South Carolina § 44-56-20 - Definitions.

§ 44-56-20. Definitions.

Definitions as used in this chapter:

(1) "Board" means the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control which is charged with responsibility for implementation of the Hazardous Waste Management Act.

(2) "Director" means the director of the department or his authorized agent.

(3) "Department" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control, including personnel thereof authorized by the board to act on behalf of the department or board.

(4) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater.

(5) "Generation" means the act or process of producing waste materials.

(6) "Hazardous waste" means any waste, or combination of wastes, of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semisolid form which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may in the judgment of the department:

a. cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness; or

b. pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. Such wastes may include, but are not limited to, those which are toxic, corrosive, flammable, irritants, strong sensitizers, persistent in nature, assimilated, or concentrated in tissue, or which generate pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means. The term does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid dissolved materials in irrigation return flows, or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to NPDES permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Pollution Control Act of South Carolina or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

(7) "Hazardous waste management" means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, and disposal of hazardous wastes.

(8) "Manifest" means the form used for identifying the quantity, composition, or origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment, or storage.

(9) "Permit" means the process by which the department can ensure cognizance of, as well as control over the management of hazardous wastes.

(10) "Storage" means the actual or intended containment of wastes, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous wastes.

(11) "Transport" means the movement of hazardous wastes from the point of generation to any intermediate points and finally to the point of ultimate treatment, storage or disposal.

(12) "Treatment" means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, reduced in volume, or suitable for final disposal.

(13) "Uncontrolled hazardous waste site" means any site where hazardous wastes or other hazardous substances have been released, abandoned, or otherwise improperly managed so that governmental response action is deemed necessary to remedy actual or potential damages to public health, the public welfare, or the environment.

For the purpose of this item the term "hazardous waste" does not include petroleum, including crude oil or fraction thereof; natural gas; natural gas liquids; liquified natural gas; synthetic gas usable for fuel; or mixtures of natural gas and such synthetic gas.

(14) "Response action" is any cleanup, containment, inspection, or closure of a site ordered by the director as necessary to remedy actual or potential damages to public health, the public welfare, or the environment.

HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 436 SECTION 2; 1983 Act No. 151 Part II SECTION 31A, B; 1984 Act No. 512, Part II, SECTION 74; 1985 Act No. 140, SECTIONS 2, 3; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1133.