§ 34-70. Definitions.

For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:

Board means the Board of Commissioners of Orange County.

Clean wood waste means wood waste from construction and demolition activity that is not treated and free of paint. Clean wood waste does not include non-reusable wood waste as defined in this section.

Collection means the act of removing solid waste (including construction and demolition waste or recyclable materials) from a point of generation to a central storage point or to a disposal site, and from a central storage point processing center to a disposal site.

Condition of the license means any requirement of this article pertaining to the activity of any person licensed under this article to collect or otherwise haul regulated recyclable material within the county, other than a violation of this article set forth in subsection 34-75(h).

Construction and demolition waste means solid waste resulting generally from construction, remodeling, repair, or demolition operations on pavement, buildings, or other structures.

Corrugated cardboard means three-layered cardboard material with a middle, wavy layer. Nonrecyclable cardboard, such as waxed boxes, cardboard adhered to packing material (such as Styrofoam or wooden or plastic supports) and cardboard saturated with motor oil or food waste in its normal use before disposal is excluded from this definition.

Department means the solid waste management department.

Department director means the director of the solid waste management department.

Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping in an open dump, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that the solid waste or any constituent part of the solid waste may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.

Food waste means food that has been prepared for human consumption and was not served or otherwise used for food.

Garbage means all putrescible wastes, including animal offal and carcasses, and recognizable industrial by-products, but excluding sewage and human wastes.

Hazardous waste means solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may (1) cause or significantly contribute to an increase in morality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or (2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.

Industrial solid waste means all waste generated from factories, processing plants and other manufacturing enterprises that is not hazardous waste as defined in this section. Such waste may include, but is not limited to, waste resulting from the following manufacturing processes: Electric power generation; fertilizer/agricultural chemicals; food waste and related products/by-products; inorganic chemicals, iron, and steel manufacturing; leather and leather products; nonferrous metals manufacturing foundries; organic chemicals; plastics and resins manufacturing; pulp and paper industry; rubber and miscellaneous plastic products; stone, glass, clay, and concrete products; textile manufacturing; transportation equipment; and waste treatment. The term does not include mining waste or gas waste.

Inert debris means solid waste which consists solely of material that is virtually inert or that is likely to retain its physical and chemical structure under expected conditions of disposal, including but not limited to brick, block, rock, asphalt, and dirt.

Landfill means a disposal facility or part of a disposal facility where waste is placed in or on land, and that is not a land treatment facility, a surface impoundment, an injection well, a hazardous waste long-term storage facility, or a surface storage facility.

Medical waste means any solid waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals, but does not include any hazardous waste identified or listed pursuant to Chapter 130A, Article 9, of the North Carolina General Statutes, radioactive waste, household waste as defined in 40 C.F.R. § 261.4(b)(1) in effect on 1 July 1989, or those substances excluded from the definition of solid waste in this chapter.

Municipal solid waste means any solid waste resulting from the operation of residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, or institutional establishments that would normally be collected, processed, and disposed of through a public or private solid waste program management service. Municipal solid waste includes construction and demolition waste and inert debris. Municipal solid waste does not include hazardous waste, sludge, industrial waste managed in a solid waste management facility owned and operated by the generator of the industrial waste for management of that waste, or solid waste from mining or agricultural operations.

Nonreusable wood waste means trees cleared from land for any purpose other than sale as a commodity or chipping for use on site or for sale.

Open burning means the combustion of solid waste as a means of disposal of that waste.

Pallet means a portable, wooden platform for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages used in warehouses, factories, retail and wholesale sales locations and vehicles.

Person means a person, group of persons, firm, company, corporation, association, partnership, unit of local government, state agency, federal agency, or other legal entity.

Processing means any technique designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any solid waste so as to render it safe for transport; amenable to recovery, storage, or recycling; safe for deposit; or reduced in volume or concentration.

Project means a planned undertaking of construction, remodeling, deconstruction and demolition.

Putrescible means solid waste capable of being decomposed by microorganisms with sufficient rapidity as to cause nuisances from odors, gases or liquids, such as kitchen wastes, offal and carcasses.

