3745-300-01 Definitions.

 

 

 

3745-300-01                Definitions.

 

 

 

(A)  Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following definitions are applicable:

 

(1)"Absorption factors" means the chemical-specific values that represent the fraction of the chemical from soil that can pass across the intact skin and into the blood stream of a human.

 

(1)"Activity and use limitations" are one or more restrictions or obligations created under sections 5301.80 to 5301.92 of the Revised Code with respect to real property. Activity and use limitations eliminate or mitigate exposure to a release of hazardous substance or petroleum. Examples of activity and use limitations include but are not limited to land use limitations and ground water extraction limitations. The term is known as institutional controls in 3745-300-07,  3745-300-08,  3745-300-09,  3745-300-10,  3745-300-14  and

3745-300-15 of the Administrative Code.

 

(2)   "Affected media" meansare any environmental media present on or off property that contain concentrations of chemical(s) of concern.

 

(3)   "Affiliated" means under common ownership or control.

 

(4)   "Agency" or "Ohio EPA" means the Ohio environmental protection agency.

 

(5)   "Applicable standards," unless the context indicates otherwise, means standards established in or pursuant to sections 3746.05, 3746.06, and 3746.07 of the Revised Code, or rule 3745-300-07, 3745-300-08, 3745-300-09, 3745-300-10, or 3745-300-15 of the Administrative Code, as applicable.

 

(6)      "Background levels" meansare the concentrations of naturally occurring hazardous substances or petroleum at a property and areas surrounding a propertyor at nearby off-property locations that are unaffected by any current or past activities involving the management, handling, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances or petroleum. Background levels include only naturally occurring substances, but exclude naturally occurring substances from anthropogenic sources.

 

(7)   "Certified laboratory" meansis a laboratory certified by the director pursuant to rule 3745-300-04 of the Administrative Code, or deemed to be certified under division (E) of section 3746.07 of the Revised Code to perform analyses in connection with voluntary actions.

 

(8)   "Certified professional" meansis a person certified by the director pursuant to rule 3745-300-05 of the Administrative Code, or deemed to be certified under

 

 

division (D) of section 3746.07 of the Revised Code to issue no further action letters under section 3746.11 of the Revised Code.

(9)       "Chemical(s) of concern" meansare specific constituents of hazardous substances or petroleum which are on, underlying or emanating from a property, and are identified in a "Phase II Property Assessment," property-specific risk assessment or exposure assessment processduring a voluntary action.

(10)    "Cumulative risk" meansis the total risk associated with multiple chemicals orand/or multiple exposure routes.

(11) "Dermal  absorption"  means  the  process  by  which  chemicals  enter  the bloodstream of a human by passing through intact skin.

(12)(11)  "Director"  meansis  the  director  of  the  Ohio  environmental  protection agency, or the director's designee.

(13)(12) "Document" meansis any record, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including but not limited to, electronic or hard copy records of reports, studies, data, correspondence, and all other information.

(14)(13) "Engineering control" meansis any man-made structuresstructure or systemssystem that effectively and reliably eliminateeliminates or mitigatemitigates human or important ecological resource exposure to hazardous substances or petroleum on, underlying or emanating from a property, which areis protective of human health, safety and the environment. Examples of engineering controls include, but are not limited to, cap systems and ground water gradient systems.

(14) "Environmental covenant" is, for the purposes of this chapter, a servitude that imposes activity and use limitations on property that is the subject of a no further action letter submitted with a request for a covenant not to sue under section 3746.11 of the Revised Code. An environmental covenant meets the requirements established in section 5301.82 of the Revised Code.

(15)   "Environmental media" meansare soil, sedimentssediment, surface water, and ground water, bedrock, air, and. Environmental media also include naturally occurring transitional zones between two or more mediasoil, sediment, surface water or ground water, such as bedrock, soil gas, and air.

(16)   "Exposure" meansis contact of a receptor with a chemical(s) of concern that is quantified  as  the  amount  of  the  chemical(s)  of  concern  available  for

absorption at the exchange boundaries of the organism, such as the skin, lungs or gastrointestinal tract.

