Utah Administrative Code
Topic - Environmental Quality
Title R315 - Waste Management and Radiation Control, Waste Management
Rule R315-319 - Coal Combustion Residuals Requirements
Section R315-319-53 - Definitions
Universal Citation: UT Admin Code R 315-319-53
Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(a) The following definitions apply to Rule R315-319. Terms not defined in Section R315-319-53 have the meaning given In R315-301.
(1) "Acre foot" means the volume of
one acre of surface area to a depth of one foot.
(2) "Active facility or active electric
utilities or independent power producers" means any facility subject to the
requirements of Sections R315-319-50 through 107 that is in operation on
October 14, 2015. An electric utility or independent power producer is in
operation if it is generating electricity that is provided to electric power
transmission systems or to electric power distribution systems on or after
October 14, 2015. An off-site disposal facility is in operation if it is
accepting or managing CCR on or after October 14, 2015.
(3) "Active life or in operation" means the
period of operation beginning with the initial placement of CCR in the CCR unit
and ending at completion of closure activities in accordance with Section
R315-319-102.
(4) "Active portion"
means that part of the CCR unit that has received or is receiving CCR or
non-CCR waste and that has not completed closure in accordance with Section
R315-319-102.
(5) "Aquifer" means a
geologic formation, group of formations, or portion of a formation capable of
yielding usable quantities of groundwater to wells or springs.
(6) "Area-capacity curves" means graphic
curves which readily show the reservoir water surface area, in acres, at
different elevations from the bottom of the reservoir to the maximum water
surface, and the capacity or volume, in acre-feet, of the water contained in
the reservoir at various elevations.
(7) "Areas susceptible to mass movement means
those areas of influence, i.e., areas characterized as having an active or
substantial possibility of mass movement, where, because of natural or
human-induced events, the movement of earthen material at, beneath, or adjacent
to the CCR unit results in the downslope transport of soil and rock material by
means of gravitational influence. Areas of mass movement include, but are not
limited to, landslides, avalanches, debris slides and flows, soil fluctuation,
block sliding, and rock fall.
(8)
"Beneficial use of CCR" means the CCR meet all of the following conditions:
(i) The CCR shall provide a functional
benefit;
(ii) The CCR shall
substitute for the use of a virgin material, conserving natural resources that
would otherwise need to be obtained through practices, such as
extraction;
(iii) The use of the
CCR shall meet relevant product specifications, regulatory standards or design
standards when available, and when such standards are not available, the CCR is
not used in excess quantities; and
(iv) When unencapsulated use of CCR involves
placement on the land of 12,400 tons or more in non-roadway applications, the
user shall demonstrate and keep records, and provide such documentation upon
request, that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil and
air are comparable to or lower than those from analogous products made without
CCR, or that environmental releases to groundwater, surface water, soil and air
will be at or below relevant regulatory and health-based benchmarks for human
and ecological receptors during use in accordance with R315-101.
(9) "Closed" means placement of
CCR in a CCR unit has ceased, and the owner or operator has completed closure
of the CCR unit in accordance with Subsection R315-319-102 and has initiated
post-closure care in accordance with Subsection R315-319-104.
(10) "Coal combustion residuals (CCR)" means
fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials
generated from burning coal for the purpose of generating electricity by
electric utilities and independent power producers.
(11) "CCR fugitive dust" means solid airborne
particulate matter that contains or is derived from CCR, emitted from any
source other than a stack or chimney.
(12) "CCR landfill or landfill" means an area
of land or an excavation that receives CCR and which is not a surface
impoundment, an underground injection well, a salt dome formation, a salt bed
formation, an underground or surface coal mine, or a cave. For purposes of Rule
R315-319, a CCR landfill also includes sand and gravel pits and quarries that
receive CCR, CCR piles, and any practice that does not meet the definition of a
beneficial use of CCR.
(13) "CCR
pile or pile" means any non-containerized accumulation of solid, non-flowing
CCR that is placed on the land. CCR that is beneficially used off-site is not a
CCR pile.
(14) "CCR surface
impoundment or impoundment" means a natural topographic depression, man-made
excavation, or diked area, which is designed to hold an accumulation of CCR and
liquids, and the unit treats, stores, or disposes of CCR.
(15) "CCR unit" means any CCR landfill, CCR
surface impoundment, or lateral expansion of a CCR unit, or a combination of
more than one of these units, based on the context of the paragraph(s) in which
it is used. This term includes both new and existing units, unless otherwise
specified.
(16) "Dike" means an
embankment, berm, or ridge of either natural or man-made materials used to
prevent the movement of liquids, sludges, solids, or other materials.
(17) "Displacement" means the relative
movement of any two sides of a fault measured in any direction.
(18) "Disposal" is defined in
19-6-102(7);
disposal does not include the storage or the beneficial use of CCR.
(19) "Downstream toe" means the junction of
the downstream slope or face of the CCR surface impoundment with the ground
surface.
(20) "Encapsulated
beneficial use" means a beneficial use of CCR that binds the CCR into a solid
matrix that minimizes its mobilization into the surrounding
environment.
