|
<
Back to Chapters Only Main Menu

Click a link
to jump to a particular letter: A-C | D-E
| F-G | H-L | M-O
| P-Z
- Abatement
- Programs to reduce illegal dumping. This includes re-
cycling and proper disposal events, education, improved
municipal
waste disposal contracts, etc.
- Act 101
- PA's Recycling Act: Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling
and Waste Reduction Act of 1988. The law that requires recycling
in
Pennsylvania and provides for Pennsylvania's Recycling Fund.
- Act 27
- Environmental Stewardship & Watershed Protection Act.
The Act that created the Growing Greener program in PA.
- Act 97
- PA's Solid Waste Management Act of 1980. The law that
regulates the treatment and disposal of municipal waste,
regulating
landfills.
- Active
site/area - Any area where illegal solid waste activity
has
occurred within the last six months.
- Adopt-A-Highway
Program
- PennDOT's adoption program for
state-maintained roads and highways.
- Annual
meeting - Chapter officers are elected and chapter bylaw
amendments are considered by the membership at chapter annual
meetings. Officers and directors of PA CleanWays are elected,
a budget is adopted, and delegates to the state annual meeting
consider bylaw changes.
- Appliances
(a.k.a. White Goods) - Household appliances such as
refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, stoves. Appliances
that
contain freon as a refrigerant-refrigerators, freezers,
air conditioners,
dehumidifiers, and water coolers-must be "decommissioned"
(the
freon properly removed) before recycling or disposal.
- BCO
- Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations. A section
of the Department of State that administers the state's
charitable
solicitation law and maintains registration and financial
information
of charities.
- Biosolids
(Sewage Sludge)
- Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic
byproducts resulting from wastewater treatment. They are
created
through the transformation of liquid and solid matter using
natural
processes. This transformation involves physical, chemical,
biological,
and heat processes designed to remove water and reduce the
levels
of odor and bacteria in the final biosolids product. When
biosolids
meet state and federal standards, they can be used as fertilizers
and soil amendments.
- Bulky
Items/Bulky Waste
- Items in the waste stream that require
special handling, such as furniture, appliances and carpeting.
- C &
D Debris - Construction/Demolition waste
- C2P2
- Community Conservation Partnership Program. A DCNR grant
program, with funding from several sources, designed to
promote
open space and recreation in PA. PA CleanWays has received
funding that includes cleanups of illegal dumps in these
areas.
- COG
- Council of Governments. "A voluntary association
of local
government units joined together under a written compact
to
improve cooperation, coordination and planning. . . .By
mutual
agreement, the members seek solutions to mutual problems.
A COG
is an informal council. . . .COGs do not have the power
to legislate
or levy taxes." From Township Supervisor's Handbook,
DCED.
- Commercial
Waste
- Waste generated by non-manufacturing and
non-processing businesses.
- Community
- People sharing a common interest or goal who may
or may not be defined by geographic boundaries.
- Compostable
Materials
- Materials that will biodegrade and can
be composted. They include most yard wastes, food wastes
from
vegetables and fruit and materials such as hair clippings,
feathers,
straw, livestock manure, bonemeal and bloodmeal. Materials
should
NOT be composted if they promote disease, cause odors, attract
pests, or create other nuisances. Some compostable materials
should be composted only in limited quantities. Lists of
materials
are available on the DEP website.
- Composting
- The process by which organic solid waste is
biologically decomposed under controlled anaerobic or aerobic
conditions to yield a humus-like product.
- Composting
Facility - A facility using land for processing of
municipal waste by composting. The term includes the areas
where
composting actually occurs, as well as all of the rest of
the facility
where the land surface has been disturbed as a result of
or
incidental to operation of the facility. It does not include
a facility
for composting that is located where the waste was generated.
Top of Page
- DCED
- Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic
Development. This department provides local government services
and support for building better communities, as well as
promoting
economic development in the Commonwealth.
- DCNR
- Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources. DCNR manages state parks and state forest lands;
provides information on the state's ecological and geologic
resources;
and establishes community conservation partnerships with
grants
and technical assistance to benefit rivers, trails, greenways,
local
parks and recreation, regional heritage parks, open space,
and
natural areas.
