Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 250 - Department of Environmental Management › Chapter 130 - Compliance and Inspection › Subchapter 05 - Dam Safety › Part 1 - Rules and Regulations for Dam Safety (250-RICR-130-05-1) › Section 250-RICR-130-05-1.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. For the purposes of these regulations the
				  following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Appurtenant works" means any ancillary
				  feature of a dam including such structures as dikes, training walls, spillways,
				  either in the dam or separate there from, low level outlet works, and water
				  conduits such as tunnels, channels, pipelines or penstocks, either through the
				  dam or its abutments.
2. "Dam"
				  means any barrier made by humans, including appurtenant works that impounds or
				  diverts water.
3. "Department"
				  means the Department of Environmental Management and may be used
				  interchangeably with Director.
4.
				  "Department dam engineer" means an individual employed by the Department who
				  possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and has demonstrated,
				  through a combination of education, experience, and/or training, that he/she is
				  qualified to perform visual inspections.
5. "Detailed investigation" means all
				  studies, investigations and analyses appropriate to evaluate the structural
				  safety and hydraulic capacity of a dam or reservoir and appurtenant
				  works.
6. "Director" means the
				  Director of the Department of Environmental Management, or his or her designee
				  and may be used interchangeably with Department.
7. "Embankment" means the fill material,
				  including but not limited to rock or earth, placed to provide a permanent
				  barrier that impounds water.
8.
				  "Freshwater wetlands" means those areas as defined in R. I. Gen. Laws §
											2-1-18, et. seq., and the Wetlands
				  regulations.
9. "Hazard
				  classification" means a rating for a dam that relates to the probable
				  consequences of failure or misoperation of the dam, which is a determination
				  made by the Director based on an assessment of loss of human life, damages to
				  properties or structures located downstream of the reservoir, or loss of use as
				  a drinking water supply. This rating has no relationship to the current
				  condition of the dam. A higher hazard dam does not imply that it is more likely
				  to fail or be misoperated than a lower hazard dam.
10. "Height" means the vertical distance from
				  the elevation of the uppermost surface of a dam to the lowest point of natural
				  ground, including any stream channel, along the downstream toe of the
				  dam.
11. "High hazard dam" means a
				  dam where failure or misoperation will result in a probable loss of human
				  life.
12. "Hydraulic" means the
				  behavior of water relative to the dam. It is the manner in which water in the
				  reservoir is passed over or through the dam, via an outlet such as a spillway
				  or low level outlet.
13.
				  "Hydrologic" means the volume and speed at which precipitation flows along the
				  earth, combines into streams and discharges into a reservoir.
14. "Lifeline facilities" means essential
				  facilities, the loss of which can result in indirect threats to life. Lifeline
				  facilities may include hospitals, transportation links (highways, bridges,
				  airports, rail lines, waterways, ports and harbor facilities and emergency
				  evacuation routes), and utility systems (electric power plants, gas and liquid
				  fuel pipelines, telecommunication systems, water supply and waste water
				  treatment facilities).
15. "Low
				  hazard dam" means a dam where failure or misoperation results in no probable
				  loss of human life and low economic losses.
16. "Maintenance" means minor work on a dam
				  necessary to maintain the dam in proper working order, including activities
				  such as filling minor erosion areas, mowing or clearing vegetation provided
				  that it does not affect the integrity of the dam, lubricating and exercising
				  equipment and re-pointing masonry areas. Maintenance does not include repair of
				  a dam or substantial alteration of a dam.
17. "Owner" means the person or persons,
				  including any individual, firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company,
				  trust, corporation, municipality, agency, political or administrative
				  subdivision of the state or any legal entity of any kind holding legal title to
				  a dam.
18. "Person maintaining or
				  having control of a dam" means the person or persons, including any individual,
				  firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company, trust, corporation,
				  municipality, agency, political or administrative subdivision of the state or
				  any legal entity of any kind having authority to operate or maintain a
				  dam.
19. "Piping" means the
				  progressive development of internal erosion by seepage through the dam. Piping
				  appears downstream as a hole or a discharging flow of water that includes soil
				  particles from the dam embankment or foundation.
20. "Probable loss of human life" means loss
				  of human life that is likely to occur, or reasonably or realistically expected.
				  This definition does not include persons who are only incidentally in the
				  potential inundation area downstream of a dam. Examples include walking on the
				  dam, driving on lightly traveled roads on or downstream of the dam and
				  recreating downstream of the dam provided the area is not an established
				  recreational area.
21. "Qualified
				  engineer" means a professional engineer fully registered in the State of Rhode
				  Island, who is experienced with dam inspection, design, construction and
				  repair.
22. "Registered owner"
				  means a dam owner who has been issued a certificate of registration by the
				  Department.
23. "Regulated dam"
				  means a low hazard dam that is six (6) feet or more in height or has fifteen
				  (15) acre-feet or more of storage capacity; or a high hazard dam; or a
				  significant hazard dam. An acre-foot is a unit of volume equal to 43,560 cubic
				  feet or 325,830 gallons (a measure that would cover one acre to a depth of one
				  foot).
24. "Removal" means the
				  destruction or breaching of a dam to the extent that the dam no longer impounds
				  or diverts water.
25. "Repair"
				  means any work performed at a dam that may affect the integrity of the dam,
				  including certain cutting or removal of trees where the resulting decomposition
				  of the tree root system could jeopardize the integrity of the dam, work
				  requiring excavation into the embankment fill or foundation of a dam, work
				  requiring reinforcement of the embankment or work requiring removal or
				  replacement of major structural components of a dam; or any related, new,
				  temporary or permanent access way(s) that may be required within freshwater
				  wetlands.
26. "Reservoir" means the
				  body of water that is impounded or diverted by a dam.
27. "Significant hazard dam" means a dam
				  where failure or misoperation results in no probable loss of human life but can
				  cause major economic loss, disruption of lifeline facilities or impact other
				  concerns detrimental to the public's health, safety or welfare. Examples of
				  major economic loss include but are not limited to washout of a state or
				  federal highway, washout of two or more municipal roads, loss of vehicular
				  access to residences, (e.g. a dead end road whereby emergency personnel could
				  no longer access residences beyond the washout area) or damage to a few
				  structures.
28. "Spillway" means a
				  structure, a low area in natural grade or any part of the dam which has been
				  designed or relied upon to allow normal flow or major flood flow to pass over
				  or through while being discharged from a reservoir.
29. "Substantial alteration" means any
				  physical modification to a dam that results in a permanent change in the water
				  elevation of the reservoir or in water flow downstream of the dam.
30. "Unsafe dam" means the condition of a
				  regulated dam, as determined by the Director, is such that an unreasonable risk
				  of failure exists that will result in a probable loss of human life or major
				  economic loss. Among the conditions that would result in this determination
				  are: excessive vegetation that does not allow the Director to perform a
				  complete visual inspection of a dam, excessive seepage or piping, significant
				  erosion problems, inadequate spillway capacity, inadequate capacity and/or
				  condition of control structure(s) or serious structural deficiencies, including
				  movement of the structure or major cracking.
31. "Visual inspection" means a visual,
				  technical evaluation of the physical conditions of a dam that affect
				  performance of the structure.
32.
				  "Wetlands regulations" means the "Rules and Regulations Governing the
				  Administration and Enforcement of the Freshwater Wetlands Act," Part 150-15-1
				  of this Title.