§ 19-272. Definitions

(a) Any term not defined herein shall be governed by the definition as it appears in the current Rhode Island Rules Establishing Minimum Standards Relating to Location, Design, Construction and Maintenance of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems.

(b) The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Alternative OWTS component means any part of an OWTS that does not meet the design or construction requirements as provided by the OWTSs rules, but has been demonstrated through field testing, calculations and other engineering evaluations to be equal to, or provide the equivalent performance of, any part of an OWTS within the OWTSs rules or to enhance or facilitate treatment, maintenance, longevity or efficiency of an OWTS, and for which a certification from DEM has been issued.

Alternative technology means any OWTS technology for which design parameters are not specified in the OWTSs rules, but has been demonstrated through field testing, calculations and other engineering evaluations to comply with performance standards consistent with the OWTSs rules, and for which a certification from DEM has been issued.

Applicant means the owner or owners of the property or easement that is the subject of the application, or it must be the person who holds a valid purchase and sales agreement for said property.

Area subject to storm flowage means drainage swales and channels which lead into, out of, pass through, or connect other watercourses, and which carry flows resulting from storm events but may remain relatively dry at other times.

Bedroom means any room in a residential structure which is greater than 70 square feet in area, which is susceptible to present or future use as a private sleeping area and which satisfies all of the following requirements:

(1) Has at least one window that meets the 4.4 square foot minimum size and all other requirements of the Rhode Island State Building Code SBC-1 or SBC-2;

(2) Has at least one interior method of entry and egress, excluding closets and bathrooms, allowing the room to be closed off from the remainder of the residence for privacy; and

(3) Is a heated living space that is unrestricted for yearround use. Rooms located below grade that are not recognized as bedrooms by the Rhode Island State Building Code SBC-1 or SBC-2 are not recognized as bedrooms under these rules.

Blackwater means liquid and solid human body waste and the carriage waters generated through toilet usage.

Building renovation means any addition, replacement, demolition reconstruction and/or modification of an existing structure.

Building sewer means the pipe that begins outside the building foundation wall and extends to the septic tank, the pipe that begins outside the building foundation wall and extends to the grease tank, the pipe from a grease tank to a septic tank, or the pipe carrying laundry wastes directly to a leachfield.

Cesspool means any buried chamber, including, but not limited to, any perforated metal tank, perforated concrete vault or covered hollow or excavation, which receives discharges of wastewater from a building sewer for the purpose of collecting solids and discharging liquids to the surrounding soil.

Change of use means any change in use or occupancy of any structure or part thereof which would violate any provision of the Rhode Island State Building Code, G.L. 1956, ch. 23-27.3, as amended, or any regulation promulgated thereto without first obtaining a certificate of occupancy indicating that the structure complies with the provisions of the State Building Code for the proposed new use. Change of use shall also be held to mean a conversion of a seasonally used structure to a structure for year-round use.

Coastal shoreline feature means a part of the shore as categorized by the state coastal resources management program using the following categories: coastal beaches, barrier islands and spits; coastal wetlands; coastal headlands, bluffs and cliffs; rocky shores; manmade shorelines; and dunes.

Contaminant means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance which enters the hydrological cycle through human action and may cause a deleterious effect on groundwater and/or surface water resources; it shall include but not be limited to hazardous waste, limiting nutrients and sanitary sewage.

Critical resource area means sensitive land and water resources that provide unique habitat and/or important ecological or economic functions. Such areas include, but are not necessarily limited to habitat for rare and endangered species, coastal and freshwater wetlands, aquaculture areas, wellhead protection areas, watersheds of surface water reservoirs, and prime agricultural lands.

Department or RIDEM means the state department of environmental management.

Director means the director of the state department of environmental management or any subordinate(s) to whom the director has delegated the powers and duties vested in him/her pursuant to G.L. 1956, chs. 46-12 and 42-17.1, as amended, or any other duly authorized agent.

Dispersal trench means a shallow ditch with vertical sides, filled with stone, in which a single perforated distribution line or other suitable distribution device is laid and over which a cover of earth is placed.

Distribution box means a watertight compartment that receives effluent and distributes it in approximately equal portions to two or more distribution lines leading to some type of leachfield.

Distribution line means the imperforated and perforated pipe or other suitable distribution device used to disperse effluent that extends from the distribution box.

Dosing means the pumped or regulated flow of wastewater.

Experimental technology means any OWTS technology that does not meet the location, design or construction requirements as provided by these rules, but has been demonstrated in theory to meet the requirements of these rules and may not be in use in the state or elsewhere as an approved technology for wastewater treatment.