- DEP
- Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection.
The
agency largely responsible for administering Pennsylvania's
environ-
mental laws and regulations.
- Deterrent
- A strategy to prevent or discourage illegal dumping at
a site. Physical deterrents can include earthen berms, fences,
trees, etc.
- DOT
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
- EFP
- Environmental Fund for Pennsylvania. An organization that
promotes workplace campaigns to solicit donations to environmental
organizations, similar to the United Way. GreenWorks TV
is also a
project of the EFP. PA CleanWays is an EFP member.
- EIN
- Employer Identification Number. A federal tax identification
number, assigned by the IRS, equivalent to an individual's
social
security number.
- Electronic
waste - includes computers, monitors, TVs, audio
equipment and other electronic devices. Electronic equipment
contains metals that, if not properly managed or contained,
can
become hazardous wastes, including mercury, lead and cadmium.
- EPA
- Environmental Protection Agency. The federal agency
responsible for developing and enforcing environmental regulations
based on federal law.
Top of Page
- FLBP
- Forest Lands Beautification Program. A five-year grant
program funded by DCNR through which PA CleanWays is
cleaning up and abating illegal dumping in state parks and
forests.
- Form 990
(or Form 990-EZ) - IRS forms, Return of Organization
Exempt From Income Tax, for tax reporting.
- Form 990-T
- IRS form, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax
Return, for reporting unrelated business income.
- Freon
- A trademark for a variety of nonflammable gaseous or liquid
fluorinated hydrocarbons employed primarily as working fluids
in
refrigeration and air conditioning. To reduce emissions
of greenhouse
gas that impact the environment, freon must be removed by
a
certified technician before the appliance can be recycled
or disposed.
Freon can typically be recycled. A sticker put on the appliance
indicates it has been "decommissioned."
- FTP
- Fugitive Tire Program.
- FY
- Fiscal Year.
- Garbage
- Some may use the term to refer to food or other odor
causing wastes, using "rubbish" to refer to non-odor
causing trash.
- GEN
- Group Exemption Number. The number assigned to PA
CleanWays by the IRS, recognizing the tax exemption of PA
Clean-
Ways,
Inc. and its chapters. It must be entered on IRS Form 990.
- GIS
- Geographic Information System. Software applications that
allow users to view and create maps. The maps typically
utilize
various maps as layers superimposed on each other.
- GPS
- Global Positioning System. This is a space-based radio-
navigation system, consisting of satellites and ground support.
GPS provides users with accurate information about their
position,
as well as velocity and the time, anywhere and in all weather
conditions. Using a GPS receiver to obtain coordinates of
dump sites
or adopted roads and areas facilitates mapping by a GIS.
GPS
receivers are available from sporting goods stores and catalogues,
or ask your Conservation District if the chapter could borrow
theirs.
- Grassroots
- People or society at a local level rather than at the
center of major political activity. Because PA CleanWays
works to
empower local citizens, we are a grassroots organization.
- Greenway
- A corridor of undeveloped land, as along rivers or
between urban centers, that is reserved for recreational
use or
environmental preservation. Some greenways are trails (on
land or
water), others, such as riparian buffer corridors, are intended
for
environmental protection and are not designed for human
use.
- Groundwater
- Water beneath the earth's surface, in saturated
soil and rock, that supplies wells and springs.
- Growing
Greener
- Four state government agencies are responsible
to help PA communities "grow greener:"
- DEP provides
watershed protection, mine reclamation, oil and
gas well plugging, technical assistance, new and innovative
technology grants;
- DCNR provides
open space and recreation grants;
- PennVest
provides wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater
management grants;
- PA Dept.
of Agriculture (PDA) provides farmland preservation
grants.
Top
of Page
- Hauler
- A commercial business that hauls solid waste. Roll off
containers may be used to haul waste.
- Hazardous
Waste - ". . . .Discarded material, including solid,
liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting
from
municipal, commercial, industrial, institutional, mining,
or agricultural
operations, and from community activities; or a combination
of the
above, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical,
chemical or infectious characteristics may do one of the
following: (i)
Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality
or
increase in morbidityin either an individual or the total
population.
