NR 214.02(3)(b)(b) Animal waste regulated under ch. NR 243, and liquid manure applied in accordance with sound agricultural practices. NR 214.02(3)(f)(f) Mining wastes backfilled or otherwise disposed of in a prospecting excavation or a mine in accordance with a permit issued under ch. NR 131 or 132, or under subch. III of ch. 295, Stats., except runoff, leachate, decantate, or other wastewater collected for disposal on land outside of the permitted prospecting or mining site. NR 214.02(3)(h)(h) Liquid wastes from sweet corn silage stacks which are utilized for direct livestock feeding, have less than 150 tons present on a site at any one time, and are located such that surface water and groundwater pollution does not occur. NR 214.02(3)(i)(i) Sludge from publicly or privately owned wastewater treatment works regulated under ch. NR 204. NR 214.02(3)(j)(j) Sludges which are disposed of in a landfill, a land disposal site or an incinerator licensed and operated in accordance with chs. NR 500 and 518. NR 214.02(3)(k)(k) Uncontaminated lime sludges which are generated by pulp or paper mills or water supply treatment facilities and are exempted from regulation under s. NR 518.04 (3). NR 214.02(3)(L)(L) Wet and semi-liquid wastes disposed of in a site regulated under ch. NR 500 or 518, except runoff, leachate, decantate or other wastewaters collected for disposal on land outside of the regulated disposal site. NR 214.02(3)(m)(m) Wastes from sites and facilities used solely for research purposes under the direction of a Wisconsin registered professional engineer or a scientist employed by a university located within this state provided the following requirements are met: NR 214.02(3)(m)1.1. The net site area, excluding site borders and buffer strips, does not exceed 4 acres; NR 214.02(3)(m)2.2. The available nitrogen, chloride and heavy metal additions averaged over the total plot area may not exceed the rates specified by the department in ch. NR 204 for municipal sewage sludges or those identified in the literature as being toxic to specific plants or plant groups; NR 214.02(3)(m)3.3. The site is developed, operated, monitored and maintained in a safe, nuisance free manner; and NR 214.02(3)(m)4.4. Copies of the research proposal are submitted to the department in advance of initiation of the research and any reports and publications on the research are provided to the department. NR 214.03NR 214.03 Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to terms used in this chapter. Definitions of other terms and meanings of abbreviations are in ch. NR 205. NR 214.03(1)(1) “Alternate concentration limit” means the concentration of a substance in groundwater established for a site by the department to replace a preventive action limit or an enforcement standard, or both from s. NR 140.10 or 140.12, when an exemption is granted in accordance with s. NR 140.28. NR 214.03(2)(2) “ASTM” means the American Society for Testing and Materials. Copies of ASTM standards referenced in this chapter are available for inspection at the offices of the department of natural resources, the secretary of state’s office and the legislative reference bureau. ASTM standards may be obtained from the American Society for Testing and Materials, 1916 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103. NR 214.03(3)(3) “Bedrock” means rock that is exposed at the earth’s surface or underlies soil material and is encountered when weathered in-place consolidated material, larger than 2 mm in size, is greater than 50% by volume. NR 214.03(4)(4) “By-product solids” means waste materials from the animal product or food processing industry including, but not limited to: remains of butchered animals, paunch manure and vegetable waste materials such as leaves, cuttings, peelings and actively fermenting sweet corn silage. NR 214.03(5)(5) “Cation-exchange capacity” means the sum total of exchangeable cations that a soil can absorb, expressed in milliequivalents per 100 grams of oven dry soil. NR 214.03(6)(6) “Community public water supply system” means a water supply system having at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serving at least 25 year-round residents. Any water supply system serving 7 or more homes, 10 or more mobile homes, 10 or more apartment units, or 10 or more condominium units shall be considered a community public water supply system unless information is available to indicate that 25 year-round residents will not be served. NR 214.03(7)(7) “Composting facility” means a facility where organic material is biologically degraded to produce a stabilized end product. NR 214.03(8)(8) “Department”, when used without qualification, means the department of natural resources. NR 214.03(9)(9) “Design management zone” means a 3 dimensional boundary surrounding each regulated facility, practice or activity established under s. NR 140.22 (3). NR 214.03(10)(10) “Detrimental effect” means contamination of the lands or waters of the state, or making the same injurious to public health, harmful for commercial or agricultural use, or deleterious to animal or plant life. NR 214.03(11)(11) “Enforcement standard” or “ES” means a numerical value expressing the concentration of a substance in groundwater which is adopted under ss. 160.07 and 160.09, Stats., and ss. NR 140.10 and 140.12. NR 214.03(13)(13) “Floodplain” means the land which has been or may be covered by flood water during the regional flood as specified under s. NR 116.03 (16). NR 214.03(14)(14) “Floodway” means the portion of a river or stream required to carry the regional flood as specified under s. NR 116.03 (22). NR 214.03(15)(15) “Food-chain crop” means a crop grown for human consumption or pasture, forage and feed grains for animals whose products are consumed by humans. Tobacco is considered a crop grown for human consumption. NR 214.03(16)(16) “Groundwater” means any of the waters of the state, as defined in s. 281.01 (18), Stats., occurring in a saturated subsurface geological formation of rock or soil. NR 214.03(17)(17) “Groundwater monitoring” means