§ 6602. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Natural Resources or his or her duly authorized
representative.
(2) “Solid waste” means any discarded garbage; refuse; septage; sludge from a waste treatment
plant, water supply plant, or pollution control facility; and other discarded material,
including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous materials resulting from
industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations and from community activities
but does not include animal manure and absorbent bedding used for soil enrichment;
high carbon bulking agents used in composting; or solid or dissolved materials in
industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permits under the Water Pollution
Control Act, chapter 47 of this title.
(3) “Generator” means any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous waste
or whose act first causes a hazardous waste to become subject to regulation.
(4) “Hazardous waste” means any waste or combination of wastes of a solid, liquid, contained
gaseous, or semi-solid form, including those that are toxic, corrosive, ignitable,
reactive, strong sensitizers, or that generate pressure through decomposition, heat,
or other means, that in the judgment of the Secretary may cause or contribute to an
increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible
illness, taking into account the toxicity of such waste, its persistence and degradability
in nature, and its potential for assimilation, or concentration in tissue, and other
factors that may otherwise cause or contribute to adverse acute or chronic effects
on the health of persons or other living organisms, or any matter that may have an
unusually destructive effect on water quality if discharged to ground or surface waters
of the State. All special nuclear, source, or by-product material, as defined by the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as subsequently amended and codified in 42 U.S.C. § 2014, is specifically excluded from this definition.
(5) “Hazardous waste management” means the systematic and comprehensive management of
the generation; storage; transport; treatment, including recycling and recovery; or
disposal of hazardous waste materials.
(6) “Person” means any individual; partnership; company; corporation; association; unincorporated
association; joint venture; trust; municipality; the State of Vermont or any agency,
department, or subdivision of the State; federal agency; or any other legal or commercial
entity.
(7) “Storage” means the actual or intended containment of wastes, either on a temporary
basis or for a period of years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of
such wastes.
(8) “Transport” or “transportation” means the movement of wastes by air, rail, highway,
or water.
(9) “Treatment” means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed
to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous
or solid waste, so as to neutralize such waste, or so as to recover energy or material
resources from the waste, or so as to render such waste safer for transport, amenable
for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume, or for hazardous wastes,
so as to render such waste nonhazardous.
(10) “Facility” means all contiguous land, structures, other appurtenances, and improvements
on the land, used for treating, storing, or disposing of waste. A facility may consist
of several treatment, storage, or disposal operational units.
(11) “Sanitary landfill” means a land disposal site employing an engineered method of disposing
of solid waste on land in a manner that minimizes environmental hazards by spreading
the solid waste in thin layers, compacting the solid waste to the smallest practical
volume, and applying and compacting cover material at the end of each operating day.
(12) “Disposal” means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, emitting,
or placing of any solid waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that
such solid waste or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment
or be emitted into the air or discharged into any ground or surface waters.
(13) “Waste” means a material that is discarded or is being accumulated, stored, or physically,
chemically, or biologically treated prior to being discarded or has served its original
intended use and is normally discarded or is a manufacturing or mining by-product
and is normally discarded.
(14) “Economic poison” means:
(A) any substance produced, distributed, or used as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant;
and
(B) any substance produced, distributed, or used for preventing, destroying, or repelling
any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life
or viruses, except viruses on or in living human or other animals, which the Commissioner
shall declare to be a pest.
(15) [Repealed.]
(16)(A) “Hazardous material” means all petroleum and toxic, corrosive, or other chemicals
and related sludge included in any of the following:
(i) any substance defined in section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980;
(ii) petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof;
(iii) hazardous wastes, as determined under subdivision (4) of this section; or
(iv) a chemical or substance that, when released, poses a risk to human health or other
living organisms and that is listed by the Secretary by rule.
(B) “Hazardous material” does not include herbicides and pesticides when applied consistent
with good practice conducted in conformity with federal, State, and local laws, rules,
and regulations and according to manufacturer’s instructions. Nothing in this subdivision
shall affect the authority granted and the limitations imposed by section 6608a of this title.
