COMAR 26.04.02.01. Definitions

ed throughout the county, including towns, municipal corporations, and sanitary districts in the county.

(15) “Deep trench” means a trench having perforated pipe in which the trench side wall and bottom area are used to calculate the absorptive area in the system design. At least 2 inches of gravel/stone covers the pipe and extends throughout the depth of absorptive side wall to the trench bottom.

(16) “Domestic sewage” means the liquid or water carried wastes derived from dwellings, including floating homes, business buildings, institutions, and the like, exclusive of wastes derived from industrial processes.

(17) “Floating home” means any vessel, whether self-propelled or not, which is:

(a) Used, designated, or occupied as a permanent dwelling unit, place of business, or for any private or social club, including a structure constructed upon a barge primarily immobile and out of navigation or any structure which functions substantially as a land structure while the same is moored or docked within Maryland; and

(b) Which has a volume coefficient greater than 3,000 square feet based upon the ratio of the habitable space of a vessel measured in cubic feet and the draft of a vessel measured in feet of depth.

(18) “Fall line” means the contact between the unconsolidated sediments of the coastal plain physiographic province and the crystalline rocks of the Maryland Piedmont physiographic province (see the map of Maryland Physiographic Provinces and Their Divisions in this chapter), and is approximated by the line connecting the numerous waterfalls and rapids in adjacent streams.

(19) “Flood plain soils” are those soils that are listed in the soil survey as either having a flood hazard or being susceptible to flooding.

(20) “Grease intercepter” means a receptacle designed to collect and retain grease and fatty substances normally found in kitchen or similar wastes.

(21) “Ground water” means underground water in a zone of saturation.

(22) “Hazardous substance” means any matter:

f the organic matter by anaerobic bacterial action.

(39) “Sewage” means water-carried human, domestic and other wastes and includes all human and animal excreta.

(40) “Sewage treatment unit” means a device designed and constructed to receive sewage and to provide treatment to reduce organic and inorganic matter and includes septic tanks, BAT, aerobic treatment units, or any other approved devices.

(41) “Sewer” means the system of pipes, lift stations, and other appurtenances that receive and convey sewage and is designed to exclude stormwater, surface water, and ground water.

(42) “Site evaluation” means the inventory and review of all site characteristics pertinent to on-site sewage disposal systems including topography, geology, surface and subsurface drainage, seasonal high water table, drinking water sources and wells, proximity to waters of the State, soil evaluation and percolation tests.

(43) “Soil evaluation” means a description of the physical properties of a soil including color, texture, structure, limiting horizons, and percolation rates.

(44) “Soil survey” means the scientific inventory of soil maps, soil unit descriptions, classification in the national system, and interpretation for use, as conducted by the National Cooperative Soil Survey by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, in cooperation with the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station.

(45) “Spring” means groundwater seeping out of the earth where the water table intersects the ground surface.

(46) “Standard trench” or shallow trench means a trench having either at least 6 inches of gravel or stone beneath and at least 2 inches over the perforated pipe or at least 6 inches air space beneath an open chamber. Only the bottom area is used to calculate the absorptive area in the design of a standard trench.

(47) “Stream” means a perennial or intermittent watercourse of groundwater origin.

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(46) “Standard trench” or shallow trench means a trench having either at least 6 inches of gravel or stone beneath and at least 2 inches over the perforated pipe or at least 6 inches air space beneath an open chamber. Only the bottom area is used to calculate the absorptive area in the design of a standard trench.

(47) “Stream” means a perennial or intermittent watercourse of groundwater origin.

(48) “Subsurface sewage disposal” means the process of on-site sewage disposal in which the sewage effluent is applied to land by distribution beneath the surface through perforated pipes or pressurized pipes and includes a standard trench, deep trench, sand mound or at-grade system.

(49) “Unconfined aquifer” means an aquifer not bounded above by a bed of distinctly lower permeability than that of the aquifer itself and containing ground water under pressure approximately equal to that of the atmosphere. This term is synonymous with the term “water table aquifer”.

(50) “Unconsolidated material” means uncemented soil and sediment material having not more than 70 percent coarse fragments (greater than 2 millimeters) by weight or 50 percent coarse fragments (greater than 2 millimeters) by volume. Volume is estimated by visual comparison with a standard chart.

(51) “Water supply system” means a system that provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances and includes all sources of water that are or may be used as potable water including wells, springs, cisterns, or other sources and their appurtenances, such as, pitless adaptors, pumps, pressure tanks, water lines, and treatment and storage facilities.

(52) “Well” means any hole that extends more than 20’ below the ground surface to explore for ground water, to obtain or monitor ground water, or to inject water into any underground formation from which ground water may be produced or to transfer heat to or from the ground or groundwater.

Cross References 10.15.04.02B(23)