                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 62.1-44.3)

Unless a different meaning is required by the context, the following terms as
used in this chapter shall have the meanings hereinafter respectively ascribed
to them:
		&#8220;Beneficial use&#8221; means both instream and offstream uses. Instream
beneficial uses include, but are not limited to, the protection of fish and
wildlife resources and habitat, maintenance of waste assimilation, recreation,
navigation, and cultural and aesthetic values. The preservation of instream
flows for purposes of the protection of navigation, maintenance of waste
assimilation capacity, the protection of fish and wildlife resources and
habitat, recreation, cultural and aesthetic values is an instream beneficial use
of Virginia&#8217;s waters. Offstream beneficial uses include, but are not
limited to, domestic (including public water supply), agricultural uses,
electric power generation, commercial, and industrial uses.
		&#8220;Board&#8221; means the State Water Control Board. However, when used
outside the context of the promulgation of regulations, including regulations to
establish general permits, pursuant to this chapter, &#8220;Board&#8221; means
the Department of Environmental Quality.
		&#8220;Certificate&#8221; means any certificate or permit issued by the
Department.
		&#8220;Department&#8221; means the Department of Environmental Quality.
		&#8220;Director&#8221; means the Director of the Department of Environmental
Quality.
		&#8220;Establishment&#8221; means any industrial establishment, mill, factory,
tannery, paper or pulp mill, mine, coal mine, colliery, breaker or
coal-processing operations, quarry, oil refinery, boat, vessel, and every other
industry or plant or works the operation of which produces industrial wastes or
other wastes or which may otherwise alter the physical, chemical or biological
properties of any state waters.
		&#8220;Excavate&#8221; or &#8220;excavation&#8221; means ditching, dredging,
or mechanized removal of earth, soil or rock.
		&#8220;Industrial wastes&#8221; means liquid or other wastes resulting from
any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business or from the development
of any natural resources.
		&#8220;Land-disturbance approval&#8221; means an approval allowing a
land-disturbing activity to commence issued by (i) a Virginia Erosion and
Stormwater Management Program authority after the requirements of §
62.1-44.15:34 have been met or (ii) a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control
Program authority after the requirements of § 62.1-44.15:55 have been met.
		&#8220;The law&#8221; or &#8220;this law&#8221; means the law contained in
this chapter as now existing or hereafter amended.
		&#8220;Member&#8221; means a member of the Board.
		&#8220;Municipal separate storm sewer&#8221; means a conveyance or system of
conveyances otherwise known as a municipal separate storm sewer system or
&#8220;MS4,&#8221; including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets,
catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains, that
is:

1. Owned or operated by a federal entity, state, city, town, county, district,
association, or other public body, created by or pursuant to state law, having
jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater, or other
wastes, including a special district under state law such as a sewer district,
flood control district, drainage district or similar entity, or a designated and
approved management agency under &#xA7; 208 of the federal Clean Water Act (33
U.S.C. &#xA7; 1251 et seq.) that discharges to surface waters;

2. Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;