(ii) Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health
or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported,
disposed of or otherwise managed." From PA Code, Chapter
271
- HHW
- Household Hazardous Waste. Waste generated by a house-
hold
that could be chemically or physically classified as a hazardous
waste. It includes items that are poisonous, corrosive,
flammable,
or an environmental hazard. HHW includes home improvement
products such as oil-based paints and wood preservatives,
lawn
and garden products such as herbicides and pesticides, automotive
products such as fuels, used antifreeze and motor oil, household
products such as drain cleaners, spot removers and mercury
thermometers.
- ICW
- Infectious/Chemotherapeutic Waste. "Municipal and
residual
waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, immunization
or autopsy of human beings or animals, in research pertaining
thereto, in the preparation of human or animal remains for
interment
or cremation, or in the production or testing of biologicals.
. . ."
From PA Code, Chapter 271
- Illegal
Dump Area - Contains larger items such as household
waste,
debris from a business or job, such as remodeling debris,
appliances
or bulky items, or more than 10 tires, whether in a concentrated
area or scattered along the length of a road or in an area.
- Inactive
Site/Area - Any area where illegal solid waste activity
has occurred within the last six months.
- Incinerator
- A furnace for burning municipal waste.
- Industrial
Waste
- Waste generated by an industrial establishment,
other than the waste generated from industrial processes
(from
break rooms, offices, etc.), defined as Municipal Solid
Waste in
Pennsylvania. Waste from industrial processes is "Residual"
or
"Hazardous" waste in Pennsylvania.
- INS
- Immigration and Naturalization Service. Requires Form
I-9
be filled out by all employees.
- IRS
- Internal Revenue System. Provides PA CleanWays' federal
tax-exempt status; requires various returns.
- Landfill
(Sanitary Landfill) - A method of disposing solid waste
in which refuse is buried between layers of dirt. Modern
landfills in
Pennsylvania must have an additional double-liner system,
collect
and treat leachate, and collect or burn gases produced.
Landfills
are regulated by DEP based on Act 97.
- Leachate/Leaching
- Leaching in a landfill is the action of
percolating water as it removes soluble or other constituents
from
the buried trash. Leachate is the solution containing contaminants.
- Lead Acid
Battery
- A vehicle battery that contains lead plates
and acid. Because of their hazard and the potential for
pollution,
they should be recycled.
- Littered
Area - Contains small, scattered items, with no more
than
10 tires and three or four larger items, such as furniture
or
appliances, bags of trash, etc. per mile of road or in an
equivalent
area.
- Lobbying
- Engaging in trying to influence legislators or other
public
officials in favor of a specific cause.
Top of Page
- Match
- Amount of value from another source that may be required
by a grant. A grantor may require a cash match, or may accept
the
value in in-kind services. The percent match required by
grantors
varies.
- MRF
- Materials Recovery Facility (Recycling Center), a specialized
plant where recyclable materials are separated, processed
and
stored. Residual material is disposed, normally in a landfill.
- MSW
- Municipal Solid Waste. "Garbage, refuse, industrial
lunchroom
or office waste and other material, including solid, liquid,
semisolid
or contained gaseous material resulting from operation of
residential,
municipal, commercial or institutional establishments and
from
community activities; and sludge not meeting the definition
of
residual or hazardous waste under this section from a municipal,
commercial or institutional water supply treatment plant,
waste
water treatment plant or air pollution control facility."
From PA Code,
Chapter 271
- Municipal
Waste Management Plan (County Plan) - Act 101
requires that each county develop and submit to DEP a plan
to:
- Ensure
that each county has sufficient processing and disposal
capacity for its municipal waste for at least 10 years.
- Ensure
a full, fair and open discussion of alternative methods
of
municipal waste processing or disposal.
- Ensure
maximum feasible waste reduction and recycling of
municipal waste or source separated recyclable material.
- Shift
the primary responsibility for developing and implementing
municipal waste management plans from municipalities
to counties.
- Conserve
resources and protect the public health, safety and
welfare from the short- and long-term dangers of transportation,
processing, treatment, storage and disposal of municipal
waste.
Each county must form an Advisory Committee. The committee
shall
review the plan during its preparation, make suggestions
and propose
changes it believes appropriate.
