NR 700.03 Note
Note: Under s.
289.01 (3), Stats., “approved facility" means “a solid or hazardous waste disposal facility with an approved plan of operation under s.
289.30 or a solid waste disposal facility initially licensed within 3 years prior to May 21, 1978, whose owner successfully applies, within 2 years after May 21, 1978, for a determination by the department that the facility's design and plan of operation comply substantially with the requirements necessary for plan approval under s.
289.30." Under s.
292.01 (1m), Stats., “approved mining facility" is defined by reference to the definition of approved mining facility in s.
289.01 (4), Stats., and also includes a mining waste site as defined in s.
295.41 (31), Stats. “Approved mining facility" as defined in s.
289.01 (4) means “an approved facility which is part of a mining site, as defined under s.
293.01 (12), used for the disposal of solid waste resulting from mining, as defined under s.
293.01 (9), or prospecting, as defined under s.
293.01 (18)." Chapter
293, Stats., applies to nonferrous metallic mining. “Mining waste site" as defined under s.
295.41 (31), Stats., means any land or appurtenances thereto used for the storage or disposal of ferrous mining waste. Subch.
III of ch. 295, Stats., applies to ferrous metallic mining. “Nonapproved facility" as defined in s.
289.01 (24), Stats., means “a licensed solid or hazardous waste disposal facility which is not an approved facility."
NR 700.03(22)
(22) “Free product" means a discharged hazardous substance or environmental pollution that is present in the environment as a floating or sinking non-aqueous phase liquid.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
160.01 (4), Stats., defines “groundwater" to mean “any waters of the state, as defined in s.
281.01 (18), Stats., occurring in a saturated subsurface geological formation of rock or soil." See “waters of the state" definition in sub. (67).
NR 700.03(24)
(24) “Groundwater quality standards" mean site-specific standards developed pursuant to ch.
NR 140 and groundwater quality standards adopted by the department in ch.
NR 140, including enforcement standards, preventive action limits, indicator parameters and alternative concentration levels.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
299.01 (6), Stats., defines “hazardous substance" to mean “any substance or combination of substances including any waste of a solid, semisolid, liquid or gaseous form which may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or which may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics. This term includes, but is not limited to, substances which are toxic, corrosive, flammable, irritants, strong sensitizers or explosives as determined by the department."
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
291.01 (7), Stats., defines “hazardous waste" to mean any “solid waste identified by the department as hazardous under s.
291.05" Federal laws and rules may have broader or different definitions than the state does. If so, federal hazardous waste laws must be complied with, in addition to state laws.
NR 700.03(27)
(27) “High groundwater level" means the higher of the elevation to which the soil is saturated and observed as a free water surface in an unlined hole, or the elevation to which the soil has been seasonally or periodically saturated as indicated by soil color patterns throughout the soil profile.
NR 700.03(28)
(28) “Immediate action" means a response action that is taken within a short period of time after the discharge of a hazardous substance occurs, or after the discovery of a hazardous substance discharge or environmental pollution, to halt the discharge, contain or remove discharged hazardous substances or remove contaminated environmental media, in order to restore the environment to the extent practicable and to minimize the harmful effects of the discharge to air, lands and waters of the state and to eliminate any imminent threat to public health, safety, or welfare that may exist. This term includes both emergency and non-emergency immediate actions.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Examples of immediate actions may be found in s.
NR 708.05 (4). If further action will be required after a non-emergency response action is taken, that action would meet the definition of “interim action" in s.
NR 700.03 (29). The principal distinction between a non-emergency, immediate action and an interim action is that a site investigation will generally be required in conjunction with an interim action, but not with a non-emergency immediate action. In addition, interim actions will be closed out using the criteria in ch.
NR 726, not the “no further action" criteria in s.
NR 708.09 which apply at the completion of an immediate action.
NR 700.03(28m)
(28m) “Industrial land use" means the utilization of a parcel of real estate for manufacturing operations that use machinery and mechanical power to produce products or services, including electrical power, or for a service business that provides storage facilities, product distribution or maintenance or repair services for machinery.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Examples of industrial land uses include manufacturing and assembly plants; warehouses; scrap salvage operations; foundries and forging plants; metal pressing, stamping and spinning plants; electroplating facilities; tanneries; chemical processing facilities; electrical generating plants and electrical substations; slaughter houses and meat processing plants; fertilizer and pesticide packaging plants; bottling plants; wholesale bulk fuel storage and distribution facilities; railroad yards; and businesses that sell and repair motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, transportation containers or construction machinery and equipment.