3. Not a combined sewer; and

4. Not part of a publicly owned treatment works.
			&#8220;Normal agricultural activities&#8221; means those activities defined
as an agricultural operation in &#xA7; 3.2-300 and any activity that is
conducted as part of or in furtherance of such agricultural operation but shall
not include any activity for which a permit would have been required as of
January 1, 1997, under 33 U.S.C. &#xA7; 1344 or any regulations promulgated
pursuant thereto.
			&#8220;Normal silvicultural activities&#8221; means any silvicultural
activity as defined in &#xA7; 10.1-1181.1 and any activity that is conducted as
part of or in furtherance of such silvicultural activity but shall not include
any activity for which a permit would have been required as of January 1, 1997,
under 33 U.S.C. &#xA7; 1344 or any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
			&#8220;Other wastes&#8221; means decayed wood, sawdust, shavings, bark, lime,
garbage, refuse, ashes, offal, tar, oil, chemicals, and all other substances
except industrial wastes and sewage which may cause pollution in any state
waters.
			&#8220;Owner&#8221; means the Commonwealth or any of its political
subdivisions, including but not limited to sanitation district commissions and
authorities and any public or private institution, corporation, association,
firm, or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state
or country, or any officer or agency of the United States, or any person or
group of persons acting individually or as a group that owns, operates,
charters, rents, or otherwise exercises control over or is responsible for any
actual or potential discharge of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes to
state waters, or any facility or operation that has the capability to alter the
physical, chemical, or biological properties of state waters in contravention of
&#xA7; 62.1-44.5.
			&#8220;Person&#8221; means an individual, corporation, partnership,
association, governmental body, municipal corporation, or any other legal
entity.
			&#8220;Policies&#8221; means policies established under subdivisions (3a) and
(3b) of &#xA7; 62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;Pollution&#8221; means such alteration of the physical, chemical, or
biological properties of any state waters as will or is likely to create a
nuisance or render such waters (a) harmful or detrimental or injurious to the
public health, safety, or welfare or to the health of animals, fish, or aquatic
life; (b) unsuitable with reasonable treatment for use as present or possible
future sources of public water supply; or (c) unsuitable for recreational,
commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other reasonable uses, provided that
(i) an alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological property of state
waters or a discharge or deposit of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes to
state waters by any owner which by itself is not sufficient to cause pollution
but which, in combination with such alteration of or discharge or deposit to
state waters by other owners, is sufficient to cause pollution; (ii) the
discharge of untreated sewage by any owner into state waters; and (iii)
contributing to the contravention of standards of water quality duly established
by the Board, are &#8220;pollution&#8221; for the terms and purposes of this
chapter.
			&#8220;Pretreatment requirements&#8221; means any requirements arising under
the Board&#8217;s pretreatment regulations including the duty to allow or carry
out inspections, entry, or monitoring activities; any rules, regulations, or
orders issued by the owner of a publicly owned treatment works; or any reporting
requirements imposed by the owner of a publicly owned treatment works or by the
regulations of the Board.
			&#8220;Pretreatment standards&#8221; means any standards of performance or
other requirements imposed by regulation of the Board upon an industrial user of
a publicly owned treatment works.
			&#8220;Reclaimed water&#8221; means water resulting from the treatment of
domestic, municipal, or industrial wastewater that is suitable for a direct
beneficial or controlled use that would not otherwise occur. Specifically
excluded from this definition is &#8220;gray water.&#8221;
			&#8220;Reclamation&#8221; means the treatment of domestic, municipal, or
industrial wastewater or sewage to produce reclaimed water for a direct
beneficial or controlled use that would not otherwise occur.
			&#8220;Regulation&#8221; means a regulation issued under subdivision (10) of
&#xA7; 62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;Reuse&#8221; means the use of reclaimed water for a direct beneficial
use or a controlled use that is in accordance with the requirements of the
Board.
			&#8220;Rule&#8221; means a rule adopted by the Board to regulate the
procedure of the Board pursuant to subdivision (7) of &#xA7; 62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;Ruling&#8221; means a ruling issued under subdivision (9) of &#xA7;
62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;Sewage&#8221; means the water-carried human wastes from residences,
buildings, industrial establishments or other places together with such
industrial wastes and underground, surface, storm, or other water as may be
present.
			&#8220;Sewage treatment works&#8221; or &#8220;treatment works&#8221; means
any device or system used in the storage, treatment, disposal, or reclamation of
sewage or combinations of sewage and industrial wastes, including but not
limited to pumping, power, and other equipment, and appurtenances, and any
works, including land, that are or will be (i) an integral part of the treatment
process or (ii) used for the ultimate disposal of residues or effluent resulting
from such treatment. These terms shall not include onsite sewage systems or
alternative discharging sewage systems.
			&#8220;Sewerage system&#8221; means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations,
and force mains, and all other construction, devices, and appliances appurtenant
thereto, used for conducting sewage or industrial wastes or other wastes to a
point of ultimate disposal.
			&#8220;Special order&#8221; means a special order issued under subdivisions
(8a), (8b), and (8c) of &#xA7; 62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;Standards&#8221; means standards established under subdivisions (3a)
and (3b) of &#xA7; 62.1-44.15.
			&#8220;State waters&#8221; means all water, on the surface and under the
ground, wholly or partially within or bordering the Commonwealth or within its
jurisdiction, including wetlands.
			&#8220;Wetlands&#8221; means those areas that are inundated or saturated by
surface or groundwater 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 include
swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 62.1-15; 1968, c. 659; 1970, c. 638; 1988, c. 167; 1990,
c. 717; 1991, c. 702; 2000, cc. 972, 1032, 1054; 2003, c. 614; 2007, c. 659;
2015, cc. 104, 677; 2016, cc. 68, 758; 2022, c. 356.