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."
NR 700.03(62)
(62) “Superfund" means the federal environmental cleanup fund and program created by CERCLA.
NR 700.03(62m)
(62m) “Sustainable remedial action" means achieving protection of human health, safety, and the environment, while incorporating and balancing certain practices, processes, and technologies throughout all phases of the remedial action to deliberately generate a net positive impact on the environment, economy, and society.
NR 700.03(63)
(63) “Treatment" means any method, technique or process, including thermal destruction, which changes the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of a hazardous substance or environmental pollution so as to render the contamination less hazardous.
NR 700.03(64)
(64) “Treatability study" means the testing and documentation activities to evaluate the effectiveness of an interim or remedial action prior to full scale design and implementation. Treatability study includes, but is not limited to, bench scale studies and pilot scale studies.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Treatability studies provide additional data for the detailed analysis of treatment alternatives and the engineering design of remedial alternatives under ch.
NR 724.
NR 700.03(64r)
(64r) “Unconsolidated material" means soil, sediment or other granular material, such as fill, not including debris.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
NR 700.03 (58) defines “soil" as “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." Section
NR 700.03 (54) defines “sediment" as “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." Section
NR 700.03 (10) defines “debris" as “material resulting from the construction, demolition or razing of buildings, roads and other structures and materials that have been discarded at a site or facility."
NR 700.03(65)
(65) “U.S. EPA" or “EPA" means the United States environmental protection agency.
NR 700.03(66)
(66) “Underground storage tank" or “UST" means any one or a combination of tanks, including connected pipes, that is used to contain an accumulation of hazardous substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of connected underground pipes, is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground. The term does not include any of the following or pipes connected to any of the following:
NR 700.03(66)(b)
(b) Pipeline facilities, including gathering lines, regulated under:
NR 700.03(66)(b)1.
1. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (49 USC App. 1671, et seq.).
NR 700.03(66)(b)2.
2. The Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (49 USC App. 2001, et seq.).
NR 700.03(66)(b)3.
3. State laws comparable to the provisions of the law referred to in subd.
1. or
2. for intrastate pipeline facilities.
NR 700.03(66)(f)
(f) Liquid traps or associated gathering lines directly related to oil or gas production and gathering operations.
NR 700.03(66)(g)
(g) Storage tanks situated in an underground area, such as, but not limited to, a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft or tunnel, if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: This definition of “underground storage tank" is based on the definition found in s.
ATCP 93.050 (122).
NR 700.03(66m)
(66m) “Utility corridor" means any utility line that runs underground and any backfilled trench that was constructed to install a water main or lateral, a sewer main or lateral or other utility line.
NR 700.03(66p)
(66p) “Vapor action level" means the concentration of vapors from volatile compounds is at or above the 1-in-100,000 (1x10
-5) excess lifetime cancer risk or is at or above a hazard index of 1 for non-carcinogens.
NR 700.03(66s)
(66s) “Vapor mitigation system" means a system that prevents or reduces the migration of contaminant vapors into a building and does not have the primary purpose of remediating vapor contaminant sources.
NR 700.03(66w)
(66w) “Vapor risk screening level" means the concentration of vapors in samples collected outside a building to estimate indoor vapor concentrations. The vapor risk screening level is equal to the vapor action level multiplied [divided] by an appropriate attenuation factor.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: The correct word is shown in brackets. The scientific process for determining a vapor risk screening level is to divide, not multiply, the vapor action level by an appropriate attenuation factor. This error will be corrected in future rulemaking.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Vapor risk screening levels are applied to sub-slab, soil gas, and groundwater samples.
NR 700.03(66y)
(66y) “Vapors" mean chemicals that are sufficiently volatile and toxic to pose an inhalation risk to human health via vapor intrusion from a soil or groundwater source.
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
281.01 (18), Stats., defines “waters of the state" to include “those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of Wisconsin, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private, within the state or its jurisdiction."
NR 700.03 Note
Note: Section
23.32, Stats., defines “wetland" to mean “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 700.03(69)
(69) “Work plan" means a plan which outlines the intended scope of a response action, or any phase of a response action, including but not limited to intended methods, procedures and techniques to be used during the response action.
NR 700.03 History
History: Cr.
Register, April, 1994, No. 460, eff. 5-1-94; cr. (42m),
Register, March, 1995, No. 471, eff. 4-1-95; am. (49),
Register, April, 1995, No. 472, eff. 5-1-95; am. (intro.),
Register, October, 1995, No. 478, eff. 11-1-95; am (intro.), (60),
Register, February, 1996, No. 482, eff. 3-1-96; cr. (38m) and (45m),
Register, October, 1996, No. 490, eff. 11-1-96; emerg. cr. (66m), eff. 5-18-00; cr. (66m),
Register, January, 2001, No. 541, eff. 2-1-01;
CR 01-129: cr. (28m),
Register July 2002 No. 559, eff. 8-1-02;
CR 12-023: am. (intro.), renum. (1) to (1m), cr. (1e), (1s), am. (2) (a), cr. (3m), (4m), am. (6), cr. (6m), (11m), am. (17), (27), cr. (30g), (30r), (33m), (34m), am. (36), cr. (39m), am. (43), cr. (43g), (43r), (45e), am. (45m), cr. (46m), am. (48), cr. (49g), (49r), renum. (51) to (intro.) and am., cr. (51) (a) to (c), (52m), (55m), (59m), am. (60), cr. (60m), (62m), (64g), (64r), (66p), (66s), (66w), (66y)
Register October 2013 No. 694, eff. 11-1-13;
CR 13-057: am. (21)
Register July 2015 No. 715, eff. 8-1-15; correction in (17) made under s.
13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats.,
Register February 2017 No. 734.
NR 700.05
NR 700.05 Confidentiality of information. NR 700.05(1)(1)
Except as provided under sub.
(2), any record, report or other information furnished to, or obtained by, the department in the administration of chs.
NR 700 to
754 is a public record subject to the provisions of ss.
19.21,
19.31 to
19.39, Stats., and s.
NR 2.195.
NR 700.05(2)
(2) If confidential status is sought for any record, report or other information furnished to or obtained by the department under chs.
NR 700 to
754, the standards and procedures in s.
NR 2.19 are applicable to all sites and facilities, and the standards and procedures in s.
289.09 (2), Stats., are applicable to the owners and operators of solid waste facilities.
NR 700.05 Note
Note: Under s.
NR 2.19, the department may grant confidential status if: (1) the standards for granting confidential status found in s.
289.09 or
291.15, Stats., are met; (2) confidential treatment is in the public interest using the balancing test in
State ex rel. Youmanns v. Owens,
28 Wis. 2d 672 (1965); or (3) a specific statutory or common law right to confidential treatment is applicable.