NR 700.03(29)
(29) “Interim action" means a response action taken to contain or stabilize a discharge of a hazardous substance, in order to minimize any threats to public health, safety, or welfare or the environment, while other response actions are being taken or planned for the site or facility.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Examples of interim actions may be found in s.
NR 708.11. “Interim action"does not include emergency or non-emergency immediate actions. An interim action is followed by subsequent response actions at the site or facility, unless the department determines in compliance with the requirements of ch.
NR 726, that no further response action is necessary after a site investigation has been conducted.
NR 700.03(30)
(30) “Interim action options report" means a report which identifies and evaluates various interim action options with the goal of selecting an option which meets the environmental standards for the interim action being undertaken.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 149.03 (41) defines “limit of detection" or “LOD" to mean “the lowest concentration or amount of analyte that can be identified, measured, and reported with confidence that the concentration is not a false positive value." For department purposes, the LOD approximates the method detection limit (MDL) and is determined by the method cited in s.
NR 149.03 (46) (MDL). See sub. (33m) for MDL.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 149.03 (42) defines “limit of quantitation" or “LOQ" to mean “the lowest concentration or amount of an analyte for which quantitative results can be obtained."
NR 700.03(31)
(31) “Long-term monitoring" means systematic evaluation of the selected remedial or interim action option through collection and inspection of soil data, groundwater data, surface water data, sediment data, and other relevant data.
NR 700.03(32)
(32) “Management of a hazardous substance" means the treatment, storage or disposal, including recycling, of a hazardous substance.
NR 700.03(33)
(33) “Media" means air, surface water, groundwater, sediments and land surface and subsurface strata, including soil.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 149.03 (46) defines the “method detection limit" to mean “the minimum concentration of an analyte that can be measured and reported with 99% confidence that the stated concentration is greater than zero, determined from analyses of a set of samples containing the analyte in a given matrix. The method detection limit is generated according to the protocol specified in
40 CFR 136, Appendix B."
NR 700.03(34)
(34) “Migration pathway" means natural geologic features or cultural features, including but not limited to water mains, sewage laterals, drain tiles and road beds, which allow the movement of a hazardous substance or environmental pollution in liquid, solid, dissolved or vapor phase.
NR 700.03(34m)
(34m) “Minority business" means a business certified by the department of safety and professional services pursuant to s.
16.287 (2), Stats.
NR 700.03(35)
(35) “Municipal population" means the number of people residing in the municipality according to the most recent department of administration estimates.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
292.01 (11), Stats., defines “municipality" to mean, “any city, town, village, county, county utility district, town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, or metropolitan sewage district."
NR 700.03(37)
(37) “National priorities list" means the list, compiled by the U.S. environmental protection agency (EPA) pursuant to section 105 (8) (b) of CERCLA, of hazardous substance releases in the United States that are priorities for investigation and remedial action.
NR 700.03(38m)
(38m) “Natural attenuation'' means the reduction in the concentration and mass of a substance and its breakdown products in groundwater, due to naturally occurring physical, chemical, and biological processes without human intervention or enhancement. These processes include, but are not limited to, dispersion, diffusion, sorption and retardation, and degradation processes such as biodegradation, abiotic degradation and radioactive decay.
NR 700.03(39)
(39) “Naturally occurring background" means the quality of individual media in the vicinity of a discharge of a hazardous substance or environmental pollution that has not been affected by a hazardous substance discharge or environmental pollution.
NR 700.03(39m)
(39m) “Non-residential setting" means a setting other than a residential setting, used for commercial or industrial purposes.
NR 700.03(40)
(40) “Operation and maintenance" means measures designed to monitor, operate and maintain the effectiveness of response actions.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
292.31 (8) (a) 1., Stats., defines “operator" to mean “any person who operates a site or facility or who permits the disposal of solid waste at a site or facility under his or her management or control for consideration, regardless of whether the site or facility remains in operation and regardless of whether the person operates or permits the disposal of solid waste at the time any environmental pollution occurs. This term includes a subsidiary or parent corporation."
