PDFWAC 173-180-025
Definitions.
(1) "American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity" is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water.
(2) "Best achievable protection" means the highest level of protection that can be achieved through the use of the best achievable technology and those staffing levels, training procedures, and operational methods that provide the greatest degree of protection available. Ecology's determination of best achievable protection must be guided by the critical need to protect the state's natural resources and waters, while considering:
(a) The additional protection provided by the measures;
(b) The technological achievability of the measures; and
(c) The cost of the measures.
(3) "Best achievable technology" means the technology that provides the greatest degree of protection. Ecology's determination of best achievable technology will take into consideration:
(a) Processes that are being developed, or could feasibly be developed, given overall reasonable expenditures on research and development;
(b) Processes that are currently in use; and
(c) In determining what is best achievable technology, ecology must consider the effectiveness, engineering feasibility, and commercial availability of the technology.
(4) "Boom" means flotation boom or other effective barrier containment material suitable for containment, protection, or recovery of oil that is discharged onto the surface of the water. Boom will be classified using criteria found in the ASTM International F 1523-94 (2018) and ASTM International ASTM F625/F625M-94 (2022), and the Resource Typing Guidelines found in the Worldwide Response Resource List (WRRL) user manual.
(5) "Bulk" means material that is stored or transported in a loose, unpackaged liquid, powder, or granular form capable of being conveyed by a pipe, bucket, chute, or belt system.
(6) "Cargo vessel" means a self-propelled ship in commerce, other than a tank vessel or a passenger vessel, 300 or more gross tons, including but not limited to, commercial fish processing vessels and freighters.
(7) "Certification" means the documentation that a facility employee has met all requirements of an oil transfer training and certification program that meets the requirements of this chapter.
(8) "Class 1 facility" means a facility as defined in RCW 90.56.010 as:
(a) Any structure, group of structures, equipment, pipeline, or device, other than a vessel, located on or near the navigable waters of the state that transfers oil in bulk to or from a tank vessel or pipeline, that is used for producing, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or transporting oil in bulk.
(b) For the purposes of oil spill contingency planning in RCW 90.56.210, facility also means a railroad that is not owned by the state that transports oil as bulk cargo.
(c) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a facility does not include any:
(i) Railroad car, motor vehicle, or other rolling stock while transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of this state;
(ii) Underground storage tank regulated by ecology or a local government under chapter 70A.355 RCW;
(iii) Motor vehicle motor fuel outlet;
(iv) Facility that is operated as part of an exempt agricultural activity as provided in RCW 82.04.330; or
(v) Marine fuel outlet that does not dispense more than 3,000 gallons of fuel to a ship that is not a covered vessel, in a single transaction.
(9) "Class 2 facility" means a railroad car, motor vehicle, portable device or other rolling stock, while not transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of the state, used to transfer oil to a nonrecreational vessel.
(10) "Class 3 facility" means a structure that:
(a) Transfers oil to a nonrecreational vessel with a capacity of 10,500 or more gallons of oil whether the vessel's oil capacity is used for fuel, lubrication oil, bilge waste, or slops or other waste oils;
(b) Does not transfer oil in bulk to or from a tank vessel or pipeline; and
(c) Does not include any: Boatyard, railroad car, motor vehicle, or other rolling stock while transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of this state; underground storage tank regulated by ecology or a local government under chapter 70A.355 RCW; or a motor vehicle motor fuel outlet; or a facility that is operated as part of an exempt agricultural activity as provided in RCW 82.04.330.
(11) "Class 4 facility" means a structure that:
(a) Is a marina, boatyard, marine fueling outlet, and other fueling installation that transfers to a nonrecreational vessel with a capacity to hold less than 10,500 gallons of oil whether the vessel's oil capacity is used for fuel, lubrication oil, bilge waste, or slops or other waste oil;
(b) Does not transfer oil in bulk to or from a tank vessel or pipeline; and
(c) Does not include any: Railroad car, motor vehicle, or other rolling stock while transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of this state; underground storage tank regulated by ecology or a local government under chapter 70A.355 RCW; or a motor vehicle motor fuel outlet; or a facility that is operated as part of an exempt agricultural activity as provided in RCW 82.04.330.
