As used in this article 15, unless the context
otherwise requires:
(1) Commission means the solid and hazardous waste commission created
in part 3 of this article.
(2) Department means the department of public health and environment
created by section 25-1-102.
(3) Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling,
leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such
hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be
emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.
(4) Domestic sewage means untreated sanitary wastes that pass through a
sewer system.
(4.3) Environmental covenant means an instrument containing
environmental use restrictions created pursuant to section 25-15-321.
(4.5) Environmental remediation project means closure of a hazardous
waste management unit or solid waste disposal site or any remediation of
environmental contamination, including determinations to rely solely or partially on
environmental use restrictions to protect human health and the environment but
excluding interim measures that are not intended as the final remedial action, that
is conducted under any of the following:
(a) Subchapter III or IX of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. secs. 6921 to 6939e and 6991 to 6991i, as amended;
(b) Section 7002 or 7003 of the federal Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. secs. 6972 and 6973, as amended;
(c) The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. sec. 9601 et seq., as amended;
(d) The federal Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978, 42
U.S.C. sec. 7901 et seq., as amended;
(e) Part 1 of article 11 of this title, including any decommissioning of sites
licensed under that part;
(f) Part 3 of article 11 of this title;
(g) Part 3 of article 15 of this title; and
(h) Article 20 of title 30, C.R.S.
(4.7) Environmental use restriction means a prohibition of one or more uses
of or activities on specified real property, including drilling for or pumping
groundwater; a requirement to perform certain acts, including requirements for
maintenance, operation, or monitoring necessary to preserve such prohibition of
uses or activities; or both, where such prohibitions or requirements are relied upon
in the remedial decision for an environmental remediation project for the purpose of
protecting human health or the environment.
(5) Federal act means the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended
by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, 42
U.S.C. sec. 6901 et seq.
(5.5) Hazardous substance means any substance that is defined as a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant under the federal Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. sec.
9601 et seq., as amended, or its implementing regulations.
(6) (a) Hazardous waste means any material, alone or mixed with other
materials, which has no commercial use or value, or which is discarded or is to be
discarded by the possessor thereof, either of which because its quantity,
concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics may:
(I) Cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an
increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or
(II) Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the
environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or
otherwise managed.
(b) Hazardous waste does not include:
(I) Solid or dissolved material in discharges which are point sources subject
to permits under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as
amended;
(II) Source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the federal
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended;
(III) (A) Agricultural, horticultural, or floricultural waste from the raising of
crops or animals, including animal manures, that are returned to the soil as
fertilizers or soil conditioners.
(B) Nothing in sub-subparagraph (A) of this subparagraph (III), as amended
by House Bill 05-1180, as enacted at the first regular session of the sixty-fifth
general assembly, shall be construed as changing the property tax classification of
property owned by a horticultural or floricultural operation.
(IV) Solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage;
(V) Irrigation return flows;
(VI) Inert materials deposited for construction fill or topsoil placement in
connection with actual or contemplated construction at such location or for
changes in land contour for agricultural and mining purposes, if such depositing
does not fall within the definition of treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous
waste;
(VII) Any waste or other materials exempted or otherwise not regulated as a
hazardous waste under the federal act, except as provided in section 25-15-302 (4);
(VIII) Indigenous waste from prospecting and mining operations which is
disposed of in accordance with the requirements of an approved reclamation plan
contained in a permit issued pursuant to article 32 of title 34, C.R.S., or article 33 of
title 34, C.R.S.;
(IX) Waste from oil and gas operations, as defined in section 34-60-103, or
from deep geothermal operations, as defined in section 37-90.5-103 (3), including,
but not limited to, drilling fluids, produced water, and other wastes associated with
the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal
resources, that is disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the energy
and carbon management commission pursuant to article 90.5 of title 37 and article
60 of title 34, as applicable; and
(X) Exploration and production waste, as defined in section 34-60-103.
(c) Any material which would be hazardous waste subject to the provisions of
this article except for the fact that it has commercial use or value may be subject to
regulations promulgated by the commission when it is transported or stored prior to
reuse.
(7) Hazardous waste generation means the act or process of producing
hazardous waste.
(8) Hazardous waste management means the systematic control of the
collection, source separation, storage, transportation, treatment, recovery, and
disposal of hazardous waste.
(9) Inert material means non-water-soluble and nondecomposable inert
solids together with such minor amounts and types of other materials as will not
significantly affect the inert nature of such solids according to rules and
regulations of the commission. The term includes but is not limited to earth, sand,
gravel, rock, concrete which has been in a hardened state for at least sixty days,
masonry, asphalt paving fragments, and other non-water-soluble and
nondecomposable inert solids including those the commission may identify by
regulation.
(10) Manifest means the document used for identifying the quantity,
composition, origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its
transportation from the point of generation to the point of storage, treatment, or
disposal.
(10.5) Notice of environmental use restrictions or restrictive notice means
an instrument containing environmental use restrictions created pursuant to
section 25-15-321.5.
(11) Operation, when used in connection with hazardous waste
management, means the use of procedures, equipment, personnel, and other
resources to provide hazardous waste management.
(12) Operator means the person operating a hazardous waste management
facility or site either by contract or permit.
(12.5) Owner, as used in sections 25-15-317 to 25-15-326, means the record
owner of real property and, if any, any other person or entity otherwise legally
authorized to make decisions regarding the transfer of the subject property or
placement of encumbrances on the subject property, other than by the exercise of
eminent domain.
(13) Person means any individual, public or private corporation, partnership,
association, firm, trust or estate; the state or any executive department, institution,
or agency thereof; any municipal corporation, county, city and county, or other
political subdivision of the state; or any other legal entity whatsoever which is
recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
(13.5) Remedial decision means the administrative determination by the
department, the United States environmental protection agency, or other
appropriate government entity under the laws cited in subsection (4.5) of this
section, that establishes the remedial requirements for the environmental
remediation project.
(14) Resource recovery, when used in connection with hazardous waste,
means the operation of preparing and treating any such material or portion thereof
for recycling or reuse or the recovery of material or energy.
(15) Storage, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means the
containment of hazardous waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of
years, in such a manner as not to constitute disposal of hazardous waste. The term
storage does not apply to any hazardous waste generation if such waste is
retained on the site by the generator in quantities or for time periods exempted by
rules and regulations promulgated by the commission.
(16) Transportation, when used in connection with hazardous waste, means
the off-site movement of hazardous waste to any intermediate point or any point of
storage, treatment, or disposal.
(17) Treatment, when used in connection with an operation involved in
hazardous waste management, means any method, technique, or process, including
neutralization or incineration, designed to change the physical, chemical, or
biological character or composition of a hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such
waste or to render such waste less hazardous, safer for transport, amenable for
recovery or reuse, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume.
(18) Treatment, storage, or disposal site or facility means a location at
which hazardous waste is subjected to treatment, storage, or disposal and may
include a facility where hazardous waste is generated.