Chapter NR 500

NR 500.03(205) (205) “Saturated zone” means that part of the earth’s crust in which all voids are filled with water excluding the capillary zone.

NR 500.03(206) (206) “Seasonal high groundwater” means the set of groundwater level readings taken during which the highest water level occur in the majority of the groundwater wells within 300 feet of the proposed limits of filling.

NR 500.03(207) (207) “Seasonal population” means the seasonal transient population in addition to the year round population.

NR 500.03(208) (208) “Seismic impact zone” means an area with a 10% or greater probability that the maximum horizontal acceleration in lithified earth material, expressed as a percentage of the earth’s gravitational pull, will exceed 0.10g in 250 years.

NR 500.03(209) (209) “Sharps” means medical equipment or clinical laboratory articles that may cause punctures or cuts. Sharps include, but are not limited to, contaminated, unused and disinfected items listed in s. NR 526.05 (1) (a).

NR 500.03(209m) (209m) “Single-application landspreading” means landspreading where contaminated soil from only one remedial action site is all the contaminated soil that is ever applied onto an area of a property.

NR 500.03(210) (210) “Site investigation report” means a report prepared in accordance with s. NR 716.15.

NR 500.03(211) (211) “Site investigation work plan” means a work plan prepared in accordance with s. NR 716.09.

NR 500.03(212) (212) “Sludge” means any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility.

NR 500.03(213) (213) “Small size construction and demolition waste landfill” means a landfill with a design capacity of 50,000 cubic yards or less and used for the disposal of only construction and demolition wastes.

NR 500.03(214) (214) “Soil” means material that has been physically and chemically derived from the bedrock by nature.

NR 500.03(214m) (214m) “Soil barrier layer” means a soil layer or set of layers that is constructed as a subgrade for a GCL and which provides a smooth surface and hydration water source for the GCL, reduces flow through the barrier system, reduces settlement stresses on a GCL and geomembrane and minimizes geochemical effects on a GCL.

NR 500.03(215) (215) “Solid waste” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (33), Stats.

NR 500.03(216) (216) “Solid waste disposal” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (34), Stats.

NR 500.03(217) (217) “Solid waste facility” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (35), Stats.

NR 500.03(218) (218) “Solid waste storage” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (38), Stats.

NR 500.03(219) (219) “Solid waste treatment” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (39), Stats.

NR 500.03(219m) (219m) “Source-separated compostable material” means compostable materials that are separated from non-compostable material at the point of generation for use in composting and are kept separate from municipal solid waste. Source-separated compostable material includes food residuals; farm and non-farm crop residues; botanical residuals; aquatic plants; vegetative food processing residues such as those from cannery and brewing activities; fish harvesting and processing residuals; yard residuals; farm and herbivorous animal manure, excluding deer and elk manure, and associated animal bedding; clean chipped wood; clean sawdust; non-recyclable compostable paper; and other similar materials approved in writing by the department. This term does not include biosolids, domestic wastewater, sewage sludge or septage, high-volume industrial waste, rendering or slaughterhouse wastes, animal carcasses, other solid waste, or hazardous waste.

NR 500.03(220) (220) “Specific conductance” means the measurement of a water’s ability to transmit an electrical current in micromhos/cm corrected to 25°C.

NR 500.03(221) (221) “Stabilization of waste” means any chemical, physical or thermal treatment of a waste, either alone or in combination with biological processes, which results in a significant reduction of pathogenic organisms including viruses.

NR 500.03(222) (222) “Stabilization of a land disposal facility” means the process of waste settlement and associated land surface maintenance to insure that the majority of settlement has occurred, that pockets or depressions caused by settlement have been refilled or regraded, and that the final land surface contours represent a stable condition for closure and facility maintenance purposes.

NR 500.03(223) (223) “Sterilization” means a process by which all forms of microbial life, including spores, viruses and fungi are destroyed.

NR 500.03(224) (224) “Storage facility” means a solid waste facility for the storage of solid waste, on a temporary basis in such a manner as not to constitute ultimate disposal of solid waste.

NR 500.03(225) (225) “Structural components” means liners, leachate collection systems, final covers, run-on/run-off systems, and any other component used in the construction and operation of the landfill that is necessary for protection of human health, welfare and the environment.

NR 500.03(226) (226) “Sub-base grade” means the elevation of the facility or portion of the facility which has been excavated to its lowest level prior to the placement of any liner system.

NR 500.03(227) (227) “Sub-soil horizon” means the soil horizon adjacent to and usually directly below the topsoil.

NR 500.03(228) (228) “Subtitle D” means the United States Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D solid waste disposal facility criteria as set forth in 40 CFR parts 257 and 258.

