33 U.S.C. § 1362 — Definitions

Page 583 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 1362 subsection (b), which shall be not more than 6,000 gal- lons and not less than 2,500 gallons, based on a signifi- cant risk of discharge to water. ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 18 months after the date on which the study described in paragraph (1) is complete, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall promulgate a rule to adjust the exemption levels described in para- graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) in accordance with the study.’’ ENVIRONMENTAL COURT FEASIBILITY STUDY Pub. L. 92–500, § 9, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 899, authorized the President, acting through the Attorney General, to study the feasibility of establishing a separate court or court system with jurisdiction over environmental matters and required him to report the results of his study, together with his recommendations, to Congress not later than one year after Oct. 18, 1972. TRANSFER OF PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE OFFICERS Pub. L. 89–234, § 2(b)–(k), Oct. 2, 1965, 79 Stat. 904, 905, authorized the transfer of certain commissioned offi- cers of the Public Health Service to classified positions in the Federal Water Pollution Control Administra- tion, now the Environmental Protection Agency, where such transfer was requested within six months after the establishment of the Administration and made certain administrative provisions relating to pension and re- tirement rights of the transferees, sick leave benefits, group life insurance, and certain other miscellaneous provisions. § 1362. Definitions Except as otherwise specifically provided, when used in this chapter: (1) The term ‘‘State water pollution control agency’’ means the State agency designated by the Governor having responsibility for enforcing State laws relating to the abatement of pollu- tion. (2) The term ‘‘interstate agency’’ means an agency of two or more States established by or pursuant to an agreement or compact approved by the Congress, or any other agency of two or more States, having substantial powers or du- ties pertaining to the control of pollution as de- termined and approved by the Administrator. (3) The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, the Dis- trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. (4) The term ‘‘municipality’’ means a city, town, borough, county, parish, district, associa- tion, or other public body created by or pursu- ant to State law and having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or an Indian tribe or an authorized In- dian tribal organization, or a designated and ap- proved management agency under section 1288 of this title. (5) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, State, municipality, commission, or political subdivi- sion of a State, or any interstate body. (6) The term ‘‘pollutant’’ means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, gar- bage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive mate- rials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. This term does not mean (A) ‘‘sewage from ves- sels or a discharge incidental to the normal op- eration of a vessel of the Armed Forces’’ within the meaning of section 1322 of this title; or (B) water, gas, or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil or gas production and disposed of in a well, if the well used either to facilitate production or for dis- posal purposes is approved by authority of the State in which the well is located, and if such State determines that such injection or disposal will not result in the degradation of ground or surface water resources. (7) The term ‘‘navigable waters’’ means the waters of the United States, including the terri- torial seas. (8) The term ‘‘territorial seas’’ means the belt of the seas measured from the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters, and extending seaward a distance of three miles. (9) The term ‘‘contiguous zone’’ means the en- tire zone established or to be established by the United States under article 24 of the Convention of the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone. (10) The term ‘‘ocean’’ means any portion of the high seas beyond the contiguous zone. (11) The term ‘‘effluent limitation’’ means any restriction established by a State or the Admin- istrator on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other con- stituents which are discharged from point sources into navigable waters, the waters of the contiguous zone, or the ocean, including sched- ules of compliance. (12) The term ‘‘discharge of a pollutant’’ and the term ‘‘discharge of pollutants’’ each means (A) any addition of any pollutant to 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 floating craft. (13) The term ‘‘toxic pollutant’’ means those pollutants, or combinations of pollutants, in- cluding disease-causing agents, which after dis- charge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either di- rectly from the environment or indirectly by in- gestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Administrator, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological mal- functions (including malfunctions in reproduc- tion) or physical deformations, in such orga- nisms or their offspring. (14) The term ‘‘point source’’ means any dis- cernible, confined and discrete conveyance, in- cluding but not limited to any pipe, ditch, chan- nel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, con- tainer, rolling stock, concentrated animal feed- ing operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from ir- rigated agriculture. (15) The term ‘‘biological monitoring’’ shall mean the determination of the effects on aquat- ic life, including accumulation of pollutants in tissue, in receiving waters due to the discharge Page 584 