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
292.31 (8) (a) 2., Stats., defines “owner" to mean “any person who owns or who receives direct or indirect consideration from the operation of a site or facility regardless of whether the site or facility remains in operation and regardless of whether the person owns or receives consideration at the time any environmental pollution occurs. This term includes a subsidiary or parent corporation."
NR 700.03(42m)
(42m) “Pathway" means the route a substance takes in traveling to a receptor or potential receptor or the specific portal of entry, such as lungs, skin or digestive tract, that the substance takes to potentially express its toxic effect, or both.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: The food chain pathway for cadmium, for example, refers to cadmium being taken up in plant tissue and the plant tissue being ingested by an organism.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
292.01 (13), Stats., defines “person" to mean “an individual, owner, operator, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency, or federal agency."
NR 700.03(43g)
(43g) “Phase I environmental site assessment" means an assessment of a site to identify potential or known areas of environmental contamination. This assessment may include reviewing records, interviewing persons, and conducting physical inspections of the site.
NR 700.03(43r)
(43r) “Phase II environmental site assessment" means an assessment of a site to physically confirm that contamination exists in potential or known areas of environmental contamination identified in the Phase I environmental assessment, but not to determine the nature, degree and extent of contamination. This assessment may include field sampling of media, laboratory analysis of samples and visual confirmation of environmental contamination at the site.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: The department recommends that at a minimum, the current ASTM standards be followed when conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments. When a person is seeking liability protections under CERCLA the person should follow EPA's requirements. See EPA's web page at:
www.epa.gov for more information.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 140.05 (15) defines “point of standards application" to mean “the specific location, depth or distance from a facility, activity or practice at which the concentration of a substance in groundwater is measured for purposes of determining whether a preventive action limit or an enforcement standard has been attained or exceeded."
NR 700.03(45)
(45) “Practicable" means capable of being implemented, taking into account:
NR 700.03(45)(a)
(a) The technical feasibility of a remedial action option, considering its long-term effectiveness, short-term effectiveness, implementability and the time it will take until restoration is achieved; and
NR 700.03(45)(b)
(b) The economic feasibility of a remedial action option, considering the cost of the remedial action option compared to its technical feasibility.
NR 700.03(45e)
(45e) “Property" means a contiguous area of land the entire legal description of which is found in one deed.
NR 700.03(45m)
(45m) “Property boundary'' means the boundary of the property owned or leased by a common owner or lessor, regardless of whether public or private roads run through the property.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 140.05 (17) defines “preventive action limit" to mean “a numerical value expressing the concentration of a substance in groundwater which is adopted under s.
160.15, Stats., and s.
NR 140.10,
140.12 or
140.20."
NR 700.03(47)
(47) “Receptor" means environmental resources, including but not limited to, plant and animal species and humans, sensitive environments and habitats, water supply wells, and buildings or locations that have the potential to be, or have actually been, exposed to contamination.
NR 700.03(48)
(48) “Remedial action" or “remedy" means those response actions, other than immediate or interim actions, taken to control, minimize, restore, or eliminate the discharge of hazardous substances or environmental pollution so that the hazardous substances or environmental pollution do not present an actual or potential threat to public health, safety, or welfare or the environment. The term includes actions designed to prevent, minimize, stabilize, or eliminate the threat of discharged hazardous substances, and actions to restore the environment to the extent practicable and meet all applicable environmental standards. Examples include storage, disposal, containment, treatment, recycling, or reuse, and any monitoring required to assure that such actions protect public health, safety, and welfare and the environment.
NR 700.03(49)
(49) “Remedial action options report" means a report which identifies and evaluates various remedial action options with the goal of selecting an option in compliance with the requirements of s.
NR 722.11.
NR 700.03(49g)
(49g) “Residential setting" means any dwelling designed or used for human habitation, and includes educational, childcare, and elder care settings.
NR 700.03(49r)
(49r) “Residual contamination" means that some contamination remains after a cleanup is completed and approved. Residual contamination includes all phases of remaining contamination including vapor, dissolved, adsorbed, and free-phase.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: The term “residual contamination" does not have the same meaning as the terms “residual phase", “residual concentration" or “residual contaminant level." The terms “residual phase" and “residual (phase) concentration" are used in some publications and are used when referring to the free-phase or separate non-aqueous phase liquid in soil or groundwater. The term “residual contaminant level" is used in ch.
