PART 50 GENERAL DEFINITIONS 

For purposes of this regulation, the following definitions apply: 

“Active Animal Facility” means a facility with a minimum of 30,000 pounds normal production animal live weight and in production. 

“Affected Person” means a property owner with standing within a one (1)-mile radius of the proposed building footprint or permitted poultry facility or other animal facility, except a swine facility, who is challenging on his own behalf the permit, license, certificate, or other approval for the failure to comply with the specific grounds set forth in the applicable Department regulations governing the permitting of poultry facilities and other animal facilities, other than swine facilities. 

“Agricultural animal” means an animal confined in an agricultural facility. 

“Agricultural facility” means a lot, building, or structure, which is used for the commercial production of animals in an animal facility. 

“Agronomic rate” means the animal manure and other animal by-products’ application rate designed: (1) to provide the amount of nitrogen needed by the food crop, feed crop, fiber crop, cover crop, or vegetation grown on the land; (2) to minimize the amount of nitrogen in the animal manure that passes below the root zone of the crop or vegetation grown on the land to groundwater; (3) to provide the amount of other organic and inorganic plant nutrients which promote crop or vegetative growth, such as calcium-carbonate equivalency; and (4) to provide the amount of phosphorus needed by the crop or vegetation grown on the land without causing an excessive buildup of phosphorus in the soil. 

“Animal” means any domesticated animal. 

“Animal by-product” means a secondary or incidental product of animal production that may include bedding, spilled feed, water or soil, milking center washwater, contaminated milk, hair, feathers, dead animals or other debris. This definition may also refer to dead animal or animal manure compost. 

“Animal facility” means an agricultural facility where animals are confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five (45) calendar days or more in a twelve (12)-month period and crops, vegetative, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility. Structures used for the storage of animal manure and other animal by-products from animals in the operation also are part of the animal facility. Two (2) or more animal facilities under common ownership or management are considered to be a single animal facility if they are adjacent. 

“Animal Facility Management Plan” means a plan prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) or a professional engineer detailing the management, handling, treatment, storage, or utilization of manure generated in an animal facility. This plan shall include facility management details and a detailed map of each manure utilization area showing all buffer zones and setbacks, a description of the land use, the crops grown on the site, the timing for application of manure to the land and a land use agreement if the site is not owned by the permittee. 

“Animal Feeding Operation” means a lot or facility where animals have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed for a total of forty-five (45) calendar days or more in any twelve (12)-month period. 

“Animal manure” means animal excreta or other commonly associated organic animal manures including, but not limited to, bedding, litter, feed losses, or water mixed with the manure. 

“Annual animal manure application rate” means the maximum amount of animal manure that can be agronomically applied to a unit area of land during any 365-day period. 

“Annual constituent loading rate” means the maximum amount of a constituent that can be applied to a unit area of a manure utilization area during any 365-day period. 

“Application rate” means the amount of manure applied at any one time. 

“Approval to Operate (ATO)” means a letter from the Department granting approval to place the facility into operation. 

“Average animal live weight” means the sum of the average exit weight of the animal from the facility and the average entry weight divided by two, as shown by the following formula: 

Average animal live weight = (Average Exit Weight + Average Entry Weight)/2 

“Broker” means a person who accepts or purchases animal manure or other animal by-products from agricultural facilities and transfers this product to a third party for land application. 

“Certification of Construction” means a document, certified by the consultant, PE, or NRCS staff, that a certain construction project has been completed in accordance with the terms, conditions, and specifications contained in the permit of applicable regulations. 

“Closed facility” means an animal facility that has ceased operations (no confined animals at the facility) and is no longer in production, and all lagoons and waste storage ponds have been properly closed out and cannot be placed back into operation without a new permit. 

“Commercial Facility” means an animal facility that produces animals or animal by-products for commercial sale, boards animals, rents animals, or provides a service utilizing the animals for a fee. 

“Compost” means an organic soil conditioner that has been stabilized to a humus-like product, is free of viable human and plant pathogens and plant seeds, does not attract insects or vectors, can be handled and stored without nuisance, and is beneficial to the growth of plants. 

