                                 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.