(17)    "Exposure factor" meansis a parameter that defines one term in an equation used to quantify the exposure of a receptor to a chemical of concern by means of one exposure pathway. Exposure factors may be represented by point values or by a distribution of values.

(18)   "Exposure pathway" meansis a mechanism by which a receptor is exposed to chemical(s) of concern.

(19)   "Ground water" meansis, for purposes of conducting a voluntary action, water underlying a property in a saturated zone that:

(a)   Is capable of yielding, within eight hours after purging, a minimum of one and one-half gallons of water as determined in accordance with paragraph (D)(6)(D)(7) of rule 3745-300-07 of the Administrative Code; and

(b)   Has an in situ hydraulic conductivity greater than 5.0 X 10-6 centimeters per second as determined in accordance with standards of paragraph (D)(6)(D)(7) of rule 3745-300-07 of the Administrative Code.

This definition only applies to voluntary actions conducted under Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code and this chapter.

(20)     "Hazard index" meansis a numerical value that describes the potential for threshold-effect non-carcinogenic toxicity to occur in an individual as a result of exposure to multiple chemicals of concern over a specified time period through an exposure pathway(s). This numerical value is expressed as the unitless sum of the hazard quotient values for each of the chemical(s) of concern and for each pathway.

(21)   "Hazardous substance" includes all of the following:

(a)      Any substance identified or listed in rules adopted under division (B)(1)(c) of section 3750.02 of the Revised Code;

(b)   Any product registered as a pesticide under section 921.02 of the Revised Code when the product is used in a manner inconsistent with its required labeling;

(c)     Any product formerly registered as a pesticide under that section for which the registration was suspended or canceled under section 921.05 of the Revised Code; and

(d)     Any mixture of a substance described in paragraphs (A)(20)(a) to (A)(20)(c)(A)(21)(a) to (A)(21)(c) of this rule with a radioactive material.

(22)   "Identified area" means anyis a location at a property at whichwhere a release of hazardous substances or petroleum are knownhas or suspected to be presentmay have occurred.

(23)    "Important ecological resources" meansresource" is any specific ecological communities, populationscommunity, population or individual organismsorganism protected by federal, state or local laws and regulations, or ecological resources that provide important natural or economic resource functions and values. Important ecological resources include, but are not limited to: surface waters and wetlands protectedany surface water, as that term is used in Chapter 3745-1 of the Administrative Code; any wetland regulated under federal law and state of Ohio's water quality laws; any dedicated natural areas and preservesarea or preserve; any federally-listed or state-listed threatened andor endangered species and theirits associated habitatshabitat; that are designated by the federal government or theany state of Ohio; special interest or declining species, and theirits associated habitats, designated by the state of Ohio;habitat; any national park; any federally designated wilderness area; any national lakeshore recreational area; any national preserve; any national or state wildlife refuge; any federal, state or local land designated for the protection of natural ecosystems; any federally-designated or state-designated scenic or wild river; any federal or state land designated for wildlife or game management; and wildlife populations and their associated important nesting areas and food resources, taking into consideration land use and the quality and extent of habitat on and in the vicinity of the property.

[comment: an industrialized property may have limited greenspace around buildings, roadways, etc. And there may be a limited number of trees with nests but this type of situation generally would not be considered to be providing important nesting areas and food resources to wildlife populations.]

[Comment: The definition of important ecological resource is, however, meant to exclude terrestrial areas such as mowed or maintained green spaces (e.g., manicured lawns), industrial, or other areas that do not exhibit, or exhibit only minimal, natural functions. In addition, because they are not members  of  natural  communities,  any  of  the  following  should  not  be

considered "ecologically important": any pest and opportunistic species that populates an area because of artificial or anthropogenic conditions; any domestic or once domesticated animals (e.g., pets, livestock, or feral animals); any plant or animal whose existence is maintained by continuous human intervention (e.g., agricultural crops).