“Composting” means the biological decomposition and stabilization of organic substrates, under conditions that allow development of thermophilic temperatures as a result of biologically produced heat, to produce a final product that is stable, free of pathogens and plant seeds, and can be beneficially applied to land. Composting requires special conditions of moisture and aeration to produce thermophilic temperatures. 

“Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)” means as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

“Confined Animal Manure Management (CAMM) Certification” means an operator, manager, or owner of an animal facility or manure utilization area, has received certification by completing a class and passing an exam that is provided by Clemson University, Clemson Extension, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. 

“Constituent limit” means a numerical value that describes the amount of a constituent allowed per unit amount of animal manure (e. g., milligrams per kilogram of total solids); the amount of a constituent that can be applied to a unit area of land (e. g., pounds per acre); or the volume of a material that can be applied to a unit area of land (e.g., gallons per acre). 

“Cover crop” means a vegetative crop, including, but not limited to, oats, wheat, or barley; grasses; or other crop grown for agronomic use or to maintain topsoil and prevent soil erosion. 

“Critical Habitat” means the term used to define those areas of habitat containing physical and biological features that are essential for an endangered or threatened species to recover and that require special management or protection. 

“Cumulative constituent loading rate” means the maximum amount of a constituent that can be applied to an area of land. 

“Cumulative impacts” means an increase or enlarging of impact to the environment or community by the successive addition or accumulation of animal facilities in an area. 

“CWA” means the Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972) Pub. L. 92-500, as amended by Pub. L. 95-217, Pub. L. 95-576, Pub. L. 96-483, and Pub. L. 97-117, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. Specific references to sections within the CWA shall be according to Pub. L. 92-500 notation. 

“Deemed Permitted Facility” means an agricultural animal facility that held a valid permit from the Department for their swine facility prior to July 1, 1996, or for their animal facility prior to June 26, 1998. 

“Department” means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. 

“Discharge” means any release, emission or dismissal of sewage, industrial waste, agriculture waste, or other waste into any Waters of the State, whether treated or not. 

“Downwind Receptors” means virtual three-dimensional coordinates placed off site where the concentrations of emissions would be measured for comparison to air quality standards. 

“Dry manure” means manure, bedding, litter, feed losses, or composted animal material (animal manure or dead animals) that is not in a liquid form. Dry animal manure can normally be easily handled with a shovel or other similar equipment and it can be placed in piles without liquid manure or leachate drainage occurring. 

“Dry weight basis” means calculated on the basis of having been dried at 105 degrees Celsius until reaching a constant mass (i.e., essentially 100 percent solids content). 

“EPA” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency. 

“Ephemeral stream” means a stream that flows only in direct response to rainfall or snowmelt in which discrete periods of flow persist no more than twenty-nine (29) consecutive days per event. 

“Evergreen Buffer” means plants such as trees, shrubs, or grasses that have foliage that remain green and functional through at least more than one growing season and are not deciduous. 

“Excessive Mortality” means total animal mortality in any one twenty-four (24)-hour period that exceeds the design capacity of the normal method of dead animal disposal. This may include utilizing the barns to compost the excessive mortality. 

“Expansion” means an increase in the permitted number of animals or normal production animal live weight that will result in physical construction at the facility. An animal manure treatment lagoon that is converted to an animal manure storage pond is considered an expansion of the facility. For facilities permitted prior to 1998, where the treatment/storage design function was not clearly specified, the Department shall review the facility’s operation records and compliance history to determine the current function and condition of the manure handling structures. If the existing structure can handle additional animals, without physical alteration, significant changes in the original function of the structure, or any significant increase in odor, the Department may allow this increase in animals without classifying the change as an expansion. 

“Feedlot” means an animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming for finishing livestock. 

“FEMA” means the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

“Feed crops” means crops produced primarily for consumption by animals. These include, but are not limited to corn, grains, and grasses. 