- Municipality
- Every Pennsylvanian lives in a county and municipality
- a city, borough, township, or home-rule municipality.
"The various
municipal units share the same basic responsibilities with
respect to
the provision of public services at the local level and
have similar
statutory powers, for the most part . . .The main areas
of local
services include police and fire protection, maintenance
of local
roads and streets, water supply, sewage collection and treatment,
parking and traffic control, local planning and zoning,
parks and
recreation, garbage collection, health services, libraries,
licensing
of businesses and code enforcement." (From Pennsylvania
Manual.)
- Nonpoint
Source (NPS) Pollution - Unlike pollution from an
industrial and sewage treatment plant pipe, nonpoint source
pollution
comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused
by rainfall
or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff
moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made
pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers,
wetlands,
coastal waters, and even underground.
- Non-renewable
Resources
- Resources that cannot be
regenerated, such as the fossil fuels oil and coal.
- NRC
- National Recycling Coalition. The national equivalent
of PROP.
- NTT
- National Tree Trust. A nonprofit organization that supplies
seedling trees to PA CleanWays for out planting by volunteers
on public lands. It is supported by the forest industry
and other
sponsors.
- OCC
- Old Corrugated Cardboard
- ONP
- Old Newsprint
- Open Burning
- The burning of trash by a resident. An EPA report
published in November 1997 shows that a single household
burn
barrel may emit as much toxic chemicals as a well-controlled
municipal incinerator.
- OYEL
- Open Your Eyes to Litter. A series of educational resources,
including activity books, developed by PA CleanWays.
Top of Page
- "Packer"
Truck (Compactor) - A typical garbage truck that
compacts the trash.
- PACW (or
PA CW) - PA CleanWays.
- PAEE
- Pennsylvania Alliance for Environmental Education. A
nonprofit that promotes and supports environmental education.
- PCEE
- Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education. A center
at Slippery Rock University that provides resources for
environmental
education, including the Essentials of EE, and EE and the
Media.
- PEC
- PA Environmental Council. PEC promotes sustainable land
and
resource use, works to protect watersheds and find innovative
solutions to environmental problems. As a partner with PA
Clean-
Ways, Inc. in the FLBP, PEC facilitated local community
groups,
helping them identify strategies to abate illegal dumping.
- PennDOT
(DOT) - Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Each county has an adoption coordinator for the Adopt-A-Highway
program for state-maintained roads.
- PMP
- Per Member Payment. PA CleanWays' state bylaws
provide for a percent of membership dues that chapters share
with
the home office to sustain it. This fee has been waived
by a vote
at the Annual Meeting in recent years.
- Point
Source Pollution
- Pollution from a single source, as from
industry.
- POWR
- Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers. A
nonprofit organization that works to empower local watershed
organizations. POWR produces resources also of value to
PA Clean-
Ways chapters.
- PRC
- Pennsylvania Resources Council. A nonprofit organization
with
efforts in waste reduction and recycling; sponsor of the
Litterbug.
- PROP
- Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania. PROP promotes
recycling in Pennsylvania through education, information
exchange,
technical support, applied research and coordination of
recycling
industry initiatives. They provide training on recycling
topics. As a
partner with PA CleanWays in the FLBP, they have provided
technical assistance to municipalities, promoting local
programs to
abate illegal dumping. The PROP website is a good source
of
information on current legislation of interest.
- RCRA
- Resource Conservation & Recovery Act. RCRA is an
amendment to the 1976 federal Solid Waste Disposal Act.
The goals
of RCRA are to:
- Ensure
that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound
manner.
- Protect
human health and the environment from the potential
hazards of waste disposal.
- Conserve
energy and natural resources.
- Reduce
the amount of waste generated.
RCRA has three
programs: Hazardous Waste, Solid Waste, and
Underground Storage Tank Programs.
- Recycling,
Mandatory
- Municipalities in Pennsylvania with a
population of 5000 or more and a population density of more
than
300 per square mile are required by Act 101 to provide a
curbside
recycling program for at least three items.
- Recycling,
Voluntary
- Programs in municipalities with a population
of less than 5000 or a population density of less than 300
per square
mile, either curbside or drop-off, which are not mandated
by Act 101.
