Title 18 . Environmental Conservation

Chapter 72 . Administrative Enforcement

Section 990. Definitions

18 AAC 72.990. Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter

(1) "above-ground storage tank" means a tank system with 100 percent of its volume above ground;

(2) "alternate onsite system" means a method of onsite treatment and disposal other than a conventional onsite system;

(3) "alternate soil absorption system" means a method of soil absorption treatment and disposal other than a conventional soil absorption system; "alternate soil absorption system" does not include holding tanks or nonwater-carried disposal methods such as composting, incineration, or privies;

(4) "approved" and "approval" mean approved in writing by, or the written approval of, the department;

(5) "as-built drawings" means the original plans and specifications prepared for construction and approved by the department, corrected to reflect how a facility was actually constructed or installed;

(6) "bed" or "bed system" means a soil absorption system that is a level excavation, wider than three feet, that contains at least one line of distribution piping, and the bottom area of which is the infiltrative surface;

(7) "biochemical oxygen demand" means the amount, in milligrams per liter, of oxygen used in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in five days at 20ΓΈ C;

(8) "cesspool" means a subsurface pit that receives untreated sewage;

(9) "cleanout" means an appurtenance on a community sewer line designed to provide access for the purpose of removing deposited or accumulated materials;

(10) "collection and pumping system" or "collection system" means a system of pumps, conduits, or both that transports domestic wastewater from the facility where that wastewater is generated to a domestic wastewater treatment works; "collection and pumping system" or "collection system"

(A) includes

(i) gravity, pressure, and vacuum sewers, including associated appurtenances such as manholes and cleanouts;

(ii) pump or collection stations; and

(iii) a collector sewer, regardless of ownership of the land on which it is installed; and

(B) does not include a private sewer line;

(11) "collector sewer" means a sewer line used as a common receiver of sewage from more than one service line;

(12) "commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation;

(13) "community sewer line" means that portion of a sewerage serving

(A) one or more multi-family dwellings;

(B) a mobile home park, a trailer park, or a recreational vehicle park;

(C) two or more

(i) single-family homes or duplexes;

(ii) commercial establishments;

(iii) industrial establishments; or

(iv) institutions; or

(D) a combination of two or more of the structures listed in (C)(i) - (iv) of this paragraph;

(14) "community soil absorption system"

(A) means a soil absorption system serving

(i) one or more multi-family dwellings;

(ii) a mobile home park, a trailer park, or a recreational vehicle park;

(iii) two or more single-family homes, duplexes, commercial establishments, industrial establishments, or institutions; or

(iv) a combination of two or more of the structures listed in (iii) of this subparagraph; and

(B) does not include a system serving a small commercial facility;

(15) "conventional onsite system" means a system that treats domestic wastewater exclusively, that meets the requirements of 18 AAC 72.035 and 18 AAC 72.260, and that uses a septic tank followed by a discharge into a conventional soil absorption system in undisturbed native soil, with or without a sand liner; "conventional onsite system"

(A) includes a properly pressurized sewer line used to convey sewage from the home into a septic tank or from a septic tank into a gravity distribution soil absorption system; and

(B) does not include

(i) an intermittent sand filter design; or

(ii) an elevated mound system design;

(16) "conventional soil absorption system" means an onsite wastewater treatment and disposal system that

(A) is of typical trench, bed, or seepage pit design;

(B) is vertically located so that the bottom of the distribution rock is at or below existing grade;

(C) uses natural subsurface undisturbed soils, with or without a sand liner, for the treatment media; and

(D) utilizes non-pressurized effluent distribution;

(17) "deep trench" means a soil absorption system that uses a trench, the vertical walls of which form the infiltrative surface area;

(18) "department" means the Department of Environmental Conservation;

(19) "design criteria" means information and numerical data such as rates, loadings, and other parameters upon which a specific facility design is based; "design criteria" includes

(A) engineering guidelines that specify construction details and materials; and

(B) objectives, results, or limits that a facility, structure, or process must meet in the performance of its intended function;

(20) "director" means

(A) for matters dealing with domestic wastewater, the director of the department's division assigned to environmental health; or

(B) for matters dealing with nondomestic wastewater, the director of the department's division assigned to air and water quality;

