Definitions

The terms used throughout this chapter have the same meaning as in North Dakota Century Code chapter 61-28, except: 1. "Animal feeding operation" means a lot or facility, other than an aquatic animal production facility, where the following conditions are met: a. Animals, other than aquatic animals, have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of forty-five days or more in any twelve-month period; and b. Crops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility. 2. "Bedding material" means an absorbent substance applied to dirt or concrete flooring systems, including wood shavings, wood chips, sawdust, shredded paper, cardboard, hay, straw, hulls, sand, and other similar, locally available materials. 3. "Best management practices" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, conservation practices, maintenance procedures, and other management strategies to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the state. Best management practices also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control production area and land application area runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage. 4. "Concentrated animal feeding operation" means an animal feeding operation that is defined as a large, medium, or small concentrated animal feeding operation or any animal feeding operation designated as a concentrated animal feeding operation under section 33.1-16-03.1-04. For purposes of determining animal numbers, two or more feeding operations under common ownership are considered to be a single animal feeding operation if they adjoin each other or if they use a common area or system for the disposal of wastes. 5. "Earthen storage pond" or "pond" means a topographic depression either below or above ground level, manmade excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials, although it may be lined with manmade materials or other seepage control materials, and used to store manure, process wastewater and runoff from the production area of a facility. 6. "Engineer" means a professional engineer registered to practice in the state of North Dakota. 7. "Facility" is an animal feeding operation. 8. "General permit" means a general state animal feeding operation permit. This is a permit issued to cover multiple facilities of the same or similar type, without requiring each facility to be covered under an individual permit. 9. "Large concentrated animal feeding operation" means any animal feeding operation that stables or confines as many as or more than the numbers of animals, not including unweaned young, specified in any of the following categories: a. Seven hundred mature dairy cows, whether milked or dry; b. One thousand veal calves; c. One thousand cattle other than mature dairy cows or veal calves. "Cattle" includes heifers, steers, bulls, and cow-calf pairs; d. Two thousand five hundred swine, each weighing fifty-five pounds or more; e. Ten thousand swine, each weighing less than fifty-five pounds; f. Five hundred horses; g. Ten thousand sheep or lambs; h. Fifty-five thousand turkeys; i. Thirty thousand laying hens or broilers, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system; j. One hundred twenty-five thousand chickens (other than laying hens), if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; k. Eighty-two thousand laying hens, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; l. Thirty thousand ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; or m. Five thousand ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system. 10. "Litter" means a mixture of fecal material, urine. animal bedding material, and sometimes waste feed. 11. "Manure" means fecal material and urine, animal-housing wash water, bedding material, litter, compost, rainwater, or snowmelt that comes in contact with fecal material and urine, and raw or other materials commingled with fecal material and urine or set aside for disposal. 12. "Manure handling system" means all of the water pollution control structures used at the production area of a facility. 13. "Manure storage pond" means an earthen storage pond that stores liquid manure and process wastewater from indoor confined animal feeding operations. 14. "Manure storage structure" means any water pollution control structure used to contain or store manure or process wastewater. It includes earthen manure storage ponds; runoff ponds; concrete, metal, plastic, or other tanks; and stacking facilities. 15. "Medium animal feeding operation" means any animal feeding operation that stables or confines the numbers of animals, not including unweaned young, specified within any of the following ranges: a. Two hundred to six hundred ninety-nine mature dairy cows, whether milked or dry; b. Three hundred to nine hundred ninety-nine veal calves; c. Three hundred to nine hundred ninety-nine cattle other than mature dairy cows or veal calves. "Cattle" includes heifers, steers, bulls, and cow-calf pairs; d. Seven hundred fifty to two thousand four hundred ninety-nine swine, each weighing fifty-five pounds or more; e. Three thousand to nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine swine, each weighing less than fifty-five pounds; f. One hundred fifty to four hundred ninety-nine horses; g. Three thousand to nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine sheep or lambs; h. Sixteen thousand five hundred to fifty-four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine turkeys; i. Nine thousand to twenty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine laying hens or broilers, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system; j. Thirty-seven thousand five hundred to one hundred twenty-four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine chickens (other than laying hens), if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; k. Twenty-five thousand to eighty-one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine laying hens, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; l. Ten thousand to twenty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; or m. One thousand five hundred to four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system. 16. "Medium concentrated animal feeding operation" means a medium animal feeding operation that meets either one of the following conditions: a. Pollutants are discharged into waters of the state through a manmade ditch, flushing system, or other similar manmade device; or b. Pollutants are discharged directly into waters of the state which originate outside of and pass over, across, or through the facility or otherwise come into direct contact with the animals confined in the operation. 