§ 117.1 - Definitions.

§ 117.1 Definitions.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 22339, Apr. 21, 2020.

As used in this part, all terms shall have the meanings stated in 40 CFR part 116.

(a) Reportable quantities means quantities that may be harmful as set forth in § 117.3, the discharge of which is a violation of section 311(b)(3) and requires notice as set forth in § 117.21.

(b) Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”).

(c) Mobile source means any vehicle, rolling stock, or other means of transportation which contains or carries a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance.

(d) Public record means the NPDES permit application or the NPDES permit itself and the materials comprising the administrative record for the permit decision specified in § 124.18 of this chapter.

(e) National Pretreatment Standard or Pretreatment Standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307 (b) and (c) of the Act, which applies to industrial users of a publicly owned treatment works. It further means any State or local pretreatment requirement applicable to a discharge and which is incorporated into a permit issued to a publicly owned treatment works under section 402 of the Act.

(f) Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW means a treatment works as defined by section 212 of the Act, which is owned by a State or municipality (as defined by section 502(4) of the Act). This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to such a treatment works, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. The term also means the municipality as defined in section 502(4) of the Act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.

(g) Remove or removal refers to removal of the oil or hazardous substances from the water and shoreline or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to minimize or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare, including, but not limited to, fish, shellfish, wildlife, and public and private property, shorelines, and beaches.

(h) Contiguous zone means the entire zone established by the United States under Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone.

(i) Navigable waters means “waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.” This term includes:

(1) All waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

(2) Interstate waters, including interstate wetlands;

(3) All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams, (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, and wetlands, the use, degradation or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters:

(i) Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;

(ii) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce;

(iii) Which are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

(4) All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as navigable waters under this paragraph;

(5) Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs (i)(1) through (4) of this section, including adjacent wetlands; and

(6) Wetlands adjacent to waters identified in paragraphs (i)(1) through (5) of this section (“Wetlands” means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally included playa lakes, swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas such as sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, prairie river overflows, mudflats, and natural ponds): Provided, That waste treatment systems (other than cooling ponds meeting the criteria of this paragraph) are not waters of the United States.

Navigable waters do not include prior converted cropland. Notwithstanding the determination of an area's status as prior converted cropland by any other federal agency, for the purposes of the Clean Water Act, the final authority regarding Clean Water Act jurisdiction remains with EPA.

,” as defined in § 120.2 of this chapter.

(j) Process waste water 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.

[44 FR 50776, Aug. 29, 1979, as amended at 58 FR 45039, Aug. 25, 1993; 65 FR 30904, May 15, 2000; 80 FR 37112, June 29, 2015; 83 FR 5208, Feb. 6, 2018; 84 FR 56668, Oct. 22, 2019; 85 FR 22340, Apr. 21, 2020]