“Fiber crops” means crops including, but not limited to, flax and cotton. 

“Floodplain” means land adjacent to water bodies that periodically becomes temporarily inundated with water during or after rainfall events. The land inundated from a flood whose peak magnitude would be experienced on an average of once every 100 years is the 100-year floodplain. The 100-year flood has a one percent (1%) probability of occurring in one given year. 

“Food crops” means crops produced primarily for human consumption. These include, but are not limited to, fruits, vegetables, and grains. 

“Footprint” means the area of ground covered by an agricultural facility (i.e., the part of the property where the animal facility is constructed). 

“Freeboard” means additional capacity in a storage/treatment structure designed to provide a safety margin of storage in the event that a rainfall occurs when the structure is full. The design storm is normally a twenty-five (25) year storm of twenty-four (24) hours duration. 

“Groundwater” means water below the land surface in the saturated zone. 

“Inactive Facility” means an animal facility that is not considered in production, but the facility and/or lagoon(s)/waste pond(s) have not been properly closed out. The owner/operator/permittee will continue to pay the annual fees throughout the inactive period of the permit, will be required to maintain the facility and/or lagoon(s)/waste storage pond(s), and will be inspected by the Department on a routine basis. 

“Integrator” or “Integrating company” means any entity or person(s) who contracts with agricultural animal producers to grow animals to be supplied to this person(s) at the time of removal from the animal growing houses or facilities and exercises substantial operational control over an animal facility, along with the owner/operator of the facility. Substantial operational control includes, but is not limited to, the following: directs the activities of persons working at the animal facility either through a contract, direct supervision, or on-site participation; owns the animals; or specifies how the animals are grown, fed, or medicated. This definition does not include independent producers that contract with other independent producers to accomplish a portion of the animal growing process under contract. 

“Intermittent stream” means a stream that generally has a defined natural watercourse, which does not flow year-round but flows beyond periods of rainfall or snowmelt. 

“Lagoon” means an impoundment used in conjunction with an animal facility, the primary function of which is to store or stabilize, or both, manure, organic wastes, wastewater, and contaminated runoff. 

“Land application” means the spraying or spreading of manure or other animal by-products onto the land surface; the injection of manure below the land surface into the root zone; or the incorporation of manure into the soil so that the manure can either condition the soil or fertilize crops or vegetation grown in the soil. 

“Land Applier” means any person who accepts or purchases manure or other animal by-products from agricultural facilities for use as a fertilizer or soil enhancer on land either owned, leased, or managed by the land applier. 

“Large Animal Facility” means an animal facility (excluding swine facilities) that has a capacity for more than 500,000 pounds and less than 1,000,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time. 

“Large Swine Facility” means a swine facility with a capacity for greater than 500,000 pounds and less than 1,000,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight at any one time. 

“Liquid manure” means manure that by its nature, or after being diluted with water, can be pumped easily and is removed, either intermittently or continuously, from an animal lagoon, manure storage pond, or treated effluent from other types of animal manure treatment systems. 

“Manure” means the fecal and urinary excretion of livestock and poultry. This material may also contain bedding, spilled feed, water, or soil. It may also include wastes not associated with livestock excreta, such as milking center washwater, contaminated milk, hair, feathers, or other debris. Manure may be described in different categories as related to solids and moisture content, such as dry manure and liquid manure. 

“Manure storage pond” means a structure used for impounding or storing manure, wastewater, and contaminated runoff as a component of an agricultural manure management system. Manure is stored for a specified period of time, one (1) year or not less than ninety (90) calendar days, and then the pond is emptied. This definition does not include tanks or other similar vessels. 

“Manure utilization area” means land on which animal manure (including swine manure) is spread as a fertilizer and is synonymous with land application site or land application area 

“Mass Burial Site” means an area of land approved by the Department designated to be a mass burial site for excessive mortality. 

“NRCS” means the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

“NRCS-CPS” means the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Practice Standards as given in the USDA-NRCS, SC Handbook of Conservation Practices. 

“Normal production animal live weight at any one time” means the maximum number of animals at the facility at any one time multiplied by the average animal live weight of those animals. 

“Notice of Intent (NOI)” means a document provided by the Department used by an applicant to notify the surrounding property owners of the applicant’s intent to construct a permitted animal facility. 

“Nuisance” means a condition causing annoyance or danger to a limited number of persons or to the general public as determined by the Department. 

“Operator” means the person(s) who manage(s) a permitted animal facility and may be CAMM certified. 

“Outstanding Recreational or Ecological Resource Waters (ORW)” means waters which are of exceptional recreational, ecological importance, or of unusual value. Such waters may include, but are not limited to: waters in national or state parks or wildlife refuges; waters supporting threatened or endangered species; waters under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act or South Carolina Scenic Rivers Act; waters known to be significant nursery areas for commercially important species or known to contain significant commercial or public shellfish resources; or waters used for or having significant value for scientific research and study. 

“Owner” means the proprietor of any facility of activity subject to this regulation. 

“Pasture” means land on which animals feed directly on feed crops including, but not limited to, legumes, grasses, grain stubble, or stover. 

“Permit” means any license, certificate, registration, variance, or other approval issued by or required by the Department or any of its divisions, pursuant to any statute or regulation. 

“Permit Extension” means a one (1)-year extension with justification that must be applied for in writing ten 

(10) calendar days prior to the permit expiration date. 

“Permit Modification” means a minor or moderate change to a facility’s permit that is considered, as determined by the Department, to not change the general operations of the permitted site but is necessary to continue the regulated operation of the facility. Permit Modifications are not required to be Public Noticed. 

“Permittee” means any person authorized to conduct any activity or business pursuant to a valid permit issued by or filed with the Department. 

“Permitting Decision” means any decision by the Department to issue, modify, deny, or withdraw the permit. 

“Person” means any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, industry, co-partnership, firm, trust, estate, any other legal entity whatsoever, or an agent or employee thereof. 

“Plant Available Nitrogen (PAN)” means the quantity of nitrogen made available during the growing season after fertilizing materials are applied. A certain amount of the nitrogen is immobilized, and the remaining nitrogen is available to the plant. 

“Potable water well” means any well designed and/or constructed to produce potable water for consumption by humans or animals. 

“Producer” means a person who grows or confines animals; a person responsible for the manure produced at an animal facility; a person processing manure; and/or a person responsible for the land application of manure. 

“Production” means a facility that meets the permit requirements based on 30,000 pounds of Normal Production Animal Live Weight. 

“Professional Engineer” or “Engineer” means a person who, by reason of his or her special knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to practice engineering, all as attested by his or her legal registration as a professional engineer in South Carolina. 

“Public Hearing” means a proceeding, properly noticed in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, during which comments are received and testimony is taken to establish a record of concern prior to an administrative action by the Department. 

“Public Notice” means the notice of an application or of proposed agency action published in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations. 

“Range land” means open land with indigenous vegetation. 

“Ranged Animal Facility” means the size of the range area is sufficient to allow for the natural degradation or utilization of the manure with no adverse impact to the environment. Ranged facilities shall also maintain adequate vegetative buffers between the animal range and the adjacent property lines and/or Waters of the State to mitigate runoff from reaching adjacent property and/or Waters of the State. 

“Replacement in Kind” means construction of the same size or less of animal growing barn(s), and the same number or less of animal live weight, at the same location as the barn(s) being replaced. 

“Residence” means a permanent inhabited dwelling, any existing church, school, hospital, or any other structure which is routinely occupied by the same person or persons more than twelve (12) hours per day or by the same person or persons under the age of eighteen (18) for more than two (2) hours per day, except those owned by the applicant. 

“Rolling Average” means the laboratory results from the most recent analysis averaged with the previous manure analysis for a particular form of manure. The rolling average analysis sequence should be restarted after any major modification or changes to the lagoon/waste storage pond. 

“Routinely” means a regular course of procedure. 

“Runoff” means rainwater or other liquid that drains overland on any part of a land surface and runs off of the land surface. 

“Seasonal High Water Table” means the surface between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration, where the pore water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure, and which exhibits the shallowest average water depth in relation to the surface during the wettest season. 

“Small Animal Facility” means an animal facility (other than swine) that has a capacity for 500,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight or less at any one time. 

“Small Swine Facility” means a swine facility with a capacity for 500,000 pounds of normal production animal live weight or less at any one time. 

“Source Water Protection Area” means an area either above and/or below ground that is the source of water for a public drinking water system via a surface water intake or a water supply well that is designated by the State for increased protection. 

“South Carolina National Heritage Corridor” means a National Heritage Area, federally designated in 1996, spanning seventeen (17) counties and 320 miles across South Carolina, and committed to promoting and preserving the cultural, natural, and historic resources of South Carolina. 

“State” means South Carolina. 

“Surface Water Runoff” means the flow of water that occurs when excess stormwater, meltwater, or other sources flows over the Earth’s surface. 

“Swine” means a domesticated animal belonging to the porcine species. 

“Swine by-product” means a secondary or incidental product of swine production that may include bedding, spilled feed, water or soil, hair, dead swine, or other debris. This definition may also refer to dead swine or swine manure compost. 

“Swine facility” means an agricultural facility where swine are confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five (45) calendar days or more in a twelve (12)-month period and crops, vegetative, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility. Structures used for the storage of swine manure from swine in the operation are also part of the swine facility. Two or more swine facilities under common ownership or management are considered a single swine facility if they are adjacent or utilize a common system for swine manure treatment and/or storage. For any new or expanding swine facility, the combined normal production of all swine facilities owned by the producer, and of all swine facilities owned by corporations having a common majority shareholder in common with the producer, within 25 miles of the new or expanding facility shall be used to determine the normal production of the new or expanding facility. For example, when a new facility has a proposed capacity of 300,000 pounds of normal production and the producer owns two (2) other swine facilities within 25 miles of the new or expanding swine facility and the normal production of each facility is 400,000 pounds, the proposed swine facility’s normal production is 1,100,000 (300,000 + 400,000 + 400,000) pounds. 

“Swine manure” means swine excreta or other commonly associated organic animal manures including, but not limited to, bedding, litter, feed losses, or water mixed with the manure. 

“Vector” means a carrier that is capable of transmitting a pathogen from one organism to another including, but not limited to, flies and other insects, rodents, birds, and vermin. 

“Waiver” means a document recording the deferral of a right, claim, or privilege. 

“Waste Storage Pond” means an earthen waste impoundment that temporarily stores organic wastes such as manure and wastewater. 

“Wastewater” means any water that, during the confinement of animals or the handling, storage, or treatment of manure, dead animals, and litter, comes into contact with the animals, manure, litter, or spilled feed. Wastewater includes, but is not limited to, wash waters, contaminated milk, and storm water (except storm water runoff from land application areas where the application of manure has been properly applied) that comes into contact with manure. 

“Watershed” means a drainage area contributing to a river, lake, or stream. 

“Waters of the State” means lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, artesian wells, rivers, perennial and navigable streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial limits of the State, and all other bodies of 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. This definition does not include ephemeral or intermittent streams. This definition includes wetlands as defined in this section. 

“Wetlands” means lands that have a predominance of hydric soil, are inundated or saturated by water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, and, under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation. Normal circumstances refer to the soil and hydrologic conditions that are normally present without regard to whether the vegetation has been removed. Wetlands shall be identified through the confirmation of the three wetlands criteria: hydric soil, hydrology, and hydrophytic vegetation. All three criteria shall be met for an area to be identified as wetlands. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, and bogs. 

“X-Large Animal Facility” means an animal facility (excluding swine) with 1,000,000 pounds or more of normal production animal live weight at any one time. 

“X-Large Swine Facility” means a swine facility with 1,000,000 pounds or more of normal production animal live weight at any one time. 

Contacts

Kelly Whitlock, Section Manager, (803) 898-3574