11.05.030 Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this Chapter:
A. "Act" means the Federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq, as amended.
B. Best Management Practice (BMP). See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
D. "Clean Water Act" means 33 U.S.C. 1251 et. seq., as amended.
E. "County" shall mean Pierce County, Washington, or as indicated by the context, County Executive, Director, or authorized designee.
F. "Dangerous Waste" means any solid, liquid, or mixed waste defined according to WAC 173-303-080 through -110, as amended.
G. "Director" means the Director of the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department or any duly authorized representatives of the Director.
H. "Discharge" means to throw, drain, release, dump, spill, empty, emit, or pour forth any matter or to cause or allow matter to flow, run, or seep from land to be thrown, drained, released, dumped, spilled, emptied, emitted, or poured into water.
I. "Drainage Facility" means the system that collects, conveys, and stores surface and stormwater runoff. Drainage facilities shall include, but not be limited to, all surface and stormwater conveyance and containment facilities owned or operated by Pierce County included pipelines, channels, ditches, infiltration facilities, retention/detention facilities, erosion/sedimentation control facilities, and other drainage structures and appurtenances, and natural systems including rivers, streams, swamps, lakes, wetlands, marine waters, closed depressions, and groundwater flooding areas within unincorporated Pierce County.
J. "Ecology" means the Washington State Department of Ecology.
K. "Farm Management Plan" means a comprehensive site-specific plan developed by the farm owner in cooperation with the Pierce County Conservation District and the Conservation Districts of the State of Washington, that takes into consideration the land owner's objectives while protecting water quality and related natural resources.
L. "Forest Practices" means any activity conducted on or directly pertaining to forest land and relating to growing, harvesting, or processing timber, as defined in Chapter 222-16 of the Washington Administrative Code.
M. Groundwater. See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
N. "Hazardous material" means any material potentially harmful to life and/or property.
O. "Illicit Discharge" means the discharges defined by Section 11.05.040.
P. "May"/"Shall" -- "May" is permissive, "Shall" is mandatory.
Q. "Manual" means the current Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual.
R. "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" or "NPDES" means the national program for controlling pollutants from non-point and point source discharges directly into waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act.
S. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES). See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
T. "Owner of Record" means a property owner, as reflected in the public title records.
U. "Person" means an individual, their agents or assigns; municipality; political subdivision; government agency; partnership; corporation; business; or any other entity.
V. "Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual" means the latest version of the manual describing design, maintenance, best management practices, procedures, guidance for stormwater systems for new development and redevelopment, and guidance for preventing or treating pollutants in stormwater, to be utilized by businesses, industries and private residences, which has been approved by the Pierce County Council.
W. "Pollutant/Pollution" means such contamination, or other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties, of any waters of the County, State or United States, including change in temperature, taste, color turbidity, or odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance into any waters as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful, detrimental, or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other aquatic life.
X. "Sewage" means water-carried human waste or a combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface, storm, or other waters that may inadvertently enter the sanitary sewer system.
Y. "Shall"/"May" -- "Shall" is mandatory; "May" is permissive.
Z. Source Control BMP. See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
AA. "State", when used as a noun, means the State of Washington.
BB. "State Waste Discharge Permit" means an authorization, license, or equivalent control document issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology in accordance with Chapter 173-216 of the Washington Administrative Code.
CC. Stormwater Facility. See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
DD. "Surface and Stormwater" means water originating from rainfall and other precipitation that is found in drainage facilities, rivers, streams, springs, seeps, ponds, lakes, and wetlands, as well as shallow ground water.
EE. "Treatment" means the reduction or elimination of pollutants in stormwater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the stormwater system.
FF. Treatment BMP or Facility. See Pierce County Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual Volume 1, Glossary.
GG. "Toxic Pollutants" means those pollutants, or combination of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Director, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including reproductive malfunctions), or physical deformations in such organisms or their offsprings.
HH. "Waters of the State/Waters of the United States" means:
1. All waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;
2. All interstate waters, including interstate wetlands;
3. All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mud flats, sand flats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect interstate or foreign commerce, including any such waters:
a. Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;
b. From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce; or
c. Which are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;
4. All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;
5. Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs 1. through 6. of this definition;
6. The territorial sea;
7. Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in paragraphs 1. through 6. of this definition;
8. Waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act (other than cooling ponds as defined in 40 CFR 423.11(m) which also meet the criteria of this definition), are not waters of the United States;
9. The following guidelines can also help determine the status of a particular drainage conveyance:
a. If flow is year-round and of natural origin, it is a Water of the United States.
b. If the flow is intermittent but flows seasonally (not just during storm events), it is a Water of the United States.
c. If Federal or State in-stream water quality standards apply, it is a Water of the United States.
d. Naturally occurring drainage ditches are considered tributaries thereof to Waters of the United States.
10. Waters of the State shall include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, underground waters, salt waters and all other surface waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.