Code of Maine Rules › 15 - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, VETERANS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT › 214 - MAINE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (MEMA) › Chapter 3 - DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS FOR NEW OR RECONSTRUCTED DAMS › Section 214-3-3.2 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
The following definitions shall apply to the terms used in
				  these regulations:
a. "Agency" means
				the Maine Emergency Management Agency.
b. "Dam" means. any man-made artificial
				barrier, including appurtenant works, the site on which it is located and
				appurtenant rights of flowage and access, which impounds or diverts a river,
				stream or great pond and which is 2 feet or more in height and has an
				impounding capacity at water storage elevation of 15 acre-feet or more. Any
				such artificial barrier constructed solely for the purpose of impounding water
				to allow timber to be floated downstream in a logging operation shall not be
				considered a dam for the purposes of this chapter, unless it has been repaired,
				modified or maintained by or with the knowledge of the owner, lessee or person
				in control since the discontinuance of its use in connection with logging
				operations. Any adjacent property, easements, roads, bridges or works not
				necessary for the operation or maintenance of a dam or access to the dam shall
				not be included under the provisions of this chapter.
For the purpose of this regulation, a dam shall be considered
				  an "impounding structure".
c. "Dam reconstruction" means the rebuilding
				or replacement of all or part of an existing dam that no longer functions in
				the manner for which it was originally constructed.
d. "Director" means the Director of the Maine
				Emergency Management Agency.
e.
				"Emergency Operations Plan" means a set of written instructions or guidelines.
				for use by public officials which recommends actions which, when implemented,
				will minimize the effects of a dam failure on people and property.
f. "High or significant hazard" means that
				condition which poses a risk of loss of human life and substantial property
				damage.
g. "Public safety" or
				"safety of the public" means protection of life, health or property from any
				condition, event or action at a dam which might compromise the safety,
				stability or integrity of the dam or its ability to function safely.
h. "State Dam Inspector" means an inspector
				appointed or hired under Section 1064, Chapter 22, Title 37-B
				M.R.S.A.
i. "Impoundment" means a
				body of water the storage of which is caused by any existing or proposed
				impounding structure not exempt from the law.
j. "Owner" means the owner of the land on
				which is situated, and/or the holder of an easement permitting the construction
				of a dam and/or any person or entity agreeing to maintain a dam, which includes
				the State or any of its political subdivisions, including, but not limited to
				sanitation district commissions and authorities, and public or private
				institution, corporation, association, firm, or company organized or existing
				under the laws of this or any other state or country, or any person or group of
				persons acting individually or as a group.
k. "Design flood" is the runoff, at the site
				of the impounding structure, utilized in impounding structure design,
				construction, operation, and maintenance, which will be safely passed by the
				impounding structure and shall not be less than that recommended spillway
				design flood commensurate with the size and hazard potential of the particular
				impounding structure in accordance with the procedures recommended in these
				regulations.
l. "Design freeboard"
				means the minimum freeboard which would occur during passage of the design
				flood.
m. "Inundation zone" means
				an area that would be inundated in excess of storm water by the water released
				by the impoundment in the event of a dam breach and is that area which would be
				inundated immediately downstream from the site of the impounding structure
				extending to that point on the stream where the calculated water surface
				profile resulting from the design flood, determined absent the impounding
				structure, converges with that calculated water surface profile which would
				result from failure of the impounding structure at the appropriate impounding
				capacity, with the time of such failure to be considered coincident with the
				time of occurrence of maximum inflow to the impoundment resulting from the
				design flood.
n. "Height" means the
				structural height of a dam which is defined as the vertical distance from the
				natural bed of the stream or watercourse measured at the downstream toe of the
				dam to the top of the dam.
o.
				"Maximum impounding capacity" means normal full pond. It also means the volume
				in acre-feet that is capable of being impounded at the elevation of the crest
				of the impounding structure including flash boards if any or the elevation of
				top of gates, if appropriate.
p.
				"Impounding capacity" means the volume in acre-feet that is capable of being
				impounded at the elevation of the crest of the highest ungated outlet from the
				impoundment.
q. "Life of impounding
				structure" and "life of the project" means that period of time during which the
				impounding structure is designed and planned to perform effectively, including
				that period of time required to remove the structure when it is no longer
				capable of functioning as planned and designed.
r. "An impoundment constructed, maintained,
				or operated primarily for agricultural purposes" means an impoundment that is
				certified by the owner to be such.
s. "Watercourse" means a natural channel
				having a well-defined bed and banks and in which water flows when it normally
				does flow.
t. "Acre-foot" means a
				unit of volume equal to 43,560 cubic feet or 325,853 gallons (one foot of depth
				over one acre of area).
u. "Flood
				plain" means those areas adjoining a river, stream or watercourse which have
				been or hereafter are likely to be covered by flood waters.