New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION › Chapter X - DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES › Subchapter A - GENERAL › Article 1 - MISCELLANEOUS RULES › Part 661 - Tidal Wetlands-land Use Regulations › Section 661.2 - Findings

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Tidal wetlands
					 constitute one of the most vital and productive areas of the natural world and
					 collectively have many values. These values include, but are not limited to,
					 marine food production, wildlife habitat, flood and storm and hurricane
					 control, recreation, cleansing ecosystems, sedimentation control, education and
					 research, and open space and aesthetic appreciation, as set forth in the
					 legislative findings contained in section 1 of chapter 790 of the Laws of 1973.
					 Therefore, the protection and preservation of tidal wetlands are
					 essential.
(b) Several ecological
					 zones exist in tidal wetlands. These several zones are as follows: coastal
					 fresh marsh; intertidal marsh; coastal shoals, bars and flats; littoral zone;
					 high marsh or salt meadow; and formerly connected tidal wetlands. In addition,
					 adjacent areas, which are important to the protection of tidal wetlands values,
					 adjoin these tidal wetlands zones.
(c) These tidal wetlands zones collectively
					 serve all of the tidal wetland values set forth in chapter 790 of the Laws of
					 1973. However, because of their different natural characteristics, each zone
					 may serve any particular value to a greater or lesser degree than other zones.
					 The varied natural characteristics of the several tidal wetlands zones,
					 including their functions, contour, biota, tidal action, water quality and in
					 particular their respective contributions to the marine food chain, cause
					 certain zones to be relatively more sensitive to the adverse impacts caused by
					 land used and development. Similarly, these varied natural characteristics make
					 it important to more stringently protect and preserve certain tidal wetlands
					 zones relative to other zones. However, any ranking of the value of different
					 tidal wetland zones is general in nature, and specific exceptions to such a
					 ranking do occur.
(d) Intertidal
					 marsh and coastal fresh marsh tidal wetlands are the most biologically
					 productive of all tidal wetlands areas. Furthermore, since they receive
					 twice-daily tidal flushing, the products of vegetative photosynthetic activity
					 and decomposition in these zones are readily transported to adjacent waters for
					 use in the estuarine food chain. Their intertidal location also makes them
					 among the most effective wetland zones for flood and hurricane and storm
					 protection. Both their intertidal location and their highly productive nature
					 makes them among the most effective wetland zones for cleansing ecosystems and
					 for absorbing silt and organic material. Because of these high values and their
					 sensitive location at the land and water interface, intertidal and coastal
					 fresh marshes must be the most stringently protected and preserved tidal
					 wetlands zones. Even small portions of these zones are critically important
					 resources. Consequently, only very limited types of land use and development
					 are compatible with the values of these areas.
(e) Coastal shoals, bars, and flats and
					 littoral zones include areas of extreme variability in their contributions to
					 marine food production and other tidal wetland values, and each such area
					 requires a specific assessment of tidal wetland values. Some coastal shoals,
					 bars and flats and some littoral zones are areas of extremely high biological
					 productivity and are nearly or equally as important in this respect as
					 intertidal marshes and coastal fresh marshes. Other areas are of little
					 biological significance. Even in these relatively unproductive areas, however,
					 values other than marine food production are often present, and these areas
					 often have the potential to become more biologically productive in the future.
					 Because of their location at the land-water interface, coastal shoals, bars and
					 flats and littoral zones play an important role in flood and hurricane and
					 storm control, although they are less important in this regard than coastal
					 fresh marshes, intertidal marshes and high marshes or salt meadows. Similarly,
					 because of their location at the land-water interface and because of their
					 generally high levels of productivity, these areas have an important function
					 in cleansing ecosystems and absorbing silt and organic materials, but they are
					 also less critical in these ways than coastal fresh marshes, intertidal marshes
					 and high marshes or salt meadows. Where tidal wetlands values, particularly
					 biologic productivity, are high, only limited types of land use and development
					 are compatible with the values of these areas. Where tidal wetland values are
					 relatively lower, more extensive and intensive uses may be compatible with the
					 wetland values of these areas.
(f)
					 Some areas possess the physical characteristics of littoral zones or coastal
					 shoals, bars or flats but do not function biologically as tidal wetlands. Such
					 areas have generally been heavily impacted by pollution, sedimentation or other
					 artificial disturbance, exhibit little primary productivity, and are populated
					 by few benthic organisms. Such areas require identification on a case-by-case
					 basis and when so identified should no longer be treated as tidal wetlands
					 under this Part.