- Renewable
Resources - Resources that are not used up, i.e., solar,
wind, and hydroelectric energy.
- Residential
Waste - Waste from a residential source, it is
technically Municipal Solid Waste.
- Refuse
- Trash or waste. Waste haulers are often listed as Refuse
Haulers in phone books.
- Residual
Waste
- "Garbage, refuse, other discarded material or
other waste, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained
gaseous
materials resulting from industrial, mining and agricultural
operations;
and sludge from an industrial, mining or agricultural water
supply
treatment facility, wastewater treatment facility or air
pollution
control facility, if it is not hazardous. . . ." From
PA Code, Chapter
271
- Robert's
Rules - Robert's Rules of Order, the most commonly used
parliamentary rules for meeting procedures. Chapters usually
use
Robert's Rules in their business meetings. Parliamentary
order is
designed to enable groups, with regard for every member's
opinion;
to arrive at the general will efficiently.
- Rolloff
(a.k.a. Rolloff Box or Rollback) - Steel boxes frequently
used to haul waste that roll off and onto a transporting
truck. A
door on one end swings open to empty (or load) the trash.
They
come in various sizes from 10 cubic yards to 40 cubic yards,
though
30 and 40 cu. yd. rolloffs are most common.
- Rubbish
- The non-odor causing components of municipal waste.
- Sustainable/Sustainability
- Able to be maintained. The term is
used to describe types of agriculture, communities, development,
the economy, and is used in conjunction with living and
even
governing (sustainably). Many programs to promote sustainability
can be found on the Internet.
- SWA
- Solid Waste Authority. Solid Waste Authorities are special
governmental units set up to perform specific services.
Most are
county entities, governed by a Board of Directors appointed
by the
County Commissioners, which provide recycling and adequate,
proper
disposal of solid waste. Not all counties have solid waste
authorities.
Authorities differ, but they often own and operate landfills,
recycling
facilities and/or hauling services. Many offer educational
programs.
Authorities in Pennsylvania are authorized to acquire, construct,
improve, maintain and operate projects, and to borrow money
and
issue bonds to finance them.
- Tipping
Fee - The cost of disposing a ton of trash in a landfill.
Counties and municipalities may impose fees as part of the
tipping
fee in order to maintain roads, regulation, etc. These are
called
"host municipality benefit fees," or, simply,
host municipality fees.
- TPD
- Tons per day
- TPY
- Tons per year
- Transfer
Station - A place where trash is transferred for hauling
to the appropriate recycler or landfill. Transfer Stations
are
permitted and regulated by DEP, and are frequently difficult
and
expensive to permit.
- Used Motor
Oil - Waste motor oil frequently from vehicles, lawn-
mowers, farm equipment etc. is regulated by DEP under Chapter
298
of the Solid Waste Management Act. The Act regulates collection,
transportation, processing and refining, waste oil burners,
marketers and larger generators. DEP maintains a list of
used oil
collection sites, with instructions for the recycler.
- Waters
of the Commonwealth - "Rivers, streams, creeks,
rivulets,
impoundments,
ditches, watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed
water, wetlands, ponds, springs and other bodies or channels
of
conveyance of surface and underground water, or parts thereof,
whether natural or artificial, within or on the boundaries
of this
Commonwealth." Even spills into storm sewers constitute
polluting Pennsylvania's waters. From PA Code, Title 25,
Chapter
102.1.
- Watershed
- The region draining into a river, river system, or
other body of water. Pennsylvania has recently focused considerable
attention on watershed restoration and organized much
environmental management by watershed. Growing Greener grants
fund watershed-based planning and projects.
- Weigh
Slip - Used to document tons of trash removed during
a
cleanup, it is provided by landfills or recycling facilities
and gives
the weight of the filled truck, the empty truck and the
difference,
which is the weight of the trash.
- West Nile
Virus - West Nile encephalitis is a new disease caused
by the West Nile virus transmitted by infected mosquitoes
from
birds, the primary host of the disease. Penn State University
Extension says that severe illness and even death are caused
by
West Nile virus in some, but most people who are infected
with the
virus have no symptoms or may experience mild illness such
as fever,
headache, body aches, mild skin rash, or swollen lymph glands.
Top
of Page
|