Terms not defined in this section have the same meaning given by the Section 311 of the Act. As used in this part, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated below:

Act means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., also known as the Clean Water Act;

Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);

Applicable water quality standards means State water quality standards adopted by the State pursuant to section 303 of the Act or promulgated by EPA pursuant to that section;

MARPOL 73/78 means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, Annex I, which regulates pollution from oil and which entered into force on October 2, 1983;

Navigable waters means the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas. The term includes:

(a) All waters that are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

(b) Interstate waters, including interstate wetlands;

(c) All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, and wetlands, the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters:

(1) That are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;

(2) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce;

(3) That are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

(d) All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as navigable waters under this section;

(e) Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section, including adjacent wetlands; and

(f) Wetlands adjacent to waters identified in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section: Provided, That waste treatment systems (other than cooling ponds meeting the criteria of this paragraph) are not waters of the United States;

Navigable waters do not include prior converted cropland. Notwithstanding the determination of an area's status as prior converted cropland by any other federal agency, for the purposes of the Clean Water Act, the final authority regarding Clean Water Act jurisdiction remains with EPA.

NPDES means National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System;

Sheen means an iridescent appearance on the surface of water;

Sludge means an aggregate of oil or oil and other matter of any kind in any form other than dredged spoil having a combined specific gravity equivalent to or greater than water;

United States means the States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands;

Wetlands means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include playa lakes, swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas such as sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, prairie river overflows, mudflats, and natural ponds.

[52 FR 10719, Apr. 2, 1987, as amended at 58 FR 45039, Aug. 25, 1993; 61 FR 7421, Feb. 28, 1996; 80 FR 37106, June 29, 2015; 83 FR 5208, Feb. 6, 2018; 84 FR 56667, Oct. 22, 2019]