Industrialized properties may have limited green space around buildings, roadways, parking lots, etc., and there may be a limited number of trees with nests, but this type of situation generally would not be considered to be providing important nesting areas and food resources to wildlife populations. However, there may be situations where industrialized properties contain limited habitat capable of supporting populations or individuals of important receptors and therefore would require an ecological evaluation. For example, a small area (less than 0.5 acre) may be considered an important ecological resource if important functions are provided by the area (e.g., a vernal pool that provides breeding habitat for a state declining species of amphibian).

Thus, the determination as to whether a particular property contains or could potentially impact an important ecological resource, requires an evaluation of habitat on and in the locality of the property. Habitat evaluation is the critical decision criterion for determining whether an important ecological resource is or is potentially associated with the property and therefore trigger the requirement for an ecological risk assessment.]

(24) "Individual" means any person, but not an organization. Organization includes, but is not limited to, any corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, partnership, trust, estate, association, or two or more persons having a joint or common interest.

(25)(24) "Institutional control" meansis a restriction that is documented in writingrecorded in the same manner as a deed which limits access to or use of the property such that exposure to hazardous substances or petroleum are effectively and reliably eliminated or mitigated. Examples of institutional controls include but are not limited to deed restrictions and land and water use restrictions.

(26)(25) "Ninety-five per centpercent upper confidence limit" or "ninety-five per centpercent UCL" meansis the upper limit of an interval within a frequency distribution curve in which the observed mean of a data set will occur ninety-five per centpercent of the time.

(27)(26) "Owner or operator" includes both of the following:

(a)   Any person owning or holding a legal, equitable, or possessory interest in

or having responsibility for the daily activities on a property; and

(b)    In the case of property title or control of which was conveyed due to bankruptcy, foreclosure, tax delinquency, abandonment, or similar means to this state or a political subdivision of this state, any person who owned, operated, or otherwise controlled activities occurring on the property before the conveyance.

(28)(27)  "Peer-reviewed"  means  thatis  a  document  or  study  that  meets  the following criteria:

(a)    theThe document or study has been published in a recognized scientific journal or publication;

(b)     theThe document or study is generally-accepted within the scientific community as being accurate and reliable; and

(c)       theThe results contained in the document or study have been independently reproduced or the methods described in the document or study have been proven to produce consistent results.

(29)(28) "Person" means any person asis defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code and also includes this state, any political subdivision of this state, any other body of this state or of a political subdivision of this state, and the United States and any agency or instrumentality thereof.

(30)(29) "Petroleum" meansis oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, including, without limitation, crude oil or any fraction thereof, petroleum, gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, oil sludge, oil refuse, used oil, substances or additives utilized in the refining or blending of crude petroleum or petroleum stock, natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, synthetic gas usable for fuel, and mixtures of natural gas and synthetic gas.

(31)(30) "Phase I Property Assessment" meansis all the activities required to evaluate a property in accordance with rule 3745-300-06 of the Administrative Code, Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code and the standards provided in division (B) of section 3746.07 of the Revised Code or rules adopted under division (B)(3) of section 3746.04 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable.

(32)(31)  "Phase  II  Property  Assessment"  meansis  all  the  activities  required  to evaluate          a                 property           in    accordance    with    rule    3745-300-07    of    the

Administrative Code, Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code and the standards provided in division (C) of section 3746.07 of the Revised Code or rules adopted under division (B)(4) of section 3746.04 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable.

(33)(32) "Point of compliance" meansis any location on or off the property to which applicable standards must be met and maintained.

(34) "Potable use standard" means an applicable standard for ground water which takes into account the exposures to humans which may result from such activities as drinking ground water, showering or bathing with ground water, or cooking with ground water. There are two different types of potable use standards which are as follows:

(a) "unrestricted potable use standard" are standards based on the assumption that ground water will be used as a source of water for drinking, cooking, showering, or bathing. Unrestricted potable use standards includes both of the following types of standards:

(i) generic unrestricted potable use standards. These standards are contained in table VII at paragraph (C)(3) of rule 3745-300-08 of the Administrative Code and are designed to protect potential receptors located both on and off the property; and

(ii) risk-derived unrestricted potable use standards. These standards are developed in accordance with rule 3745-300-09 of the Administrative Code for human exposures resulting from drinking, cooking, showering or bathing and are designed to protect receptors located both on and off the property; and