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 1362 of pollutants (A) by techniques and procedures, including sampling of organisms representative of appropriate levels of the food chain appro- priate to the volume and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the effluent, and (B) at appropriate frequencies and locations. (16) The term ‘‘discharge’’ when used without qualification includes a discharge of a pollutant, and a discharge of pollutants. (17) The term ‘‘schedule of compliance’’ means a schedule of remedial measures including an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limita- tion, other limitation, prohibition, or standard. (18) The term ‘‘industrial user’’ means those industries identified in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, Bureau of the Budget, 1967, as amended and supplemented, under the category of ‘‘Division D—Manufacturing’’ and such other classes of significant waste producers as, by regulation, the Administrator deems ap- propriate. (19) The term ‘‘pollution’’ means the man- made or man-induced alteration of the chem- ical, physical, biological, and radiological integ- rity of water. (20) The term ‘‘medical waste’’ means isola- tion wastes; infectious agents; human blood and blood products; pathological wastes; sharps; body parts; contaminated bedding; surgical wastes and potentially contaminated laboratory wastes; dialysis wastes; and such additional medical items as the Administrator shall pre- scribe by regulation. (21) COASTAL RECREATION WATERS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘coastal recre- ation waters’’ means— (i) the Great Lakes; and (ii) marine coastal waters (including coast- al estuaries) that are designated under sec- tion 1313(c) of this title by a State for use for swimming, bathing, surfing, or similar water contact activities. (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘coastal recre- ation waters’’ does not include— (i) inland waters; or (ii) waters upstream of the mouth of a river or stream having an unimpaired nat- ural connection with the open sea. (22) FLOATABLE MATERIAL.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘floatable mate- rial’’ means any foreign matter that may float or remain suspended in the water column. (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘floatable mate- rial’’ includes— (i) plastic; (ii) aluminum cans; (iii) wood products; (iv) bottles; and (v) paper products. (23) PATHOGEN INDICATOR.—The term ‘‘patho- gen indicator’’ means a substance that indicates the potential for human infectious disease. (24) OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUC- TION.—The term ‘‘oil and gas exploration, pro- duction, processing, or treatment operations or transmission facilities’’ means all field activi- ties or operations associated with exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations, or transmission facilities, including activities necessary to prepare a site for drilling and for the movement and placement of drilling equip- ment, whether or not such field activities or op- erations may be considered to be construction activities. (25) RECREATIONAL VESSEL.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘recreational vessel’’ means any vessel that is— (i) manufactured or used primarily for pleasure; or (ii) leased, rented, or chartered to a person for the pleasure of that person. (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘recreational ves- sel’’ does not include a vessel that is subject to Coast Guard inspection and that— (i) is engaged in commercial use; or (ii) carries paying passengers. (26) TREATMENT WORKS.—The term ‘‘treatment works’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- tion 1292 of this title. (27) GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘green infrastructure’’ means the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pave- ment or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters. (June 30, 1948, ch. 758, title V, § 502, as added Pub. L. 92–500, § 2, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 886; amended Pub. L. 95–217, § 33(b), Dec. 27, 1977, 91 Stat. 1577; Pub. L. 100–4, title V, §§ 502(a), 503, Feb. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 75; Pub. L. 100–688, title III, § 3202(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4154; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title III, § 325(c)(3), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 259; Pub. L. 106–284, § 5, Oct. 10, 2000, 114 Stat. 875; Pub. L. 109–58, title III, § 323, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 694; Pub. L. 110–288, § 3, July 29, 2008, 122 Stat. 2650; Pub. L. 113–121, title V, § 5012(b), June 10, 2014, 128 Stat. 1328; Pub. L. 115–436, § 5(a), Jan. 14, 2019, 132 Stat. 5561.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2019—Par. (27). Pub. L. 115–436 added par. (27). 2014—Par. (26). Pub. L. 113–121 added par. (26). 2008—Par. (25). Pub. L. 110–288 added par. (25). 2005—Par. (24). Pub. L. 109–58 added par. (24). 2000—Pars. (21) to (23). Pub. L. 106–284 added pars. (21) to (23). 1996—Par. (6)(A). Pub. L. 104–106 substituted ‘‘ ‘sewage from vessels or a discharge incidental to the normal op- eration of a vessel of the Armed Forces’ ’’ for ‘‘ ‘sewage from vessels’ ’’. 1988—Par. (20). Pub. L. 100–688 added par. (20). 1987—Par. (3). Pub. L. 100–4, § 502(a), inserted ‘‘the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,’’ after ‘‘Samoa,’’. Par. (14). Pub. L. 100–4, § 503, inserted ‘‘agricultural stormwater discharges and’’ after ‘‘does not include’’. 1977—Par. (14). Pub. L. 95–217 inserted provision that ‘‘point source’’ does not include return flows from irri- gated agriculture. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2014 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 113–121 effective Oct. 1, 2014, see section 5012(c) of Pub. L. 113–121, set out as a note under section 1292 of this title. DEFINITION OF ‘‘POINT SOURCE’’ Pub. L. 100–4, title V, § 507, Feb. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 78, provided that: ‘‘For purposes of the Federal Water Pol- Page 585 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 1364 lution Control Act [33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.], the term ‘point source’ includes a landfill leachate collection system.’’ Executive Documents TERMINATION OF TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Is- lands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions. TERRITORIAL SEA AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE OF UNITED STATES For extension of territorial sea and contiguous zone of United States, see Proc. No. 5928 and Proc. No. 7219, respectively, set out as notes under section 1331 of Title 43, Public Lands. § 1363. Water Pollution Control Advisory Board (a) Establishment; composition; terms of office (1) There is hereby established in the Environ- mental Protection Agency a Water Pollution Control Advisory Board, composed of the Ad- ministrator or his designee, who shall be Chair- man, and nine members appointed by the Presi- dent, none of whom shall be Federal officers or employees. The appointed members, having due regard for the purposes of this chapter, shall be selected from among representatives of various State, interstate, and local governmental agen- cies, of public or private interests contributing to, affected by, or concerned with pollution, and of other public and private agencies, organiza- tions, or groups demonstrating an active inter- est in the field of pollution prevention and con- trol, as well as other individuals who are expert in this field. (2)(A) Each member appointed by the Presi- dent shall hold office for a term of three years, except that (i) any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (ii) the terms of office of the members first taking office after June 30, 1956, shall ex- pire as follows: three at the end of one year after such date, three at the end of two years after such date, and three at the end of three years after such date, as designated by the President at the time of appointment, and (iii) the term of any member under the preceding provisions shall be extended until the date on which his successor’s appointment is effective. None of the members appointed by the President shall be eli- gible for reappointment within one year after the end of his preceding term. (B) The members of the Board who are not of- ficers or employees of the United States, while attending conferences or meetings of the Board or while serving at the request of the Adminis- trator, shall be entitled to receive compensation at a rate to be fixed by the Administrator, but not exceeding $100 per diem, including travel- time, and while away from their homes or reg- ular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons in the Government service employed intermit- tently. (b) Functions The Board shall advise, consult with, and make recommendations to the Administrator on matters of policy relating to the activities and functions of the Administrator under this chap- ter. (c) Clerical and technical assistance Such clerical and technical assistance as may be necessary to discharge the duties of the Board shall be provided from the personnel of the Environmental Protection Agency. (June 30, 1948, ch. 758, title V, § 503, as added Pub. L. 92–500, § 2, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 887.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist- ence as authorized by law, referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(B), probably means the allowances authorized by section 5703 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CONTINUATION OF TERM OF OFFICE Pub. L. 87–88, § 6(c), July 20, 1961, 75 Stat. 207, provided that members of the Water Pollution Control Advisory Board holding office immediately preceding July 20, 1961 were to remain in office as members of the Board as established by section 6(a) of Pub. L. 87–88 until the expiration of the terms of office for which they were originally appointed. TERMS OF OFFICE OF MEMBERS OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ADVISORY BOARD Act July 9, 1956, ch. 518, § 3, 70 Stat. 507, provided that the terms of office of members of the Water Pollution Control Advisory Board, holding office on July 9, 1956, were to terminate at the close of business on that date. TERMINATION OF ADVISORY BOARDS Advisory boards in existence on Jan. 5, 1973, to termi- nate not later than the expiration of the 2-year period following Jan. 5, 1973, unless, in the case of a board es- tablished by the President or an officer of the Federal Government, such board is renewed by appropriate ac- tion prior to the expiration of such 2-year period, or in the case of a board established by the Congress, its du- ration is otherwise provided for by law. See sections 1001(2) and 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. § 1364. Emergency powers (a) Emergency powers Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Administrator upon receipt of evi- dence that a pollution source or combination of sources is presenting an imminent and substan- tial endangerment to the health of persons or to the welfare of persons where such endangerment is to the livelihood of such persons, such as in- ability to market shellfish, may bring suit on behalf of the United States in the appropriate district court to immediately restrain any per- son causing or contributing to the alleged pollu- tion to stop the discharge of pollutants causing or contributing to such pollution or to take such other action as may be necessary. (b) Repealed. Pub. L. 96–510, title III, § 304(a), Dec. 11, 1980, 94 Stat. 2809 (June 30, 1948, ch. 758, title V, § 504, as added Pub. L. 92–500, § 2, Oct. 18, 1972, 86 Stat. 888; amended Pub. L. 95–217, § 69, Dec. 27, 1977, 91 Stat. 1607;