NR 500.03(229) (229) “Subtitle D well” means a designated well installed at a landfill that accepts municipal solid waste and whose location and depth have been approved by the department specifically for monitoring purposes under Subtitle D of RCRA, 40 CFR parts 257 and 258.

NR 500.03(230) (230) “Surface impoundment facility” means a storage or land disposal facility with a natural topographic depression, artificial excavation or dike arrangement which is used for storage or disposal of waste fluids, semi-solids or wastes containing free liquids.

NR 500.03(231) (231) “SW-846” means the document “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” EPA Publication SW-846, third edition, November 1986, as amended by Updates I in July 1992, II in September 1994, IIA in August 1993, IIB in January 1995, III in December 1996 and IIIA in April 1998.

NR 500.03 Note Note: The test methods are available at no cost at https://www.epa.gov/hw-sw846/basic-information-about-how-use-sw-846#UseWhich. Copies of the test methods are available for inspection at the offices of the department of natural resources, the secretary of state and the legislative reference bureau. Copies may be obtained from the superintendent of documents, U.S. government printing office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954, [phone], www.gpo.gov. Copies may also be obtained from the national technical information service, U.S. department of commerce, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, [phone], www.ntis.gov.

NR 500.03(231m) (231m) “Take of an endangered or threatened species” has the meaning defined in s. NR 27.01 (8).

NR 500.03(232) (232) “Tank” means a stationary device not including manholes, designed to contain an accumulation of leachate or other waste which is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials, such as wood, concrete, steel or plastic, which provide structural support.

NR 500.03(233) (233) “25-year, 24-hour storm” means a storm of 24-hour duration with a probable recurrence interval of once in 25 years as determined under s. NR 205.05.

NR 500.03(234) (234) “Termination” has the meaning specified in s. 289.01 (40), Stats.

NR 500.03(235) (235) “Top of the bedrock surface” means the top of the uppermost rock formation.

NR 500.03 Note Note: The presence of bedrock shall be indicated when a majority of the drill cuttings or excavated material consist of either angular rock fragments, as in the case of crystalline bedrock, or rock fragments composed of individual grains or rock particles that are cemented together to form an aggregate, as opposed to single sediment particles, such as sand.

NR 500.03(236) (236) “Topsoil” means natural loam, sandy loam, silt loam, silty clay loam or clay loam humus-bearing soils or other material that will easily produce and sustain dense growths of vegetation capable of preventing wind and water erosion of the material itself and of other materials beneath.

NR 500.03(237) (237) “Total suspended particulates” means particulate matter as measured by the method described in Appendix B of 40 CFR part 50.

NR 500.03(237m) (237m) “Trace chemotherapy waste” means items contaminated with antineoplastic chemotherapy drugs, including drug dispensing devices, gloves and other items that have come into contact with chemotherapy drugs.

NR 500.03(238) (238) “Transfer facility” means a solid waste facility at which transferring of solid waste from one vehicle or container to another, generally of larger capacity, occurs prior to transporting to the point of processing or disposal.

NR 500.03(239) (239) “Transportation service” means an operation which transports vehicles or containers or both vehicles or other means of conveying solid waste from the primary source of collection and includes all activities up to such time as the waste is delivered to a facility for transfer, processing, treatment or disposal.

NR 500.03(240) (240) “Treatment area” has the meaning given in s. 287.07 (7) (c) 1. e., Stats.

NR 500.03(241) (241) “Trip blank” has the meaning specified in s. NR 149.03 (32).

NR 500.03 Note Note: The term “trip blank” has been eliminated from ch. NR 149. The concept is no longer defined or discussed in ch. NR 149. However, “trip blank” is understood to mean a sample of reagent grade water or methanol, which is used to determine possible contamination of sample bottles from volatile organic chemicals while in transit to and from the laboratory.

NR 500.03(242) (242) “Ultra low-level radioactive waste” means a waste generated at a wastewater or water treatment facility treating groundwater containing radium.

NR 500.03(243) (243) “Uniformity coefficient” means the number resulting from dividing the grain size diameter in millimeters at the point where 60% of the material is finer by weight by the grain size diameter in millimeters at the point where 10% of the material is finer by weight.

NR 500.03(244) (244) “Unsaturated zone” means the zone between the land surface and the water table in which the pore spaces contain water at less than atmospheric pressure, as well as air and other gases.

NR 500.03(245) (245) “Unsaturated zone monitoring system” means a system used to measure soil moisture quantity or quality in the unsaturated zone beneath a regulated facility.

