WAC 173-300-020   Definitions.  (1) "Ash" means the residue and includes any air pollution flue dusts from combustion or incineration of material including solid wastes.

Note:

Please see definition for "special incinerator ash."

     (2) "Biomedical waste" means solid waste of the following types:

     (a) "Animal waste," which includes waste animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that were known to have been deliberately infected or inoculated with human pathogenic microorganisms during research.

     (b) "Liquid human body fluids" means waste that includes waste liquid emanating or derived from humans including but not limited to human blood and blood products, serum and plasma, sputum, drainage secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, pericardial fluid and amniotic fluid that exceeds fifty milliliters per container, storage vessel, or plastic bag and cannot be and has not been directly discarded into a sanitary sewage system.

     (c) "Cultures and stocks" means waste that includes waste cultures and stocks of microbiological agents infectious to humans, human serums and discarded live and attenuated vaccines infectious to humans, human blood specimens, and laboratory wastes that are contaminated with these agents or specimens.

     (d) "Biosafety level 4 disease waste," which includes wastes contaminated with blood, excretions, exudates, or secretions from humans or animals who are isolated to protect others from highly communicable infectious diseases that are identified as viruses assigned to Biosafety Level 4 by the Centers for Disease Control, National Institute of Health, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 2nd Edition, 1988. These viruses include, but are not limited to, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever, tick-borne encephalitis virus complex (Absettarov, Hanzalova, Hypr, Kumlinge, Kyasanur Forest disease, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, and Russian spring-summer encephalitis), Marburg, Ebola, Junin, Lassa, and Machupo.

     (e) "Pathological waste," which includes waste human source biopsy materials, tissues, and anatomical parts that emanate from surgery, obstetrical procedures, autopsy, and laboratory procedures. "Pathological waste" does not include teeth or formaldehyde or other preservative agents, human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation.

     (f) "Sharps waste," which includes waste hypodermic needles, syringes, IV tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, and lancets that have been used in animal or human patient care or treatment in medical research.

     (3) "Biomedical waste treatment" means incineration, steam sterilization, or any method, technique, or process that changes the biological character or composition of biomedical waste to render it noninfectious. Any waste, except sharps, that has been treated is not considered to be biohazardous or biomedical.

     (4) "Board" means the board of advisors for solid waste incinerator and landfill certification established by RCW 70.95D.050.

     (5) "Certificate" means the certificate of competency issued by the director stating that the operator has met the requirements for the operation and maintenance of a specific classification of solid waste incinerator or landfill facility.

     (6) "Certificate holder" means the individual to whom a certificate is issued.

     (7) "Commercial waste" means nonhazardous solid waste that is generated by the commercial business sector.

     (8) "Contractor" means any other state, federal, or interstate agencies, municipalities, educational institutions, or other organizations or individuals with whom the department has an agreement, contract or cooperative agreement.

     (9) "Department" means the Washington state department of ecology.

     (10) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology or the director's designee.

     (11) "Fee" means only those moneys to be paid for examinations, certification, or renewal.

Note:

Fees do not include the costs of training or other educational opportunities.

     (12) "Hog fuel" means woodwaste that is reduced in size to facilitate burning.

     (13) "Incineration" means reducing the volume of solid wastes by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion.

     (14) "Incinerator" means an enclosed mechanical combustion device that has as its primary purpose the burning and reduction of the volume of solid waste or solid waste-derived fuel. Crematoria facilities that have combustion devices which burn human corpses, or burn animal bodies exclusively, in a manner that is not a solid waste reduction measure, or burn primarily hog fuel waste are not included in this definition. NOTE: Crematoria facilities that burn any kind of biomedical, treated or untreated medical waste, human or animal, or other solid waste, in their incinerator are subject to this rule.

     (15) "Incineration facility" means any municipal or private activity that has as part of its operations a solid waste incinerator. It may also include means for storage, preparation, and conveyance of the solid waste fuel, and air pollution control equipment.

     (16) "Incinerator operator in responsible charge" means an individual who is the owner or who is designated as the on-site operator in responsible charge of operation and maintenance duties at a solid waste incineration facility.

     (17) "Inspector" means any person employed by any public agency that inspects the operation of solid waste incinerators, or the operation of solid waste landfills, to determine the compliance of the facility with state and local laws or rules.

     (18) "Institutional waste" means nonhazardous solid waste that is generated by any commercial or noncommercial service establishment.

     (19) "Landfill" means an operating disposal facility or part of a facility at which solid waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land treatment.

     (20) "Landfill operator in responsible charge" means an individual who is the owner or who is designated as the on-site or on-call operator in responsible charge of operation and maintenance duties at a landfill facility.

     (21) "Limited purpose landfill" means a landfill that receives solid waste of a limited type or types of known and consistent composition.

     (22) "Monofill" means a disposal facility or part of a facility that is not a land treatment facility, at which only a single, specific substance is deposited in or on.

     (23) "Municipal solid waste" means any combination of nonhazardous solid waste generated by residential sources, and any institutional waste, commercial waste, and industrial waste. NOTE: Household hazardous wastes are an excluded waste under WAC 173-303-071 and therefore may be disposed of in a municipal or incinerated landfill or incinerated. Small quantities of hazardous waste may also be landfilled if the waste complies with WAC 173-303-070 (8)(a) and (b).

     (24) "Owner" means:

     (a) In the case of a town or city, the city or town acting through its chief executive officer or the lessee if operated under a lease or contract;

     (b) In the case of a county, the chief elected official of the county legislative authority or the chief elected official's designee;

     (c) In the case of a board of public utilities, association, municipality, or other public body, the president or chief elected official of the body or the president's or chief elected official's designee;

     (d) In the case of a privately owned landfill or incinerator, the legal owner.

     (25) "Reciprocity" means the automatic recognition of comparable training from another state, the federal government, a local government, or a professional association. NOTE: Correction of deficiencies such as a lack of training in Washington state solid waste law is required for certification.

     (26) "Reserved" is a note to the regulated community that means a section that has no requirements and which is set aside for future possible rule-making.

     (27) "Solid waste" or "wastes" as defined in RCW 70.95.030 (1989 ed.) means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes including, but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, and recyclable materials. NOTE: Treated biomedical waste or medical waste not defined as biomedical waste is considered to be solid waste. Woodwaste is also considered solid waste.

     (28) "Special incinerator ash" means ash residues that results from the operation of incineration or energy recovery facilities which manage municipal solid waste from residential, commercial, and industrial establishments, if the ash residues are:

     (a) Not otherwise regulated as hazardous wastes under chapter 70.105 RCW; and

     (b) Are not regulated as a hazardous waste under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.

     (29) "Woodwaste" means solid waste that consists of wood pieces or particles generated as a by-product or waste from the manufacturing of wood products, and the handling and storage of raw materials, trees, and stumps. This includes but is not limited to sawdust, chips, shavings, bark, pulp, and log sort yard waste, but does not include wood pieces or particles containing chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenate.

Note:

All applicable terms not defined above have the same meaning as those defined in chapter 173-304 WAC.

[Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.95 RCW. 06-14-024 (Order 05-13), § 173-300-020, filed 6/26/06, effective 7/27/06. Statutory Authority: 1989 c 431. 00-19-017 (Order 00-16), § 173-300-020, filed 9/8/00, effective 10/9/00. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.95D RCW and RCW 70.95.710. 91-01-093, § 173-300-020, filed 12/18/90, effective 1/1/91.]