Section 250-RICR-140-25-2.4 - DefinitionsA. Whenever used in these Regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 1. "Abandonment" means the relinquishment or termination of possession, ownership or control of a storage container by vacating, or by disposition.2. "AST" or "aboveground storage tank" means any container used to store oil. These containers are used for purposes including - but not limited to - the storage of oil prior to use, during use, or prior to further distribution in commerce. DEM regulates ASTs greater than five hundred (500) gallons in size, and facilities with a combined storage capacity greater than five hundred (500) gallons.3. "Bilge waste" means the waste from the lower part of a vessel's containment area or hold.4. "Biological additives" means microbiological cultures, enzymes, or nutrient additives that are deliberately introduced into an oil discharge for the specific purpose of encouraging biodegradation to mitigate the effects of the discharge.5. "Boom" means a structural device or devices used to contain and/or absorb oil or other pollutants that may be placed into water.6. "Burning agents" means those additives that, through physical or chemical means, improve the combustibility of the materials to which they are applied.7. "C.F.R." means Code of Federal Regulations.8. "Chemical agents" means those elements, compounds or mixtures that coagulate, disperse, dissolve, emulsify, foam, neutralize, precipitate, reduce, solubilize, oxidize, concentrate, congeal, entrap, fix, make the pollutant mass more rigid or viscous, or otherwise facilitate the mitigation of deleterious effects or removal of the pollutant from the water.9. "Container" means any barrel, bottle, drum, vessel, storage tank, or the like that holds any oil, chemical, or product derived from petroleum distillate.10. "DEM" means the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.11. "Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Management or any subordinate or subordinates to whom he/she has delegated the powers and duties vested in him/her by law or Regulation.12. "Discharge" means the addition of any pollutant to the waters from any point source or placement where it is likely to enter waters of the State.13. "Dispersants" means those chemical agents that emulsify, disperse or solubilize oil into the water column, or promote the surface spreading of oil slicks to facilitate dispersal of the oil into the water column.14. "Facility" means any parcel of real estate or a contiguous series or parcels of real estate together with any and all structures, facility components, improvements, fixtures and other apparatuses located herein which constitutes a distinct geographic or commercial unit and at which petroleum products and/or oil are stored.15. "GAA" means classification of groundwater suitable for public drinking water use without treatment pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13.1-4 and any Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder. The GAA classification areas for the State of Rhode Island can be found at www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/prot/pdfs/gwclass.pdf.16. "GA" means classification of groundwater suitable for public or private drinking water without treatment pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13.1-4 and any Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder.17. "Groundwater" means all underground waters of whatever nature.18. "NFPA code 30" means the National Fire Protection Association publication number 30 entitled, "Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code."19. "NFPA code 30A" means the National Fire Protection Association publication number 30A entitled, "Code for Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities and Repair Garages."20. "Oceangoing ship" or "seagoing vessel" means a vessel that:a. Is operated under the authority of the United States and engages in international voyages; orb. Is operated under the authority of the United States and is certified for ocean service; orc. Is operated under the authority of the United States and is certified for coastwise service beyond three (3) miles from land; ord. Is operated under the authority of the United States and operates at any time seaward of the outermost boundary of the territorial sea of the United States; ore. Is operated under the authority of a country other than the United States.21. "Oil" means petroleum, gasoline, tar, asphalt, or any product or mixture thereof, or any substance refined from petroleum or crude oil.22. "Oil carrying vessel" means any floating craft or vessel equipped to carry bulk oil as cargo, or equipped to carry more than five thousand (5,000) gallons of fuel for its own use or which carries oil or chemical wastes.23. "Oil spill cleanup debris" means waste resulting from the cleanup of oil debris caused by spilling, depositing, releasing or placing of oil onto the land or waters of the State and include but not be limited to soil, absorbent material, or any other material contaminated with oil.24. "Operator" means the person or persons in control of or having responsibility for operating or maintaining any property which is subject to these Regulations.25. "Owner" means the person who holds title to, or lawful possession of, real or personal property which is subject to these Regulations.26. "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation (including a quasi-government corporation), partnership, association, syndicate, municipality, municipal or State agency, fire district, club, nonprofit agency, or any subdivision, commission, Department, bureau, agency or Department of State or Federal government (including quasigovernment corporation), or any interstate or international body.27. "Point source" means any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, tank, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture.28. "Place" or "release" means adding, spilling, releasing, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, spraying into the air, dumping or disposing oil into the environment that either poses a risk to human health or welfare, or has the potential to contaminate land and/or is likely to enter the waters of the State.29. "Pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, or industrial, municipal, agricultural or other waste, petroleum products, including but not limited to oil.30. "Reception facility" means a facility that has obtained a "certificate of adequacy" from the Coast Guard pursuant to 33 C.F.R. Part 158 (2018), and means anything capable of receiving shipboard oil or chemical wastes that includes, but is not limited to:a. Fixed piping that conveys wastes from the vessel to a storage or treatment system;b. Tank barges, railroad cars, or tank trucks and other mobile facilities; andc. Any combination of fixed and mobile facilities. This term shall also include "certified shore facility or terminal", as used in R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-12-37.31. "Sinking agents" means those additives applied to oil discharges to sink floating pollutants below the water surface.32. "Surface collecting agents" means those chemical agents that form a surface film to control the layer thickness of oil.33. "Terminal" means an onshore facility or an onshore structure used or intended to be used as a port or facility for the transfer or other handling of oil. A ship repair yard is a terminal.34. "Threat of release" means a reasonable likelihood of an imminent and substantial threat to public health or welfare, or the environment, that may require action to prevent or mitigate damage resulting from said release.35. "Vessel" means every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water, whether self-propelled or otherwise, and shall include barges, tugs and any other floating structure used for the storage and/or transportation of oil.36. "Waters of the state" means all surface waters and ground waters, including waters of the territorial sea, tidewaters, all inland waters of any river, stream, brook, pond or lake, wetlands and all underground waters of whatever nature.37. "Wellhead protection area" means the critical portion of a three dimensional zone surrounding a public well or well field through which water will move toward and reach such well or well field as designated by the Director.250 R.I. Code R. 250-RICR-140-25-2.4
Amended effective 5/2/2018
Amended effective 7/20/2022