Failed OWTS means any OWTS that does not adequately treat and disperse wastewater so as to create a public or private nuisance or threat to public health or environmental quality, as evidenced by, but not limited to, one or more of the following conditions:

(1) Failure to accept wastewater into the building sewer;

(2) Discharge of wastewater to a basement; subsurface drain; stormwater collection, conveyance or treatment device; or watercourse unless expressly permitted by the department;

(3) Wastewater rising to the surface of the ground over or near any part of OWTS or seeping from the absorption area at any change in grade, bank or road cut;

(4) The invert of the inlet or the invert of the outlet for a septic tank, distribution box, or pump tank is submerged;

(5) The liquid depth in a cesspool is less than six inches from the inlet pipe invert;

(6) Pumping of the cesspool or septic tank is required more than two times per year;

(7) OWTS is shown to have contaminated a drinking water well or watercourse;

(8) If a septic tank, pump tank, distribution box, or cesspool is pumped and groundwater seeps into it;

(9) Any deterioration, damage, or malfunction relating to any OWTS that would preclude adequate treatment and dispersal of wastewater; or

(10) Excessive solids are evident in the distribution box or distribution lines.

Floodplain means that land area adjacent to a river or stream or other body of flowing water which is, on the average, likely to be covered with floodwaters resulting from a 100-year frequency storm. A 100-year frequency storm is one that is to be expected to be equaled or exceeded once in 100 years; or may be said to have a one percent probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Rainfall intensity data for a 100-year frequency storm are those established for New England locations by the National Weather Service.

Foundation drain means any mechanical or gravity drainage system, including all porous media installed to facilitate drainage, that lowers the groundwater elevation beneath a building foundation and which has an outlet for the collected groundwater.

Freshwater wetland is defined as set forth in G.L. 1956, § 2-1-20(4), as amended, and as further defined by the department's Rules and Regulations Governing the Administration and Enforcement of the Fresh Water Wetlands Act. The term shall further be held to include those wetland types defined by the remainder of G.L. 1956, § 2-1-20, and the wetland regulations, including, but not limited to: marshes, swamps, bogs, ponds, rivers, river and stream floodplains and banks, areas subject to flooding or stream water, including rivers and streams, and that area of land within 50 feet of the edge of any bog, marsh, swamp or pond or that area within 100 feet of a flowing body of water less than ten feet wide or that area within 200 feet of a flowing body of water greater than ten feet in width.

Graywater means wastewater drained from sinks, tubs, showers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and other nontoilet sources.

Groundwater table means the upper surface of the zone of saturation in an unconfined aquifer; includes a perched groundwater table.

Hazardous waste means:

(1) Wastes which include, but are not limited to, those which are toxic, corrosive, flammable, or reactive; or

(2) Wastes such as are defined under section 3.25 of the state department of environmental management Rules and Regulations for Hazardous Waste Generation, Transportation, Treatment, Storage and Disposal.

Holding tank means a closed watertight structure used to contain wastewater prior to being removed from the premises. A holding tank does not discharge wastewater to the surface of the ground or to the subsurface.

Human-transported material means any materials, other than those emplaced pursuant to the OWTSs rules, including but not limited to artifacts, organic materials, soil, rock, or sediment moved horizontally by directed human activity.

Invert means the lowest portion of the interior of a pipe or fitting.

Leachfield means a group of one or more dispersal chambers or trenches designed for the final treatment and dispersal of wastewater into the underlying soil. The leachfield shall be held to mean the horizontal and vertical lines circumscribing the outermost edges including the area between the chambers or trenches and the depth to the bottom of stone.

Maintenance means the regular cleaning of any concrete chamber, cesspool, septic tank, building sewer, distribution lines or any other component of an OWTS for the purpose of removing accumulated liquid, scum or sludge. The term "maintenance" also includes regularly required servicing or replacement of any related mechanical, electrical, or other component equipment.

Malfunctioning OWTS. A malfunctioning system shall be synonymous with failed OWTS.

Nitrogen reducing technology means a wastewater treatment technology that is accepted by the department as capable of reducing the total nitrogen concentrations by at least 50 percent and meeting an effluent concentration of less than or equal to 19 mg/l.

On-site wastewater treatment system (OWTS) means any system of piping, tanks, dispersal areas, alternative toilets or other facilities designed to function as a unit to convey, store, treat or disperse wastewater by means other than discharge into a public sewer system.

Owner means any person who holds legal title to any real property; or has possession or control of any real property through any agent, executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee or guardian of the estate of a holder of a legal title. Each such person is bound to comply with the provisions of these rules.

Person means any individual, group of individuals, firm, corporation, association, partnership or any federal, state or municipal governmental entity.

