2014 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 48 - Environmental Protection and Conservation
CHAPTER 1 - POLLUTION CONTROL ACT
SECTION 48-1-10. Short title; definitions.

This chapter may be cited as the "Pollution Control Act" and, when used herein, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Person" means any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, copartnership, association, firm, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever;

(2) "Waters" means lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial limits of the State and all other bodies of surface or underground water, natural or artificial, public or private, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, which are wholly or partially within or bordering the State or within its jurisdiction;

(3) "Marine district" means the waters of the Atlantic Ocean within three nautical miles from the coast line and all other tidal waters within the State;

(4) "Sewage" means the water-carried human or animal wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with such ground water infiltration and surface water as may be present and the admixture with sewage of industrial wastes or other wastes shall also be considered "sewage";

(5) "Industrial waste" means any liquid, gaseous, solid or other waste substance or a combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade or business or from the development of any natural resources;

(6) "Other wastes" means garbage, refuse, decayed wood, sawdust, shavings, bark, sand, clay, lime, cinders, ashes, offal, oil, gasoline, other petroleum products or by-products, tar, dye stuffs, acids, chemicals, dead animals, heated substances and all other products, by-products or substances not sewage or industrial waste;

(7) "Pollution" means (1) the presence in the environment of any substance, including, but not limited to, sewage, industrial waste, other waste, air contaminant, or any combination thereof in such quantity and of such characteristics and duration as may cause, or tend to cause the environment of the State to be contaminated, unclean, noxious, odorous, impure or degraded, or which is, or tends to be injurious to human health or welfare; or which damages property, plant, animal or marine life or use of property; or (2) the man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water;

(8) "Standard" or "standards" means such measure of purity or quality for any waters in relation to their reasonable and necessary use as may after hearing be established;

(9) "Department" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control;

(10) "Sewage system" or "sewerage system" means pipelines and conductors, pumping stations, force mains and all other construction, devices and appliances appurtenant thereto used for conducting sewage, industrial waste or other wastes to a point of ultimate discharge;

(11) "Treatment works" means any plant, disposal field, lagoon, constructed drainage ditch or surface water intercepting ditch, incinerator, area devoted to sanitary land fills or other works not specifically mentioned herein, installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of sewage, industrial waste or other wastes;

(12) "Disposal system" means a system for disposing of sewage, industrial waste or other wastes, including sewerage systems and treatment works;

(13) "Outlet" means the terminus of a sewer system or the point of emergence of any water-borne sewage, industrial waste or other wastes, or the effluent therefrom, into the waters of the State;

(14) "Shellfish" means oysters, scallops, clams, mussels and other aquatic mollusks and lobsters, shrimp, crawfish, crabs and other aquatic crustaceans;

(15) "Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere outside of buildings and other enclosures, stacks, or ducts which surrounds human, plant, or animal life, water or property;

(16) "Air contaminant" means particulate matter, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, or vapor, or any combination thereof produced by processes other than natural;

(17) "Source" means any and all points of origin of air contaminants whether privately or publicly owned or operated;

(18) "Undesirable level" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants or any combination thereof in sufficient quantity and of such characteristics and duration as to be injurious to human health or welfare, or to damage plant, animal or marine life, to property or which unreasonably interfere with enjoyment of life or use of property;

(19) "Emission" means a release into the outdoor atmosphere of air contaminants;

(20) "Environment" means the waters, ambient air, soil and/or land;

(21) "Effluent" means the discharge from a waste disposal system;

(22) "Effluent limitations" means restrictions or prohibitions of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents which are discharged from point sources into State waters, including schedules of compliance;

(23) "Point source" means any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including, but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation or vessel, or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 63-195; 1952 Code Section 70-101; 1950 (45) 2153; 1965 (54) 687; 1970 (56) 2512; 1973 (58) 788; 1975 (59) 241.