Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0400 - Environment and Conservation
Subtitle 0400-15 - Division of Remediation
Chapter 0400-15-01 - Hazardous Substance Remedial Action
Section 0400-15-01-.02 - DEFINITIONS

(a) "Act'' means the Tennessee Hazardous Waste Management Act of 1983 (T.C.A. Title 68, Chapter 212, Part 2; enacted as Chapter 423 of the Public Acts of 1983).

(b) "Acute Hazardous Waste" means those wastes defined in subpart (2)(b)1(ii) of Rule 0400-12-01-.02.

(c) "Applicable Requirements" means those cleanup standards, standards of control, and other substantive requirements, criteria, or limitations promulgated under federal environmental or state environmental or facility siting laws that specifically address a hazardous substance, pollutant, contaminant, remedial action, location, or other circumstance found at a CERCLA or hazardous substance site.

(d) "Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation capable of yielding a significant amount of ground water to wells or springs.

(e) "Area of Contamination" means the horizontal and vertical extent of contamination in air, soils, sediment, drinking water supply, surface water, ground water, subsurface strata, or on the land surface occurring or originating at a hazardous substance site.

(f) "CERCLA" is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. (42 USC).

(g) "Clean up" shall be defined as the clean up or removal of released hazardous substances from the environment, such actions as may be necessarily taken in the event of the release or threat of release of hazardous substances into the environment, such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess, and evaluate the release or threat of release of hazardous substances, the disposal of removed material or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the public health, or welfare or to the environment, which may otherwise result from a release or threat of release. The term includes, in addition, without being limited to, security fencing or other measures to limit access, provision of alternative water supplies, and temporary evacuation and housing of threatened individuals.

(h) "Contaminant" means pollutant.

(i) "Control Background" means the concentration of hazardous substances consistently present in the environment due to long term localized industrial or commercial activities.

(j) "Department" means the Department of Environment and Conservation.

(k) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any hazardous substance into or on any land, water or air so that such hazardous substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters.

(l) "Feasibility Study" or "FS" means a study to develop and evaluate options for remedial action. The Feasibility Study emphasizes data analysis and is generally performed concurrently and in an interactive fashion with the Remedial Investigation using data gathered during the Remedial Investigation. The Remedial Investigation data are used to define the objectives of the response action, to develop remedial action alternatives, and to undertake an initial screening and detailed analysis of the alternatives. The term also refers to a report that describes the results of the study.

(m) "Fund" means the Hazardous Waste Remedial Action Fund created by the Act.

(n) "Generator" means any person whose act or process produces hazardous substance or whose act first causes a hazardous substance to become subject to regulation.

(o) "Ground water" or "Groundwater" means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.

(p) "Hazardous Substance" is defined as such term is defined in Section 101 of Public Law 96-510.

(q) "Hazardous Substance Site" means any site or area where hazardous substance disposal has occurred.

(r) "Hazardous Waste Remedial Action Fund" (Fund) means that fund described in T.C.A. § 68-212-204.

(s) "Natural Background" means the concentration of hazardous substance consistently present in the environment which has not been influenced by localized human activities.

(t) "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company , corporation (including a government corporation), partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state, any interstate body, and governmental agency of this state and any department, agency, or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal government.

(u) "Pollutant" shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingesting through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), or physical deformation in such organisms or their offspring.

(v) "Preliminary Remediation Goals" means a site specific standard based on Applicable Requirements, Relevant and Appropriate Requirements, and/or Background Concentrations for sites which do not require a feasibility study or for interim actions conducted prior to completion of the feasibility study. If the Department suspects background concentrations do not protect public health, safety, and the environment, the Department may require the assessment of risk posed by background concentrations of the hazardous substance(s) to be included in the determination of the preliminary remediation goals.

(w) "Promulgated List" is the List of Inactive Hazardous Substance Sites required by T.C.A. § 68-212-206(e).

(x) "Publicly Owned Treatment Works" or "POTW" means a treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Clean Water Act, which is owned by a State or municipality (as defined by Section 502(4) of the Clean Water Act).

(y) "Record of Decision" or "ROD" is that document that provides the official decision on the final alternative for site cleanup. It includes an explanation of the reasons for choosing that alternative and details any conditions or standards that must be met.

(z) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant).

(aa)"Relevant and appropriate requirements" means those cleanup standards, standards of control, and other substantive requirements, criteria, or limitations promulgated under federal environmental or state environmental or facility siting laws that, while not "applicable" to a hazardous substance, pollutant, contaminant, remedial action, location, or other circumstance at a CERCLA or hazardous substance site, address as problems or situations sufficiently similar to those encountered at the hazardous substance or CERCLA site so that their use is well suited to the particular site.

(bb) "Remedial Investigation" or "RI" means a process to determine the nature and extent of the problem. The remedial investigation emphasizes data collection and site characterization, and is generally performed concurrently and in an interactive fashion with the feasibility study. The remedial investigation includes sampling and monitoring, as necessary, and includes the gathering of sufficient information, to determine the necessity for remedial action and to support the evaluation of remedial alternatives.

(cc) "Remediation Goal" means a site specific standard based on applicable requirements, relevant and appropriate requirements, background concentrations and/or risk assessment for sites where a risk assessment and feasibility study have been completed.

(dd) "Remedy or Remedial Action" (RA) means those actions consistent with a permanent remedy taken instead of, or in addition to a removal action. The term includes, but is not limited to, such actions as storage, confinement, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches, or ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released hazardous substances and associated contaminated materials, recycling or reuse, diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive wastes, dredging or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking containers, collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or incineration, provision of alternative water supplies, any monitoring reasonably required to assure that such actions protect the public health, safety, and the environment and, where appropriate, post-removal site control activities. This term also includes, but is not necessarily limited to the off-site transport and off-site storage, treatment, destruction, or secure disposition of hazardous substances and associated contaminated materials.

(ee) "Removal" means the cleanup or removal of hazardous substances from the environment; such actions as may be necessarily taken in the event of the threat of release of hazardous substances into the environment; such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess, and evaluate the release or threat of release of hazardous substances; the disposal of removed material; or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage to the public health, safety, or environment which may otherwise result from a release or threat of release.

(ff) "Response" means a clean up, remedial action, remedy, remedial investigation, or any other action taken by the Department in furtherance of the purpose of the Act and/or these rules.

(gg) "Responsible party" means liable party.

(hh) "Risk Assessment" means a qualitative and quantitative process to characterize the nature and magnitude of risks to public health, safety, and the environment from exposure to hazardous substances released from specific sites.

(ii) "Solid Waste Disposal Control Board" or "Board" means the solid waste disposal control board as established by T.C.A. § 68-211-111, unless otherwise indicated.

(jj) "Surface water" means lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland water, and all surface waters and water courses within the State of Tennessee or under the jurisdiction of the State of Tennessee.

(kk) "UAPA" or "Uniform Administrative Procedures Act" means that Act promulgated as T.C.A. § 4-5-201 et seq.