measuring the groundwater level and analyzing samples of water taken from the ground. NR 214.03(19)(19) “Hydraulic application rate” means the volume of liquid waste evenly spread over a designated acreage of the land treatment system divided by a period of time as specified in the WPDES permit. The rate is calculated by dividing the volume discharged during the waste loading period by the acreage of land loaded and then dividing by the total time in the load/rest cycle. NR 214.03(21)(21) “Infiltration rate” means the rate of liquid movement through the soil surface into the ground. NR 214.03(22)(22) “Incorporation” means the mixing of a waste with topsoil by injecting, discing, moldboard plowing, chisel plowing or rotary tilling to a minimum depth of 4 inches. NR 214.03(23)(23) “Intensity of application” means the instantaneous rate, reported as inches per hour, at which liquid waste is applied to land. NR 214.03(24)(24) “Land treatment system” means a system that utilizes the physical, chemical and biological abilities of the soil to decompose pollutants in the wastes. Land treatment systems include: NR 214.03(24)(f)(f) Landspreading systems for liquid wastes or organic by-product solids, NR 214.03(24)(h)(h) Any other land area receiving liquid wastes, by-product solids or sludge discharges. NR 214.03(26)(26) “Landspreading system” means a system where a controlled quantity of liquid waste or by-product solid is uniformly applied onto, or incorporated into, the soil surface of designated sites by means of a vehicle with a spreader bar, spray gun or subsurface injector. The wastes are to be applied for the benefit of the vegetative cover. Landspreading systems also include those systems where liquid wastes are occasionally applied through temporary irrigation piping at a frequency similar to that of application by vehicles. NR 214.03(27)(27) “Liquid waste” means process wastewater and waste liquid products, including silage leachate, whey, whey permeate, whey filtrate, contact cooling water, cooling or boiler water containing water treatment additives, and wash water generated in industrial, commercial and agricultural operations which result in a point source discharge to a land treatment system. NR 214.03(28)(28) “Load/rest cycle” means a schedule of operation in which a certain volume of waste is loaded on a portion of the treatment system and then that portion is rested to allow the soil to reaerate and the soil micro-organisms to break down the waste material. NR 214.03(29)(29) “Nested well system” means a group of 2 or more wells installed within 10 feet of each other at the ground surface and constructed to varying depths. NR 214.03(30)(30) “Overland flow system” means a land treatment system in which the applied wastewater flows uniformly down grassy sloped terrain having very low permeability soils and is collected at the bottom of the slope for subsequent discharge. NR 214.03(31)(31) “Permeability” means the rate of liquid movement through a porous medium. NR 214.03(32)(32) “Potable water supply well” means a well supplying water for human consumption, sanitary use or food product preparation. NR 214.03(33)(33) “Preventive action limit” or “PAL” means a numerical value expressing the concentration of a substance in groundwater which is adopted under s. 160.15, Stats., and s. NR 140.10, 140.12 or 140.20. NR 214.03(34)(34) “Sludge” means the accumulated solids generated during the biological, physical or chemical treatment, coagulation or sedimentation of water or wastewater. NR 214.03(35)(35) “Soil” means the unconsolidated material that overlies bedrock and has been physically and chemically derived from organic material or bedrock by nature. NR 214.03(36)(36) “Soil moisture holding capacity” means the volume of water available for plant growth in a unit depth of soil. It is measured by the difference in water volume retained in a unit depth of soil between the pore pressures of field capacity (1/10 to P atmospheres) and the wilting point (15 atmospheres). NR 214.03(37)(37) “Unsaturated zone” means the zone between the land surface and the water table in which the pore spaces contain water at less than atmospheric pressure, as well as air and other gases. NR 214.03(38)(38) “Wetland” as defined in s. 23.32 (1), Stats., means an area where water is at, near or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which has soils indicative of wet conditions. NR 214.03 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, June, 1990, No. 414, eff. 7-1-90; corrections in (2), (9), (16) and (18) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. and 7., Stats., Register July 2010 No. 655; correction in (16) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register July 2021 No. 787. NR 214.04(1)(1) The discharge of toxic or hazardous substances to land treatment systems shall be prohibited unless the owner or operator demonstrates to the department that the discharge of such pollutants will be in such small quantities that no environmental pollution will result and standards established in ch. NR 140 will not be exceeded. The demonstration criteria used shall include, but not be limited to: the toxicity of the pollutant or waste, degradability, the usual or potential presence of the pollutant or waste in the existing environment, site characteristics and other relevant factors. This prohibition applies to sludges which are classified as toxic or hazardous wastes. NR 214.04(2)(2) The discharge of hazardous wastes to land treatment systems is prohibited as specified in s. NR 664.0270. NR 214.04(3)(3) The underground injection of any pollutant through a well is prohibited as specified in s. NR 812.20. NR 214.04(4)(4) Liquid wastes, sludges or by-product solids that contain viable pathogens, such as those from meat or poultry processing, may not be applied on fields used for growing crops that may be consumed raw by humans. NR 214.04 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, June, 1990, No. 414, eff. 7-1-90; correction in (2) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register