(17) “Release” means any intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the
spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, dumping, or disposing of
hazardous materials into the surface or groundwaters, or onto the lands in the State,
or into waters outside the jurisdiction of the State when damage may result to the
public health, lands, waters, or natural resources within the jurisdiction of the
State. “Release” also means the intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting
in the spilling, leaking, emission, or disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
from building materials in public schools and approved and recognized independent
schools, as those terms are defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11, that were constructed or renovated before 1980.
(18) “Administrative costs” mean those additional costs incurred by an applicant to directly
manage the specific planning or implementation project approved in the assistance
application.
(19) “Implementation plan” means that plan that is adopted to be consistent with the State
solid waste management plan. This plan must include all the elements required for
consistency with the State plan and an applicable regional plan and shall be approved
by the Secretary. This implementation plan is the basis for State certification of
facilities under subsection 6605(c) of this title.
(20) “Regional plan” means that plan that is prepared and adopted in accordance with the
provisions of 24 V.S.A. § 4348.
(21) “Municipal plan” means that plan that is prepared and adopted in accordance with the
provisions of 24 V.S.A. § 4385.
(22) [Repealed.]
(23) “Secured lender” means a person who holds indicia of ownership in a facility, furnished
by the owner or person in lawful possession, primarily to ensure the repayment of
a financial obligation. Such indicia include interests in real or personal property
that are held as security or collateral for repayment of a financial obligation, such
as a mortgage, lien, security interest, assignment, pledge, surety bond, or guarantee,
and include participation rights, held by a financial institution solely for legitimate
commercial purposes, in making or servicing loans. The term “secured lender” includes
a person who acquires indicia of ownership by assignment from another secured lender.
(24) “Municipal solid waste” means combined household, commercial, and industrial waste
materials generated in a given area.
(25) “Compost” means a stable humus-like material produced by the controlled biological
decomposition of organic matter through active management but shall not mean sewage,
septage, or materials derived from sewage or septage.
(26) “Household hazardous waste” means any waste from households that would be subject
to regulation as hazardous wastes if it were not from households.
(27) “Closed-loop recycling” means a system in which a product made from one type of material
is reclaimed and reused in the production process or the manufacturing of a new or
separate product.
(28) “Commercial hauler” means any person that transports:
(A) regulated quantities of hazardous waste; or
(B) solid waste for compensation in a motor vehicle.
(29) “Mandated recyclable” means the following source-separated materials: aluminum and
steel cans, aluminum foil and aluminum pie plates, glass bottles and jars from foods
and beverages, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles or jugs, high density
polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bottles and jugs, corrugated cardboard, white and colored
paper, newspaper, magazines, catalogues, paper mail and envelopes, boxboard, and paper
bags.
(30) “Leaf and yard residual” means source-separated, compostable untreated vegetative
matter, including grass clippings, leaves, kraft paper bags, and brush, that is free
from noncompostable materials. It does not include such materials as pre- and postconsumer
food residuals, food processing residuals, or soiled paper.
(31) “Food residual” means source-separated and uncontaminated material that is derived
from processing or discarding of food and that is recyclable, in a manner consistent
with section 6605k of this title. Food residual may include preconsumer and postconsumer food scraps. “Food residual”
does not mean meat and meat-related products when the food residuals are composted
by a resident on site.
(32) “Source-separated” or “source separation” means the separation of compostable and
recyclable materials from noncompostable, nonrecyclable materials at the point of
generation.
(33) “Wood waste” means trees, untreated wood, and other natural woody debris, including
tree stumps, brush and limbs, root mats, and logs.
