Sec. 597.1. General

(a) Purpose.

The purpose of this Part is to:

(1) set forth criteria for identifying a hazardous substance or acutely hazardous substance;

(2) set forth a list of hazardous substances;

(3) identify reportable quantities for the spill or release of hazardous substances;

(4) prohibit the unauthorized release of hazardous substances; and

(5) establish requirements for reporting of releases of hazardous substances.

(b) Definitions.

The following definitions apply to this Part:

(1) Authorized means the possession of a valid license, permit, or certificate issued by an agency of the State of New York or the Federal government, or an order issued by the department or United States Environmental Protection Agency under applicable statutes, rules or regulations regarding the possession or release of hazardous substances or otherwise engaging in conduct which is exempt under applicable statutes, rules or regulations from the requirements of possessing such a license, permit, certificate or order.

(2) Chemical Abstracts Service number or CAS number is the unique identifier for a chemical substance assigned by the CAS division of the American Chemical Society.

(3) Continuous when referring to a release means a release which occurs without interruption or abatement, or that is routine, anticipated, and intermittent and incidental to normal operations.

(4) Department means the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

(5) Dermal LD₅₀ (rabbit) toxicity means a calculated dose of a substance which is expected to cause the death of 50 percent of an experimental rabbit population when applied to the skin.

(6) Environment means any water, water vapor, any land including land surface or subsurface, air, fish, wildlife, biota, and all other natural resources.

(7)

(i) Hazardous substance means:

(a) a substance included on the list provided under section 597.3 of this Part; or

(b) a hazardous substance mixture.

(ii) Hazardous substance does not include petroleum as defined in paragraph (12) of this subdivision, except as may be part of a blend described in subparagraph (8)(ii) of this subdivision.

(8) Hazardous substance mixture means:

(i) a mixture of any substances covered under clause (7)(i)(a) of this subdivision;

(ii) a blend that consists of:

(a) less than 70 percent by volume of the substances covered under clauses (12)(i)(a) through (c) of this subdivision (singly or in combination);

(b) one percent or more by volume of one or more substances covered under clause (7)(i)(a) of this subdivision (singly or in combination); and

(c) no hazardous waste as identified or listed in Part 371 of this Title; or

(iii) a blend that consists of:

(a) one percent or more by volume of one or more substances covered under clause (7)(i)(a) of this subdivision (singly or in combination);

(b) any substance not covered under clauses (12)(i)(a) through (c) of this subdivision; and

(c) no hazardous waste as identified or listed in Part 371 of this Title.

(9) Inhalation LC₅₀ (rat) toxicity means a calculated concentration of a substance in air, exposure to which is expected to cause the death of 50 percent of an experimental rat population when inhaled.

(10) Oral LD₅₀ (rat) toxicity means a calculated dose of a substance which is expected to cause the death of 50 percent of an experimental rat population when administered orally.

(11) Person or persons means any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, co-partnership, association, firm, consortium, joint venture, interstate body, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever.

(12)

(i) Petroleum means:

(a) crude oil and any fraction thereof;

(b) synthetic forms of lubricating oils, dielectric oils, insulating oils, hydraulic oils and cutting oils;

(c) any complex blend of hydrocarbons that is not derived from crude oil; or

(d) any petroleum mixture.

(ii) Petroleum does not include:

(a) any hazardous substance covered under paragraph (7) of this subdivision, except as may be part of a blend described in subparagraph (13)(ii) of this subdivision;

(b) animal or vegetable oils; or

(c) substances that are gases at standard temperature and pressure.

(13) Petroleum mixture means:

(i) a mixture of any substances covered under clauses (12)(i)(a) through (c) of this subdivision;

(ii) a blend that consists of:

(a) at least 70 percent by volume of the substances covered under clauses (12)(i)(a) through (c) of this subdivision (singly or in combination); and

(b) one or more other substances, except any hazardous waste as identified or listed in Part 371 of this Title; or

(iii) a blend that consists of:

(a) one percent or more by volume of the substances covered under clauses (12)(i)(a) through (c) of this subdivision (singly or in combination); and

(b) one or more other substances, other than hazardous substances covered under clause (7)(i)(a) of this subdivision and any hazardous waste as identified or listed in Part 371 of this Title.

(14) Release means any unauthorized pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, overfilling, spilling, leaking, leaching or disposing, directly or indirectly, of a hazardous substance, or any other substance which results in the formation of a hazardous substance upon release, so that the substance or any related constituent thereof, or any degradation product of such a substance or of a related constituent thereof, may enter the environment.

(15) Reportable quantity means the minimum amount of a hazardous substance which must be reported to the department in the event of a spill or release. The reportable quantity for a particular hazardous substance is set forth next to its listing in tables 1 and 2 of section 597.3 of this Part and may be further defined in footnotes to the tables.

(16) Spill means any escape of a substance from a container employed in the normal course of storage, transfer, processing, or use.

(17) Stable in quantity and rate means a release that is predictable and regular in the amount and rate of release.

(c) Severability.

If any provision of this Part or its application to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remainder of the Part and the application of that provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

(d) References.

The citation to 40 CFR 302.8 used in this Part refers to title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 302.8 of Part 302 entitled "Designation, Reportable Quantities and Notification," July 1, 2013. This publication is available for inspection at: The Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-7020.