Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 301 CMR - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS › Title 301 CMR 27.00 - OCEAN SANCTUARIES › Section 27.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
Activities
means activities, uses, or
				facilities described in M.G.L. c. 132A, §§ 15 and 16, and in 301 CMR
				27.06.
Adjudicatory Hearing
means a hearing
				conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A §§ 9, 10, 10A, 11, and 12.
Advanced Treatment
means enhanced
				physical, chemical, or biological treatments that are used, in part, to remove
				nutrients, including nitrogen or phosphorus.
Agency
means any agency, department,
				division, board, commission, or authority of the Commonwealth.
Applicant
means any city, town,
				district, county, or authority and 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 M.G.L. c. 132A, §§ 12A through 16K
				and § 18.
Authorization
means certificates,
				licenses, permits, and approvals for proposed Activities.
Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan or
				CWMP
means a municipal or regional study, conducted in accordance
				with appropriate Department guidance, regulations, and policies, that evaluates
				alternatives and recommends an appropriate implementation strategy to properly
				manage wastewater in order to provide protection for the public health and
				safety of the environment, and is designed to ensure that goals associated with
				water quality standards set forth at
				314 CMR 4.00:
Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards
and TMDLs, if
				any TMDLs exist, are met.
Department
means the Department of
				Environmental Protection.
Environmental Impact Report
means a report prepared pursuant to the Massachusetts Environmental
				Policy Act, M.G.L. c. 30 §§ 61 through 62H.
Estuary
means a semi-enclosed body of
				water that has a free connection with the open sea, within which seawater is
				measurably diluted with fresh water derived from outflowing fresh water rivers
				and/or groundwater.
Existing Discharge
means a municipal,
				commercial, or industrial discharge at the volume and location approved and
				licensed by the appropriate federal and state agencies on July 15, 1970, in the
				case of the Cape Cod Ocean Sanctuary; on December 8, 1971, in the case of the
				Cape Cod Bay and Cape and Islands Ocean Sanctuaries; on June 27, 1972, in the
				case of the North Shore Ocean Sanctuary; and on December 30, 1976, in the case
				of the South Essex Ocean Sanctuary.
Marine Boundary Map
means the marine
				boundary map of the Commonwealth prepared pursuant to the St. 1970, c. 810 and
				St. 1971, c. 1035.
Mean Low Water Line
means the present
				mean low tide line, as established by the present arithmetic mean of water
				heights observed at low tide over a specific 19-year Metonic cycle (the
National Tidal Datum Epoch
) and shall be determined using the
				hydrographic data of the
National Oceanic Survey
of the U.S.
				Department of Commerce.
Miles
means nautical miles.
Modified Discharge
means an increase
				in volume or change in location of an existing discharge from a publicly owned
				treatment works.
Municipal
means of or pertaining to
				any subdivision of the Commonwealth, including a city, town, county, region,
				district, or authority.
New Discharge
means a discharge from a
				publicly owned treatment works not approved under M.G.L. c. 132A, §§
				12A through 16K and § 18 prior to February 1, 2014, nor authorized by the
				appropriate federal and state agencies prior to February 1, 2014.
Ocean Sanctuary
means any of the five
				areas established and defined by M.G.L. c. 132A, § 13. These areas are
				delineated by boundaries described in the statute, as may be amended. The
				Office maintains the official maps of the Ocean Sanctuaries which may be
				updated from time to time.
Office
means the Office of Coastal
				Zone Management.
Ocean Management Plan
means the
				Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan developed and promulgated pursuant to St.
				2008, c. 114, and M.G.L. c. 21A, § 4C.
Person
means any agency or political
				subdivision of the federal government or 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.
Pretreatment
means the reduction of
				the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of
				the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in
lieu
of discharging such pollutants into a publicly owned treatment
				plant.
Proposed Discharge
means a new or
				modified discharge.
Public Necessity and Convenience
means
				necessary to the public interest or in the public interest. Agencies making the
				public necessity and convenience determination must do so according to 301 CMR
				27.04.
Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW
means a sewage or septage treatment plant owned by a public entity
Refuse
means any useless, unwanted,
				discarded, or environmentally harmful solid waste material, whether combustible
				or non-combustible, and including, but not limited to, garbage or sludge
				resulting from any Activity.
Significantly Alter
means to
				substantially change or endanger the ecology or appearance of the ocean
				sanctuaries, including but not limited to: marine life and resources, including
				mammals, sea turtles, birds, fish, shellfish and other invertebrates; eelgrass,
				tidal flats, mussel reefs and other biogenic habitats; water quality including
				salinity, nutrients, pH, temperature; and hydrodynamic conditions including
				flushing and flow; sediment movement and transport dynamics.
Structure
means any man-made object of
				any kind that is not temporarily fixed to the seabed or not temporarily moored
				in the waters above, as defined in
				310 CMR 9.02:
Definitions
.
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
means
				the sum of a receiving water's individual waste load allocations, 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.
Wastes
means any unwanted, discarded,
				or environmentally harmful solid, liquid, or gaseous materials resulting from
				commercial, municipal, domestic, or industrial Activities, including, but not
				limited to garbage, snow, thermal discharges, saline discharges, and sewage.
				Waste does not include approved and licensed dredge spoils, approved and
				licensed stormwater discharges, or snow disposal consistent with Department
				guidance.