California Code of Regulations
Title 27 - Environmental Protection
Division 2 - Solid Waste
Subdivision 1 - Consolidated Regulations for Treatment, Storage, Processing or Disposal of Solid Waste
Chapter 7 - Special Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Units
Subchapter 6 - Solar Evaporators
Article 1 - Solar Evaporator Regulations
Section 22910 - SWRCB - Definitions

Universal Citation: 27 CA Code of Regs 22910

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024

For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) "Adequately protected" means that:

(1) Avian wildlife have no access to standing water in a water catchment basin.

(2) Standing water does not occur in a solar evaporator outside of a water catchment basin, under reasonably forseeable operating conditions.

(3) The solar evaporator, including the water catchment basin, does not become a medium for the growth of aquatic and semi-aquatic macro invertebrates that could become a harmful food source for avian wildlife, under reasonably forseeable operating conditions.

(b) "Agricultural drainage water" means surface drainage water or percolated irrigation water that is collected by subsurface drainage tiles placed beneath an agricultural field.

(c) "Avian Wildlife Biologist" means any State or federal agency biologist, ecologist, environmental specialist (or equivalent title) with relevant avian wildlife monitoring experience (as determined by the RWQCB), or any professional biologist, ecologist, environmental specialist (or equivalent title) possessing valid unexpired State and federal collecting permits for avian wildlife eggs.

(d) "Boundaries of the solar evaporator" or "boundaries of a solar evaporator" means the outer edge of the solar evaporator or any component of the solar evaporator, including, but not limited to, berms, liners, water catchment basins, windscreens, and deflectors.

(e) "Certified Engineering Geologist" means a registered geologist, certified by the State of California, pursuant to section 7842 of the Business and Professions Code.

(f) "Hydraulic conductivity" means the ability of natural and artificial materials to transmit water. The term is expressed as a measure of the rate of flow through a unit area cross-section of material. The unit of measure is cm/sec.

(g) "Integrated on-farm drainage management system" means a facility for the on-farm management of agricultural drainage water that does all of the following:

(1) Reduces levels of salt and selenium in soil by the application of irrigation water to agricultural fields.

(2) Collects agricultural drainage water from irrigated fields and sequentially reuses that water to irrigate successive crops until the volume of residual agricultural drainage water is substantially decreased and its salt content significantly increased.

(3) Discharges the residual agricultural drainage water to an on-farm solar evaporator for evaporation and appropriate salt management.

(4) Eliminates discharge of agricultural drainage water outside the boundaries of the property or properties that produces the agricultural drainage water and that is served by the integrated on-farm drainage management system and the solar evaporator.

(h) "Liner" means:

(1) a continuous layer of natural or artificial material, or a continuous membrane of flexible and durable artificial material, or a continuous composite layer consisting of a membrane of flexible artificial material directly overlying a layer of engineered natural material, which is installed beneath a solar evaporator, and which acts as a barrier to vertical water movement, and

(2) a material that has appropriate chemical and physical properties to ensure that the liner does not fail to contain agricultural drainage water because of pressure gradients, physical contact with the agricultural drainage water, chemical reactions with soil, climatic conditions, ultraviolet radiation (if uncovered), the stress of installation, and the stress of daily operation, and

(3) a material that has a minimum thickness of 40 mils (0.040 inches) for flexible artificial membranes or synthetic liners.

(4) The requirements of this definition are applicable only if a liner is used to meet the requirements of § 22920(c).

(i) "Nuisance" means anything which meets all of the following requirements:

(1) Is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.

(2) Affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or a considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted on individuals may be unequal.

(3) Occurs during, or as a result of, the treatment or disposal of wastes.

(j) "On-farm" means within the boundaries of a property, geographically contiguous properties, or a portion of the property or properties, owned or under the control of a single owner or operator, that is used for the commercial production of agricultural commodities and that contains an IFDM system and a solar evaporator.

(k) "Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects either of the following:

(1) The waters for beneficial uses.

(2) Facilities which serve these beneficial uses.

(l) "Reasonably foreseeable operating conditions" means:

(1) within the range of the design discharge capacity of the IFDM system and the authorized solar evaporator system as specified in the Notice of Plan Compliance and Notice of Authority to Operate (§ 25209.13 of Article 9.7 of the Health and Safety Code),

(2) precipitation up to and including the local 25-year, 24-hour storm, and

(3) floods with a 100-year return period. Operation of a solar evaporator in exceedance of design specifications is not covered by "reasonably foreseeable operating conditions," and therefore would constitute a violation of the Notice of Authority to Operate.

(m) "Regional Board" and "RWQCB" means a California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

(n) "Registered Agricultural Engineer" means an agricultural engineer registered by the State of California, pursuant to section 6732 of the Business and Professions Code.

(o) "Registered Civil Engineer" means a civil engineer registered by the State of California, pursuant to section 6762 of the Business and Professions Code.

(p) "Registered Geologist" means a geologist registered by the State of California, pursuant to section 7842 of the Business and Professions Code.

(q) "Solar evaporator" means an on-farm area of land and its associated equipment that meets all of the following conditions:

(1) It is designed and operated to manage agricultural drainage water discharged from the IFDM system.

(2) The area of the land that makes up the solar evaporator is equal to, or less than, 2 percent of the area of the land that is managed by the IFDM system.

(3) Agricultural drainage water from the IFDM system is discharged to the solar evaporator by timed sprinklers or other equipment that allows the discharge rate to be set and adjusted as necessary to avoid standing water within the solar evaporator or, if a water catchment basin is part of the solar evaporator, within that portion of the solar evaporator that is outside the basin.

(4) The combination of the rate of discharge of agricultural drainage water to the solar evaporator and subsurface tile drainage under the solar evaporator provides adequate assurance that constituents in the agricultural drainage water will not migrate from the solar evaporator into the vadose zone or waters of the state in concentrations that pollute or threaten to pollute the waters of the state.

(r) "Standing water" means water occurring under all of the following conditions:

(1) to a depth greater than one centimeter,

(2) for a continuous duration in excess of 48 hours,

(3) as a body of any areal extent, not an average depth, and

(4) under reasonably forseeable operating conditions.

(s) "Subsurface drainage tiles" or "subsurface tile drainage" means any system of subsurface drainage collection utilizing drainage tiles, perforated pipe, or comparable conveyance, placed below the surface of any IFDM system area including the solar evaporator.

(t) "Unreasonable threat" to avian wildlife means that avian wildlife is not adequately protected.

(u) "Vadose zone" means the unsaturated zone between the soil surface and the permanent groundwater table.

(v) "Water catchment basin" means an area within the boundaries of a solar evaporator that is designated to receive and hold any water that might otherwise be standing water within the solar evaporator. The entire area of a water catchment basin shall be permanently and continuously covered with netting, or otherwise designed, constructed, and operated to prevent access by avian wildlife to standing water within the basin. A water catchment basin may include an enclosed solar still, greenhouse or other fully contained drainage storage unit. For the purposes of this definition, the term "within the boundaries of a solar evaporator" shall include a solar still, greenhouse, or other fully contained drainage storage unit adjacent to or near the portion of the solar evaporator that is outside the catchment basin.

(w) "Waters of the state" means any surface water or groundwater, including saline water, within the boundaries of the state.

1. New section filed 11-22-2004; effective on filing; pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 25209.16 this section remains in effect until revised by the State Water Resources Control Board (Register 2004, No. 48).

Note: Authority cited: Section 25209.12, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 25209.11(a), 25209.11(b), 25209.11(c), 25209.11(d), 25209.11(e), 25209.11(g) and 25209.13, Health and Safety Code.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. California may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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