Private drinking water well means any manmade opening into the ground developed for the purpose of meeting a person's current potable drinking water needs provided said well does not supply a public water system. This definition shall include proposed private drinking water wells on an applicant's property and on other properties with an approved OWTS permit. Wells serving nonpotable or nondrinking water needs are not considered private drinking water wells under either this article or the OWTS's rule. A well on a property that is served by a public water system is not considered a private drinking water well under the OWTS's rule.

Public drinking water supply well or public well means any manmade opening into the ground developed for the purpose of meeting all or part of public water system needs.

Public water system means any water system that provides piped water to the public for human consumption, provided that such system has at least 15 service connections or serves an average of 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year. A public water system shall include all sources and facilities involved in collecting, treating, storing and distributing the water.

Pump tank means a watertight structure equipped with one or more pumps designed to discharge wastewater intermittently into a leachfield.

Repair means any work performed on an OWTS in order to mend or renovate a specific defect or deficiency after the failure, injury, deterioration or partial destruction of a previously existing OWTS or component thereof. A repair includes any upgrade or modernization of an OWTS (e.g., replacement of cesspool). A repair shall not include any work performed on an existing OWTS that increases the flow capacity of the system.

Residence means any structure used for housing purposes, including, but not limited to, single- or multiple-family dwellings, duplexes, tenements, apartment buildings, residential condominiums, mobile homes, recreational vehicles or trailers.

Seasonal high groundwater table means the elevation of the groundwater table during that time of the year at which it is highest as determined by direct observation or by interpretation of hydromorphic features in the soil profile.

Septage means any solid, liquid or semi-solid removed from septic tanks, cesspools, privies, domestic wastewater holding tanks or other similar on-site wastewater treatment systems.

Septic tank means a watertight receptacle which receives the discharge of wastewater from a building sewer, and is designed and constructed to permit the deposition of settled solids, the digestion of the matter deposited, and the discharge of the liquid portion into the next treatment component or distribution box.

Septic tank effluent pipe means the gravity-flow pipe that begins at the outlet of the septic tank or other treatment tank and extends to the next treatment component or distribution box.

Storm drain means any pipe or structure designed to collect, carry and divert surface water runoff.

Structure means any residence (as defined herein), building, garage, shack, trailer or other permanent or semi-permanent facility, whether commercial or noncommercial in use, which is proposed to be placed or has been built or otherwise placed on a parcel of real property.

Subsurface drains means any system of below-surface piping or highly permeable material intended to lower the groundwater table of an area, and which has an outlet to the surface for the collected groundwater.

Tributary means any flowing body of water or watercourse that provides intermittent or perennial flow to down-gradient watercourses that eventually discharge to the waters of concern (e.g., reservoir impoundment or salt pond).

Tributary wetland means freshwater wetlands within a watershed that are connected via a watercourse to the waters of concern (e.g., drinking water supply impoundment or coastal wetland or tidal waters).

Violation means:

(1) Failure to comply with and adhere to the rules and regulations set forth in this article.

(2) The improper discharge of wastewater from a failed OWTS.

Wastewater means human or animal excremental liquid or substance, putrescible animal or vegetable matter or garbage and filth, including, but not limited to, water discharged from toilets, bathtubs, showers, laundry tubs, washing machines, sinks, and dishwashers. Both blackwater and graywater are considered wastewater under these rules.

Wastewater management area (WWMA) means the entire town of New Shoreham where the proper operation and maintenance of an OWTS will be required and which is further defined in accordance with the provisions of this article.

Wastewater management inspector or his/her designee means the town employee whose duty it is to supervise the day-to-day administration of the wastewater management program, the wastewater management office and the provisions of this article. The wastewater management inspector or his/her designee shall serve as the enforcement officer pursuant to the authority granted under this article and any regulations adopted pursuant to this article.

Wastewater management office (WWMO) means the administrative body established by the town for the day-to-day administration and enforcement of the wastewater management program and the provisions of this article.

Water supply protection program (WSPP) mean an islandwide program of various zoning and subdivision regulations, ordinances, educational programs and management practices that are designed to protect the integrity of Block Island's groundwater and surface water reservoirs.

Watercourse means any river, stream, brook, pond, lake, swamp, marsh, bog, fen, wet meadow, area subject to storm flowage, or any other standing or flowing body of water, including such watercourses that may be affected by the tides.

Wellhead protection area (WPA) means the critical portion of a three-dimensional zone surrounding a public well or wellfield, through which water will move towards and reach such well or wellfield as designated by the director of RIDEM in the RIDEM Rules and Regulations for Groundwater Quality or as adopted by the town.

(Ord. of 11-4-1996, § 4.0; Ord. of 12-7-2005, § 4; Ord. of 9-17-2008, § 4; Ord. of 12-7-2009, § 4)

refcross

Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.