Code of Maine Rules › 06 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 096 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - GENERAL › Chapter 450 - ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS FOR HYDROPOWER PROJECTS › Section 096-450-3 - Definitions

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
The following terms, as used in these regulations, shall have
				  the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:
A.
Act
. "Act" means the
Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act
,
				38 M.R.S.
				§§630 -
				637.
B.
Administering Agency
.
				"Administering Agency" means either the Department or the Commission as set
				forth in Section
				2 of this Rule.
C.
Commission
. "Commission"
				means the Land Use Planning Commission of the Maine Department of Agriculture,
				Conservation, and Forestry.
D.
Cumulative adverse impacts
. "Cumulative adverse impacts" are harms
				to the environment that are additive in nature. Harms caused by a proposed
				project and harms caused by other existing development, facilities or uses must
				be considered together and evaluated to determine if a threshold of
				acceptability for total harm to the environment is exceeded. For example, when
				viewed in isolation, a project might be seen as having only a minor on-site
				impact on water quality, e.g., a slight reduction in dissolved oxygen or a
				slight reduction in a run of anadromous fish. However, even minor reductions in
				dissolved oxygen at the site might cause downstream areas affected by other
				existing projects or discharges to violate water quality standards. Likewise, a
				seemingly small reduction in the number of salmon (say 10 percent loss at the
				project in question) might, when combined with the effects of other existing
				projects, cause a run to fail because the number of fish needed to sustain a
				breeding population was not maintained.
E.
Commissioner
. "Commissioner"
				means the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
F.
Department
. "Department"
				means the Department of Environmental Protection.
G.
Director
. "Director" means
				the Executive Director of the Land Use Planning Commission.
H.
Hydropower project or
				project
. "Hydropower project" or "project," means any development that
				utilizes the flow or other movement of water, including tidal or wave action,
				as a source of electrical or mechanical power, or that regulates the flow of
				water for the purpose of generating electrical or mechanical power. A
				hydropower project includes all powerhouses, dams, water conduits, turbines or
				other in-stream power devices, generators, transmission lines, water
				impoundments, roads and other appurtenant works and structures that are part of
				the development.
I.
Mitigation
. "Mitigation" means any action taken or not taken in
				order to avoid, minimize, rectify, reduce, eliminate, or compensate for actual
				or potential adverse environmental impacts. Such actions include, but are not
				limited to:
(1) avoiding an impact altogether
				by not taking a certain action or part(s) of an action;
(2) minimizing an impact by limiting the
				magnitude or duration of an activity or by controlling the timing of an
				activity;
(3) rectifying an impact
				by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment;
(4) reducing or eliminating an impact over
				time through preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the
				project; and
(5) compensating for
				an impact by replacing affected resources or environments or providing
				substitute resources or environments.