17. "North Dakota Livestock Program Design Manual" means the guidelines established for use by the department in the review and permitting process for animal feeding operations. 18. "Nutrient management plan" means a written description of the equipment, methods, and schedules by which: a. Manure, litter, and process wastewater is beneficially reused in an environmentally safe manner such as being applied to land at appropriate agronomic rates as nutrients or fertilizers; and b. Water pollution and air pollution, including odors, are controlled sufficiently to protect the environment and public health. 19. "Open lot" means livestock pens, feeding or holding areas at the production area of an animal feeding operation which are outside and not under roof, and where rain can fall directly on the lot area. 20. "Open manure storage structure" means an earthen pond or storage tank for holding liquid manure which is not covered so rainfall can fall directly into the pond or tank. 21. "Operation and maintenance plan" means a written description of the equipment, methods, and schedules for: a. Inspection, monitoring, operation, and maintenance of the animal feeding operation, including manure storage structures, water pollution control structures, and the production area; and b. Controlling water pollution and air pollution, including odors sufficient to protect the environment and public health. It includes emergency response actions for spills, discharges or failure of a collection, storage, treatment, or transfer component. 22. "Operator" means an individual or group of individuals, partnership, corporation, joint venture, or any other entity owning or controlling, in whole or in part, one or more animal feeding operations. 23. "Overflow" means the discharge of manure or process wastewater resulting from the filling of wastewater or manure storage structures beyond the point at which no more manure, process wastewater, or storm water can be contained by the structure. 24. "Pollutant" means "wastes" as defined in North Dakota Century Code section 61-28-02, including dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, garbage, sewage, sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. 25. "Process wastewater" means water directly or indirectly used in the operation of the animal feeding operation for any or all of the following: spillage or overflow from animal or poultry watering systems; washing, cleaning, or flushing pens, barns, manure pits, or other animal feeding operation facilities; direct contact swimming, washing, or spray cooling of animals; or dust control. Process wastewater also includes any water which comes into contact with any raw materials, products, or byproducts, including manure, litter, feed, milk, eggs, or bedding material. 26. "Production area" means those areas of an animal feeding operation used for animal confinement, manure storage, raw materials storage, and waste containment. The animal confinement area includes open lots, housed lots, feedlots, confinement houses, stall barns, free stall barns, milking rooms, milking centers, cattle yards, barnyards, medication pens, walkers, animal walkways, and stables. The manure storage area includes lagoons, runoff ponds, storage sheds, stockpiles, under-house or pit storages, liquid impoundments, static piles, and composting piles. The raw materials storage area includes feed silos, silage bunkers, and bedding materials. The waste containment area includes settling basins, areas within berms, and diversions which separate uncontaminated storm water. Also included in the definition of production area is any egg washing or egg processing facility and any area used in the storage, handling, treatment, or disposal of mortalities. 27. "Runoff" means rainwater or snowmelt that comes in contact with manure at an open lot or open manure storage area and, therefore, is defined as manure. 28. "Runoff pond" means an earthen storage pond that is used to collect and store runoff from an open lot or from a manure storage area. 29. "Seepage" means the volume of flow through a manure storage structure. 30. "Sensitive ground water area" means vulnerable hydrogeologic settings as determined by the department such as glacial outwash deposits or alluvial or aeolian sand deposits that are critical to protecting current or future underground sources of drinking water. Areas designated as sensitive ground water areas by the department include alluvial or aeolian sand deposits shown on Geologic Map of North Dakota (Clayton, 1980, North Dakota geological survey) and glacial drift aquifers listed in North Dakota Geographic Targeting System for Groundwater Monitoring (Radig, 1997, North Dakota department of health), or most recent editions of these publications, with DRASTIC scores greater than or equal to 100 based on methodology described in DRASTIC: A Standardized System For Evaluating Groundwater Pollution Potential (Aller et al., 1987, United States environmental protection agency). 31. "Small animal feeding operation" means any animal feeding operation that stables or confines less than the numbers of animals specified for a medium animal feeding operation. 32. "Small concentrated animal feeding operation" means a small animal feeding operation designated as a concentrated animal feeding operation under section 33.1-16-03.1-04. 33. "State animal feeding operation permit" means a permit issued by the department under this chapter to an animal feeding operation. 34. "Surface water" means waters of the state that are located on the ground surface, including all streams, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, waterways, and all other bodies or accumulations of water on the surface of the earth, natural or artificial public or private. 35. "Unconfined glacial drift aquifer" means a glacial drift aquifer that does not have an impervious soil layer which acts to prevent or minimize movement of water into, through, or out of the aquifer. 36. "Water pollution control structure" means a structure built or used for handling, holding, transferring, or treating manure or process wastewater, so as to prevent it from entering the waters of the state. The term also includes berms, ditches, or other structures used to prevent clean water from coming in contact with manure. 37. "Water quality standards" means the water quality standards contained in chapter 33.1-16-02.1.