Unless otherwise defined in this chapter, words and phrases used in this chapter shall be defined according to WAC 173-340-200 and 173-204-505.

(1) "Agreement signature date" means, for the purposes of grant and loan agreements, the date the agreement document is signed by the department.

(2) "Applicant" means a local government that applies for a grant or loan.

(3) "Area-wide groundwater contamination" means groundwater contamination on multiple adjacent properties with different ownerships consisting of hazardous substances from multiple sources that have resulted in commingled plumes of contaminated groundwater that are not practicable to address separately.

(4) "Average market rate" means the average market rate for tax-exempt general obligation municipal bonds for the month of June preceding the agreement signature date, as determined using rates published by Bond Buyer.

(5) "Biennium" means the twenty-four-month fiscal period extending from July 1st of odd-numbered years to June 30th of odd-numbered years.

(6) "Brownfield property" means previously developed and currently abandoned or underutilized real property and adjacent surface waters and sediment where environmental, economic, or community reuse objectives are hindered by the release or threatened release of hazardous substances that the department has determined requires remedial action under this chapter or that the United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined requires remedial action under the federal cleanup law.

(7) "Budget" means, for the purpose of grant and loan agreements, a breakdown of eligible costs by task.

(8) "Cleanup action" means the term as defined in WAC 173-340-200 or 173-204-505.

(9) "Construction completion" means physical construction of a cleanup action component is complete.

(10) "Coordinated water system plan" means a plan for public water systems within a critical water supply service area which identifies the present and future water system concerns and sets forth a means for meeting those concerns in the most efficient manner possible pursuant to chapter 246-293 WAC.

(11) "Decree" or "consent decree" means a consent decree issued under chapter 70.105D RCW or the federal cleanup law.

(12) "Department" means the department of ecology.

(13) "Department share" means the department's share of eligible costs.

(14) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.

(15) "Economically disadvantaged county" means a county whose per capita income is equal to or below the median per capita income of counties in Washington state, as determined on July 1st of each odd-numbered year using the latest official American Community Survey five-year estimates of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

(16) "Economically disadvantaged city or town" means a city or town whose per capita income is equal to or below the median per capita income of cities and towns in Washington state, as determined on July 1st of each odd-numbered year using the latest official American Community Survey five-year estimates of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

(17) "Eligible cost" means a project cost that is eligible for funding under this chapter and the terms of the grant or loan agreement.

(18) "Extended grant agreement" means a grant agreement entered into under RCW 70.105D.070 (4)(e)(i).

(19) "Feasibility study" means the term as defined in chapter 173-340 or 173-204 WAC.

(20) "Federal cleanup law" means the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.

(21) "Grant agreement" means a binding agreement between the local government and the department that authorizes the disbursement of funds to the local government to reimburse it for a portion of expenditures in support of a specified scope of services.

(22) "Hazardous substances" means any hazardous substance as defined in WAC 173-340-200.

(23) "Hazardous waste site" means any facility where there has been confirmation of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance that requires remedial action.

(24) "Highly impacted community" means a community that the department has determined is likely to bear a disproportionate burden of public health risks from environmental pollution.

(25) "Independent remedial actions" means remedial actions conducted without department oversight or approval and not under an order or consent decree.

(26) "Initial investigation" means a remedial action that consists of an investigation under WAC 173-340-310.

(27) "In-kind contributions" means property or services that benefit a project and are contributed to the recipient by a third party without direct monetary compensation. In-kind contributions include interlocal costs, donated or loaned real or personal property, volunteer services, and employee services donated by a third party.

(28) "Innovative technology" means new technologies that have been demonstrated to be technically feasible under certain site conditions, but have not been widely used under the conditions that exist at the hazardous waste site. Innovative technology has limited performance and cost data available.

(29) "Interim action" means a remedial action conducted under WAC 173-340-430.

(30) "Loan agreement" means a binding agreement between the local government and the department that authorizes the disbursement of funds to the local government that must be repaid. The loan agreement includes terms such as interest rates and repayment schedule, scope of work, performance schedule, and project budget.

(31) "Local government" means any political subdivision of the state, including a town, city, county, special purpose district, or other municipal corporation, including brownfield renewal authority created under RCW 70.105D.160.

(32) "No further action determination" or "NFA determination" means a written opinion issued by the department under WAC 173-340-515(5) that the independent remedial actions performed at a hazardous waste site or property meet the substantive requirements of chapter 173-340 WAC and that no further remedial action is required at the hazardous waste site or property. The opinion is advisory only and not binding on the department.

(33) "Order" means an order issued under chapter 70.105D RCW, including enforcement orders issued under WAC 173-340-540 and agreed orders issued under WAC 173-340-530, or an order issued under the federal cleanup law, including unilateral administrative orders (UAO) and administrative orders on consent (AOC).

(34) "Oversight remedial actions" means remedial actions conducted under an order or decree.

(35) "Partial funding" means funding less than the maximum department share allowed under this chapter.

(36) "Potentially liable person" or "PLP" means any person whom the department finds, based on credible evidence, to be liable under RCW 70.105D.040.

(37) "Potentially responsible party" or "PRP" means "covered persons" as defined under section 9607 (a)(1) through (4) of the federal cleanup law (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9607(a)).

(38) "Property" means, for the purposes of independent remedial action grants, the parcel or parcels of real property affected by a hazardous waste site and addressed as part of the independent remedial action.

(39) "Prospective purchaser" means a person who is not currently liable for remedial action at a facility and who proposes to purchase, redevelop, or reuse the facility.

(40) "Public water system" means a Group A water system as defined in WAC 246-290-020.

(41) "Purveyor" means an agency or subdivision of the state or a municipal corporation, firm, company, mutual or cooperative association, institution, partnership, or person or any other entity that owns or operates a public water system, or the authorized agent of such entities.

(42) "Recipient" means a local government that has been approved to receive a grant or loan.

(43) "Recipient share" or "match" means the recipient's share of eligible costs.

(44) "Redevelopment opportunity zone" means a geographic area designated under RCW 70.105D.150.

(45) "Remedial action" means any action or expenditure consistent with the purposes of chapter 70.105D RCW to identify, eliminate, or minimize any threat posed by hazardous substances to human health or the environment including any investigative and monitoring activities with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance and any health assessments or health effects studies conducted in order to determine the risk or potential risk to human health.

(46) "Remedial investigation" means the term as defined in chapter 173-340 or 173-204 WAC.

(47) "Retroactive costs" means costs incurred before the agreement signature date.

(48) "Safe drinking water" means water meeting drinking water quality standards set by chapter 246-290 WAC.

(49) "Scope of work" means the tasks and deliverables of the grant or loan agreement.

(50) "Site" means any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, vessel, or aircraft; or any site or area where a hazardous substance, other than a legal consumer product in consumer use, has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located.

(51) "Site hazard assessment" means a remedial action that consists of an investigation performed under WAC 173-340-320.

(52) "Voluntary cleanup program" means the program authorized under RCW 70.105D.030 (1)(i) and WAC 173-340-515.