Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 571 - Natural Resource Commission › Title II - Licenses, Permits and Concession Contracts › Chapter 17 - Leases and Permits › Rule 571-17.10 - Barge Fleeting Regulations

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
The purpose of this rule is to regulate the practice of barge
				  fleeting in order to protect public and private rights and interest in public
				  waters of the state of Iowa under the jurisdiction of the commission.
(1)
Applicability.
This rule
				is applicable to all public waters under the jurisdiction of the commission
				except that portion of the Mississippi River conveyed to certain cities by 1945
				Iowa Acts, chapter 249; 1961 Iowa Acts, chapter 299; or special charters
				enacted by the Legislature in 1856 and 1857. This rule regulates the use of
				those waters for barge fleeting, including the installation of structures,
				physical site modification such as dredging, and operation of fleeting
				equipment and maneuvering of barges within the fleet.
(2)
Barge fleeting leases.
A
				person shall not assert any exclusive privilege to conduct barge fleeting and
				mooring service for hire, or not for hire, and shall not prevent or obstruct
				any lawful use of navigable waters under the jurisdiction of the commission
				except within a fleeting area leased by the executive council of Iowa or at a
				loading or off-loading facility necessary to carry on commerce, provided the
				facility is constructed in compliance with Iowa department of transportation,
				U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and all other applicable permits and
				regulations.
(3)
Restricted
				areas.
Leases shall not be issued for a fleeting area in the following
				locations unless the department, subject to the approval of the commission,
				determines that fleeting in such areas is not contrary to the purpose of these
				rules as stated in rule
				571-17.1 (461A):
a. A site subject to unusual hazards
				including but not limited to high wind, strong current, violent ice movement,
				and hydraulic surges during the time fleeting operations are proposed to be
				carried out.
b. A site receiving
				high use for recreation, sport fishing, or commercial fishing, unless the
				fleeting area can be placed or structured to be compatible with such
				uses.
c. A site immediately
				adjacent to industries or other facilities, which, together with fleeting
				operations, present a substantial risk of fire, explosion, water pollution, or
				other serious safety hazards.
d. A
				site where fleeting area activities would restrict or interfere with or have a
				substantial adverse effect on the use and enjoyment ofan area owned by federal,
				state, or local government, including but not limited to public parks, game
				refuges, forests, or recreation areas used for access to docks, slips, harbors,
				marinas, boat launching ramps or unique biological or physical features of the
				river valley itself.
e. A site
				immediately adjacent to or over a dam, sill, lock, breakwater, revetment,
				navigation aid, or wing dam.
f. A
				site within established navigation channels for commercial or recreational
				vessels.
g. A site within the
				approach area for a lock portion of a dam structure.
h. A site adjacent to bridges or vessel
				approach areas to bridges.