Section 12B. As used in sections twelve A to eighteen, inclusive, the following words shall have the following meanings:

''Act'', the Massachusetts Ocean Sanctuaries Act.

''Adjudicatory hearing'', a hearing conducted pursuant to sections nine, ten, ten A, eleven and twelve of chapter thirty A.

''Advanced treatment'', enhanced physical, chemical or biological treatments that are used in part to remove nutrients including nitrogen or phosphorus.

''Applicant'', any city, town, district, county or authority which has the legal ability to implement any form of wastewater disposal, including land application, and which applies for a new or modified discharge pursuant to the Act.

''Coastal embayment'', coastal or marine waters that have a restricted opening to the ocean due at least in part to the formation of a barrier beach.

''Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan'' or ''CWMP'', a municipal or regional study, conducted in accordance with appropriate department of environmental protection guidance, regulations and policies, which evaluates alternatives and recommends an appropriate implementation strategy to properly manage wastewater in order to provide protection for the public health and safety and the environment, including, water quality standards and TMDLs, if any TMDLs exist.

''Department'', the department of environmental protection.

''Director'', the director of coastal zone management.

''Environmental impact report'', an environmental impact report prepared pursuant to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, sections sixty-one to sixty-two H, inclusive, of chapter thirty.

''Estuary'', a semi-enclosed body of water which has a free connection with the open sea, within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from outflowing fresh water rivers.

''Existing discharge'', a municipal, commercial or industrial discharge at the volume and locations authorized by the appropriate federal and state agencies on July fifteenth, nineteen hundred and seventy, in the case of the Cape Cod Ocean Sanctuary; on December eighth, nineteen hundred and seventy-one, in the case of the Cape Cod Bay and Cape and Islands Ocean Sanctuary; on June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and seventy-two in the case of the North Shore Ocean Sanctuary; and on December thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventy-six, in the case of the South Essex Ocean Sanctuary.

''Facilities plan'', a plan which satisfies the planning requirements applicable to applicants for federal grants for the construction of publicly owned wastewater treatment works, as determined by the division of water pollution control.

''Modified discharge'', an increase in volume or change in location of an existing discharge from a publicly owned treatment works or combined sewer system.

''New discharge'', a discharge from a publicly owned treatment works not approved under the act prior to February 1, 2014 nor authorized by the appropriate federal and state agencies prior to February 1, 2014.

''Office'', office of coastal zone management.

''Person'', any agency or political subdivision of the federal government or the commonwealth, any state, public or private corporation or authority, individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, partnership, association, or other entity, and any officer, employee or agent of said person, and any group of said persons.

''Publicly owned treatment works'' or ''POTW'', a sewage or septage treatment plant owned by a public entity.

''Total maximum daily load'' or ''TMDL'', the sum of a receiving water's individual waste load allocations and load allocations and natural background, which, together with a margin of safety that takes into account any lack of knowledge concerning the relationship between effluent limitations and water quality, represents the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards in all seasons.