(12) "Covered vessel" means a tank vessel, cargo vessel, or passenger vessel.
(13) "Crude oil" means any naturally occurring hydrocarbons coming from the earth that are liquid at 25 degrees Celsius and one atmosphere of pressure including, but not limited to, crude oil, bitumen and diluted bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and natural gas well condensate.
(14) "Decommission" means to take specific actions to prevent spills from out of service storage tanks and transfer pipelines.
(15) "Demise charter" means the owner gives possession of the vessel to the charterer and the charterer hires its own captain and crew.
(16) "Directly impact" means without treatment.
(17) "Discharge" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping.
(18) "Ecology" means the state of Washington department of ecology.
(19) "Gross tons" means a vessel's approximate volume as defined under 46 C.F.R. Part 69.
(20) "Innage" means the difference from the surface of the liquid to the tank bottom.
(21) "Navigable waters of the state" means those waters of the state, and their adjoining shorelines, that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently used, have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce.
(22) "Nonrecreational vessel" means any vessel that is not a recreational vessel as defined in this section.
(23) "Offshore facility" means any class facility, as defined in this section, located in, on, or under any of the navigable waters of the state, but does not include a facility, any part of which is located in, on, or under any land of the state, other than submerged land.
(24) "Oil" or "oils" means oil of any kind that is liquid at 25 degrees Celsius and one atmosphere of pressure and any fractionation thereof including, but not limited to, crude oil, bitumen, synthetic crude oil, natural gas well condensate, petroleum, gasoline, fuel oil, diesel oil, biological oils and blends, oil sludge, oil refuse, and oil mixed with wastes other than dredged spoil. Oil does not include any substance listed in Table 302.4 of 40 C.F.R. Part 302 adopted August 14, 1989, under section 102(a) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by P.L. 99-499.
(25) "Onshore facility" means any class facility, as defined in this section, any part of which is located in, on, or under any land of the state, other than submerged land, that because of its location, could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging oil into or on the navigable waters of the state or the adjoining shorelines.
(26) "Owner" or "operator" means:
(a) In the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or chartering by demise, the vessel;
(b) In the case of an onshore or offshore facility, any person owning or operating the facility;
(c) In the case of an abandoned vessel or onshore or offshore facility, the person who owned or operated the vessel or facility immediately before its abandonment; and
(d) "Operator" does not include any person who owns the land underlying a facility if the person is not involved in the operations of the facility.
(27) "Out of service" means:
(a) For storage tanks, no oil has been added to or removed from the storage tank in one year or more;
(b) For transfer pipelines, no oil has been transferred through the transfer pipeline in one year or more.
(28) "Passenger vessel" means a ship of 300 or more gross tons with a fuel capacity of at least 6,000 gallons carrying passengers for compensation.
(29) "Permeability" means the intrinsic permeability, (k), which is a measure of the ability of a porous material or soil to allow fluids to pass through it, in square feet.
(30) "Person" means any political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, copartnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity whatsoever.
(31) "Person in charge (PIC)" means a person qualified and designated as required under 33 C.F.R. Part 155 for vessels, 33 C.F.R. Part 154 for Class 1, 2, or 3 facilities, or if not designated, the person with overall responsibility for oil transfer operations.
(32) "Personnel" means individuals employed by, or under contract with a facility or vessel.
(33) "Primary response contractor (PRC)" means a response contractor that has been approved by ecology and is directly responsible to a contingency plan holder, either by a contract or other approved written agreement.
