Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 200-299 - Environmental Protection - Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Chapter NR 205 - General Provisions
Section NR 205.03 - Definitions

(1) Bioaccumulation" means the uptake and retention of one or more substances in living tissue either by direct uptake or through uptake in the food chain or both.

(2) Bioassay" means the procedure in which the response of captive aquatic organisms are used to detect or measure the presence or effect of one or more substances, wastes or environmental factors, alone or in combination.

(3) Biological monitoring" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means the determination of the effects on aquatic life, including accumulation of pollutants in tissue, in receiving waters due to the discharge of pollutants by techniques and procedures, including sampling of organisms representative of appropriate levels of the food chain appropriate to the volume and the physical, chemical and biological characteristic of the effluent and at appropriate frequencies and locations.

(3m) Blending" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(2e).

Note: Section NR 210.03(2e) reads: Blending" means the routing of untreated or partially treated wastewater around a biological treatment process, or a portion of a biological treatment process, within a sewage treatment facility. The routing of untreated or partially treated wastewater around a portion of a biological treatment process is considered to be blending only if the entire wastewater flow has not received biological treatment.

(4) Blowdown" means the minimum discharge of recirculating water necessary to prevent the buildup of materials in the water above the limits of best engineering practice.

(4m) Building backup" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(2m).

Note: Section NR 210.03(2m) reads: Building backup" means an accumulation of sewage in any public or private building caused by blockage, failure or other hydraulic constraint in the sewage collection system or by blockage or failure of the building sewer or private interceptor main sewer.

(5) Bypass" means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a sewage treatment facility or a wastewater treatment facility. A bypass does not include a building back-up or a combined sewer overflow.

(6) Chronic toxicity" means the long term effects on aquatic or terrestrial organisms from exposure to a toxic pollutant as determined by whole or partial life-cycle tests.

(6e) Combined sewer overflow" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(3h).

Note: Section NR 210.03(3h) reads: Combined sewer overflow" means a release of wastewater from a combined sewer system directly into a water of the state or to the land surface.

(6m) Combined sewer system" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(3p).

Note: Section NR 210.03(3p) reads: Combined sewer system" means a wastewater collection system owned by a municipality that conveys domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater and storm water runoff through a single pipe system to a publicly owned treatment works.

(6s) Combined sewer treatment facility" has the meaning specified under s. NR 110.03(7s).

Note: Section NR 110.03(7s) reads: Combined sewer treatment facility" means all the structures, pipes and other equipment that constitute the various treatment processes and treatment units employed to reduce pollutants in wastewater from combined sewer systems.

(7) Commercial domestic establishment" means any establishment which has the capability to collect, treat or dispose of domestic wastes including but not limited to restaurants, country clubs, mobile home parks, motels and hotels.

(8) Construction" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment, including contractual obligations to purchase such facilities or equipment, at the premises where such equipment will be used, including preparation work at such premises.

(9) Contaminated storm water" means a point source discharge of storm water which the department has identified as a significant contributor of pollution.

(9g) Continuous discharge" means a facility that discharges 24 hours per day on a year-round basis except for temporary shutdowns for maintenance or other similar activities.

(9m) Controlled diversion" means the routing of untreated or partially treated wastewater around any treatment unit within a sewage or wastewater treatment facility which is then recombined with undiverted wastewater prior to the effluent sampling location and prior to effluent discharge.

Note: Controlled diversions at a sewage treatment facility do not include blending and may occur only in compliance with s. NR 205.07(1) (v).

(10) Cooling water" means water which has been used primarily for cooling but which may be contaminated with process waste or airborne material. Examples are the discharge from barometric condensers or the blowdown from cooling towers.

(11) Department" means the department of natural resources.

(12) Discharge" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., when used without qualification includes a discharge of any pollutant.

(13) Discharge of pollutant" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any addition of any pollutant to the waters of this state from any point source including the land application of sludge.

(14) Domestic wastewater" means the type of wastewater normally discharged from plumbing facilities in private dwellings or commercial domestic establishments and includes, but is not limited to, sanitary, bath, laundry, dishwashing, garbage disposal and cleaning wastewaters.

(15) Effluent limitation" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any restriction established by the department, including schedules of compliance, on quantities, rate, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological and other constituents which are discharged from point sources into waters of the state.

(16) General permit" means a permit for the discharge of pollutants issued by the department under s. 283.35, Stats.

(17) Groundwater" means the portion of subsurface water which is within the zone of saturation and includes but is not limited to perched water tables, shallow regional groundwater tables, and aquifers or zones that are seasonally, periodically or permanently saturated.

(18) Municipality" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any city, town, village, county, county utility district, town sanitary district, town utility district, school district or metropolitan sewage district or any other public entity created under law and having authority to collect, treat or dispose of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes.

(19) Municipal wastewater" means the mixture of domestic, process and other wastewater tributary to any given municipal sanitary sewage or treatment system.

(20) New source" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any point source the construction of which commenced after the effective date of applicable effluent limitations or standards of performance.

(21) Noncontact cooling water" means water used for cooling which does not come into contact with any raw material, intermediate or finished product, or waste and has been used in heat exchangers, air or refrigeration compressors, or other cooling means where contamination with process waste is not normally expected.

(22) Owner or operator" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any person owning or operating a point source of pollution.

(23) Permit" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means a permit for the discharge of pollutants issued by the department under ch. 283, Stats.