(b) property-specific potable use standards. These standards are developed in accordance with rule 3745-300-09 of the Administrative Code, but are designed to protect only those receptors who are located on the property and may only be applied in conjunction with an institutional or engineering control, developed and employed in accordance with rules 3745-300-09 and 3745-300-15 of the Administrative Code, which prevents exposures to humans on the property resulting from drinking, cooking, showering or bathing with ground water from exceeding the risk goal applied to the generic unrestricted potable use standards contained in table VII at paragraph (C)(3) of rule 3745-300-08 of the Administrative Code.

(35)(33) "Property," except for the purposes of sections 3746.02, 3746.26, and

3746.27 of the Revised Code, meansis any parcel of real property, or portion thereof,  and  any  improvements  thereto,  the  limits  of  which  have  been

described in writing by the owner of record or a legally appointed representative of the owner and that is or has been the subject of a voluntary action under this chapter and Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code.

(36)(34) "Property-specific risk assessment" meansis an analysis conducted in accordance with the requirements of rule 3745-300-09 of the Administrative Code. This process may include one or more ofincludes the following steps:

(a)         Data collection and evaluation, including data regarding the environmental setting of the site, identities of suspected chemical releases, and concentrations of these chemicalsSelection of chemicals of concern;

(b)      Exposure assessment, including the identification of the exposure pathway(s), identification of the receptor(s), quantification of the chemical concentration(s) of the identified chemical(s) for  each pathway and quantification of the likely intake(s) of the identified chemical(s) by the receptor(s);

(c)         Toxicity assessment, including the chemical-specific qualitative description of the type of adverse effect(s) and the target organ(s), and the chemical-specific quantification of the dose-response relationship between the chemical concentration and the exhibited effect(s), in an experimental population representing the receptor population; and

(d)    Risk characterization, including the quantification of the total excess cancer unit risk posed by the chemical(s) to the receptor, the quantification of the total non-cancer hazards posed by the chemical(s) to the receptor, and the evaluation of the uncertainty introduced into the process by all the data, descriptions and assumptions useduncertainty.

(37)(35)  "Radioactive  material"  meansis  a  substance  that  spontaneously  emits ionizing radiation.

(38)(36)  "Reasonably  available"  means  situationsis  a  situation  under  which information is:

(a)    publiclyPublicly available or known of and available to the volunteer or owner/operator of the property;

(b)   providedProvided or made available by the source within ninety days of receiving a written request; and

(c)   practicallyPractically reviewable.

(39)(37) "Receptor or receptor population" means humans or important ecological resources that are reasonably anticipated to come in contact with chemicals of concern, based on the distribution of the chemicals of concern on the property and the activity patterns of those humans or important ecological resources on or adjacent tooff the property.

(40)(38) "Release", as defined in section 3745.01 of the Revised Code, is means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, migrating, dumping, or disposing of any hazardous substance or petroleum into the environment, including, without limitation, the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, or any other closed receptacle containing any hazardous substance, petroleum, or pollutant or contaminant. "Release" does not include any of the following:

(a)   Any release that results solely in the exposure of individuals to hazardous substances or petroleum in the workplace with respect to which those individuals may assert a claim against their employer and that is regulated under the "Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970," 84 Stat. 1590, 29 U.S.C.A. 651, as amended, and regulations adopted under that act, or under Chapter 4167. of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it;

(b)     Emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station engine;

(c)    Any release of a source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as "source material," "byproduct material," "special nuclear material," and "nuclear incident" are defined in the "Atomic Energy Act of 1954," 68 Stat. 919, 42 U.S.C.A. 2011, as amended, if the release is subject to financial protection requirements under section 170 of that act unless any such material is mixed with a hazardous substance or petroleum;

(d)    Any federally permitted release as defined in section 101(10) of the "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980," 94 Stat. 3300, 42 U.S.C.A. 9601, as amended; or

(e)   The normal application of a fertilizer material that is intended to improve the quality or quantity of plant growth.

