The definitions contained in Texas Water Code, §§26.001,
27.002, 28.001, and 32.003 apply to this chapter. The following words
and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings.
(1) Aquifer--As defined or amended under Chapter 331
of this title (relating to Underground Injection Control).
(2) Beneficial reuse credit--As defined by Chapter
309, Subchapter D of this title (relating to Beneficial Reuse Credit).
(3) Buffer zone--The area between a subsurface area
drip dispersal system boundary and surface water in the state, public
and private water wells, and springs.
(4) Crop requirement--The amount of nutrients that
must be present in order to ensure that the crop nutrient needs are
met, while accounting for nutrients that may become unavailable to
the crop due to absorption to soil particles or other natural causes.
(5) Domestic wastewater--Waste and wastewater from
humans and household operations that are discharged to a wastewater
collection system or otherwise enters a treatment facility. This includes
waterborne human waste and waste from domestic activities such as
washing, bathing, and food preparation, including graywater (as defined
or amended in §210.82 of this title (relating to Definitions
and General Requirements)) and blackwater.
(6) Emitter--A device designed to discharge into the
soil, a small uniform flow of water at a constant rate.
(7) Evapotranspiration--The water lost from an area
through the combined effects of evaporation from the ground surface
and transpiration from the vegetation.
(8) Facility--All land and fixtures, structures, or
appurtenances used for storing, processing, treating, or disposing
of wastewater, or for injection activities. A facility may consist
of several storage, processing, treatment, disposal, or injection
operational units.
(9) Floodway--A channel of a river or watercourse and
the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge
the base flood without cumulatively increasing the surface elevation
more than one foot. Federal Emergency Management Agency maps are prima
facie evidence of floodway locations.
(10) Fresh water--As defined or amended under Texas
Water Code, §27.002.
(11) Groundwater--Subsurface water occurring in soils
and geologic formations that are fully saturated year-round, seasonally,
or intermittently.
(12) Hazardous waste--Any solid waste identified or
listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the federal Solid
Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act, 42 United States Code, §§6901 et
seq., as amended.
(13) Hydrologic connection--The connection and exchange
between surface water and groundwater.
(14) Industrial wastewater--Wastewater generated in
a commercial or industrial process.
(15) Infiltration--The passage of water through the
soil surface into the soil profile.
(16) Licensed professional engineer--An individual
licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers to engage in
the practice of engineering in the state of Texas.
(17) Licensed professional geoscientist--An individual
licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists in accordance
with its requirement for professional practice in the state of Texas.
(18) Local government--An incorporated city, county,
river authority, groundwater conservation district, or a water district
or authority acting under Texas Constitution, Article III, §52
or Article XVI, §59.
(19) Owner--The person, corporation, partnership, or
other legal entity that owns or partially owns a facility or part
of a facility, or that owns or partially owns the land on which a
facility or part of a facility is located.
(20) Public contact--Contact with the soil over the
dispersal zone by persons engaged in activities not associated with
wastewater disposal.
(21) Recharge feature--Those natural or artificial
features either on or beneath the ground surface at the site that
provide or create a significant hydrologic connection between the
ground surface and the underlying groundwater within an aquifer. Significant
artificial features include, but are not limited to, wells and excavation
or material pits. Significant natural hydrologic connections include,
but are not limited to: faults, fractures, karst features, or other
macro pores that allow direct surface infiltration; a permeable or
shallow soil material that overlies an aquifer; exposed geologic formations
that are identified as an aquifer; or a water course bisecting an
aquifer.
(22) Soil--The upper layer of the surface of the earth
that serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants.
(23) Subsurface area drip dispersal systems--A wastewater
disposal system that injects processed commercial, industrial, or
municipal wastewater into the ground at a depth of not more than 48
inches and spreads the wastewater over a large enough area that the
soil hydrologic absorption rate and crop/plant root absorption rate
are not exceeded.
(24) Surface water in the state--Water in the state
as defined in Texas Water Code, §26.001(5), except that "groundwater,
percolating or otherwise," is specifically excluded.
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