(34) “Participation in management” means, for the purpose of subsection 6615(g) of this title, a secured lender’s or fiduciary’s actual participation in the management or operational
affairs of a facility. It does not mean a secured lender’s or fiduciary’s mere capacity
to influence, or unexercised right to control, facility operations. A secured lender
or fiduciary shall be considered to have participated in management if the secured
lender or fiduciary:
(A) exercises decision-making control over environmental compliance related to the facility,
such that the secured lender or fiduciary has undertaken responsibility for hazardous
materials handling or disposal practices related to the facility; or
(B) exercises control at a level comparable to that of a manager of the facility, such
that the secured lender or fiduciary has assumed or manifested responsibility:
(i) for the overall management of the facility encompassing day-to-day decision making
with respect to environmental compliance; or
(ii) over all or substantially all of the operational functions, as distinguished from
financial or administrative functions, of the facility other than the function of
environmental compliance.
(35) “Regional development corporation” means a nonprofit corporation organized in this
State whose principal purpose is to promote, organize, or accomplish economic development,
including providing planning and resource development services to local communities,
supporting existing industry, assisting the growth and development of new and existing
small businesses, and attracting industry or commerce to a particular economic region
of the State.
(36) “Regional planning commission” means a planning commission created for a region established
under 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, subchapter 3.
(37) “Background concentration level” means the concentration level of PAHs, arsenic, or
lead in soils, expressed in units of mass per mass, that is attributable to site contamination
caused by atmospheric deposition or is naturally occurring and determined to be representative
of statewide or regional concentrations through a scientifically valid means as determined
by the Secretary.
(38) “Commencement of construction” means the construction of the first improvement on
the land or to any structure or facility located on the land. “Commencement of construction”
shall not mean soil testing or other work necessary for assessment of the environmental
conditions of the land and subsurface of the land.
(39) “Development soils” means unconsolidated mineral and organic matter overlying bedrock
that contains PAHs, arsenic, or lead in concentrations that:
(A) exceed the relevant soil screening level for residential soil;
(B) when managed in compliance with section 6604c, 6605, or 6605c of this title:
(i) pose no greater risk than the Agency-established soil screening value for the intended
reuse of the property; and
(ii) pose no unreasonable risk to human health through a dermal, inhalation, or ingestion
exposure pathway;
(C) do not leach compounds at concentrations that exceed groundwater enforcement standards;
and
(D) do not result in an exceedance of Vermont groundwater enforcement standards.
(40) “Development soils concentration level” means those levels of PAHs, arsenic, or lead
expressed in units of mass per mass, contained in the development soils.
(41) “Downtown development district” shall have the meaning stated in 24 V.S.A. § 2791(4).
(42) “Growth center” shall have the meaning stated in 24 V.S.A. § 2793c.
(43) “Neighborhood development area” shall have the meaning stated in 24 V.S.A. § 2793e.
(44) “Origin site” means a location where development soils originate.
(45) “PAHs” means polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
(46) “Receiving site” means a location where development soils are deposited.
(47) “Receiving site concentration level” means those levels of PAHs, arsenic, or lead,
expressed in units of mass per mass, that exist in soils at a receiving site.
(48) “TIF district” means a Tax Increment Financing District created by a municipality
pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 1892.
(49) “Village center” shall have the meaning stated in 24 V.S.A. § 2791(10). (Added 1977, No. 106, § 1; amended 1979, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 6, 1980; 1981, No. 102, § 2; 1983, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1985, No. 70, § 3, eff. May 20, 1985; 1985, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1987, No. 76, § 18; 1989, No. 30, § 1, eff. April 27, 1989; 1989, No. 281 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 22, 1990; 1989, No. 282 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. June 22, 1990; 1993, No. 29, § 2, eff. May 26, 1993; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 60, eff. Jan. 31, 2005; 2005, No. 65, § 2; 2007, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 9, eff. May 12, 2008; 2009, No. 41, § 1; 2009, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § F10; 2011, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2013, No. 55, § 11; 2015, No. 52, § 2, eff. June 5, 2015; 2017, No. 55, §§ 3, 4, eff. June 2, 2017; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 46; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 2021, No. 74, § E.709.3; 2021, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § E.709.1, eff. July 1, 2021; 2021, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 81, eff. July 1, 2023.)