Code of Massachusetts Regulations
314 CMR - DIVISION OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
Title 314 CMR 5.00 - GROUND WATER DISCHARGE PERMIT PROGRAM
Section 5.02 - Definitions
As used in 314 CMR 5.00, the following words have the following meaning:
Agricultural Byproducts - secondary organic materials produced from the raising of animals and crops as part of agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural, or livestock operations including, but not limited to, animal manure, liquid manure, bedding materials, plant stalks, leaves, and other vegetative matter and byproducts from the on-farm processing of fruits, vegetables, dairy and other food products.
Agricultural Land - land used for agriculture or farming as defined in M.G.L. c. 128, § 1A.
Agricultural Operation - a business engaged in agriculture or farming as defined in M.G.L. c. 128, § 1A. An Agricultural Operation shall include all operations, whether conducted on one or more parcels of land within the Commonwealth, which are owned or operated by the same Person.
Agricultural Process Water - process water that is generated as a byproduct from Agricultural Operation activities and processing of agricultural products. Agricultural Process Water includes, but is not limited to, water generated as a byproduct in a milking parlor, milkhouse, or bottling operation.
Aquifer - a geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water to a well or spring.
Best Management Practices or BMP - schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices designed to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants to waters of the Commonwealth. BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, structures, devices and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage, or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
Biological Monitoring - any test which includes the use of aquatic algal, bacterial, invertebrate, or vertebrate species to measure acute or chronic toxicity, and any biological or chemical measure of bioaccumulation.
Boiler Blowdown - wastewater that results from the periodic or continuous bleed off of water from a boiler during operation for the purpose of eliminating excess solids from the boiler water. This wastewater may include steam condensate from boiler operations. Boiler Blowdown does not include the wastewater and waste alkaline cleaning solution generated by the use of acidic cleaning solutions to remove scale or other contaminants from a boiler or the hot alkaline cleaning solution used to remove oil and grease, protective coatings or soil from a new boiler operation.
Bypass - the diversion of wastes from any portion of a treatment works.
Closed-loop Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Well - a ground source heat pump well that uses a closed-loop fluid system to prevent the discharge or escape of its fluid into the subsurface.
Commissioner - the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Contact Cooling Water - water used to reduce temperature which comes into contact with a raw material, intermediate product, waste product (other than heat), or finished product.
Continuous Monitoring - monitoring and recording that occurs without interruption through the use of automated instrumentation.
Department - the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Direct Exchange GSHP (DX) Well - a ground source heat pump well that circulates a refrigerant through a closed-loop fluid/vapor system to prevent the discharge or escape of its contents into the subsurface. DX well systems are also commonly referred to as direct expansion systems.
Discharge or Discharge of Pollutants - any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the Commonwealth from any source.
Effluent - a discharge of pollutants into the environment, whether or not treated.
Effluent Limitation or Effluent Limit - any requirement, restriction, or standard imposed by the Department on quantities, discharge rates, and concentrations of pollutants that are discharged from point sources into waters of the Commonwealth, to publicly or privately owned treatment works or to a reclaimed water distribution system so that the effluent may be beneficially reused as reclaimed water in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.
Effluent Limitation Guideline or Effluent Standard - a regulation published by the EPA Administrator under The Federal Act § 304, 306, or 307, 33 U.S.C. § 1314, 1316, or 1317, or by the Department under M.G.L. c. 21, § 27 that is used as a basis for establishing effluent limitations.
Enhanced Secondary Treatment - secondary treatment that includes disinfection to ensure that the effluent is capable of meeting an effluent limitation of no more than 200 fecal coliform organisms per 100 ml, and additional processes capable of meeting an effluent limitation of 10 mg/l of nitrate nitrogen and total nitrogen.
Environmental Protection Agency or EPA - the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Facility or Facilities - any and all devices, processes, and properties real or personal used in the collection, pumping, transmission, storage, treatment, disposal, recycling, reclamation or reuse of water-borne pollutants. A facility does not include any works receiving a hazardous waste from off the site of the works for the purpose of treatment, storage or disposal; or any works constructed for the distribution or use of reclaimed water in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards and a Service and Use Agreement approved by the Department that are not located on the same site as the devices and processes used for wastewater treatment and are not under the direct ownership or control of the permittee.
Federal Act - the Federal Water Pollution Control Act commonly known as the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.
Filtered Water - an oxidized, coagulated wastewater which has been passed through filter media so that the turbidity as determined by an approved laboratory method does not exceed an operating turbidity of two nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) in any 24-hour period, nor exceed five NTU more than 5% of the time, and does not exceed ten NTU at any time.
Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Well - an excavation by any method for the purpose of transferring heat to or from the earth for heating or cooling purposes in which the ambient ground temperature is 90 E F or less.
Ground Water - water below the land surface in a saturated zone, including perched ground water.
Ground Water Travel Time or Ground Water Time of Travel - the time it takes a particle of water to flow through an aquifer from one point to another point of lower hydraulic gradient.
Hazardous Substance - any of the substances designated under 40 CFR Part 116 pursuant to § 311 of the Federal Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1321, or any hazardous material as defined in M.G.L. c. 21E.
Hazardous Waste - a hazardous waste pursuant to 310 CMR 30.000: Hazardous Waste.
Health Advisory - the level of a pollutant in water that, with a margin of safety, would not be anticipated to cause adverse health effects, as determined by the Department or EPA.
Indirect Discharger - a discharger introducing pollutants to a treatment works.
Industrial Plant Associated Areas - industrial plant yards, immediate access roads, drainage ponds, refuse piles, storage piles or areas, and material or product loading and unloading areas. The term excludes areas located on plant lands separated from the plant's industrial activities, such as office buildings and accompanying parking lots.
Industrial Waste - any liquid, gaseous, or solid waste substance or a combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business or from the development or recovery of any natural resources.
Industrial Wastewater - waste in liquid form resulting from any process of industry, trade or business, regardless of volume or pollutant content. Industrial Wastewater includes, but is not limited to, wastewater from the activities under the Standard Industrial Classification Codes listed in 310 CMR 15.004(5). Notwithstanding the foregoing, wastewater consisting only of sewage is not industrial wastewater.
Infiltration - water other than wastewater that enters a sewer system (including sewer service connections and foundation drains) from the ground through means that include, but are not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manholes. Infiltration does not include and is distinguished from inflow.
Inflow - water other than sanitary flow that enters a sewer system (including sewer service connections) from sources that include, but are not limited to, roof leaders, cellar drains, yard drains, area drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, connections between storm and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, stormwater, surface runoff or street drainage. Inflow does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.
Interim Wellhead Protection Area or IWPA - an area established by the Department for public water systems using wells or wellfields that lack a Department approved Zone II. The IWPA is a 1/2 mile radius measured from the well or wellfield for sources with an approved pumping rate of 100,000 gallons per day or greater. For wells or wellfields that pump less than 100,000 gallons per day the IWPA radius is proportional to the approved pumping rate, which may be calculated according to the follow equation: IWPA radius in feet = (32 x pumping rate in gallons per minute) + 400. A default IWPA radius or an IWPA radius otherwise computed and determined by the Department shall be applied to Transient Non-community Water System (TNC) and Non-transient Non-community Water System (NTNC) wells when there is no metered rate of withdrawal or no approved pumping rate.
Leachate - any liquid, including any suspended or dissolved components in the liquid, that has percolated through or drained from a landfill or other solid waste disposal site.
Local Government Unit - a town, city, district, commission, agency, authority, board or other instrumentality of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions including a regional government unit.
Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards - 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards.
Milligrams Per Liter-or mg/l - the weight in milligrams of any specific substance or substances contained in one liter of solution.