(21) "Existing CCR
landfill" means a CCR landfill that receives CCR both before and after October
14, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to October 14, 2015 and
receives CCR on or after October 14, 2015. A CCR landfill has commenced
construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal, state, and
local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction and a
continuous on-site, physical construction program had begun prior to October
14, 2015.
(22) "Existing CCR
surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that receives CCR both
before and after October 14, 2015, or for which construction commenced prior to
October 14, 2015 and receives CCR on or after October 14, 2015. A CCR surface
impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained
the federal, state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical
construction and a continuous on-site, physical construction program had begun
prior to October 14, 2015.
(23)
"Facility" means all contiguous land, and structures, other appurtenances, and
improvements on the land, used for treating, storing, disposing, or otherwise
conducting solid waste management of CCR. A facility may consist of several
treatment, storage, or disposal operational units, e.g., one or more landfills,
surface impoundments, or combinations of them.
(24) "Factor of safety, Safety factor," means
the ratio of the forces tending to resist the failure of a structure to the
forces tending to cause such failure as determined by accepted engineering
practice.
(25) "Fault" means a
fracture or a zone of fractures in any material along which strata on one side
have been displaced with respect to that on the other side.
(26) "Flood hydrograph" means a graph
showing, for a given point on a stream, the discharge, height, or other
characteristic of a flood as a function of time.
(27) "Freeboard" means the vertical distance
between the lowest point on the crest of the impoundment dike and the surface
of the waste contained therein.
(28) "Free liquids" means liquids that
readily separate from the solid portion of a waste under ambient temperature
and pressure.
(29) "Groundwater"
means water below the land surface in a zone of saturation.
(30) "Hazard potential classification" means
the possible adverse incremental consequences that result from the release of
water or stored contents due to failure of the diked CCR surface impoundment or
mis-operation of the diked CCR surface impoundment or its appurtenances. The
hazardous potential classifications include high hazard potential CCR surface
impoundment, significant hazard potential CCR surface impoundment, and low
hazard potential CCR surface impoundment, which terms mean:
(i) High hazard potential CCR surface
impoundment means a diked surface impoundment where failure or mis-operation
will probably cause loss of human life.
(ii) Low hazard potential CCR surface
impoundment means a diked surface impoundment where failure or mis-operation
results in no probable loss of human life and low economic and/or environmental
losses. Losses are principally limited to the surface impoundment owner's
property.
(iii) Significant hazard
potential CCR surface impoundment means a diked surface impoundment where
failure or mis-operation results in no probable loss of human life, but can
cause economic loss, environmental damage, disruption of lifeline facilities,
or impact other concerns.
(31) "Height" means the vertical measurement
from the downstream toe of the CCR surface impoundment at its lowest point to
the lowest elevation of the crest of the CCR surface impoundment.
(32) "Holocene" means the most recent epoch
of the Quaternary period, extending from the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, at
11,700 years before present, to present.
(33) "Hydraulic conductivity" means the rate
at which water can move through a permeable medium, i.e., the coefficient of
permeability.
(34) "Inactive CCR
surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment that no longer receives
CCR on or after October 14, 2015 and still contains both CCR and liquids on or
after October 14, 2015.
(35)
"Incised CCR surface impoundment" means a CCR surface impoundment which is
constructed by excavating entirely below the natural ground surface, holds an
accumulation of CCR entirely below the adjacent natural ground surface, and
does not consist of any constructed diked portion.
(36) "Inflow design flood" means the flood
hydrograph that is used in the design or modification of the CCR surface
impoundments and its appurtenant works.
(37) "In operation" means the same as active
life.
(38) "Karst terrain" means an
area where karst topography, with its characteristic erosional surface and
subterranean features, is developed as the result of dissolution of limestone,
dolomite, or other soluble rock. Characteristic physiographic features present
in karst terranes include, but are not limited to, dolines, collapse shafts
(sinkholes), sinking streams, caves, seeps, large springs, and blind
valleys.
(39) "Lateral expansion"
means a horizontal expansion of the waste boundaries of an existing CCR
landfill or existing CCR surface impoundment made after October 14,
2015.
(40) "Liquefaction factor of
safety" means the factor of safety, safety factor, determined using analysis
under liquefaction conditions.
(41)
"Lithified earth material" means all rock, including all naturally occurring
and naturally formed aggregates or masses of minerals or small particles of
older rock that formed by crystallization of magma or by induration of loose
sediments. This term does not include man-made materials, such as fill,
concrete, and asphalt, or unconsolidated earth materials, soil, or regolith
lying at or near the earth surface.
(42) "Maximum horizontal acceleration in
lithified earth material" means the maximum expected horizontal acceleration at
the ground surface as depicted on a seismic hazard map, with a 98% or greater
probability that the acceleration will not be exceeded in 50 years, or the
maximum expected horizontal acceleration based on a site-specific seismic risk
assessment.
(43) New CCR landfill
means a CCR landfill or lateral expansion of a CCR landfill that first receives
CCR or commences construction after October 14, 2015. A new CCR landfill has
commenced construction if the owner or operator has obtained the federal,
state, and local approvals or permits necessary to begin physical construction
and a continuous on-site, physical construction program had begun after October
14, 2015. Overfills are also considered new CCR landfills.
(44) "New CCR surface impoundment" means a
CCR surface impoundment or lateral expansion of an existing or new CCR surface
impoundment that first receives CCR or commences construction after October 14,
2015. A new CCR surface impoundment has commenced construction if the owner or
operator has obtained the federal, state, and local approvals or permits
necessary to begin physical construction and a continuous on-site, physical
construction program had begun after October 14, 2015.
(45) "Operator" means the person(s)
responsible for the overall operation of a CCR unit.
(46) "Overfill" means a new CCR landfill
constructed over a closed CCR surface impoundment.
(47) "Owner" means the person(s) who owns a
CCR unit or part of a CCR unit.
(48) "Poor foundation conditions" mean those
areas where features exist which indicate that a natural or human-induced event
may result in inadequate foundation support for the structural components of an
existing or new CCR unit. For example, failure to maintain static and seismic
factors of safety as required in Subsections R315-319-73(e) and 74(e) would
cause a poor foundation condition.
(49) "Probable maximum flood" means the flood
that may be expected from the most severe combination of critical meteorologic
and hydrologic conditions that are reasonably possible in the drainage
basin.
(50) "Qualified person"
means a person or persons trained to recognize specific appearances of
structural weakness and other conditions which are disrupting or have the
potential to disrupt the operation or safety of the CCR unit by visual
observation and, if applicable, to monitor instrumentation.
(51) "Qualified professional engineer" means
an individual who is licensed by Utah as a Professional Engineer to practice
one or more disciplines of engineering and who is qualified by education,
technical knowledge and experience to make the specific technical
certifications required under Sections R315-319-50 through 107.
(52) "Recognized and generally accepted good
engineering practices" means engineering maintenance or operation activities
based on established codes, widely accepted standards, published technical
reports, or a practice widely recommended throughout the industry. Such
practices generally detail approved ways to perform specific engineering,
inspection, or mechanical integrity activities.
(53) "Retrofit" means to remove all CCR and
contaminated soils and sediments from the CCR surface impoundment, and to
ensure the unit complies with the requirements in Section R315-319-72
(54) "Representative sample" means a sample
of a universe or whole, e.g., waste pile, lagoon, and groundwater, which can be
expected to exhibit the average properties of the universe or whole. See EPA
publication SW-846, Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical
Methods, Chapter 9, available at
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/testmethods/sw846/online/index.htm,
for a discussion and examples of representative samples.
(55) "Run-off" means any rainwater, leachate,
or other liquid that drains over land from any part of a CCR landfill or
lateral expansion of a CCR landfill.
(56) "Run-on" means any rainwater, leachate,
or other liquid that drains over land onto any part of a CCR landfill or
lateral expansion of a CCR landfill.
(57) "Sand and gravel pit or quarry" means an
excavation for the extraction of aggregate, minerals or metals. The term sand
and gravel pit and/or quarry does not include subsurface or surface coal
mines.
(58) "Seismic factor of
safety" means the factor of safety (safety factor) determined using analysis
under earthquake conditions using the peak ground acceleration for a seismic
event with a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years, equivalent to a return
period of approximately 2,500 years, based on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
seismic hazard maps for seismic events with this return period for the region
where the CCR surface impoundment is located.
(59) "Seismic impact zone" means an area
having a 2% or greater probability that the maximum expected horizontal
acceleration, expressed as a percentage of the earth's gravitational pull (g),
will exceed 0.10 g in 50 years.
(60) "Slope protection" means engineered or
non-engineered measures installed on the upstream or downstream slope of the
CCR surface impoundment to protect the slope against wave action or erosion,
including but not limited to rock riprap, wooden pile, or concrete revetments,
vegetated wave berms, concrete facing, gabions, geotextiles, or
fascines.
(61) "Solid waste
management or management" means the systematic administration of the activities
which provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation,
processing, treatment, or disposal of solid waste.
(62) State means the State of Utah unless
otherwise indicated.
(63) State
Director or Director means the director of the Division of Waste Management and
Radiation Control.
(64) "Static
factor of safety" means the factor of safety, safety factor, determined using
analysis under the long-term, maximum storage pool loading condition, the
maximum surcharge pool loading condition, and under the end-of-construction
loading condition.
(65) "Structural
components" mean liners, leachate collection and removal systems, final covers,
run-on and run-off systems, inflow design flood control systems, and any other
component used in the construction and operation of the CCR unit that is
necessary to ensure the integrity of the unit and that the contents of the unit
are not released into the environment.
(66) "Unstable area means a location that is
susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing
the integrity, including structural components of some or all of the CCR unit
that are responsible for preventing releases from such unit. Unstable areas can
include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and
karst terrains.
(67) "Uppermost
aquifer" means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface that
is an aquifer, as well as lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected
with this aquifer within the facility's property boundary. Upper limit is
measured at a point nearest to the natural ground surface to which the aquifer
rises during the wet season.
(68)
"Waste boundary" means a vertical surface located at the hydraulically
downgradient limit of the CCR unit. The vertical surface extends down into the
uppermost aquifer.
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