Radioactive waste material means solid waste containing any material, whether solid, liquid, or gas, that emits ionizing radiation spontaneously.

RCRA means the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, Pub. L. 94-580, 90 Stat. 2795, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq. as amended.

Recovered material means a material that has known recycling potential, can be feasibly recycled, and has been diverted or removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, or reuse. In order to qualify as a recovered material, a material must meet the requirements of G.S. § 130-309.05(c).

Recyclable construction and demolition material means clean wood waste and metals (except closed drums and tanks) resulting generally from construction, remodeling, repair, or demolition operations on pavement, buildings, or other structures.

Recyclable material means the term "recyclable material" includes, but is not limited to, recyclable construction and demolition materials, aluminum, drink boxes, corrugated cardboard and Kraft paper, glass bottles and jars, magazines, ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals, motor oil, newspaper, office paper, scrap paper, plastic bottles including milk jugs, soda bottles, steel and tin cans, telephone directories, yard waste, cooking grease, clean wood waste, rubble, food waste when exclusively source-separated for composting, and other materials as may be specified by the board of county commissioners.

Recycling means the process by which solid waste or recovered materials are collected, separated, or processed, and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products.

Regulated recyclable material means the recyclable material as set forth in subsection 34-73(a).

Regulated recyclable material collector means any person who collects regulated recyclable waste.

Sludge means any solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, institutional or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, or any other waste having similar characteristics and effects.

Solid waste means construction and demolition waste; regulated recyclable material; hazardous or nonhazardous garbage; refuse or sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; domestic sewage and sludges generated by the treatment thereof in sanitary sewage collection, treatment, and disposal systems; and any other material that is either discarded or is being accumulated, stored, or treated prior to being discarded, or has served its original intended use and is generally discarded, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, institutional, commercial, and agricultural operations, and from community activities. The term does not include:

(1)

Fecal waste from fowls and animals other than humans.

(2)

Solid or dissolved material in:

a.

Domestic sewage and sludges generated by treatment thereof in sanitary sewage collection, treatment and disposal systems which are designed to discharge effluents to the surface waters.

b.

Irrigation return flows.

c.

Wastewater discharges and the sludges incidental to and generated by treatment which are point sources subject to permits granted under Section 402 of the Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (P.L. 92-500), and permits granted under G.S. § 143-215.1 by the Environmental Management Commission. However, any sludges that meet the criteria for hazardous waste under RCRA shall also be considered a solid waste for the purposes of this article.

(3)

Oils and other liquid hydrocarbons controlled under Article 21A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. However, any oils or other liquid hydrocarbons that meet the criteria for hazardous waste under RCRA shall also be a solid waste for the purposes of this article.

(4)

Any source, special nuclear or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 2011).

(5)

Mining refuse covered by the North Carolina Mining Act, G.S. §§ 74-46 through 74-68 and regulated by the North Carolina Mining Commission (as defined under G.S. § 143B-290). However, any specific mining waste that meets the criteria for hazardous waste under RCRA shall also be a solid waste for the purposes of this article.

(6)

Recovered material.

(7)

Yard waste.

Solid waste facility means any publicly owned solid waste management facility permitted by the State of North Carolina that receives solid waste for processing, treatment, or disposal.

Solid waste disposal site means any place at which solid waste is legally disposed of by any method.

Solid waste management means the purposeful, systematic control of the generation, storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, processing, recycling, recovery and disposal of solid waste.

Storage means the containment of solid waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in a manner which does not constitute disposal.

Structure means any construction, production, or piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts purposefully joined together.

Treatment means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage or reduced in volume. "Treatment" includes any activity or processing designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of hazardous waste so as to render it nonhazardous.

Vehicle means any means by which someone or something is carried or transported.

Yard waste means the term "yard wastes" means those organic materials commonly consisting of leaves, grass, weeds, hedge clippings, yard and garden waste, Christmas trees, pine straw, branches, small logs, twigs, and all vegetative matter resulting from residential landscaping activities.

(Ord. of 12-11-2001, § VIII, eff. 10-1-2002; Amend. of 4-18-2006, eff. 4-18-2006)