The point in time when there is a guarantee or set-aside of funding by EPA, other federal agencies, states or Principal Responsible Parties in order to begin response actions at a Superfund site. State Emergency Response Commission (SERC): Commission appointed by each state governor according to the requirements of SARA Title III. The SERCs designate emergency planning districts, appoint local emergency planning committees, and supervise and coordinate their activities. State Environmental Goals and Indication Project: Program to assist state environmental agencies by providing technical and financial assistance in the development of environmental goals and indicators. State Implementation Plans (SIP): EPA approved state plans for the establishment, regulation, and enforcement of air pollution standards. State Management Plan: Under FIFRA, a state management plan required by EPA to allow states, tribes, and U.S. territories the flexibility to design and implement ways to protect ground water from the use of certain pesticides. Static Water Depth: The vertical distance from the centerline of the pump discharge down to the surface level of the free pool while no water is being drawn from the pool or water table. Static Water Level: 1. Elevation or level of the water table in a well when the pump is not operating. 2. The level or elevation to which water would rise in a tube connected to an artesian aquifer or basin in a conduit under pressure. Stationary Source: A fixed-site producer of pollution, mainly power plants and other facilities using industrial combustion processes. (See: point source.) Sterilization: The removal or destruction of all microorganisms, including pathogenic and other bacteria, vegetative forms, and spores. Sterilizer: One of three groups of anti-microbials registered by EPA for public health uses. EPA considers an antimicrobial to be a sterilizer when it destroys or eliminates all forms of bacteria, viruses, and fungi and their spores. Because spores are considered the most difficult form of microorganism to destroy, EPA considers the term sporicide to be synonymous with sterilizer. Storage: Temporary holding of waste pending treatment or disposal, as in containers, tanks, waste piles, and surface impoundments. Storm Sewer: A system of pipes (separate from sanitary sewers) that carries water runoff from buildings and land surfaces. Stratification: Separating into layers. Stratigraphy: Study of the formation, composition, and sequence of sediments, whether consolidated or not. Stratosphere: The portion of the atmosphere 10-to-25 miles above the earth's surface. Stressors: Physical, chemical, or biological entities that can induce adverse effects on ecosystems or human health. Strip-Cropping: Growing crops in a systematic arrangement of strips or bands that serve as barriers to wind and water erosion. Strip-Mining: A process that uses machines to scrape soil or rock away from mineral deposits just under the earth's surface. Structural Deformation: Distortion in walls of a tank after liquid has been added or removed. Subchronic: Of intermediate duration, usually used to describe studies or periods of exposure lasting between 5 and 90 days. Subchronic Exposure: Multiple or continuous exposures lasting for approximately ten percent of an experimental species lifetime, usually over a three-month period. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation: Vegetation that lives at or below the water surface; an important habitat for young fish and other aquatic organisms. Subwatershed: Topographic perimeter of the catchment area of a stream tributary. Sulfur Dioxide (SO2): A pungent, colorless, gasformed primarily by the combustion of fossil fuels; becomes a pollutant when present in large amounts. Sump: A pit or tank that catches liquid runoff for drainage or disposal. Superchlorination: Chlorination with doses that are deliberately selected to produce water free of combined residuals so large as to require dechlorination. Supercritical Water: A type of thermal treatment using moderate temperatures and high pressures to enhance the ability of water to break down large organic molecules into smaller, less toxic ones. Oxygen injected during this process combines with simple organic compounds to form carbon dioxide and water. Superfund: The program operated under the legislative authority of CERCLA and SARA that funds and carries out EPA solid waste emergency and long-term removal and remedial activities. These activities include establishing the National Priorities List, investigating sites for inclusion on the list, determining their priority, and conducting and/or supervising cleanup and other remedial actions. Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program: EPA program to promote development and use of innovative treatment and site characterization technologies in Superfund site cleanups. Supplemental Registration: An arrangement whereby a registrant licenses another company to market its pesticide product under the second company's registration. Supplier of Water: Any person who owns or operates a public water supply. Surface Impoundment: Treatment, storage, or disposal of liquid hazardous wastes in ponds. Surface Runoff: Precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water in excess of what can infiltrate the soil surface and be stored in small surface depressions; a major transporter of non-point source pollutants in rivers, streams, and lakes.. Surface Uranium Mines: Strip mining operations for removal of uranium-bearing ore. Surface Water: All water naturally open to the atmosphere (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, streams, impoundments, seas, estuaries, etc.) Surface-Water Treatment Rule: Rule that specifies maximum contaminant level goals for Giardia lamblia, viruses, and Legionella and promulgates filtration and disinfection requirements for public water systems using surface-water or ground-water sources under the direct influence of surface water. The regulations also specify water quality, treatment, and watershed protection criteria under which filtration may be avoided. Surfacing ACM: Asbestos-containing material that is sprayed or troweled on or otherwise applied to surfaces, such as acoustical plaster on ceilings and fireproofing materials on structural members. Surfacing Material: Material sprayed or troweled onto structural members (beams, columns, or decking) for fire protection; or on ceilings or walls for fireproofing, acoustical or decorative purposes. Includes textured plaster, and other textured wall and ceiling surfaces. Surfactant: A detergent compound that promotes lathering. Surrogate Data: Data from studies of test organisms or a test substance that are used to estimate the characteristics or effects on another organism or substance. Surveillance System: A series of monitoring devices designed to check on environmental conditions. Susceptibility Analysis: An analysis to determine whether a Public Water Supply is subject to significant pollution from known potential sources. Suspect Material: Building material suspected of containing asbestos; e.g., surfacing material, floor tile, ceiling tile, thermal system insulation. Suspended Loads: Specific sediment particles maintained in the water column by turbulence and carried with the flow of water. Suspended Solids: Small particles of solid pollutants that float on the surface of, or are suspended in, sewage or other liquids. They resist removal by conventional means. Suspension: Suspending the use of a pesticide when EPA deems it necessary to prevent an imminent hazard resulting from its continued use. An emergency suspension takes effect immediately; under an ordinary suspension a registrant can request a hearing before the suspension goes into effect. Such a hearing process might take six months. Suspension Culture: Cells growing in a liquid nutrient medium. Swamp: A type of wetland dominated by woody vegetation but without appreciable peat deposits. Swamps may be fresh or salt water and tidal or non-tidal. (See: wetlands.) Synergism: An interaction of two or more chemicals that results in an effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOCs): Man-made (anthropogenic) organic chemicals. Some SOCs are volatile; others tend to stay dissolved in water instead of evaporating. System With a Single Service Connection: A system that supplies drinking water to consumers via a single service line. Systemic Pesticide: A chemical absorbed by an organism that interacts with the organism and makes the organism toxic to pests.