(21) "disinfect" means to treat by means of a chemical, physical, or other process, such as chlorination, ozonation, application of ultraviolet light, or sterilization, designed to eliminate pathogenic organisms, and producing an effluent with the following characteristics:

(A) an arithmetic mean of the values for a minimum of five effluent samples collected in 30 consecutive days that does not exceed 200 fecal coliform per 100 milliliters; and

(B) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in seven consecutive days that does not exceed 400 fecal coliform per 100 milliliters;

(22) "disposal system" means a system, the sole function of which is to provide a means of final disposal of domestic wastewater to the environment;

(23) "domestic wastewater" means waterborne human wastes or graywater derived from dwellings, commercial buildings, institutions, or similar structures; "domestic wastewater" includes the contents of individual removable containers used to collect and temporarily store human wastes; "domestic wastewater" does not include

(A) liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, or similar treatment works, if those facilities receive nondomestic or industrial wastewater; or

(B) grease removed from a grease trap at a restaurant;

(24) "domestic wastewater disposal system" means a device, structure, or formation used to dilute, dispose, or discharge domestic wastewater; "domestic wastewater disposal system" includes injection wells, soil absorption systems, pits, crevices, sinkholes, depressions, outfalls, percolating stabilization ponds, land irrigation systems, sewers, and treatment works;

(25) "domestic wastewater treatment works" means a plant, device, structure, or other works designed to treat, neutralize, or stabilize domestic wastewater or sludges; "domestic wastewater treatment works" includes a septic tank, package plant, stabilization pond, soil absorption system, activated sludge treatment plant, trickling filter, and rotating biological contactor plant;

(26) "drain" means the line that is the lowest line in or beneath a building and that receives and carries the sewage to the service line; however, a line serving separate buildings or structures, even though it runs beneath a building, is considered to be a service line;

(27) "duplex" means a single structure designed to house two single-family dwelling units;

(28) "emergency repair" means a system repair or alteration that is necessary

(A) to protect public health; or

(B) for the system to perform the major functions for which the system was designed;

(29) "engineering plans" means a set of plans approved and sealed by a registered engineer;

(30) "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency;

(31) "equalize" means to dampen daily fluctuations of the flow, quality, or amount of wastewater, in order to distribute surges over a period of time;

(32) "facility" means a building or structure;

(33) "geotechnical study" means a report or study analyzing sufficient subsurface information necessary to evaluate the effect from permafrost layers on the structural integrity and operational performance of the proposed wastewater system;

(34) "gpd" means gallons per day;

(35) "graywater" means wastewater

(A) from a laundry, kitchen, sink, shower, bath, or other domestic source; and

(B) that does not contain excrement, urine, or combined stormwater;

(36) "groundwater" means the subsurface water permanently or seasonally occupying the zone in which the voids in the rock or soil are filled with water at a pressure greater than atmospheric;

(37) "holding tank" means a watertight vessel or tank for the temporary storage of wastewater, urine, or excrement; "holding tank" includes a vault privy; "holding tank" does not include a pit privy;

(38) "land surface disposal system" means a system that disposes of treated wastewater onto the surface of the land in areas suitable for that purpose;

(39) "marine outfall" means a discharge pipe used for the final disposal of wastewater extending from a wastewater treatment works to the point of discharge in marine waters, including equipment or appurtenances used for diffusing treated effluent to the marine environment;

(40) "multi-family dwelling" means a dwelling unit housing more than two single-family residences;

(41) "nondomestic wastewater" means liquid or water-carried wastes other than domestic wastewater; "nondomestic wastewater" includes wastes resulting from

(A) a manufacturing, food processing, or production enterprise;

(B) an industrial establishment;

(C) the development of natural resources;

(D) the construction of a manufacturing, production, or industrial facility; and

(E) stormwater runoff;

(42) "nondomestic wastewater disposal system" means a device or structure designed to dilute, dispose, or discharge nondomestic wastewater;

(43) "nondomestic wastewater treatment works" means a plant, device, structure, or other works designed to treat, neutralize, or stabilize nondomestic wastewater or sludges;