NR 720 to refer to soil standards developed under that chapter.
NR 700.03(50)
(50) “Response" or “response action" means any action taken to respond to a hazardous substance discharge or to environmental pollution, including emergency and non-emergency immediate actions, investigations, interim actions and remedial actions.
NR 700.03(51)
(51) “Responsible party" or “responsible parties" means any of the following:
NR 700.03(51)(a)
(a) Any person who is required to conduct a response action under ch.
292, Stats.
NR 700.03(51)(b)
(b) Persons liable to reimburse the department for the costs incurred by the department to take response action under chs.
289 and
292, Stats.
NR 700.03(51)(c)
(c) Owners and operators of solid waste facilities that are subject to regulation under ch.
NR 508.
NR 700.03(52)
(52) “Restore" or “restoration" means those actions necessary to return the environment to its original condition before the hazardous substance discharge or environmental pollution occurred. Such actions may include, but are not limited to, the replacement or removal of injured plant and animal life and treatment of contaminated soils.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: This definition was formerly found in s. NR 158.04 (5).
NR 700.03(52m)
(52m) “Right–of–way" means the strip of land over which railroad tracks run, or within which a public street or highway has been constructed, regardless of whether the strip of land is owned by the railroad or the entity that maintains the public street or highway; and corridors created by dedication, by the granting of an easement and by the acquisition of fee title.
NR 700.03(53)
(53) “Risk assessment" means a site-specific characterization of the current or potential threats that may be posed to public health, safety, or welfare or the environment by contamination migrating to or in groundwater or surface water, discharging to the air, leaching through or remaining in soil, bioaccumulating in the food chain, or other exposure pathways.
NR 700.03(54)
(54) “Sediment" means particles in surface waters or wetlands that are derived from the erosion of rock, minerals, soils and biological materials, as well as chemical precipitation from the water column. Sediment particles are transported by, suspended in or deposited by water.
NR 700.03(55)
(55) “Sensitive environment" means an area of exceptional environmental value, where a discharge could pose a greater threat than a discharge to other areas, including but not limited to: wetlands; habitat used by state or federally designated endangered or threatened species; national or state fish and wildlife refuges and fish and wildlife management areas; state and federal designated wild and scenic rivers, designated state riverways and state designated scenic urban waterways; riparian areas; rookeries; cold water communities as defined in s.
NR 102.04 (3) (b), Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi river, environmentally sensitive areas and environmental corridors identified in area-wide water quality management plans, special area management plans, special wetland inventory studies, advanced delineation and identification studies and areas designated by the U.S. EPA under section 404 (c)
33 USC 1344 (c); calcareous fens; state forests, parks, trails and recreational areas; state and federal designated wilderness areas; designated or dedicated state natural areas established under ss.
23.27 to
23.29, Stats.; wild rice waters as listed in s.
NR 19.09; and any other waters identified as outstanding or exceptional resource waters in ch.
NR 102.
NR 700.03(55m)
(55m) “Sensitive receptor" means a receptor that is affected by slight differences or changes in environmental conditions.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
292.01 (21), Stats., defines “waste site" to mean “any site, other than an approved facility, an approved mining facility or a nonapproved facility, where waste is disposed of regardless of when disposal occurred or where a hazardous substance is discharged before May 21, 1978."
NR 700.03(57)
(57) “Site investigation" means an investigation undertaken in conformance with ch.
NR 716.
NR 700.03(58)
(58) “Soil" means unsaturated organic material, derived from vegetation and unsaturated, loose, incoherent rock material, of any origin, that rests on bedrock other than foundry sand, debris and any industrial waste.
NR 700.03(59m)
(59m) “Source property" means the property on which the hazardous substance discharge which is under investigation or cleanup, originally occurred.
NR 700.03(60)
(60) “Submittal" means any document, report, plan, set of specifications, engineering design, or scientific evaluation of site data that is prepared to satisfy the requirements of chs.
NR 700 to
754.
NR 700.03(60m)
(60m) “Sub-slab" means beneath the lowermost building foundation slab.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: “Surface water" means “all natural and artificial, named and unnamed lakes and all naturally flowing streams within the boundaries of the state, but not including cooling lakes, farm ponds and facilities constructed for the treatment of wastewaters."
