Title: Unit 2 Glossary
Course: BLD 167 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response > Section: BLD 167 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response

Unit 2 Glossary

Terms

Term | Definitions
Apportioned population | In the evaluation of drinking water target populations associated with a blended system, that portion of the population evaluated as being served by an individual well or intake within the system.
Aquifer | A saturated subsurface zone from which drinking water is drawn.
Blended system | A drinking water supply system which can or does combine (e.g., via connecting valves) water from more than one well or surface water intake, or from a combination of wells and intakes.
CERCLA | Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.
CERCLA Information System | CERCLIS, EPA's computerized inventory and tracking system for potential hazardous waste sites.
CERCLIS | CERCLA Information System.
Coastal tidal waters | Surface water body type that includes embayments, harbors, sounds, estuaries, back bays, etc. Such water bodies are in the interval seaward from the mouths of rivers and landward from the 12-mile ...
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 | Legislation that established the Federal Superfund for response to uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances to the environment.
Contaminated soil | Soil onto which available evidence indicates that a hazardous substance was spilled, spread, disposed, or deposited.
Depth to aquifer | The vertical distance between the deepest point at which hazardous substances are suspected and the top of the shallowest aquifer that supplies drinking water.
Distance to surface water | The shortest distance that runoff would follow from a source to surface water.
Drinking water population | The number of residents, workers, and students who drink water drawn from wells or surface water intakes located within target distance limits.
Drums | Portable containers designed to hold a standard 55-gallon volume of wastes.
Emergency remonse | See "removal.”
Factor | The basic element of site assessment requiring data collection and evaluation for scoring purposes.
Factor category | A set of related factors. Each pathway consists of three factor categories --likelihood of release or exposure, targets, and waste characteristics.
Federal Register | Daily publication of the Government Printing Office; contains public notices, rules, and regulations issued by the Federal Government.
FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Fishery | An area of a surface water body from which food chain organisms are taken or could be taken for human consumption on a subsistence, sporting, or commercial basis. Food chain organisms include fish ...
FR | Federal Register
GEMS | Geographical Exposure Modeling Systems or Green Environmental Management System for RCRA management, substitution of less harmful, new safer technologies and waste reduction.
Geographical Exposure Modeling System | Population database maintained by EPA's Office of Toxic Substances; provides residential populations in specified distance rings around a point location.
Hazard Ranking System | EPA's principal mechanism for placing sites on the NPL.
Hazardous constituent | Hazardous substance.
Hazardous substance | Material defined as a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant in CERCLA Sections 101(14) and 101(33).
Hazardous waste | Any material suspected to contain a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant that is or was in a source.
HRS | Hazard Ranking System.
Karst | A kind of terrain with characteristics of relief and drainage arising from a high degree of rock solubility. Characterized by sinks, ravines, and underground streams. The majority of karst conditi ...
Lake | A type of surface water body which includes: Natural and artificially-made lakes or ponds that lie along rivers or streams (but excluding the Great Lakes); Isolated but perennial lakes, ponds, a ...
Land treatment | Landfarming or other land treatment method of waste management in which liquid wastes or sludges are spread over land and tilled, or liquids are injected at shallow depths into soils.
Landfill | An engineered (by excavation or construction) or natural hole in the ground into which wastes have been disposed by backfilling, or by contemporaneous soil deposition with waste disposal, covering ...
National Contingency Plan | Regulation that establishes roles, responsibilities, and authorities for responding to hazardous substance releases. The NCP established the HRS as the principal mechanism for placing sites on the ...
National Priorities List | Under the Superfund program, the list of releases and potential releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants that appear to pose the greatest threat to public health, welfare, an ...
NCP | National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, commonly known as the National Contingency Plan.
NFRAP | No further remedial action planned; site disposition decision that further response under the Federal Superfund is not necessary.
No suspected release | A professional judgment conclusion based on site and pathway conditions indicating that a hazardous substance is not likely to have been released to the environment. (No suspected release is the P ...
NPL | National Priorities List
Ocean | A type of surface water body which includes: Ocean areas seaward from a baseline distance of 12 miles from shore. (The Great Lakes, along with wetlands contiguous to them).
OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Act
PA | Preliminary assessment.
PA-Score | EPA's computer program that automates PA site scoring.
Pathway | The environmental medium through which a hazardous substance may threaten targets. The PA evaluates the migration and threat potential through the ground water, surface water, air, and soil exposu ...
Pile | Any non-containerized accumulation above the ground surface of solid, non-flowing wastes; includes open dumps. Some types of piles are: Chemical Waste Pile --consists primarily of discarded chemic ...