(24) Permittee" means a municipality, industry, public agency or commercial domestic establishment which is issued a permit.

(25) Person" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means an individual, owner or operator, corporation, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency or federal agency.

(26) pH excursion" means an unintentional and temporary incident in which the pH value of the discharge wastewater exceeds the range set forth in the applicable effluent limitations as specified in the permit.

(27) Point source as defined in s. 283.01(12), Stats., means any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, landfill leachate collection system, concentrated animal feeding operation or vessel or other floating craft from which pollutants may be discharged either into the waters of this state or into a publicly owned treatment works. Point source does not include diffused surface drainage or any ditch or channel which serves only to intermittently drain excess surface water from rain or melting snow and is not used as a means of conveying pollutants into waters of the state. Point source does not include uncontrolled discharges composed entirely of storm runoff when these discharges are uncontaminated by any industrial or commercial activity, unless the particular storm runoff discharge has been identified by the department as a significant contributor of pollution.

(28) Pollutant as defined in s. 283.01(13), Stats., means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, refuse, oil, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive substance, heat, filter backwash, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste discharged into water.

(29) Pollution" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological or radiological integrity of water.

(30) Process wastewater" means any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product, and is likely to contain in solution or suspension various components of such raw materials or products.

(31) Publicly owned treatment works" has the meaning specified under s. NR 211.03(11).

(31g) Sanitary sewer overflow" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(10).

Note: Section NR 210.03(10) reads: Sanitary sewer overflow" means a release of wastewater from a sewage collection system or an interceptor sewer directly into a water of the state or to the land surface.

(31r) Satellite sewage collection system" means a municipally owned or a privately owned sewage collection system that conveys wastewater to another satellite sewage collection system or to another sewerage system that provides wastewater treatment and discharges under a separate WPDES permit.

(32) Schedule of compliance" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means a schedule of remedial measures including an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limitation or other limitation, prohibition or standard.

(33) Secretary" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means the secretary of the department or the secretary's designee.

(34) Severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

(35) Sewage" as defined in s. 299.01, Stats., means the water carried wastes created in and to be conducted away from residences, industrial establishments, and public buildings as defined in s. 101.01(12), Stats., with such surface or groundwater as may be present.

(35e) Sewage treatment facility" has the meaning specified under s. NR 110.03(29).

Note: Section NR 110.03(29) reads: Sewage treatment facility" means all the structures, pipes and other equipment that constitute the various treatment processes and treatment units employed to reduce pollutants in sewage.

(35m) Sewage treatment facility overflow" has the meaning specified under s. NR 210.03(13).

Note: Section NR 210.03(13) Sewage treatment facility overflow" means a release of wastewater from a location within a sewage treatment facility, other than permitted effluent outfall structures, directly to a water of the state or to the land surface. A sewage treatment facility overflow does not include blending, controlled diversions or discharges from permitted combined sewage treatment facility effluent outfall structures.

(35s) Sewerage System" has the meaning specified under s. NR 110.03(30).

Note: Section NR 110.03(30) reads: Sewerage system" means all structures, conduits and pipes, by which sewage is collected, treated, and disposed of, except plumbing inside and in connection with buildings served, and service pipes, from building to street main.

(36) Sludge" means the accumulated solids generated during the biological treatment, chemical treatment, coagulation or sedimentation of water or wastewater.

(37) Standard of performance" means any restriction established on quantities, rates and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological and other constituents of wastewaters which are or may be discharged from new sources into the waters of the state.

(38) Storm water" or storm runoff" means water resulting from melting snow or rainfall.

(39) Toxic pollutants" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means those pollutants or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, injection, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the department, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions, including malfunctions in reproduction or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring.

(39g) Treatment process" has the meaning specified under s. NR 110.03(32g).

Note: Section NR 110.03(32g) Treatment process" means a physical, biological or chemical action that is applied to wastewater to remove or reduce pollutants. A treatment process may consist of multiple individual treatment units. Treatment process" includes screening, chemical treatment, sedimentation, biological treatment, filtration, disinfection and sludge digestion.

(39r) Treatment unit" has the meaning specified under s. NR 110.03(32i).

Note: Section NR 110.03(32i) reads: Treatment unit" means individual structures or equipment within a sewage or wastewater treatment facility that are part of a treatment process. Typical treatment units are screens, clarifiers, aeration tanks, filters, digesters and lagoons.

(40) Treatment work" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial waste of a liquid nature or necessary to recycle or reuse water at the most economical cost over the estimated life of the work, including intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, cooling towers and ponds, pumping, power and other equipment, and their appurtenances, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions, and alterations thereof, elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities, and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment. Additionally, treatment work means any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating or disposing of municipal waste, including storm water runoff, or industrial waste, including waste in combined storm water and sanitary sewer systems.

(41) Upset" means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with permit effluent limitations because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the permittee. An upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.

(42) Vessel" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means any watercraft or other artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

(43) Wastewater" means cooling water, contaminated storm water, noncontact cooling water, process wastewater, sewage or any combination of these.

(43m) Wastewater treatment facility" means all the structures, pipes, and other equipment that constitute the various treatment processes and treatment units employed to reduce pollutants in wastewater.

(44) Waters of the state" as defined in ch. 283, Stats., means those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of Wisconsin, all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, water courses, drainage systems and other surface or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private within the state or under its jurisdiction, except those waters which are entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a person.