(44) "nonpercolating stabilization pond" means a stabilization pond that

(A) is designed to contain wastewater; and

(B) prevents subsurface leakage at a rate greater than 500 gallons per acre per day at a water depth of six feet;

(45) "observed percolation rate," "observed soil texture," and "observed soil type" mean the percolation rate, soil texture, or soil type as observed by a person who may install a domestic wastewater treatment and disposal system as described in 18 AAC 72.015;

(46) "package plant" means an alternate onsite wastewater treatment and disposal system that is a transportable modular treatment system for domestic wastewater and that serves less than 25 persons; "package plant" does not include septic or holding tanks;

(47) "percolating stabilization pond" means a stabilization pond designed to contain wastewater and to allow subsurface leakage at a rate greater than 500 gallons per acre per day at a water depth of six feet;

(48) "pit privy"

(A) means a structure that

(i) receives urine and excrement that is not waterborne; and

(ii) is the final disposal site and not a temporary storage facility; and

(B) does not include a vault privy;

(49) "potable water source" means a source of water, intake works, collection system, treatment works, storage facility, or distribution system from which water is available for human consumption;

(50) "primary treatment" means wastewater treatment that

(A) removes substantially all floating and settleable solids; or

(B) uses fine screens with 0.04-inch or smaller openings;

(51) "private sewer line" means a pipeline or conduit carrying domestic wastewater from a single-family home or duplex, a single industrial establishment, a single institution, or a single commercial establishment to a treatment system, disposal system, or community sewer; "private sewer line" does not include the pipeline or conduit carrying domestic wastewater from a trailer park, a mobile home park, or a multi-family dwelling;

(52) "private water system" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 80.1990;

(53) "public water system" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 80.1990;

(54) "record documents" means record drawings and specifications; "record documents" includes construction submittals, photographs, diaries, daily reports, and test reports;

(55) "record drawings" means the original plans prepared for construction and department approval, revised to reflect how the system was constructed or installed;

(56) "registered engineer" means a professional engineer registered to practice in this state under AS 08.48;

(57) "routine maintenance" means activity normally required to maintain the system components in good working order;

(58) "sealed" means prepared by a registered engineer or a person under that engineer's direct supervision, and bearing the signature and seal of that engineer as required by AS 08.48.221 and 12 AAC 36.185;

(59) "secondary treatment" means a method of removal of dissolved and colloidal materials that produces an effluent with the following characteristics:

(A) for the five-day measure of biochemical oxygen demand from a source other than a stabilization pond,

(i) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in 30 consecutive days that does not exceed 30 milligrams per liter;

(ii) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in seven consecutive days that does not exceed 45 milligrams per liter; and

(iii) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in a 24-hour period that does not exceed 60 milligrams per liter;

(B) for the five-day measure of biochemical oxygen demand at a stabilization pond,

(i) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in 30 consecutive days that does not exceed 45 milligrams per liter and a percent removal that is not less than 65 percent by weight; and

(ii) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in seven consecutive days that does not exceed 65 milligrams per liter;

(C) for the measure of suspended solids from a source other than a stabilization pond,

(i) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in 30 consecutive days that does not exceed 30 milligrams per liter;

(ii) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in seven consecutive days that does not exceed 45 milligrams per liter; and

(iii) an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in a 24-hour period that does not exceed 60 milligrams per liter; and

(D) for the measure of suspended solids at a stabilization pond, an arithmetic mean of the values for effluent samples collected in 30 consecutive days that does not exceed 70 milligrams per liter; and

(E) for the measure of effluent pH, values between 6.0 and 9.0 unless

(i) inorganic chemicals are not added to the waste stream as part of the treatment process; and

(ii) contributions from industrial sources do not cause the pH of the effluent to be less than 6.0 or greater than 9.0;

(60) "seepage pit" means an underground pit that

(A) extends into porous strata;

(B) is lined with open-jointed stone, concrete block, or similar walls; and

(C) introduces into the ground, by seepage, the partly treated effluent from a wastewater system;

(61) "sensitive receiving environment" means

(A) fresh or marine water that supports anadromous fish;

(B) fresh or marine water used for drinking or food processing;

(C) water susceptible to eutrophication;

(D) a stream with low or intermittent flow;

(E) tundra; or

(F) land that permits exposure of wastewater to the public;