Monitoring Well - a well that is specifically designed, constructed, emplaced, and located to measure the impact of a discharge of pollutants on ground water quality and quantity.
Natural Background Conditions - the chemical, physical or biological characteristics of surface or ground waters unaltered by human activity.
Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) - measurement of the ratio of the intensity of light scattered by a sample to the intensity of light scattered by a standard reference suspension under the same conditions, as measured by Method 2130B in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 22nd edition, published by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and the Water Environment Federation, 2016.
Nitrogen Sensitive Area - an area of land and/or natural resource area so designated by the Department in accordance with 310 CMR 15.215: Designation of Nitrogen Sensitive Areas.
Non-contact Cooling Water - uncontaminated water used to reduce temperature which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product (other than heat), or finished product.
On-site Subsurface Sewage Disposal System - a system or series of systems for the treatment or disposal of sanitary sewage below the ground as defined in 310 CMR 15.002: Definitions.
Open-loop Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) Well - a ground source heat pump well that withdraws ground water and discharges it back to an aquifer. Open-loop GSHP Wells include wells that pump and discharge into the same well (standing column well) and wells that are only used to discharge water that is pumped from other supply wells.
Open Sand Bed - a system for the disposal of wastewater in which effluent is spread onto the surface of a sand media so that it may percolate through that media prior to discharge through the soil and the unsaturated zone to the ground water.
Other Wastes - all liquid discarded matter other than sewage or industrial waste which may cause or contribute to a violation of 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards or interfere with the use of the ground water as an actual or potential source of potable water.
Outlet - the terminus of a sewer system, or the point of emergence of any water-borne sewage, industrial waste, other wastes, or the effluent therefrom, into the waters of the Commonwealth, or onto the land surface.
Permit - an authorization issued pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21, § 43 and 314 CMR 2.00: Permit Procedures, 3.00: Surface Water Discharge Permit Program, 5.00, 7.00: Sewer System Extension and Connection Permit Program, or 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards, to implement the requirements of the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, M.G.L. c. 21, §§ 26 through 53, the Federal Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., and the NPDES regulations, 40 CFR Part 122. Depending on the context in 314 CMR 5.00, Permit applies to an individual permit that regulates one or more discharges by a discharger, or a general permit that regulates one or more categories of discharges and covers multiple dischargers who have properly applied for and obtained coverage under the general permit.
Person - any agency or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, the Federal government, any public or private corporation or authority, individual, partnership or association, or other entity, including any officer of a public or private agency or organization.
Plant Nutrient - a substance that contains one or more of the primary nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium, or any recognized Plant Nutrient, including but not limited to, animal manure, fertilizer, organic compost natural organic fertilizer, Agricultural Byproducts, digestate, biosolids or combinations thereof. Terms used in Plant Nutrient that are not defined in 314 CMR 5.02 shall be defined as set forth in 330 CMR 31.02: Definitions.
Point Source - any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, vessel or other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged. Point Source does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture.
Pollutant - 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 non-point source, which is or may be discharged, drained or otherwise introduced into any sewer system, treatment works or waters of the Commonwealth.
Pollution - the presence in the environment of pollutants in quantities or with characteristics which are or may be injurious to human, plant or animal life, or to property, or that unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property throughout such areas as may be affected thereby.
Potable Water - water from any source that has been approved by the Department for human consumption under 310 CMR 22.00: Drinking Water.
Potentially Productive Aquifer.
(a) all aquifers delineated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a high or medium yield aquifer; and
(b) all aquifers located east of the Cape Cod Canal, on the Elizabeth Islands, on Martha's Vineyard, or on Nantucket.
Pretreatment - the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutants' properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW or PWTF.
Primary Treatment - the process or group of processes capable of removing from sewage a minimum of 25% of the five day biochemical oxygen demand, 55% of the suspended solids, and 85% of the floating and settleable solids.
