Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 3 - SUBTITLES 13-18 › Subtitle 17 - WATER MANAGEMENT › Chapter 26.17.04 - Construction on Nontidal Waters and Floodplains › Section 26.17.04.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. The following
				  definitions describe the meanings of terms used in the regulations governing
				  construction on nontidal waters and floodplains adopted by the Water Management
				  Administration of the Department of the Environment (Regulations .01-----.13),
				  unless the context in which they are used clearly requires a different meaning
				  or a different meaning is prescribed at the point of use. Terms not defined
				  below shall have the meanings given to them in the relevant statutes or, if not
				  defined in statutes, the meanings attributed by common use. The terms
				  "Administration", "Department", "person", and "waters of the State" are defined
				  in the Environment Article, Title 5, Subtitle 1, Annotated Code of Maryland.
				  The definitions for these terms are provided as a convenience, but persons
				  affected by the Department's regulations should be aware that these definitions
				  are subject to amendment by the General Assembly.
B. In this chapter, the following terms have
				  the meanings indicated:
(1) "Administration"
				  means the Water Management Administration.
(2) "Administrative order" means a written
				  notification issued by the Administration pursuant to State law and
				  regulations, requiring, within a time specified, correction of a violation of
				  or compliance with provisions of pertinent law, regulations, permit, or
				  approval.
(3) "Anadromous fish
				  spawning areas" means that portion of the waters of the State identified by the
				  Department as spawning and nursery areas for anadromous fish species.
(4) "Dam" means any obstruction, wall, or
				  embankment, together with its abutments and appurtenant works, if any, in,
				  along, or across any stream, heretofore or hereafter constructed for the
				  purpose of storing or diverting water or for creating a pool upstream of the
				  dam, as determined by the Administration.
(5) "Danger reach" means that area downstream
				  of a dam within which sudden release of waters resulting from failure of the
				  dam during the inflow design flood would cause an artificial flood exceeding
				  the flood that might be expected from the same storm if the dam had not
				  existed.
(6) "Department" means the
				  Department of the Environment.
(7)
				  "Dominant discharge" means the flow rate capacity, in cubic feet per second, of
				  the stream channel considering steady, uniform flow.
(8) "Emergency condition" means a sudden
				  unforeseen occurrence or condition requiring exigency or a circumstance which
				  the Administration determines constitutes a present or imminent danger to the
				  public health or safety or to the environment.
(9) "Floodplain" means that area along or
				  adjacent to a stream or a body of water within the waters of the State that is
				  capable of storing or conveying floodwaters.
(10) "Flood-proofing" means any combination
				  of structural or nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures
				  together with attendant utility and sanitary facilities that are designed so
				  that below the elevation of the 100-year frequency flood event the structure is
				  watertight with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water and
				  with structural components having the capability of resisting hydrostatic and
				  hydrodynamic loads and effects of buoyancy.
(11) "Freeboard" means the vertical distance
				  to the crest of a dam above the water surface at time of maximum design flow
				  over the spillway.
(12) "General
				  waterway construction permit" means the authorization established by Regulation
				  .10 of this chapter for certain categories of construction activities to take
				  place without an individual waterway construction permit.
(13) "Inflow design flood" means the size of
				  flood coming into the reservoir that is used as a basis for designing various
				  parts of the dam.
(14) "1983
				  Maryland Standards and Specifications for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control"
				  means the official handbook for sediment control principles, methods, and
				  practices approved by the Administration, which is incorporated by reference
				  under COMAR
				  26.17.01.11 a.
(15) "Natural trout waters" means waters
				  having the potential to support or are capable of supporting natural trout
				  populations, including propagation, and their associated food organisms. These
				  waters are designated Use III as indicated in COMAR
				  26.08.02.08 a.
(16) "Normal depth" means the maximum
				  vertical distance from the stream bed invert at the upstream toe of the dam to
				  the normal water surface.
(17)
				  "Overflow spillway" means any operating, emergency, or other spillway which
				  discharges with a free water surface over or around the dam as opposed to an
				  orifice, gate, or conduit which discharges through or beneath the dam or nearby
				  ground.
(18) "Owner" means any
				  person or persons and their duly authorized agents, owning, operating,
				  maintaining, or proposing to construct any dam, reservoir, or other
				  obstruction, or to change the course, current, or cross section of any body of
				  water in the State.
(19) "Permit"
				  means authorization by the Administration, pursuant to pertinent law and
				  regulations, describing the required performance for specific activities and
				  operations.
(20) "Permittee" means
				  the person to whom a permit is issued by the Administration.
(21) "Person" means the federal government,
				  the State, any county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of
				  the State, or any of their units, or an individual, receiver, trustee,
				  guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind, or
				  any partnership, firm, association, public or private corporation, or any other
				  entity.
(22) "Probable maximum
				  flood" means the most severe flood considered possible in a specific region.
				  This may be:
(a) The probable maximum flood as
				  determined by a source acceptable to the Administration; or
(b) Calculated using a rational consideration
				  of the chances of simultaneous occurrence of the maximum of the several
				  elements or conditions which contribute to the flood.
(23) "Recreational trout waters" means cold
				  or warm waters having the potential to hold or support or capable of holding or
				  supporting adult trout for put-and-take fishing, usually seasonal. These waters
				  are designated Use IV as indicated in COMAR
				  26.08.02.08 a.
(24) Repair.
(a) "Repair" includes any modification or
				  alteration to a dam, reservoir, waterway obstruction, stream channel, or
				  floodplain when the:
(i) Hydraulic performance
				  or safety of a dam or waterway obstruction is altered or affected;
(ii) Hydraulic performance of a bridge or
				  culvert, stream channel, or floodplain is altered or affected; or
(iii) Use of construction equipment within a
				  flowing stream would be required.
(b) "Repair" does not include ordinary
				  maintenance which does not cause pollution, as defined in COMAR
				  26.17.01.01 a B(14), to the waters
				  of the State.
(25)
				  "Reservoir" means any basin, either natural or artificial, used for the
				  collecting or storing of water.
(26) "Standard project flood" means the most
				  severe flood considered reasonably characteristic of the specific region. This
				  is calculated for a specific dam site using one or more of the recognized
				  methods acceptable to the Administration. Usually, this flood will have a
				  magnitude between 40 percent to 60 percent of the probable maximum
				  flood.
(27) "State" means the State
				  of Maryland.
(28) "Substantial
				  improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure,
				  the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the
				  structure. The term does not include any project for improvement of a structure
				  to comply with existing State or local health, sanitary, or safety code
				  specifications which are necessary to insure safe living conditions or any
				  alteration of a structure listed in the National Register of Historic Places or
				  a State Inventory of Historic Places.
(29) "Tractive force" means the shear stress,
				  expressed in pounds per square foot, acting upon the wetted boundary of the
				  stream channel and is expressed as: psi omicron = delta RS when psi omicron is
				  the tractive force, delta the unit weight of water in pounds per cubic foot, R
				  the hydraulic radius, and S the longitudinal slope of the stream bed in feet
				  per feet.
(30) "Waters of the
				  State" includes both surface and underground waters within the boundaries of
				  the State subject to its jurisdiction, including that portion of the Atlantic
				  Ocean within the boundaries of the State, the Chesapeake Bay and its
				  tributaries, and all ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, public ditches, tax
				  ditches, and public drainage systems within the State, other than those
				  designed and used to collect, convey, or dispose of sanitary sewage. The
				  floodplain of free-flowing waters determined by the Department on the basis of
				  the 100-year flood frequency is included as waters of the State.