(g) High marsh or
					 salt meadow tidal wetlands constitute an extensive zone of the salt marshes
					 that receives only occasional tidal flooding coincident with extreme lunar
					 tides and occasional storms. Since their photosynthetic productivity is lower
					 than coastal fresh marshes and intertidal marshes and since flushing of the
					 biological products of the high marsh or salt meadow to the estuary is less
					 efficient than in coastal fresh marshes and intertidal marshes, salt meadows or
					 high marshes, while critically important for marine food production, are
					 slightly less important in this regard than coastal fresh marshes or intertidal
					 marshes. Because of their size and location salt meadows or high marshes are as
					 important for absorption of silt and organic material and flood and hurricane
					 and storm control as coastal fresh marshes and intertidal marshes. Furthermore,
					 because they are located generally in such a way that they are the first tidal
					 wetland area to receive run-off and other materials from the land, they have an
					 important role in cleansing ecosystems, but their value in this respect is
					 generally slightly less than in coastal fresh marshes and intertidal marshes
					 because of the lower level of direct tidal influence in high marshes or salt
					 meadows. Because these wetlands are usually located adjacent to intertidal
					 marshes and because their values are similar, these wetland areas must be
					 stringently protected and preserved. Even small portions of these areas are
					 critically important resources, although slightly less so than intertidal
					 marshes and coastal fresh marshes. Consequently, only very limited types of
					 land use and development are compatible with the value of these
					 areas.
(h) All of the
					 above-described tidal wetland zones may occur behind shifting natural barriers
					 that are breached by intermittent tidal inlets which allow tidal action to
					 affect such wetlands.
(i) Formerly
					 connected tidal wetlands are lowland areas whose connections to tidal waters
					 are restricted by road fills, dikes, or other man-made facilities. The nature
					 and value of these tidal wetland areas are widely variable and are a function
					 of the extent of the tidal restriction and the time which has passed since the
					 restriction occurred. Therefore, a case-by-case analysis of these wetlands is
					 required. Each of these tidal wetland areas closely resembles another type of
					 wetland zone. Those uses compatible with the type of wetland zone which a
					 particular formerly connected tidal wetland most closely resembles will be
					 generally compatible with that formerly connected wetland.
(j) Adjacent areas make insignificant
					 contributions to marine food production. Tidal wetland values for cleansing
					 ecosystems, flood and hurricane and storm control, and absorbing silt and
					 organic material may be served to varying degrees by these areas, but these
					 values are not as critically served in adjacent areas as in the tidal wetland
					 zones. The most important function of adjacent areas is to serve as buffers to
					 protect the character, quality and values of tidal wetlands that adjoin or lie
					 near these areas. Consequently, a wide variety of uses may be compatible with
					 these areas, provided such uses do not adversely affect adjacent and nearby
					 tidal wetlands.
(k) All of the
					 tidal wetland zones and adjacent areas generally serve to an approximately
					 equal degree the wildlife habitat, recreation, education and research, and open
					 space and aesthetic appreciation values of tidal wetlands. Variations do occur
					 in the values served from, for example, a particular intertidal marsh to
					 another or from a particular high marsh or salt meadow to another. Furthermore,
					 one type of tidal wetland or an adjacent area may serve a particular wildlife
					 habitat, recreation, education and research, or open space and aesthetic
					 appreciation value. These variations depend on a wide variety of factors,
					 including the particular value sought to be served, the quality and diversity
					 of the natural resources of a particular area, the size and location of the
					 area, the natural features and land uses surrounding the particular area, and
					 the time of year. Generally, tidal wetlands and adjacent areas are the habitat
					 for a large number of wildlife species, provide large expanses for a variety of
					 recreational purposes, offer conditions useful for many education and research
					 purposes and satisfy a broad spectrum of aesthetic appreciation and open space
					 needs.
(l) The productivity and
					 variability of tidal wetlands and their location in a constantly changing
					 environment mean that whatever the present existing values of a particular
					 tidal wetland are, the ability of that wetland to serve these values generally
					 continues provided it is allowed to function in a substantially natural and
					 undisturbed state. Furthermore certain human-induced modifications of tidal
					 wetlands can increase tidal wetland values when carefully designed and
					 undertaken. Consequently, land use and development in or near tidal wetlands
					 must be compatible with the present and potential values of tidal
					 wetlands.
(m) Tidal wetlands are
					 located at the critical interface between land and tidal waters, and the amount
					 of this land-water boundary is limited. Certain types of land use and
					 development require access to tidal waters, while others do not. Given the
					 critical values served by tidal wetlands, the limited extent of the land-water
					 boundary, and the many types of land use and development that require water
					 access and should be located where they will not substantially impair tidal
					 wetland values, land use and development that does not require water access
					 generally should not be located in tidal wetlands or adjacent areas.
(n) While tidal wetlands and adjacent areas
					 contain distinct zones, as set forth in these findings, these areas are
					 essentially an integrated natural system. The resources in one area utilize and
					 depend on the resources in other areas. The tidal wetland benefits produced in
					 one area benefit nearby areas, and the negative impacts imposed on the natural
					 values of one area are transferred to other nearby tidal wetland areas.
					 Consequently, land use and development occurring in any particular tidal
					 wetland or adjacent area may cause impacts on nearby areas and should be
					 compatible with the values of the particular area on which it is located as
					 well as with the values of nearby tidal wetlands.