Title 40

SECTION 124.2

124.2 Definitions.

§ 124.2 Definitions.

(a) In addition to the definitions given in §§ 122.2 and 123.2 (NPDES), 501.2 (sludge management), 144.3 and 145.2 (UIC), 233.3 (404), and 270.2 and 271.2 (RCRA), the definitions below apply to this part, except for PSD permits which are governed by the definitions in § 124.41. Terms not defined in this section have the meaning given by the appropriate Act.

Administrator means the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or an authorized representative.

Application means the EPA standard national forms for applying for a permit, including any additions, revisions or modifications to the forms; or forms approved by EPA for use in “approved States,” including any approved modifications or revisions. For RCRA, application also includes the information required by the Director under §§ 270.14 through 270.29 [contents of Part B of the RCRA application].

Appropriate Act and regulations means the Clean Water Act (CWA); the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA); or Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), whichever is applicable; and applicable regulations promulgated under those statutes. In the case of an “approved State program” appropriate Act and regulations includes program requirements.

CWA means the Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of Federal Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972) Public Law 92-500, as amended by Public Law 95-217 and Public Law 95-576; 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

Director means the Regional Administrator, the State director or the Tribal director as the context requires, or an authorized representative. When there is no approved State or Tribal program, and there is an EPA administered program, Director means the Regional Administrator. When there is an approved State or Tribal program, “Director” normally means the State or Tribal director. In some circumstances, however, EPA retains the authority to take certain actions even when there is an approved State or Tribal program. (For example, when EPA has issued an NPDES permit prior to the approval of a State program, EPA may retain jurisdiction over that permit after program approval; see § 123.1) In such cases, the term “Director” means the Regional Administrator and not the State or Tribal director.

Draft permit means a document prepared under § 124.6 indicating the Director's tentative decision to issue or deny, modify, revoke and reissue, terminate, or reissue a “permit.” A notice of intent to terminate a permit and a notice of intent to deny a permit as discussed in § 124.5, are types of “draft permits.” A denial of a request for modification, revocation and reissuance or termination, as discussed in § 124.5, is not a “draft permit.” A “proposal permit” is not a “draft permit.”

Environmental Appeals Board shall mean the Board within the Agency described in § 1.25(e) of this title. The Administrator delegates authority to the Environmental Appeals Board to issue final decisions in RCRA, PSD, UIC, or NPDES permit appeals filed under this subpart, including informal appeals of denials of requests for modification, revocation and reissuance, or termination of permits under Section 124.5(b). An appeal directed to the Administrator, rather than to the Environmental Appeals Board, will not be considered. This delegation does not preclude the Environmental Appeals Board from referring an appeal or a motion under this subpart to the Administrator when the Environmental Appeals Board, in its discretion, deems it appropriate to do so. When an appeal or motion is referred to the Administrator by the Environmental Appeals Board, all parties shall be so notified and the rules in this subpart referring to the Environmental Appeals Board shall be interpreted as referring to the Administrator.

EPA (“EPA”) means the United States “Environmental Protection Agency.”

Facility or activity means any “HWM facility,” UIC “injection well,” NPDES “point source” or “treatment works treating domestic sewage” or State 404 dredge or fill activity, or any other facility or activity (including land or appurtenances thereto) that is subject to regulation under the RCRA, UIC, NPDES, or 404 programs.

Federal Indian reservation (in the case of NPDES) means all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and including rights-of-way running through the reservation.

General permit (NPDES and 404) means an NPDES or 404 “permit” authorizing a category of discharges or activities under the CWA within a geographical area. For NPDES, a general permit means a permit issued under § 122.28. For 404, a general permit means a permit issued under § 233.37.

Indian Tribe means (in the case of UIC) any Indian Tribe having a federally recognized governing body carrying out substantial governmental duties and powers over a defined area. For the NPDES program, the term “Indian Tribe” means any Indian Tribe, band, group, or community recognized by the Secretary of the Interior and exercising governmental authority over a Federal Indian reservation.