July 2010 No. 655. NR 214.05NR 214.05 Additional limitations. Discharges of industrial liquid wastes, by-product solids and sludges to land treatment systems shall be operated to prevent detrimental effects on surface waters, wetlands and critical habitat areas. The department may impose additional limitations on land treatment systems as follows: NR 214.05(1)(1) The requirements of this chapter may be supplemented or superseded by standards or prohibitions for toxic or hazardous substances; NR 214.05(2)(2) The requirements of this chapter may be supplemented or superseded by more stringent requirements, including pretreatment requirements, more stringent discharge limitations, and more frequent or stringent effluent or groundwater monitoring requirements, if: NR 214.05(2)(a)(a) There is an increased possibility of surface water or groundwater contamination, due to system location, loading rates, soil types, geologic or other conditions; NR 214.05(2)(b)(b) The wastewaters contain any substance or concentration of substances not normally associated with the type of discharge identified in s. NR 214.02 (1); or NR 214.05 HistoryHistory: Cr. Register, June, 1990, No. 414, eff. 7-1-90. NR 214.06NR 214.06 Exemptions from requirements of this chapter. NR 214.06(1)(1) The department may exempt a land treatment system from specific requirements of this chapter if the owner or operator can demonstrate that the requirement is more stringent than necessary to comply with the provisions of ch. NR 140 and ch. 160, Stats. As required in s. 160.19 (2), Stats., this chapter defines design and management practice criteria for land treatment systems to minimize the level of substances in groundwater to the extent technically and economically feasible and to comply with the groundwater preventive action limits established in ch. NR 140. The concepts of matching the waste loading to the soil conditions, uniform wastewater distribution, a load/rest cycle and nutrient removal by crop uptake are essential in order to minimize the groundwater impacts from waste treatment on land. However, there may be site specific factors that determine how these concepts are best applied to a specific facility. To justify an exemption from a requirement of this chapter, the owner or operator shall demonstrate the following: NR 214.06(1)(a)(a) That site specific factors, such as pollutant-soil interactions, higher than normal crop nutrient uptake or pollutant dilution, dispersion or degradation within the design management zone, justify an exemption from the requirements of this chapter. The influence of site specific factors shall be demonstrated in an evaluation of the waste loading, hydrogeologic conditions, soil type and treatment capabilities of the site to present grounds for an exemption. Soil investigation information such as that specified in s. NR 214.20 may be required as part of the treatment system evaluation; NR 214.06(1)(b)(b) That increases of substances in the groundwater from land treatment on the site will be minimized to the extent technically and economically feasible; and NR 214.06(1)(c)(c) That the applicable groundwater limits will not be exceeded. The following evidence shall be part of the exemption request for each of the following groups of land treatment systems: NR 214.06(1)(c)1.1. Existing systems with groundwater monitoring wells. The owner or operator shall demonstrate compliance with the appropriate groundwater standards in all monitoring wells by presenting groundwater monitoring data from the land treatment system. The department may require installation of and data from additional monitoring wells if the groundwater monitoring well network is believed to not adequately represent the impacts from land treatment of wastes on the site. NR 214.06(1)(c)2.2. Existing systems without groundwater monitoring wells and flows above 15,000 gpd. The department may require the owner or operator of a system which has had a monthly average liquid waste flow to land treatment equal to, or greater than, 15,000 gallons per day (gpd), anytime during the previous year, to demonstrate compliance with the appropriate groundwater standards by installing a department approved monitoring well system. The monitoring well system installation will be required through the modification or reissuance of the discharge permit for the system. NR 214.06(1)(c)3.3. Existing systems without groundwater monitoring wells and flows below 15,000 gpd. The owner or operator of a system which has monthly average liquid waste flows to land treatment of less than 15,000 gpd shall demonstrate that granting the exemption will result in the treatment system having a low potential for exceeding the groundwater standards of ch. NR 140. The department shall require all feasible upgrading and operational improvements that will optimize the performance of the existing land treatment system and minimize groundwater impacts. Such improvements may include, but are not limited to, operational changes, site modifications and minimizing the waste loading. Systems in this size category that the department judges as having a high potential for groundwater contamination will be required to install a groundwater monitoring well system. The department shall consider pollutant loading rates, soil types and system location in assessing the potential for groundwater contamination. NR 214.06(1)(c)4.4. New or expanded land treatment systems. The owner or operator of a new or expanded land treatment system may utilize information from research studies, literature or similar existing land treatment systems in the demonstration for a variance. The department may require the installation of a groundwater monitoring well network to check for groundwater impacts from land treatment on the site. NR 214.06(2)(2) Submitting an exemption request. The owner or operator of a land treatment system shall request an exemption from a requirement of this chapter by submitting facts to the department:
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