The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Commissioner--Commissioner of the Department of State Health Services.
  (2) Dead animal--The whole or substantially whole carcass of a dead or fallen domestic animal, or domesticated wild animal, that was not slaughtered for human consumption.
  (3) Dead animal hauler--A person who collects and disposes of dead animals for commercial purposes.
  (4) Department--The Department of State Health Services.
  (5) Department representative--An employee of the department designated by the commissioner to enforce Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 144, and the Texas Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 433.
  (6) Disposal--The burying, burning, cooking, processing, or rendering of dead animals or of renderable raw materials.
  (7) Employee--A person who:
    (A) is a legal employee of a rendering establishment; and
    (B) handles or operates rendering equipment, utensils, containers, packaging materials or vehicles, owned or leased by the rendering establishment which are used to transport renderable raw material, recyclable cooking oil and/or waste cooking grease, and dead animals.
  (8) Feed grade fats and oils--Those fats or oils which have been obtained from edible fat and oil processing and include fatty acid products that result from the commercial rendering of animal tissues and from the processing of edible vegetables and plants.
  (9) Grease trap (brown grease)/grit trap waste--Industrial grade oil as defined in paragraph (10) of this section and as such is not suitable for use as animal feed or topical cosmetics.
  (10) Industrial grade oil--A product not suitable for use in livestock feeds, and includes:
    (A) tall oils--resinous by-product from the manufacturing of chemical wood pulp;
    (B) by-products which have been used in or derived from nonfood manufacturing processes;
    (C) salvage or sludge type oils which may consist in part of feed grade material, but which may also contain potential contaminants from a manufacturing process or the environment; and
    (D) oils exposed to pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), industrial chemicals, heavy metals, or other adulterants.
  (11) Inedible kitchen grease--Any unprocessed or partially processed grease, fat, or oil previously used in the cooking or preparation of food for human consumption and no longer suitable for such use.
  (12) Nuisance--Any situation or condition that constitutes a nuisance under the Texas Health and Safety Code, §341.011.
  (13) Person--An individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, trust, company, or organization, and includes an agent, officer, or employee of that individual or entity.
  (14) Pests--Any objectionable animal or insect, including rodents, flies, larvae, and birds.
  (15) Processing--An operation or combination of operations through which materials derived from a dead animal or renderable raw material sources are:
    (A) prepared for disposal at a rendering establishment;
    (B) stored; or
    (C) treated for commercial use or disposition, other than as food for human consumption.
  (16) Recyclable cooking oil--Any unprocessed or partially processed grease, fat, or oil previously used in the cooking or preparation of food for human consumption and intended for recycling by being used or reused as:
    (A) an ingredient in a process to make a product; or
    (B) an effective substitute for a commercial product.
  (17) Related station--An operation or facility that is necessary, useful, or incidental to the operation of a rendering establishment and that is operated or maintained separately from the rendering establishment.
  (18) Rendering business--The collection, transportation, disposal, or storage of dead animals or renderable raw materials for commercial purposes at locations where dead animals or renderable raw materials are rendered, boiled, processed, stored, transferred, or otherwise prepared, either as a separate business or in connection with any other established business.
  (19) Rendering establishment--An establishment or part of an establishment, a plant, or any other premise at which dead animals or renderable raw materials are rendered, boiled, processed, or otherwise prepared to obtain a product for commercial use or disposition, other than as food for human consumption. The term includes all other operations and facilities that are necessary or incidental to the establishment.
  (20) Renderable raw material--Any unprocessed or partially processed material of animal or plant origin, other than a dead animal, that is to be processed by rendering establishments. The term includes:
    (A) animals, poultry, or fish slaughtered or processed for human consumption but that are unsuitable for that use;
    (B) the inedible products and by-products of animals, poultry, or fish slaughtered or processed for human consumption;
    (C) parts from dead animals;
    (D) whole or partial carcasses of dead poultry or fish;
    (E) waste cooking greases; and
    (F) recyclable cooking oil.
  (21) Renderable raw material hauler--A person who collects or transports renderable raw materials for commercial purposes.
  (22) Renderable raw material hauling vehicle--Any motorized vehicle or detachable trailer used in the collection, receipt, transportation, delivery, transfer, or storage of renderable raw materials for commercial purposes.
  (23) Transfer station--A facility at which renderable raw materials are transferred from one conveyance to another.
  (24) Waste cooking grease--Any unprocessed or partially processed grease, fat, or oil previously used in the cooking or preparation of food for human consumption and no longer suitable for such use, also defined as inedible kitchen grease.
  (25) Waste cooking grease hauler--Any person who collects, receives, transports, delivers, transfers, or stores incidental to such activities renderable raw material for commercial purposes, whether or not such person is required to register with the department.

Source Note: The provisions of this §221.2 adopted to be effective December 10, 2000, 25 TexReg 12175; amended to be effective January 1, 2005, 29 TexReg 11979; amended to be effective December 23, 2020, 45 TexReg 9215