Interstate agency means an agency of two or more States established by or under an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more States having substantial powers or duties pertaining to the control of pollution as determined and approved by the Administrator under the “appropriate Act and regulations.”

Major facility means any RCRA, UIC, NPDES, or 404 “facility or activity” classified as such by the Regional Administrator, or, in the case of “approved State programs,” the Regional Administrator in conjunction with the State Director.

Owner or operator means owner or operator of any “facility or activity” subject to regulation under the RCRA, UIC, NPDES, or 404 programs.

Permit means an authorization, license or equivalent control document issued by EPA or an “approved State” to implement the requirements of this part and parts 122, 123, 144, 145, 233, 270, and 271 of this chapter. “Permit” includes RCRA “permit by rule” (§ 270.60), RCRA standardized permit (§ 270.67), UIC area permit (§ 144.33), NPDES or 404 “general permit” (§§ 270.61, 144.34, and 233.38). Permit does not include RCRA interim status (§ 270.70), UIC authorization by rule (§ 144.21), or any permit which has not yet been the subject of final agency action, such as a “draft permit” or a “proposed permit.”

Person means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, State, Federal, or Tribal agency, or an agency or employee thereof.

RCRA means the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-580, as amended by Pub. L. 95-609, 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq).

Regional Administrator means the Regional Administrator of the appropriate Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency or the authorized representative of the Regional Administrator.

Schedule of compliance means a schedule of remedial measures included in a “permit,” including an enforceable sequence of interim requirements (for example, actions, operations, or milestone events) leading to compliance with the “appropriate Act and regulations.”

SDWA means the Safe Drinking Water Act (Pub. L. 95-523, as amended by Pub. L. 95-1900; 42 U.S.C. 300f et seq).

Section 404 program or State 404 program or 404 means an “approved State program” to regulate the “discharge of dredged material” and the “discharge of fill material” under section 404 of the Clean Water Act in “State regulated waters.”

Site means the land or water area where any “facility or activity” is physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity.

Standardized permit means a RCRA permit authorizing management of hazardous waste issued under subpart G of this part and part 270, subpart J. The standardized permit may have two parts: A uniform portion issued in all cases and a supplemental portion issued at the Director's discretion.

State means one of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (except in the case of RCRA), the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or an Indian Tribe that meets the statutory criteria which authorize EPA to treat the Tribe in a manner similar to that in which it treats a State (except in the case of RCRA).

State Director means the chief administrative officer of any State, interstate, or Tribal agency operating an approved program, or the delegated representative of the State director. If the responsibility is divided among two or more States, interstate, or Tribal agencies, “State Director” means the chief administrative officer of the State, interstate, or Tribal agency authorized to perform the particular procedure or function to which reference is made.

State Director means the chief administrative officer of any State or interstate agency operating an “approved program,” or the delegated representative of the state Director. If responsibility is divided among two or more State or interstate agencies, “State Director” means the chief administrative officer of the State or interstate agency authorized to perform the particular procedure or function to which reference is made.

UIC means the Underground Injection Control program under Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act, including an “approved program.”

(b) For the purposes of part 124, the term Director means the State Director or Regional Administrator and is used when the accompanying provision is required of EPA-administered programs and of State programs under §§ 123.25 (NPDES), 145.11 (UIC), 233.26 (404), and 271.14 (RCRA). The term Regional Administrator is used when the accompanying provision applies exclusively to EPA-issued permits and is not applicable to State programs under these sections. While States are not required to implement these latter provisions, they are not precluded from doing so, notwithstanding use of the term “Regional Administrator.”

[48 FR 14264, Apr. 1, 1983; 48 FR 30115, June 30, 1983, as amended at 49 FR 25981, June 25, 1984; 53 FR 37410, Sept. 26, 1988; 54 FR 18785, May 2, 1989; 57 FR 5335, Feb. 13, 1992; 57 FR 60129, Dec. 18, 1992; 58 FR 67983, Dec. 22, 1993; 59 FR 64343, Dec. 14, 1994; 65 FR 30910, May 15, 2000; 70 FR 53449, Sept. 8, 2005]