(34) "Process piping" means piping used to carry oil within the oil refining/processing units of a Class 1 facility, process unit to tankage piping, and tankage interconnecting piping (tank to tank). Process piping does not include transfer pipelines used to transport oil to or from a tank vessel or transmission pipeline.
(35) "Qualified individual (QI)" means a person who meets the requirements under 33 C.F.R. Part 154.1026.
(36) "Recreational vessel" means a vessel owned and operated only for pleasure with no monetary gain involved, and if leased, rented, or chartered to another for recreational use, is not used for monetary gain. This definition applies to vessels such as house boats, ski boats, and other small craft on a rental or lease agreement.
(37) "Secondary containment" means containment systems, which prevent the discharge of oil from reaching the waters of the state.
(38) "Ship" means any boat, ship, vessel, barge, or other floating craft of any kind.
(39) "Spill" means an unauthorized discharge of oil into the waters of the state.
(40) "State" means the state of Washington.
(41) "Storage tank" means all aboveground containers connected to transfer pipelines or any aboveground containers greater than 10,000 gallons (238 barrels), including storage and surge tanks, used to store bulk quantities of oil. Storage tanks do not include those tanks regulated by chapter 70A.355 RCW, rolling stock, wastewater treatment equipment, process pressurized vessels or other tanks used in the process flow through portions of the facility.
(42) "Tank vessel" means a ship that is constructed or adapted to carry, or that carries, oil in bulk as cargo or cargo residue, and that:
(a) Operates on the waters of the state; or
(b) Transfers oil in a port or place subject to the jurisdiction of this state.
(43) "Transfer" means any movement of oil in bulk to or from a nonrecreational vessel or transmission pipeline.
(44) "Transfer pipeline" is a buried or aboveground pipeline used to carry oil to or from a tank vessel or transmission pipeline, or to a vessel and the first valve inside secondary containment at the facility provided that any discharge on the facility side of that first valve will not directly impact waters of the state. A transfer pipeline includes valves, and other appurtenances connected to the pipeline, pumping units, and fabricated assemblies associated with pumping units. A transfer pipeline does not include process piping, pipelines carrying ballast or bilge water, transmission pipelines, tank vessel, or storage tanks. Instances where the transfer pipeline is not well defined will be determined on a case-by-case basis by ecology.
(45) "Transmission pipeline" means all parts of a pipeline whether interstate or intrastate, through which oil moves in transportation, including mainline, laterals, valves, and other appurtenances such as pumping units, and fabricated assemblies associated with pumping units metering and delivery stations and fabricated assemblies therein, and breakout tanks.
(46) "Topping off" means the receipt of oil into the last 10 percent of available tank capacity in any tank.
(47) "Ullage" means the depth of space above the free surface of the liquid to the reference datum of that tank.
(48) "Waters of the state" include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, inland waters, underground water, salt waters, estuaries, tidal flats, beaches and lands adjoining the seacoast of the state, sewers, and all other surface waters and watercourses within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington.
(49) "Worst case spill" means:
(a) For a Class 1 facility, the entire volume of the largest storage tank on the facility site complicated by adverse weather conditions, unless ecology determines that a larger or smaller volume is more appropriate given a particular facility's site characteristics and storage, production, and transfer capacity; or
(b) For a Class 2 facility, the entire contents of the container(s) in which the oil is stored or transported.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 88.46.160, 88.46.165, 90.56.005, 90.56.050, 90.56.200, 90.56.220, 90.56.230, and chapter 90.56 RCW. WSR 23-12-077 (Order 21-03), § 173-180-025, filed 6/6/23, effective 7/7/23. Statutory Authority: Chapters 90.56, 88.46, 90.48 RCW. WSR 07-22-119 (Order 07-14), § 173-180-025, filed 11/7/07, effective 12/8/07. Statutory Authority: RCW 88.46.160, 88.46.165, and chapter 90.56 RCW. WSR 06-20-034 (Order 06-02), § 173-180-025, filed 9/25/06, effective 10/26/06.]