Except as otherwise specified in this Article, whenever used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
(a) "Abandoned Well," means a well that has not been used for one year or more, unless the owner demonstrates an intention to use the well again. "Abandoned well" shall not include standby emergency potable water wells constructed and maintained by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in accordance with the requirements of this Article. Evidence of intention for future use shall include all of the following:
(1) The well does not impair the quality of water within the well and the groundwater encountered by the well.
(2) The top of the well or well casing shall be provided with a cover, that is secured by a lock or by other means to prevent its removal without the use of equipment or tools, to prevent unauthorized access, to prevent a safety hazard to humans and animals, and to prevent illegal disposal of wastes in the well. The cover shall be watertight where the top of the well casing or other surface openings to the well are below ground level, such as in a vault or below known levels of flooding. The cover shall be watertight if the well is inactive for more than five consecutive years.
(3) The well shall be marked so as to be easily visible and located, and labeled so as to be easily identified as a well.
(4) The area surrounding the well shall be kept clear of brush, debris, and waste materials.
(5) The owner has a valid permit for the well.
(b) "Annular Seal" shall mean the material placed in the space between the well casing and the wall of the drilled hole (the annular space), in accordance to the requirements of this Article.
(c) "Beneficial Uses" shall mean the use of groundwater for domestic, municipal, agricultural, industrial, aesthetic, habitat, recreational and environmental purposes.
(d) "Cathodic Protection Well" shall mean any well in excess of fifty (50) feet constructed by any method for the purpose of installing equipment or facilities for the electrical protection of metallic equipment in contact with ground, commonly referred to as cathodic protection.
(e) "CEQA" shall mean the California Environmental Quality Act, Division 13 of the California Public Resources Code, commencing at Section 21000.
(f) "City" shall mean the City and County of San Francisco.
(g) "Commission" shall mean the San Francisco Health Commission established in accordance with Section 4.110 of the San Francisco Charter.
(h) "Contamination" shall mean an impairment of the quality of the groundwater by waste to a degree that creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease.
(i) "Department" shall mean the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
(j) "Dewatering Well" shall mean a well used for the purpose of dewatering excavation during construction or stabilizing hillside or earth embankments.
(k) "Director" shall mean the Director of the Department or his or her designee.
(l) "Inactive well" shall mean a well not routinely operated but capable of being made an operating well with a minimum of effort.
(m) "Modification" shall mean any work done on an existing well to restore or modify its function, replace any casing, seal off certain strata or surface water, or similar work. Modification shall not include the activities that do not violate the integrity of the annular space or the well casing or that does not have the potential of causing groundwater contamination to migrate or disperse.
(n) "Monitoring Well" shall mean a well constructed for the purpose of observing, monitoring, or supplying information regarding the quality of groundwater, or the concentration of contaminants in groundwater.
(o) "Operator" shall mean any person who has daily responsibility for and daily operational control over a well or soil boring.
(p) "Owner" shall mean any person who owns a property with a well or soil boring thereon.
(q) "Person" shall mean any natural person, trust, firm, joint stock association, corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association, city, county, city and county, district, the State, any agency, department, office, board, commission, or bureau of State government, including but not limited to, the campuses of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, and the United States, to the extent authorized by law. For the purposes of this Article, "person" shall include any department, Board or Commission of the City and County of San Francisco.
(r) "Pollution" shall mean an alteration of the quality of the groundwater by waste to a degree that unreasonably affects the beneficial uses of the groundwater.
(s) "San Francisco Planning Commission" shall mean the commission and the department established in accordance with Section 4.105 of the San Francisco Charter or any successor agency, department or commission designated by the City as the lead agency for complying with the CEQA requirements.
(u) "Soil Boring" shall mean an uncased artificial excavation constructed for the purpose of obtaining information on subsurface conditions to determine the nature of subsurface earth materials, the presence or extent of contamination in subsurface soil or groundwater and/or seismic information. Soil Boring shall include, but is not limited to, environmental and geotechnical borings and test holes.
(v) "Soil Vapor Extraction Well" shall mean any well used for on-site remediation to reduce the concentration of volatile constituents in petroleum products absorbed or adsorbed to soils in the unsaturated (vadose) zone.
(w) "Waste" shall mean sewage and other substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or process operation, including waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to, and for the purposes of disposal.
(x) "Water well" shall mean any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting groundwater for beneficial uses. For the purposes of this Article, the term "water well" shall not include: (1) oil and gas wells, or geothermal wells constructed under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Conservation, except those wells converted for use as a water well; or (2) potholes, drainage trenches or canals, waste water ponds, shallow root zone piezometers, stockponds, or similar excavations.
(y) "Well" shall include, but is not limited to, wells installed for the purposes of extracting groundwater for beneficial uses, cathodic protection, dewatering, monitoring purposes and soil vapor extraction.
(Added by Ord. 113-05, File No. 050547, App. 6/10/2005)