(41)(39) "Remedy" or "remedial activities" meansare actions that are taken at a property to treat, remove, transport for treatment or disposal, dispose of, contain, or control hazardous substances or petroleum, which are protective of public health and safety and the environment, and which are consistent with a permanent remedy, including, without limitation, excavation, treatment, off-siteoff-property disposal, the use of engineering or institutional controls or measures, the issuance and implementation of a consolidated standards permit under section 3746.15 of the Revised Code, and the entering into and implementation of an operation and maintenance agreement pursuant to section 3746.12 of the Revised Code.

(42)(40) "Revised Code" meansis the Ohio Revised Code, a codification of all of the Ohio statutes of a general and permanent nature.

(43)(41) "Sediment" meansis unconsolidated inorganic and organic material that has precipitated and deposited below surface waters. Sediment includes: (a) materials below the water surface under bankfull conditions in streams, lakes and ditches; (b) materials below normal pool elevation for reservoirs; (c) materials within the federal jurisdictional boundaries of wetlands; (d) materials below maximum capacity for ponds and lagoons; (e) materials found below the Ordinary High Water Mark (OWM) of lake Erie, as defined by International Great Lakes Datum (IGLD).

(a) Materials below the water surface under bankfull conditions in streams, lakes and ditches;

(b) Materials below normal pool elevation for reservoirs;

(c) Materials within the federal jurisdictional boundaries of wetlands;

(d)Materials below maximum capacity for ponds and lagoons; and

(e) Materials found below the ordinary high water mark (OHWM) of lake Erie, as defined by International Great Lakes Datum (IGLD).

(44)(42) "Source" meansis either:

(a)      anAn event which releases hazardous substances or petroleum into environmental media; or

(b)     aA vessel or impoundment which contains hazardous substances or petroleum and from which a release of hazardous substances or petroleum has occurred or is occurring.

(45)(43) "Source area" meansis any affected media containing chemical(s) of concern at concentrations sufficient to, contribute to an exceedence of applicable standards in anythat is acting, has acted, or has the potential to act as a source of chemical(s) of concern to other environmental media.

(46) "Support document for generic standards" means the "Support Document for the Development of Generic Numerical Standards and Risk Assessment Procedures," October, 1996.

(47)(44) "This chapter" meansis Chapter 3745-300 of the Administrative Code.

(45) "Unrestricted potable use standard" means ground water standards based on the assumption that ground water will be used as a source of water for drinking, cooking, showering, and bathing. Unrestricted potable use standards include generic unrestricted potable use standards in accordance with rule 3745-300-08 of the Administrative Code and risk-derived unrestricted potable use standards developed in accordance with rule 3745-300-09 of the Administrative Code.

(48)(46) "Upper-bound value" meansis a parameter value from a distribution of such values which is contained within the highest decile (ten per centpercent) of that distribution.

(49)(47) "Voluntary action" meansis a series of measures that may be undertaken to identify and address contamination and potential sources of contamination of properties by hazardous substances or petroleum and to establish that the property complies with applicable standards. "Voluntary action" may include, without limitation: a Phase I property assessment; a Phase II property assessment; a sampling plan; a remedial plan; remedial activities; or such other actions the volunteer considers to be necessary or appropriate to address the contamination, followed by the issuance of a no further action letter indicating that the property complies with applicable standards. To demonstrate that applicable standards have been met, the person undertaking such measures must establish either that there is no information indicating that there has been a release of hazardous substances or petroleum at or upon the property or that there has been a release of hazardous substances or petroleum at or upon the property and that applicable standards were not exceeded or have been or will be achieved in accordance with Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code and this chapter.

(50)(48)  "Volunteer"  meansis  a  person  conducting  a  voluntary  action  and  any authorized representative of the person conducting the voluntary action.

Effective:   R.C. 119.032 review dates:	04/19/2006   06/17/2005 and 04/19/2011
CERTIFIED ELECTRONICALLY
Certification
10/19/2005
Date
Promulgated Under:	119.03
Statutory Authority:	3746.04
Rule Amplifies:	3746, 5301
Prior Effective Dates:	12/29/1995, 12/16/1996, 3/4/2002