Code of Massachusetts Regulations
310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Title 310 CMR 27.00 - Underground Injection Control Regulations
Section 27.02 - Definitions
As used in 310 CMR 27.00, the terms in 310 CMR 27.02 shall have the following meanings:
Aquifer means a geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs.
Aquifer Remediation Well means any well used to inject fluids, nutrients, microbes, or gases into the subsurface for the purpose of discharging effluent from a groundwater treatment system, recovering contaminants (e.g., air sparging), or enhancing/effecting in-situ remediation (e.g., bioremediation).
Cesspool means a subsurface pit with open-jointed linings or holes in the bottom and/or sidewalls into which untreated sanitary waste is injected; the liquid portion of the sanitary waste is disposed of by seeping or leaching into the surrounding soils, and the solids or sludge are retained in the pit. Cesspools are nonconforming systems pursuant to 310 CMR 15.000: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage.
Closure means the act of securing an injection well to prevent it from contaminating an underground source of drinking water, or from otherwise endangering the health of persons or the environment. A well that has gone through the closure process is referred to as closed.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
Conversion means a change in the operation of an injection well that results in a change in the existing classification of the injection well or results in a change in the injection well's type of injection within a specific class of injection well.
Department means the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Dry Well means a subsurface pit with open-jointed lining or holes constructed above the water table so that the bottom and sides are typically dry except when receiving fluids.
Exempt Aquifer means an aquifer or its portion that has been exempted from 310 CMR 27.00 in accordance with the procedures in 310 CMR 27.07.
Experimental Technology means a technology which has not been proven feasible under the conditions in which it is being tested.
Fluid means any material or substance that is capable of movement whether in a semisolid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other physical state.
Formation means a body of rock characterized by a degree of lithologic homogeneity, which is prevailingly, but not necessarily tabular and mappable on the earth's surface or traceable in the subsurface.
Formation Fluid means fluid present in a formation under natural conditions (as opposed to introduced fluids, such as drilling mud).
Groundwater means all water that exists beneath the land surface in soils or geologic formations, specifically that part of the subsurface water in the saturated zone.
Hazardous Waste means hazardous waste as defined in M.G.L. c. 21C, § 2.
Improved Sinkhole means a naturally occurring karst depression or other natural crevice found in volcanic terrain and other geologic settings which have been modified by man for the purpose of directing and emplacing fluids into the subsurface.
Inactive Well means a Class V injection well that is not currently being used for the purpose of underground injection but continues to be properly secured and maintained such that it is not receiving and does not have the potential to receive an underground injection.
Injection means the emplacement of fluids into a formation by gravity or greater pressure through a well.
Injection Well means a well into which fluids are being introduced.
Local Approving Authority means the board of health or its authorized agent or an agent of a health district constituted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111, § 27, acting on behalf of the applicable board of health.
Motor Vehicle Waste Disposal Well means a well that receives or has received fluids from vehicular repair or maintenance activities, such as an auto body repair shop, automotive repair shop, new and used car dealerships, specialty repair shop (e.g., transmission and muffler repair shops), or any facility that does vehicular repair work.
Nonpoint Source means a diffuse source that is not regulated as a point source and is normally associated with precipitation and runoff from the land or percolation.
On-site System or Disposal System or On-site Subsurface Sewage Disposal System or System means a system or series of systems for the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage below the ground surface on a facility.
(a) The standard components of a system are: a building sewer; a septic tank to retain solids and scum; a distribution box; a soil absorption system containing effluent distribution lines to distribute and treat septic tank effluent prior to injection into appropriate subsurface soils; and a reserve area.
(b) These terms also include Tight Tanks, Shared Systems and Alternative Systems. Unless the text of 310 CMR 15.000: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard
Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage indicates otherwise, these terms also include nonconforming systems as defined by 310 CMR 15.000.
Owner means the owner of any injection well subject to 310 CMR 27.00.
Operator means the operator of any injection well subject to 310 CMR 27.00.
Person means any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, association, authority, trust, or group, including, but not limited to a city, town, county, district, the Commonwealth and its agencies, and the federal government.
Plugging means the act or process of stopping the flow of water, oil, or gas into or out of a formation through a borehole or well penetrating that formation.
Pollutant means any element or property of sewage, agricultural, industrial or commercial waste, runoff, leachate, heated effluent, or other matter, in whatever form and whether originating at a point or major nonpoint source, which is or may be discharged, drained, or otherwise introduced into any sewage system, treatment works, or waters of the Commonwealth.
Radioactive Waste means any waste which contains radioactive material in concentrations which exceed those listed in federal regulations at 10 CFR Part 20 : Appendix B, Table 2, column 2.
Sanitary Waste means any liquid or solid wastes originating solely from humans and human activities, such as wastes collected from toilets, showers, wash basins, sinks used for cleaning domestic areas, sinks used for food preparation, clothes washing operations, and sinks or washing machines where food and beverage serving dishes, glasses, and utensils are cleaned. Sources of these wastes may include single or multiple residences, hotels and motels, restaurants, bunkhouses, schools, ranger stations, crew quarters, guard stations, campgrounds, picnic grounds, day-use recreation areas, other commercial facilities, and industrial facilities provided the waste is not mixed with industrial waste.
Soil Absorption System means a system of trenches, galleries, chambers, pits, field(s) or bed(s) together with effluent distribution lines and aggregate which is installed in appropriate soils to receive and distribute fluids below the surface of the ground.
Total Dissolved Solids means the total dissolved (filterable) solids as determined by the use of the method specified in 40 CFR Part 136 or other method approved by the Department.
Type of Injection refers to the nature of the wastewater injected into the well. Types of Injection for Class V wells include, but are not limited to the following: open-loop geothermal, stormwater, water purification backwash, groundwater infiltration, non-contact cooling water, aquaculture, aquifer storage, motor vehicle waste disposal, motor vehicle rinse water, large capacity cesspools; subsidence control; and radioactive waste.
UIC means the Underground Injection Control program under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act ( P.L. 95-523), as amended by P.L. 95-502; 42 U.S.C. §§ 300h through 300h-8.
Underground Injection means the subsurface emplacement of fluids through a well.
Underground Source of Drinking Water (USDW) means an aquifer or its portion which supplies any public water supply system; or which contains a sufficient quantity of groundwater to supply a public water supply system; and either currently supplies drinking water for human consumption, or contains less than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids; and which is not an exempt aquifer.
Well means any structure, including but not limited to a bored, drilled, or driven shaft, a dug hole, seepage pit, an improved sinkhole, or a soil absorption system that injects directly to the subsurface regardless of the depth below ground surface of the injection. A ground surface injection structure is considered a well for the purpose of these regulations if the depth is greater than its largest surface dimension. Ground surface injection to a trench or seepage pit that has been filled with greater than 18 inches of permeable fill material is considered a well, regardless of the depth and width dimensions.