PPE | Probable point of entry.
Preliminary assessment | Initial stage of site assessment under Superfund; designed to distinguish between sites that pose little or no threat to human health and the environment and sites that require further investigati ...
PREscore | EPA's computer program that automates site scoring with the Hazard Ranking System.
Primary target | A target which, based on professional judgment of site and pathway conditions and target characteristics, has a relatively high likelihood of exposure to a hazardous substance. (Primary target is ...
Probable point of entry | The point at which runoff from the site most likely enters surface water.
RCRA | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. A key concept is that the Generator is responsible for regulated hazardous waste from "The cradle to the grave" until it is totally destroyed or rec ...
Regulation | For purposes of HAZWOPER training or required by laws, it includes all the OSHAct standards and any other of the local, state, or federal regulations particularly those promulgated by the Legislat ...
Removal | An action taken to eliminate, control, or otherwise mitigate a threat posed to the public health or environment due to release or threatened release of a hazardous substance. Removals are relative ...
Resident | A person whose place of residence (full- or part-time) is within the target distance limit.
Resident individual | Under the soil exposure pathway, a resident or student within 200 feet of any area of suspected contamination associated with the site.
Resident population | Under the soil exposure pathway, the number of residents and students within 200 feet of any area of suspected contamination associated with the site.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 | Legislation that established cradle-to-grave accountability for hazardous wastes, from point of generation to point of ultimate disposal.
SARA | Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.
Secondary target | A target which, based on professional judgment of site and pathway conditions and target characteristics, has a relatively low likelihood of exposure to a hazardous substance. (Secondary target is ...
Sensitive environment | A terrestrial or aquatic resource, fragile natural setting, or other area with unique or highly-valued environmental or cultural features.
SI | Site inspection.
Site | The area consisting of the aggregation of sources, the areas between sources, and areas that may have been contaminated due to migration from sources; site boundaries are independent of property b ...
Site inspection | Second stage of site assessment under Superfund, conducted on sites that receive a further action recommendation after the PA; builds on PA information and typically includes sampling to identify ...
Source | An area where a hazardous substance may have been deposited, stored, disposed, or placed. Also, soil that may have become contaminated as a result of hazardous substance migration. In general, how ...
Stream flow | The average rate of flow of a water body, expressed in cubic feet per second (cfs).
Stream or river | A type of surface water body which includes: Perennially-flowing waters from point of origin to the ocean or to coastal tidal waters, whichever comes first, and wetlands contiguous to these flowin ...
Student | A full- or part-time attendee of a daycare facility or educational institution located within the target distance limit.
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 | Legislation which extended the Federal Superfund program and mandated revisions to the HRS.
Surface impoundment | A topographic depression, excavation, or diked area, primarily formed from earthen materials (lined or unlined) and designed to hold accumulated liquid wastes, wastes containing free liquids, or s ...
Surface water | A naturally-occurring, perennial water body; also, some artificially-made and/or intermittently-flowing water bodies. See "water body type" and subsequent definitions for more detail.
Suspected release | A professional judgement conclusion based on site and pathway conditions indicating that a hazardous substance is likely to have been released to the environment. (Suspected release is the PA term ...
Tanks and non-drum containers | Any stationary device, designed to contain accumulated wastes, constructed primarily of fabricated materials (such as wood, concrete, steel, or plastic) that provide structural support; any portab ...
Target | A physical or environmental receptor that is within the target distance limit for a particular pathway. Targets may include wells and surface water intakes supplying drinking water, fisheries, sen ...
Target distance limit | The maximum distance over which targets are evaluated. The target distance limit varies by pathway: ground water and air pathways -- a 4-mile radius around the site; surface water pathway -- 15 mi ...
Target population | The human population associated with the site and/or its targets. Target populations consist of those people who use target wells or surface water intakes supplying drinking water, consume food ch ...
Terrestrial sensitive environment | A terrestrial resource, fragile natural setting, or other area with unique or highly-valued environmental or cultural features.
USF&WS | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
USGS | U.S. Geological Survey.
Water body type | Classification of a surface water body. Water body types include: streams and rivers; lakes; oceans (includes the Great Lakes); and coastal tidal waters. See the specific definition of each water ...
Wetland | A type of sensitive environment characterized as an area that is sufficiently inundated or saturated by surface or ground water to support vegetation adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. ...
Worker | Under the soil exposure pathway, a person who is employed on a full- or part-time basis on the property on which the site is located. Under all other pathways, a person whose place of full- or par ...