instream concentration of a toxicant or an effluent to which the organisms can be exposed to protect against chronic (long-term) effects. EPA derives chronic criteria from longer term (often greater than twenty-eight (28) days) tests that measure survival, growth, reproduction, and, in some cases, bioconcentration.27.Criterion maximum concentration (CMC) means the highest instream concentration of a toxicant or an effluent to which the organisms can be exposed for a brief period of time without causing an acute effect. EPA derives acute criteria from forty-eight (48) to ninety-six (96) hour tests of lethality or immobilization.28.Daily average means the average of all samples taken during any twenty-four (24)-hour period.29.Daily maximum (for bacterial indicators only) means the highest arithmetic average of bacterial samples collected [for each of the bacterial indicator species (i.e., E. coli, enterococci, and/or fecal coliform)] in any twenty-four (24) hour period during a calendar month.30.Deleterious substances mean those substances which in sufficient concentrations or levels have a harmful effect on classified or existing water uses.31.Department means the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.32.Ecoregions mean areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources and are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. The EPA has published a document that outlines the Level III ecoregions (please refer to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1999. Level III ecoregions of the continental United States (revision of Omernik, 1987). Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. E.P.A.-National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Map M-1.) The following are South Carolina Level III ecoregions: Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Southeastern Plains, and Middle Atlantic Coastal Plains.33.EPA means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.34.Ephemeral streams mean streams that generally have defined natural watercourses that flow only in direct response to rainfall or snowmelt and in which discrete periods of flow persist no more than twenty-nine (29) consecutive days per event.35.Existing uses mean those uses actually being attained in or on the water, on or after November 28, 1975, regardless of the classified uses.36.Fishing means the taking, harvesting, or catching of finfish or crustaceans for human consumption.37.Full pool elevation means the maximum lake level attained before water releases over a fixed weir, spillway, or other discharge structure. In larger lakes and reservoirs, the full pool elevation is the maximum level established for management.38.Groundwater means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.39.Hydrograph controlled release (HCRs) means the onsite storage or holding of treated wastewater or the use of an alternative discharge option contained in Section D.2.a. of this regulation, during specified critical streamflow conditions and then discharging the treated wastewater to the stream when streamflow is sufficient to assimilate the wastewater.40.Intermittent streams mean streams that generally have defined natural watercourses which do not flow year around, but flow beyond periods of rainfall or snowmelt.41.Lake means any water of the State that is a freshwater pond, reservoir, impoundment, or similar body of water located wholly or partially within the State.42.LC50 means the concentration of a toxicant at which lethality occurs to fifty percent (50%) of the test organisms during a specified exposure time period.43.Mixing zone means: a. For surface waters, an area where a discharge undergoes initial dilution and is extended to cover the secondary mixing in the ambient waterbody. A mixing zone is an allocated impact zone where water quality criteria can be exceeded as long as acutely toxic conditions are prevented (except as defined within a Zone of initial dilution) and public health and welfare are not endangered.b. For ground waters, a hydrogeologically controlled three-dimensional flow path in the subsurface which constitutes the pathway for waste constituents to migrate from a source.44.Monthly average (for bacterial indicators only) means the calendar month (i.e., twenty-eight (28) days, twenty-nine (29) days, thirty (30) days, or thirty-one (31) days) geometric mean of all bacterial samples collected [for each of the bacterial indicator species (i.e., E. coli, enterococci, and/or fecal coliform)] during that calendar month.45.Natural conditions mean those water quality conditions unaffected by anthropogenic sources of pollution.46.No discharge zone (NDZ) means a waterbody (or a portion of a waterbody) so designated that no discharging Marine Sanitation Devices (MSDs) are allowed on vessels on waterbodies so designated. All vessels located on such designated waterbodies shall be equipped with MSDs which discharge to a holding tank which shall be pumped out at a designated pump-out location or shall discharge legally outside the boundary of the United States.47.No observed effect concentration (NOEC) means the highest tested concentration of an effluent or a toxicant at which no adverse effects are observed on the aquatic test organisms at a specific time of observation and determined using hypothesis testing.48.Nutrients mean an element or chemical essential to life including, but not limited to, nitrogen and phosphorus.49.Organoleptic effects mean those sensory effects associated with taste and smell.50.Outstanding recreational or ecological resource waters means waters which are of exceptional recreational or ecological importance or of unusual value. Such waters may include, but are not limited to: waters in national or state parks or wildlife refuges; waters supporting threatened or endangered species; waters under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act or South Carolina Scenic Rivers Act; waters known to be significant nursery areas for commercially important species or known to contain significant commercial or public shellfish resources; or waters used for or having significant value for scientific research and study.51.Practical quantitation limit (PQL) means a concentration at which the entire analytical system must give a recognizable signal and acceptable calibration point. It is the concentration in a sample that is equivalent to the concentration of the lowest calibration standard analyzed by a specific analytical procedure, assuming that all the method-specific sample weights, volumes, and processing steps have been followed.52.Prohibited area means an area adjacent to point source discharges or other sources of potential contamination in shellfish growing waters where the gathering of clams, mussels, or oysters is prohibited to protect public health.53.Primary contact recreation means any activity with the intended purpose of direct water contact by the human body to the point of complete submergence, including, but not limited to, swimming, water skiing, and skin diving.54.Propagation means the continuance of species through reproduction and growth in the natural environment, as opposed to the maintenance of species by artificial culture and stocking.55.Public water system means any public or privately owned waterworks system which provides drinking water for human consumption, except those serving a single private residence or dwelling.56.Recharge area means an area where an underground source of drinking water is poorly confined, is under water table conditions, and has a downward component of flow from the water table into the underground source of drinking water.57.Secondary contact recreation means any activity occurring on or near the water which does not have an intended purpose of direct water contact by the human body to the point of complete submergence, including, but not limited to, fishing, boating, canoeing, and wading.58.Shellfish mean bivalve mollusks, specifically clams, mussels, or oysters.59.Shellfish harvesting means taking of bivalve mollusks, specifically clams, mussels, or oysters, for direct marketing or human consumption.60.Source for drinking water supply means any source of surface water which is used for domestic consumption, or used in connection with the processing of milk, beverages, food or for other purposes which required finished water meeting regulations ( 40 CFR Part 141 and 40 CFR Part 143) established pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act (Public Law 93-523, 95-190) applicable to public water systems.61.Tidal conditions mean conditions determined by the Department as appropriate for tidally influenced waters of the State to be analogous to the 7Q10 or the annual average flow for flowing waters of the State.62.Tidal saltwaters mean those waters whose elevation is subject to changes due to oceanic tides and which have chloride ion content in excess of two hundred fifty milligrams per liter (250 mg/L) (salinity = 0.48 parts per thousand).63.Toxic wastes means those wastes or combinations of wastes including disease-causing agents which, upon discharge and exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, may cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), physical deformations, or restrict or impair growth in such organisms or their offspring.64.Underground source of drinking water (USDW) means an aquifer or its portion: a. Which supplies any public water system or individual residential well; or b. Which contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply a public water system or individual residential well; and (1) Currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or(2) Contains water with less than ten thousand milligrams per liter (10,000 mg/L) total dissolved solids.65.Variance means a short-term exemption from meeting certain otherwise applicable water quality standards.66.Water table means that level below the land surface at which all the voids are filled with water at a pressure equal to atmospheric.67.Weekly average means the average of all samples taken during any consecutive seven (7)-day period.68.Whole effluent toxicity (WET) means the aggregate toxic effect of an aqueous sample measured directly by an aquatic toxicity test.69.Zone of initial dilution (ZID) means that minimal area of a mixing zone immediately surrounding the outfall where water quality criteria are not met, provided there is no acute toxicity to drifting organisms and public health and welfare are not endangered.S.C. Code Regs. § 61-68.B
Replaced and amended by State Register Volume 47, Issue No. 05, eff. 5/26/2023.