NR 500.03(246) (246) “Unstable area” means a location that is susceptible to natural or human-induced events or forces capable of impairing the integrity of some or all of the landfill structural components responsible for preventing releases from a landfill. Unstable areas can include poor foundation conditions, areas susceptible to mass movements, and karst terranes.

NR 500.03(246m) (246m) “Uppermost aquifer” means the geologic formation nearest the natural ground surface of a CCR landfill capable of yielding usable quantities of groundwater to wells or springs, as well as lower aquifers that are hydraulically interconnected with the uppermost aquifer within a CCR landfill’s property boundary, as measured at a point nearest to the natural ground surface to which the aquifer rises during the wet season.

NR 500.03(247) (247) “USCS” means the unified soil classification system.

NR 500.03(248) (248) “USDA” means the United States department of agriculture.

NR 500.03(248m) (248m) “USDOT” means the United States department of transportation.

NR 500.03(249) (249) “U.S. government securities” means treasury bills, treasury bonds, treasury certificates, treasury notes and treasury stocks guaranteed by the federal government.

NR 500.03(250) (250) “USGS” means the United States geological survey.

NR 500.03(251) (251) “UW” means the university of Wisconsin.

NR 500.03(252) (252) “U.W.-Extension” means the university of Wisconsin extension.

NR 500.03(253) (253) “Vegetable food residuals” means food residuals consisting of raw or cooked waste fruit and vegetable material from residences, food establishments such as cafeterias, restaurants, food wholesalers, food retailers and food processors, and includes compostable packaging, utensils, tableware, kitchenware, and containers that meet either the ASTM - D-6400 or the D-6868 standard.

NR 500.03 Note Note: Copies of ASTM standards D-6400 and D-6868 may be obtained from ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, [phone], www.astm.org. Copies of the standard are available for inspection at the offices of the department of natural resources and legislative reference bureau.

NR 500.03(253m) (253m) “Vermicomposting” means the controlled and managed process by which live worms convert organic matter into dark, fertile granular excrement.

NR 500.03(254) (254) “VOC” means volatile organic compounds.

NR 500.03(254g) (254g) “Washout” means the carrying away of solid waste by waters of a regional flood.

NR 500.03(254r) (254r) “Waste boundary” means a vertical surface located at the hydraulically downgradient limit of a CCR unit and extends down into the uppermost aquifer.

NR 500.03(255) (255) “Water table” means the upper surface of the saturated zone where the hydrostatic pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

NR 500.03(256) (256) “Well” means any drillhole or other excavation or opening constructed for the purpose of obtaining or monitoring groundwater.

NR 500.03(257) (257) “Well nest” means 2 or more wells installed within 10 feet of each other at the ground surface and constructed to varying depths.

NR 500.03(258) (258) “Wetlands” means those areas where water is at, near or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation, and which have soils indicative of wet conditions.

NR 500.03(259) (259) “WGNHS” means the Wisconsin geological and natural history survey.

NR 500.03(260) (260) “Woodburning facility” means a solid waste facility at which open burning of dry unpainted untreated wood, stumps, trees or other woody materials is performed. This term does not include air curtain destructors, incinerators, or municipal solid waste combustors.

NR 500.03(261) (261) “WPDES permit” means a Wisconsin pollution discharge elimination system permit issued by the department under ch. 283, Stats., for the discharge of pollutants.

NR 500.03(262) (262) “Yard residuals” means yard waste as defined in s. 287.01 (17), Stats., as well as incidental spoiled fruit and vegetables from noncommercial sources.

NR 500.03 Note Note: Section 287.01 (17), Stats., defines “yard waste” to mean “leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris and brush, including clean woody vegetative material no greater than 6 inches in diameter. This term does not include stumps, roots or shrubs with intact root balls”.

NR 500.03 Note Note: Chapter NR 40 governs the identification, classification and control of invasive species in Wisconsin. Proper screening of compost feedstock materials and achievement of appropriate temperatures and residence times can help prevent the spread of viable seeds or other propagules of invasive species through compost.

NR 500.03(263) (263) “Zone-of-saturation landfill” means a landfill where the base grade is located below the water table in a fine-grained soil environment and is designed and operated to maintain inward groundwater gradients to the extent possible.

