Page 71 - Fundamentals of Water Treatment Unit Processes : Physical, Chemical, and Biological

26 Fundamentals of Water Treatment Unit Processes: Physical, Chemical, and Biological

2.2.1 LEGAL DEFINITIONS (17) The term schedule of compliance means a schedule of
remedial measures, including an enforceable sequence of
As a rule, terms used in federal legislation are defined; many actions or operations, leading to compliance with an effluent
have been assimilated in the general lexicon on water quality. limitation, prohibition, or standard.
Several are quoted here for reference.
As defined by PL93-523, the Safe Drinking Water Act of (18) The term industrial user means those industries identified
December 16, 1974, Section 1401, in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, Bureau of the
Budget, 1967, as amended and supplemented, under the cat-
egory ‘Division D—Manufacturing,’ and such other classes of
(3) The term maximum contaminant level (MCL) means the significant waste producers as, by regulation, the administrator
maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water, which deems appropriate.
is delivered to any user of a public water system.
(19) The term pollution means the man-made or man-induced
(6) The term contaminant means any physical, chemical, alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radio-
biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. logical integrity of water.

As defined by PL92-500, the Clean Water Act of October
18, 1972, Section 502, General Definitions, 2.2.2 REGULATIONS
Federal agencies are charged with the responsibility to
implement federal laws. This is done in terms of regulations,
(6) The term pollutant means dredged spoil; solid waste;
incineration residue; sewage; garbage; sewage sludge; muni- which are published in the Federal Register as proposed
tions; chemical wastes; biological materials; radioactive rules,andthenafter sufficient comment period and hearing
materials; heat; wrecked or discarded equipment; rock; sand; if needed, a final rule is published. Finally, the regulation is
cellar dirt; and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste ‘‘codified’’ in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
discharged into water. These regulations are ‘‘regulatory law’’ and have the force
of law. Parties having an interest in the regulations may
(11) The term effluent limitation means any restriction estab- comment and influence the outcome as long as the public
lished by a state or the administrator on quantities, rates, and interest is not compromised. The comments may provide
concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other technical data and knowledge that expands the perspective
constituents that are discharged from point sources into nav- of the agency and provide a forecast of economic impact and
igable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, or the ocean,
other consequences. Other parties may argue for more strin-
including schedules of compliance.
gent regulations giving evidence of toxic effects to humans
and ecological impacts. Finally, the regulations or their
(12) The term discharge of a pollutant and the term discharge interpretation may be challenged in court (the court ruling
of pollutants means (a) any addition of any pollutant to
is ‘‘judicial law’’).
navigable waters from any point source, (b) any addition
of any pollutant to the waters of the contiguous zone or the
ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other
2.2.3 PRIORITY POLLUTANTS
floating craft.
The Priority Pollutant List originated from Section 307 of
(13) The term toxic pollutant means those pollutants or com- PL92-500 (the 1972 Clean Water Act), which required EPA
binations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, to regulate toxic pollutants. The Priority Pollutant List regu-
which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhal- lates the discharge of 126 contaminants listed in Section 40,
ation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from CFR, Part 423, Appendix 2.A. The term ‘‘priority pollutant’’
the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food
comes from a lawsuit in 1976 in which the National Resource
chains, will, on the basis of information available to the
Defense Fund sued EPA in order to force the regulation of
administrator, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities,
specific toxic compounds. A consent decree resulted from the
cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (includ-
suit, which forced EPA to accept an additional 65 compounds.
ing malfunctions in reproduction), or physical deformations in
such organisms or their offspring. The expanded list was incorporated into the 1977 Clean Water
Act Amendments, PL95-217, and has become known as the
Priority Pollutant List. The term ‘‘priority pollutant’’ has
(14) The term point source means any discernible, confined,
become widely used, and so knowledge of its origin helps to
and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe,
ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, con- understand what is meant.
tainer, rolling stock, concentrated animal-feeding operation, One outcome was that EPA set numeric limits for 105
or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or water contaminants required by February 1992, listed as
may be discharged. follows: