49-701.01. Definition of solid waste; exemptions

A. " Solid waste" means any garbage, trash, rubbish, waste tire, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material.

B. The following are exempt from the definition of solid waste:

1. Hazardous waste regulated pursuant to chapter 5 of this title.

2. Waste that contains radioactive materials subject to the atomic energy act of 1954 (42 United States Code sections 2011 through 2297, 68 Stat. 919) or title 30, chapter 4.

3. Any discharge from a facility regulated pursuant to chapter 2, article 3 of this title.

4. Any discharge regulated pursuant to section 402 or 404 of the clean water act (33 United States Code sections 1342 and 1344).

5. Domestic sewage.

6. Discharges into a publicly or privately owned treatment works including the treatment works and the sewer collection system.

7. Irrigation waters.

8. Irrigation return flows.

9. Reclaimed wastewater from wastewater reuse facilities.

10. Leachate resulting from the direct natural infiltration of precipitation through undisturbed regolith or bedrock, if pollutants are not added by man.

11. Storm water.

12. Substances and materials that remain on site as specifically approved in a work plan or other approval by the department in the course of remedial or corrective actions undertaken pursuant to any of the following:

(a) Chapter 2, articles 3 and 5 of this title.

(b) Chapters 5 and 6 of this title.

(c) The comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980 (P.L. 96-510; 94 Stat. 2767; 42 United States Code sections 9601 through 9675).

(d) The federal water pollution control act amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500; 86 Stat. 816; 33 United States Code sections 1251 through 1387).

(e) The resource conservation and recovery act of 1976 (P.L. 94-580; 90 Stat. 2795; 42 United States Code sections 6901 through 6992).

(f) Chapter 1, article 5 of this title.

13. Water used in gardening, lawn care, landscape maintenance and related activities.

14. Discharges from ponds used for watering livestock and wildlife.

15. Landscaping rubble used to reclaim land.

16. Mining industry off-road waste tires that are larger than three feet in outside diameter and that are buried at the site and rock, copper concentrate, leachate material, tailing and slag that are either of the following:

(a) Produced and maintained at the site of the mining or metallurgical operation.

(b) Not maintained at the site of a mining or metallurgical operation and that are consolidated at the site of a mining or metallurgical operation that is both of the following:

(i) Located within fifty miles of the materials' current off-site location, or, on written approval of the director, located at a site that is farther than fifty miles of the materials' current off-site location.

(ii) Regulated by a permit issued pursuant to chapter 2, article 3 of this title or by an approved work plan pursuant to chapter 1, article 5 of this title.

17. Inert material.

18. Effluent as defined in section 45-101.

19. Return flows from irrigated agriculture.

20. Materials that are generated on site and that are processed or reused on site if the following conditions are met:

(a) On-site processing or reuse of the materials is technically feasible.

(b) At least seventy-five per cent by weight or volume of the materials that are accumulated on site for processing or reuse each year are processed or reused in that same year.

(c) Materials that are accumulated on site for processing or reuse are managed in a manner that:

(i) Controls wind dispersion and other surface dispersion of the materials so that the materials do not create a public nuisance or pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or the environment. Visible materials that are dispersed beyond the boundaries of the site shall be collected on a regular basis by the operator of the site.

(ii) Does not discharge hazardous substances as defined in section 49-281 to surface water, groundwater or subsurface soils in a manner that creates a public nuisance or poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or the environment.

(iii) Controls vector breeding and fire hazards.

(iv) Controls public access to the materials by the use of reasonable measures.

C. Any person may petition the director to exempt a substance as solid waste by submitting a written request to the director. The request may be for a statewide or site-specific exemption. Within ninety days after receipt of a written request, the director shall determine whether to exempt the substance. The director's determination shall be based on a demonstration that the substance is unlikely to cause or substantially contribute to a threat to the public health or the environment. The procedure is as follows:

1. Within thirty days after the director's determination to add a substance on a site-specific basis, a notice of that determination shall be published in the Arizona administrative register. A site-specific determination is effective on the date of the director's determination.

2. Within thirty days after the director's determination to add a substance on a statewide basis, the director shall initiate rule making to add the substance to the list of exemptions. This rule making is exempt from the requirements of title 41, chapter 6, except for the requirements regarding public notice. The effective date for the final rule is the effective date for the exemption.

D. Nothing in this section shall affect the department's authority to require abatement of any environmental nuisance pursuant to chapter 1, article 3 of this title.