§ 2-2A-2 — Definitions.

As used in the Oklahoma Agriculture Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act: 1. “Administrative hearing”, “administrative permit hearing”, “enforcement hearing” and “administrative enforcement hearing” mean a quasi-judicial individual proceeding, held by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, when authorized by the provisions of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code, and conducted pursuant to: a. the Administrative Procedures Act, b. the Oklahoma Agricultural Code, and c. rules promulgated thereunder; 2. “Administrative Procedures Act” means the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act; 3. “Director” means the individual appointed by the Commissioner to perform the duties identified in Section 6 of this act; 4. “Discharge” includes, but is not limited to, a discharge of a pollutant or pollutants and means any addition of any pollutant to waters of the state from any point or nonpoint source regulated by the Department within its areas of environmental jurisdiction; 5. “Disposal system” means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations and force mains, and all other devices, construction, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting, conducting, or disposing of wastewater and treatment systems; 6. “Effluent limitation” means any established restriction imposed by the Department on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents that are discharged from point sources into waters of the state and includes schedules of compliance; 7. “Environment” includes the air, land, wildlife, and waters of the state; 8. “Formal public meeting” means a formal public forum, held by the Department when authorized by the provisions of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code, and conducted by a presiding officer pursuant to the requirements of the Oklahoma Agricultural Code and rules promulgated thereunder, at which an opportunity is provided for the presentation of oral comments made and written views submitted within reasonable time limits as determined by the presiding officer. Public meeting shall mean a “public hearing” when held pursuant to requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Oklahoma Agriculture Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act. A public meeting shall not be a quasi-judicial proceeding; 9. “Nonpoint source” means the contamination of the environment with a pollutant for which the specific point of origin may not be well-defined and includes, but is not limited to, agricultural storm water runoff and return flows from irrigated agriculture; 10. “Point source” means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance including, but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, or concentrated animal feeding operation, from which pollutants or wastes are or may be discharged and which is within the Department’s environmental jurisdiction. The term “point source” shall not include agricultural storm water discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture; 11. “Pollutant” means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into waters of the state; 12. “Pollution” means the presence or the release in the environment of any substance, contaminant or pollutant, any other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of the environment, the release of any liquid, gaseous or solid substance into the environment: a. in quantities which are or will likely create a nuisance, or b. in quantities which render or will likely render the environment harmful, detrimental, or injurious to 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, or to property; 13. “Schedule of compliance” means a schedule of remedial measures including, but not limited to, an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limitation, other limitation, prohibition, or standard; 14. “Serious bodily injury” means bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; 15. “Storm water” means rainwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage; 16. “Treatment works” means any facility within the Department’s jurisdictional areas of environmental responsibility, as specified in Section 1-3-101 of Title 27A of the Oklahoma Statutes used for the purpose of treating or stabilizing waste or waste water that does not discharge directly to a publicly owned treatment works; and 17. “Waters of the state” means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, storm sewers and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon this state or any portion thereof, and shall include under all circumstances the waters of the United States which are contained within the boundaries of, flow through or border upon this state or any portion thereof. Provided, waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds and lagoons designed to meet federal and state requirements other than cooling ponds as defined in the federal Clean Water Act or promulgated rules, are not waters of the state.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 2005, c. 292, § 3, eff. July 1, 2005.