NR 500.03(264) (264) “Zoonotic infectious agent” means an infectious agent which can be transmitted from an animal to a human. Zoonotic infectious agents include Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Brucella abortus (brucellosis), Chlamydia psittaci (psittacosis), Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), Lyssa virus (rabies), Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

NR 500.03 History History: Cr. Register, January, 1988, No. 385, eff. 2-6-88; am. (86), cr. (12m), (33m), (41m), (85m), (86m), (114m), (149m) and (155m), Register, May, 1992, No. 437, eff. 6-1-92; cr. (116m), Register, September, 1993, No. 453, eff. 10-1-93; am. (intro.), (61), (67), cr. (12r), (14g), (14m), (15m), (30m), (35m), (37m), (62e), (62i), (62r), (67g), (67m), (67t), (84d), (84h), (84l), (84o), (84s), (84w), (89m), (96m), (107i), (107r), (109m), (119m), (130m), (139m), (159), Register, October, 1994, No. 466, eff. 11-1-94; r. and recr., Register, June, 1996, No. 486, eff. 7-1-96; am. (intro.), (2), (43), (51) and (182), Register, December, 1997, No. 504, eff. 1-1-98; cr. (124m) and (209m), Register, September, 1998, No. 513, eff. 10-1-98; corrections in (23), (187) and (188) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register March 2003 No. 567; CR 04-113: am. (19) and (140) Register June 2005 No. 594, eff. 7-1-05; CR 04-077: cr. (100m), (120g), (120r), (123m), (124e) and (185m) Register November 2005 No. 599, eff. 12-1-05; CR 05-020: am. (intro.), (129), (164), (194), (195), (231) and (259), cr. (9m), (14m), (20m), (93m), (124g), (124h), (214m), (231m), (237m) and (248m), r. and recr. (14), r. (29) and (55) Register January 2006 No. 601, eff. 2-1-06; corrections in (100), (109), (125), (126), (146) and (187) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats; correction in (124g), (124h), (194), (195) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., Stats., Register February 2012 No. 674; CR 10-128: cr. (20r), (29), (30g), (30r), (44m), am. (45), cr. (86m), (88m), (155m), am. (185), cr. (219m), am. (253), cr. (253m), am. (262) Register May 2012 No. 677, eff. 6-1-12; correction in (183) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register December 2020 No. 780; CR 17-046: am. (146) Register February 2021 No. 782, eff. 6-29-21; CR 21-076: cr. (2m), (19m), (26b), (26f), (26k), (26p), (26s), (26w), (26y), (60m), (76m), am. (96), cr. (106m), (121m), (152m), (189m), (246m), (254g), (254r) Register July 2022 No. 799, eff. 8-1-22; correction in (26k) (a) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register July 2022 No. 799; CR 21-041: cr. (71g), (71m), (71r), renum. (203) to (203) (a) and am., cr. (203) (b) Register June 2023 No. 810, eff. 7-1-23.

NR 500.035 NR 500.035 CCR landfill requirements.

NR 500.035(1) (1) The CCR landfill requirements included in chs. NR 500 to 538 apply to an owner or operator of a new or existing CCR landfill, including any lateral expansion of a new or existing CCR landfill that disposes or otherwise engages in solid waste management of CCR generated from the combustion of coal at electric utilities and independent power producers. An electric utility or independent power producer is in operation if it is generating electricity that is provided to electric power transmission systems or to electric power distribution systems on or after October 19, 2015. Unless otherwise provided in chs. NR 500 to 538, these requirements also apply to any disposal unit that is not a CCR surface impoundment located off-site of the electric utility or independent power producer. An off-site disposal facility is in operation if it is accepting or managing CCR on or after October 19, 2015. The CCR landfill requirements in chs. NR 500 to 538 also apply to any CCR disposal practice that does not meet the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.

NR 500.035(2) (2) The CCR landfill requirements included in chs. NR 500 to 538 do not apply to any of the following:

NR 500.035(2)(a) (a) A CCR landfill that ceased receiving CCR prior to October 19, 2015.

NR 500.035(2)(b) (b) An electric utility or independent power producer that has ceased producing electricity prior to October 19, 2015.

NR 500.035(2)(c) (c) Any waste, including fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials, generated at a facility that is not part of an electric utility or independent power producer, such as a manufacturing facility, university, or hospital.

NR 500.035(2)(d) (d) Fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurization materials, generated primarily from the combustion of fuels and fossil fuels other than coal, for the purpose of generating electricity unless the fuel burned consists of more than 50 percent coal on a total heat input or mass input basis, whichever results in the greater mass feed rate of coal.

NR 500.035(2)(e) (e) A practice that meets the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.

NR 500.035(2)(f) (f) CCR placement at an active or abandoned underground or surface coal mine.

NR 500.035(2)(g) (g) A municipal solid waste landfill that receives CCR.

NR 500.035(2)(h) (h) A CCR surface impoundment.

NR 500.035(3) (3) Compliance with the CCR landfill requirements in chs. NR 500 to 538 does not affect the need for the owner or operator of a CCR landfill or lateral expansion of a CCR landfill to comply with all other applicable federal, state, tribal, or local laws or other requirements.