(62) "septage" means liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, Type III marine sanitation device, or similar domestic wastewater treatment works that receives only domestic wastewater;

(63) "septic tank" means a watertight, covered receptacle designed and built to

(A) receive domestic wastewater;

(B) separate floating and settling solids from the liquid;

(C) anaerobically digest organic matter;

(D) store digested solids through a period of detention; and

(E) allow clarified liquids to discharge for final disposal;

(64) "service line" means a pipeline or conduit that

(A) runs outside a building foundation; and

(B) carries sewage to a collector sewer, wastewater treatment works, or wastewater disposal system;

(65) "sewage" means domestic or nondomestic wastewater;

(66) "sewer" or "sewer line" means a pipeline, conduit, or sewerage line that carries domestic or nondomestic wastewater; "sewer" or "sewer line" does not include a private sewer line;

(67) "sewerage" means sewers, sewage pumping stations, force mains, and related structures, devices, and appliances used to carry domestic or nondomestic wastewater to a point of final treatment or disposal;

(68) "shallow trench" means a soil absorption system that

(A) does not exceed five feet in width;

(B) contains a single line of perforated pipe; and

(C) uses the bottom area for absorption;

(69) "slough" means a swamp, bog, or marsh, especially one that is part of an inlet or backwater;

(70) "sludge" means a solid, semisolid, or liquid waste that contains at least five percent solids by weight, and that is generated at a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment plant, a septic tank, a water supply treatment plant, or an air pollution control facility; "sludge" includes similar material accumulated in and removed from a storage tank or surface impoundment containing oil, industrial liquid waste, acid, chemicals, or another similar substance;

(71) "small commercial facility" means a single commercial building with an expected peak design flow of 500 gpd or less;

(72) "soil absorption system" means a surface or subsurface system using soil for the treatment and disposal of effluent from a domestic wastewater treatment works; "soil absorption system" includes a filtering field, leaching field, seepage bed, or seepage pit, but does not include a cesspool;

(73) "stabilization pond" means a shallow body of liquid or sludge contained in an earthen basin and designed to treat wastewater or septage sludge;

(74) "standard absorption trench" means a soil absorption trench with a distribution medium that extends at least two inches above and at least 10 inches below the invert of the distribution piping, with the absorption area calculated using the bottom area only;

(75) "treatment works" means the central portion of a wastewater facility that contains the various treatment processes, exclusive of the collection system;

(76) "treatment works with individual marine outfall" means a treatment system located on one lot, or shared by adjacent lots, from which effluent is discharged through a single outfall extending to marine water;

(77) "vacuum sewer" means a collection system using a vacuum and high scour velocities to convey wastewater;

(78) "vault privy" means a holding tank with a seat or seats, or other appurtenances attached, that allows for excretion of human wastes directly into the tank;

(79) "wastewater" means domestic or nondomestic wastewater;

(80) "water table" means the upper surface of a zone of saturated soil, including normal seasonal fluctuations, but excluding fluctuations caused by heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt; the water table is indicated by the level at which water stands in a well that

(A) is open along its length; and

(B) penetrates the surficial deposits just deeply enough to encounter standing water in the bottom;

(81) "daily peak capacity" means the maximum daily flow of wastewater, measured in gpd, that a treatment system is designed to process;

(82) "hydroelectric project" means a project that generates electricity by converting the energy of running water;

(83) "standard designated regulatory services" has the meaning given in AS 37.10.058 ;

(84) "stormwater pollution prevention plan" means a facility's plan to prevent or control the discharge of pollutants in stormwater runoff, as required by a permit required under 33 U.S.C. 1342(p) (Clean Water Act, sec. 402(p));

(85) "toxic substance" has the meaning given in 18 AAC 70.990.

History: Eff. 4/1/99, Register 149; am 3/25/2001, Register 157; am 1/17/2002, Register 161

Authority: AS 44.46.020

AS 46.03.020

AS 46.03.050

AS 46.03.070

AS 46.03.080

AS 46.03.090

AS 46.03.100

AS 46.03.110

AS 46.03.710

AS 46.03.720

Editor's note: Statutory definitions that apply to this chapter are found at AS 46.03.900 .