Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BELOW-REGULATORY CONCERN Radioactive material in a quantity or of a level that is distinguishable from background (as that phrase is defined at 10 CFR 20.1003), but which is below the regulation threshold established by any regulatory agency otherwise having jurisdiction over such material in the Town.
INJECTION WELL A bored, drilled or driven shaft whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension, or a dug hole whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension of the hole, through which fluids (which may or may not include semi-solids) are injected into the subsurface and less than 90% of such fluids return to the surface within a period of 90 days.
LAND APPLICATION FACILITY A site where any natural gas and/or petroleum extraction, exploration or production wastes are applied to the soil surface or injected into the upper layer of the soil.
NATURAL GAS Methane and any gaseous substance, either combustible or noncombustible, which is produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains a gaseous or rarefied state at standard temperature and pressure conditions, and/or gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived from petroleum or other hydrocarbons.
NATURAL GAS AND/OR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES Geologic or geophysical activities related to the search for natural gas, petroleum or other subsurface hydrocarbons, including prospecting, geophysical and geologic seismic surveying and sampling techniques, but only to the extent that such activities involve or employ core, rotary, or any other type of drilling or otherwise making any penetration or excavation of any land or water surface in the search for and evaluation of natural gas, petroleum or other subsurface hydrocarbon deposits.
NATURAL GAS AND/OR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, EXTRACTION OR PRODUCTION WASTES (1) Any of the following in any form, and whether or not such items have been excepted or exempted from the coverage of any federal or state environmental protection laws, or have been excepted from statutory or regulatory definitions of "industrial waste," "hazardous," or "toxic," and whether or not such substances are generally characterized as waste:
(a) Below-regulatory concern radioactive material, or any radioactive material which is not below-regulatory concern, but which is in fact not being regulated by the regulatory agency otherwise having jurisdiction over such material in the Town, whether naturally occurring or otherwise, in any case relating to, arising in connection with, or produced by or incidental to the exploration for, the extraction or production of, or the processing, treatment, or transportation of natural gas, petroleum, or any related hydrocarbons;
(b) Natural gas or petroleum drilling fluids;
(c) Natural gas or petroleum exploration, drilling, production or processing wastes;
(d) Natural gas or petroleum drilling treatment wastes (such as oils, frac fluids, produced water, brine, flowback, sediment and/or any other liquid or semi-liquid material);
(e) Any chemical, waste oil, waste emulsified oil, mud or sediment that was used or produced in the drilling, development, transportation, processing or refining of natural gas or petroleum;
(f) Soil contaminated in the drilling, transportation, processing or refining of natural gas or petroleum;
(g) Drill cuttings from natural gas or petroleum wells; or
(h) Any other wastes associated with the exploration, drilling, production or treatment of natural gas or petroleum.
(2) This definition specifically intends to include some wastes that may otherwise be classified as "solid wastes which are not hazardous wastes" under 40 CFR § 261.4(b). The definition of natural gas and/or petroleum extraction, exploration or production wastes does not include:
(a) Recognizable and nonrecognizable food wastes; or
(b) Waste generated by farm use.
NATURAL GAS AND/OR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, EXTRACTION OR PRODUCTION WASTES DISPOSAL/STORAGE FACILITY Any of the following: tanks of any construction (metal, fiberglass, concrete, etc.); impoundments; pits; evaporation ponds; or other facilities, in any case used for the storage or treatment of natural gas and/or petroleum extraction, exploration or production wastes that are being held for initial use; have been used and are being held for subsequent reuse or recycling; are being held for treatment; or are being held for storage.
NATURAL GAS AND/OR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, EXTRACTION OR PRODUCTION WASTES DUMP Land upon which natural gas and/or petroleum extraction, exploration or production wastes, or their residue or constituents before or after treatment, are deposited, disposed, discharged, injected, placed, buried or discarded, without any intention of further use.
NATURAL GAS AND/OR PETROLEUM EXTRACTION ACTIVITIES The digging or drilling of a well for the purposes of exploring for, developing or producing natural gas, petroleum or other subsurface hydrocarbons, including without limitation any and all forms of shale fracturing.
NATURAL GAS COMPRESSION FACILITY A facility constructed or operated to compress natural gas that originates from a gas well or collection of such wells, operating as a midstream facility for delivery of gas from a gas field for entry into the transmission pipeline system; the term shall not include the transmission pipeline itself; the term shall include equipment for liquids separation, natural gas dehydration, and tanks for the storage of waste liquids and hydrocarbon liquids.
NATURAL GAS PROCESSING FACILITY A facility that separates and recovers natural gas liquids (NGLs) and/or other nonmethane gases and liquids from a stream of produced natural gas, using equipment for any of the following: cleaning or stripping gas, cooking and dehydration, residual refinement, treating or removing oil or condensate, removing water, separating NGLs, removing sulfur or carbon dioxide, fractionation of NGLs, or the capture of CO2 separated from natural gas streams.
PERSON Any individual, public or private corporation for profit or not for profit, association, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, firm, trust, estate, and any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
RADIATION The spontaneous emission of particles (alpha, beta, neutrons) or photons (gamma) from the nucleus of unstable atoms as a result of radioactive decay.
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL Material in any form that emits radiation. This definition specifically includes NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material), but only if such naturally occurring material has been moved from its naturally occurring location through a mechanical or other man-made process. All such material is radioactive material for purposes hereof, whether or not it is otherwise exempt from licensing and regulatory control pursuant to the New York State Department of Labor, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of Transportation, or any other regulatory agency.
SUBSURFACE Below the surface of the earth, or of a body of water, as the context may require.
UNDERGROUND INJECTION Subsurface emplacement of natural gas and/or petroleum extraction, exploration or production wastes, including emplacement by or into an injection well.
UNDERGROUND NATURAL GAS STORAGE Subsurface storage, including in depleted gas or oil reservoirs and salt caverns, of natural gas that has been transferred from its original location, whether for the purpose of load balancing the production of natural gas or for any other reason, including, without limitation, short-term, long-term or intermittent storage for product quality, processing or transportation purposes, or because of market conditions. Without limitation, this term includes compression and dehydration facilities and associated pipelines.