Privately Owned Wastewater Treatment Facility or PWTF - any device or system owned by a private entity that is used for the treatment and disposal (including recycling and reclamation) of sewage or industrial wastewater. Privately Owned Wastewater Treatment Facility includes the sewers, pipes, pump stations, or other conveyances that carry the wastewater to the treatment facility and the discharge location.
Private Water Supply Area - an area that is served by private wells and where, in the opinion of the Department, it is not reasonable to connect to a public water system or where approval to connect to the public water system cannot be obtained.
Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW - any device or system used in the treatment (including recycling and reclamation) and disposal of municipal sewage or industrial wastewater which is owned by a local government unit. A POTW includes any sewers, pipes, pump stations, or other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW providing treatment, or to the location where the treated wastewater is discharged.
RCRA - the Solid Waste Disposal Act, commonly known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.
RCRA Facility - a hazardous waste management facility as defined in 314 CMR 8.03: RCRA Facilities Subject to 314 CMR 8.00.
Reclaimed Water - wastewater that is treated so that it is suitable for beneficial reuse in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.
Reclaimed Water Distribution System - a system that distributes reclaimed water so that it may be reused in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.
Reclaimed Water System - a treatment works that includes a system for treating wastewater so that it may be beneficially reused in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.
Reject Water from a Reverse Osmosis Facility - sidestream wastewater from reverse osmosis treatment units.
Residential Uses - apartment buildings, townhouses, condominiums, cooperatives, single-family and multi-family homes, including without limitation manufactured homes, and rooming and boarding houses. Residential uses do not include the use of property for the activities listed in the following Standard Industrial Classification Codes: 7011, hotels; 7032, sporting and recreational camps; 7033, recreational vehicle parks and camp sites; 7041, organizational hotels and lodging on a membership basis; 8051 through 8059, nursing and personal care facilities; 8062 through 8069, hospitals; and 8361, residential care facilities.
Satellite Reclaimed Water System - a system for the distribution, use, sale or offering for use, sale or distribution of reclaimed water in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards that does not include wastewater treatment.
Saturated Zone - any portion of the earth below the land surface where every available opening (pore, fissure, joint, or solution cavity) is filled with water.
Seasonal Wastewater Treatment Facility - a facility that discharges liquid effluent as a result of the treatment of sewage only, and that is in operation no more than six months of the year.
Secondary Treatment - the process or group of processes capable of removing from untreated wastewater a minimum of 85% of the five day biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids, and virtually all floating and settleable solids, followed by disinfection.
Sewage - the water-carried human or animal wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with such ground water infiltration and surface water as may be present.
Sewer System - pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, force mains, and all other structures, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting and conveying wastes to a site or works for treatment or disposal.
Stormwater - stormwater runoff, snowmelt runoff, surface runoff, and drainage.
Total Dissolved Solids - the total dissolved (filterable) solids as determined by use of the method specified in 40 CFR Part 136, or other method approved by the Department.
Total Maximum Daily Load - the sum of a receiving surface water's individual waste load allocations, load allocations, and natural background that, together with a margin of safety that accounts for any lack of knowledge concerning the relationship between effluent limitations and surface water quality, represents the maximum amount of a pollutant that a surface water body can receive and still meet 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards in all seasons.
Total Organic Carbon - the oxidizable organic carbon present in treated sewage as measured by a Massachusetts certified laboratory.
Toxic Pollutants - any pollutant or combination of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, that are capable of producing an adverse effect in an organism or its offspring, including, without limitation, food chain effects according to information available to the Department. The effect may be the result of direct or indirect exposure, and may injure structure, function, or cause death of the organism. These pollutants include, but are not limited to, those identified in 314 CMR 3.17: Appendix B - Toxic Pollutants.
