The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Agricultural materials--Litter, manure, bedding,
feed material, vegetative material, and dead animal carcasses from
agricultural operations.
(2) Agricultural operations--Operations involved in
the production of agricultural materials.
(3) Air contaminant--Particulate matter, radioactive
material, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, vapor, or odor or any combination
thereof produced by processes other than natural. Water vapor shall
not be considered an air contaminant.
(4) All-weather roads--A roadway that has been designed
to withstand the maximum load imposed by vehicles entering and exiting
the facility during all types of weather conditions.
(5) Anaerobic composting--The controlled biological
decomposition of organic materials through microbial activity which
occurs in the absence of free oxygen. Anaerobic composting does not
include the stockpiling of organic materials.
(6) Backyard operations--The composting, land application,
and mulching of non-industrial organic material, such as grass clippings,
leaves, brush, clean wood material, or vegetative food material, generated
by a homeowner, tenant of a single or multi-family residential or
apartment complex, or a commercial or institutional complex where
the composting, land application or mulching occurs on the dwelling
property and the final product is utilized on the same property. Backyard
operations include neighborhood composting demonstration sites that
generate less than 50 cubic yards of final product per year.
(7) Batch (or Sampling batch)--The lot of produced
compost represented by one analytical sample (3,000 cubic yards or
5,000 cubic yards depending on facility type).
(8) Beneficial reuse--Any agricultural, horticultural,
reclamation, or similar use of compost as a soil amendment, mulch,
or component of a medium for plant growth, when used in accordance
with generally accepted practice and where applicable is in compliance
with the final product standards established by this chapter. Simply
offering a product for use does not constitute beneficial reuse. Beneficial
reuse does not include placement in a disposal facility, use as daily
cover in a disposal facility, or utilization for energy recovery.
(9) Bulking Agent--An ingredient in a mixture of composting
materials included to improve structure and porosity (which improve
convective air flow and reduce settling and compaction) and/or to
lower moisture content. Bulking agents may include but are not limited
to: compost, straw, wood chips, saw dust, or shredded brush.
(10) Clean wood material--Wood or wood materials, including
stumps, roots, or vegetation with intact rootball, sawdust, pallets,
and manufacturing rejects. Clean wood material does not include wood
that has been treated, coated or painted by materials such as, but
not limited to, paints, varnishes, wood preservatives, or other chemical
products. Clean wood material also does not include demolition material,
where the material is contaminated by materials such as, but not limited
to, paint or other chemicals, glass, electrical wiring, metal, and
sheetrock.
(11) Commission--The Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality.
(12) Compost--The stabilized product of the decomposition
process that is used or distributed for use as a soil amendment, artificial
topsoil, growing medium amendment, or other similar uses.
(13) Composting or functionally aerobic composting--The
controlled, biological decomposition of organic materials through
microbial activity that occurs in the presence of free oxygen. Composting
or functionally aerobic composting does not include the stockpiling
of organic materials.
(14) Cured compost (CC)--A highly stabilized product
that results from exposing mature compost to a prolonged period of
humification and mineralization.
(15) Dairy material--Products that have a Standard
of Identity defined in 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 131.
(16) Distribute--To sell, offer for sale, expose for
sale, consign for sale, barter, exchange, transfer possession or title,
or otherwise supply.
(17) Executive director--The Executive Director of
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or their duly authorized
representative.
(18) Facility-- All contiguous land, structures, other
appurtenances, and improvements on land used for receiving and storing
organic materials and processing them into useable final products.
(19) Feedstock--Any material used for land application
or as a basis for the manufacture of compost, mulch, or other useable
final product.
(20) Final Product--Composted material meeting testing
requirements of §332.71 of this title (relating to Sampling and
Analysis Requirements for Final Product) and awaiting distribution
or disposal.
(21) Fish feedstocks--Fish, shellfish, or seafood and
by-products of these materials whether raw, processed, or cooked.
Fish feedstocks does not include oils and/or greases that are derived
from these same materials.
(22) Foreign matter--Inorganic and organic constituents
that are not readily decomposed, including metals, glass, plastics,
and rubber, but not including sand, dirt, and other similar materials.
(23) Grab sample--A single sample collected from one
identifiable location.
(24) Grease--See the definition of Oil in this section.
(25) Hours of operation--Those hours when the facility
is open to receive feedstock, incorporate feedstock into the process,
retrieve product from the process, and/or ship product.
(26) Land application--The spreading of yard trimmings,
manure, clean wood material, and/or vegetative food materials onto
the surface of the land or the incorporation of these materials within
three feet of the surface.
(27) Leachate--Liquid that has come in contact with
or percolated through materials being stockpiled, processed, or awaiting
removal and that has extracted, dissolved, or suspended materials.
Leachate also includes condensate from gases resulting from the composting
process.
(28) Manure--Animal excreta and residual materials
that have been used for bedding, sanitary, or feeding purposes for
such animals.
(29) Mature compost--Mature compost is the stabilized
product of composting that has achieved the appropriate level of pathogen
reduction (see definitions of "PFRP" and "PSRP" in this section) and
is beneficial to plant growth, and meets the requirements of Table
2 of §332.72 of this title (relating to Final Product Grades).
(30) Maturity--A measure of the lack of biological
activity in freshly aerated materials, resulting from the decomposition
of the incoming feedstock during the active composting period.
(31) Meat feedstocks--Meat and meat by-products whether
raw, processed, or cooked including whole animal carcasses, poultry,
and eggs. Meat feedstocks does not include oils and/or greases that
are derived from these same materials.
(32) Mixed municipal solid waste--Garbage, refuse,
and other solid waste from residential, commercial, industrial non-hazardous,
and community activities that is generated and collected in aggregate.
(33) Mulch--Ground, coarse, woody yard trimmings, and
clean wood material. Mulch is normally used around plants and trees
to retain moisture and suppress weed growth, and is intended for use
on top of soil or other growing media rather than being incorporated
into the soil or growing media. Mulch does not include wood from trees
or other plants that have been systemically killed using herbicides.
(34) Municipal sewage sludge--Solid, semi-solid, or
liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in
treatment works. Sewage sludge includes, but is not limited to, domestic
septage; scum or solids removed in primary, secondary, or advanced
wastewater treatment processes; and material derived from sewage sludge.
Sewage sludge does not include ash generated during the firing of
sewage sludge in a sewage sludge incinerator or grit and screening
generated during preliminary treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment
works.
(35) Nuisance--Nuisances as set forth in the Texas
Health and Safety Code, Chapter 341, the Texas Water Code, Chapter
26, and §101.4 of this title (relating to Nuisance).
(36) Oil--Any material rendered from vegetative material,
dairy material, meat or fish feedstocks that is soluble in trichlorotrifluoroethane.
It includes other material extracted by the solvent from an acidified
sample and not volatilized during the test. Oil and greases do not
include grease trap waste.
(37) One hundred-year floodplain--Any land area that
is subject to a 1.0% or greater chance of flooding in any given year
from any source.
(38) Operator--The person(s) responsible for operating
the facility or part of a facility.
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