Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 302 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION › Title 302 CMR 3.00 - SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL RIVERS ORDERS › Section 3.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
Act
. M.G.L. c. 21A, §
				11C.
Altering
. Causing a direct or
				indirect change within any river corridor including, but not limited to, one or
				more of the following actions:
(a) changing pre-existing drainage characteristics,
				sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, flood storage retention areas and, where
				applicable, flushing characteristics and salinity distribution;
(b) draining or otherwise disturbing surface or groundwater
				levels;
(c) degrading water or air quality;
(d) changing the natural characteristics of the receiving water
				including, but not limited to, temperature and biochemical oxygen demand
				(BOD);
(e) causing any diversion of, or placing any obstruction to
				water, flow or navigation;
(f) driving pilings or erecting buildings or structures of any
				kind;
(g) grading, landscaping, or any activities or uses which
				change slope or topography;
(h) removing ground cover, vegetation or topsoil so as to
				increase erosion or sedimentation;
(i) destroying plant life, including the cutting of
				trees;
(j) causing adverse effects to freshwater fish or wildlife or
				to their habitat;
(k) impairing natural visual quality;
(l) discharging, releasing, or causing to be released, any
				contaminating materials, including sediments, from any source into the river
				corridor, either by overland flow or through a new or existing pipe or other
				conduit;
(m) lowering, polluting, or otherwise changing the level,
				quantity, or quality of ground water by performing any work within the river
				corridor.
Amendment
. Any change in the allowed
				or prohibited activities or uses contained in any Order adopted under M.G.L. c.
				21A, § 11C; any addition to or deletion of, including any change in the
				definition of, a river corridor as further defined in any Order; any addition
				to land within the river corridor; or any addition to any list of assessed
				owners adopted as part of the Order. An amendment shall not include a
				correction as defined in 302 CMR 3.02:
Correction
.
Assessed Owner
. The person or persons
				to whom land within the river corridor was assessed in the last preceding
				annual tax levy.
Classification
. The classification of
				rivers and streams within the river corridor.
Commissioner
. The Commissioner of the
				Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Correction
. Any minor change in the
				location of the river corridor boundary on a plan, the substitution or deletion
				of any name or names from the list of assessed owners adopted as part of any
				Order, or any typographical, grammatical or other correction which does not
				change the sense or meaning of any Order.
Department
. The Department of
				Conservation and Recreation.
Dredging
. The removal of materials
				including, but not limited to, rock, bottom sediment, debris, loam, peat, soil,
				sand, refuse, plant or animal matter, in any excavating, grading, cleaning,
				deepening, widening or lengthening, either permanently or temporarily, of any
				land within the river corridor. Dredging shall include improvement dredging,
				maintenance dredging, backfilling or other dredging and subsequent
				refilling.
Feet
. Horizontal feet.
Filling
. The placing of any material
				that raises, either temporarily or permanently, the existing elevation of any
				land within the river corridor.
Improvement Dredging
. Any dredging in
				an area which has not previously been dredged or which extends the original
				dredged width, depth, length, or otherwise alters the original boundaries of a
				previously dredged area.
Modification
. Any amendment as
				defined in 302 CMR 3.02.
Natural Bank
:
(a) In wetland areas, it means the landward edge of the salt or
				freshwater marsh, as defined in M.G.L. c. 131, § 40.
(b) In tidal rivers or streams, it means the landward edge of
				the mean annual high tide. Where emergent wetland vegetation is present, this
				boundary shall be identified as the landward edge of specific vegetative
				species which require periodic flushing and input of salt water to survive. (c)
				Where there is a natural or man-made structure containing the river or stream,
				it means the aquatic side of the structure which contains the river or stream
				at the mean annual high tide. (d) Where there are beaches, rocky shores or mud
				banks, the natural bank shall be the point at which the water's edge meets the
				land during the mean annual high tide.
(e) In freshwater rivers, it means the landward edge of the
				mean annual high water which usually occurs in the early spring.
(f) Where emergent wetland vegetation is present, this boundary
				shall be identified as the aquatic edge of the freshwater marsh or wetland as
				defined in M.G.L. c. 131, § 40.
Order
. Any instrument issued by the
				Commissioner and approved by the Stewardship Council that imposes restrictions
				in any river corridor in accordance with M.G.L. c. 21A, § 11C.
Person
. Any individual, group of
				individuals, association, partnership, corporation, company, business
				organization, trust, estate, the Commonwealth or political subdivision thereof,
				any administrative agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body, or any
				other legal entity or its legal representative, agents or assigns.
Person Having an Interest
. Any
				assessed owner or any holder of record of an easement, covenant, restriction or
				any other holder of any such property interest known to the
				Commissioner.
Plan
. A line and symbol photo
				grammetric map or an orthophoto map which meets National Map Accuracy
				Standards, upon which the river corridor is delineated.
Polluting
. Means, but is not limited
				to, the discharge, release or flow of any product, by-product, material or
				waste resulting from sewage, sewage processing, or from any agricultural,
				industrial, commercial, or other man-made process, any man-made thermal
				discharge, run-off, leachate, or any other substance in any form, which is or
				can be drained, discharged, infiltrated, or otherwise introduced into any river
				corridor.
Removing
. Taking away any type of
				material that alters the elevation of any land within the river
				corridor.
Repeal
. Rescinding of any Order,
				including the plan or plans and list of assessed owners incorporated with the
				Order.
Restriction
. Any provision in any
				Order limiting activities or uses in any river corridor. A restriction shall be
				unlimited in time unless repealed by the Department.
River
. A watercourse having a
				permanent source, well-defined course, and an outlet and which has continuous
				flow during portions of the year.
River Corridor
. Any river or stream
				and land up to 300 horizontal feet from the natural bank of the river or
				stream, which has been included in an Order.
Scenic River
. A scenic or
				recreational river or stream proposed for inclusion in, or included within, the
				river corridor.
Stewardship Council
. The body created
				by M.G.L. c. 21, § 2.
Stream
. A river as defined in 302 CMR
				3.02.