Treatment Works - any and all devices, processes, and properties, real or personal, used in the collection, pumping, transmission, storage, treatment, disposal, recycling, reclamation or reuse of water-borne pollutants. Treatment Works does not include any works receiving a hazardous waste from off the site of the works for the purpose of treatment, storage or disposal or any works for the distribution or use of reclaimed water in accordance with 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards and a Service and Use Agreement approved by the Department that are not located on the same site as the devices and processes used for wastewater treatment and are not under the direct ownership or control of the permittee.
Uncontaminated Water - water that does not contain dredge spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological waste materials, radioactive materials, wrecked or discarded equipment, cellar dirt, industrial, municipal or agricultural waste or any other pollutant upon discharge, could cause or contribute to a violation of 314 CMR 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards or interfere with the actual or potential use of ground water as a source of potable water.
Underground Source of Drinking Water - an aquifer, or any portion thereof that supplies a public water system or that contains a sufficient quantity of ground water to supply a public water system, and either currently supplies drinking water for human consumption or contains less than 3000 mg/l total suspended solids. Every aquifer shall be presumed to be an underground source of drinking water unless otherwise determined by the Department in accordance with 314 CMR 5.10(9)(c).
Unsaturated Zone - the portion of the earth's crust that does not contain sufficient water to fill all interconnected voids or pore spaces. Perched water bodies may exist within the unsaturated zone.
Wastewater - sewage, industrial waste, other wastes or any combination of the three. Water used to wash vehicles, machinery, materials, products, equipment, or buildings with detergents or other cleaning agents as part of the ordinary operations of a commercial or industrial enterprise, or a local government unit, is wastewater.
Waters of the Commonwealth - all waters within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, including, without limitation, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs, impoundments, estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters, ground waters, and vernal pools. Wetlands constructed for the sole purpose of stormwater management on or after January 2, 2008 are not waters of the Commonwealth. Wetlands constructed for the sole purpose of wastewater management and lined basins constructed for the sole purpose of water supply treatment works residuals treatment, or for storing reclaimed water so that it may be reused are not waters of the Commonwealth provided they are constructed on or after March 20, 2009.
Well - a bored, drilled, or driven shaft, or a dug hole with a depth greater than its largest surface dimension.
Zone A - the land area between a surface water source and the upper boundary of the bank as defined in 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions, the land area within a 400 foot lateral distance from the upper boundary of a bank of a Class A surface water source as defined in 314 CMR 4.05(3)(a): Class A; and the land area within a 200 foot lateral distance from the upper boundary of the bank of a tributary or associated surface water body.
Zone I - the protective radius around a public water supply well or wellfield as defined in 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions. For public water system wells with approved yields of 100,000 gallons per day (gpd) or greater, the protective radius is 400 feet. Wellfields and infiltration galleries with approved yields of 10,000 gpd or greater require a protective radius of 250 feet. The protective radii for all other public water system wells , wellfields and infiltration galleries are determined by the following equation: Zone I radius in feet = (150x log of pumping rate in gpd) -350. This equation is equivalent to the chart in the Guidelines and Policies for Public Water Systems. A default Zone I radius or a Zone 1 radius otherwise computed and determined by the Department shall be applied to Transient Non-community (TNC) and Non-transient, Non-community (NTNC) water system wells when there is no metered rate of withdrawal and no approved pumping rate. In no case shall the Zone I radius be less than 100 feet.
Zone II - the area of an aquifer that contributes water to a well under the most severe pumping and recharge conditions that can realistically be anticipated (180 days of pumping at approved yield, with no recharge from precipitation), as defined in 310 CMR 22.02: Definitions. It is bounded by the ground water divides that result from pumping the well and by the contact of the aquifer with less permeable materials such as till or bedrock. In some cases, streams or lakes may act as recharge boundaries. In all cases, the Zone II shall extend upgradient to its point of intersection with prevailing hydrogeologic boundaries (a ground water flow divide, a contact with till or bedrock, or a recharge boundary). The Zone II must include the entire Zone I area. For springs, the Zone II is that area of an aquifer that contributes water to the spring under naturally flowing conditions.
