Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 141 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE LANDS › Division 90 - ADMINISTRATIVE RULES FOR WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT REQUIREMENTS AND FOR JURISDICTIONAL DETERMINATIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REGULATING FILL AND REMOVAL WITHIN WATERS OF THIS STATE › Section 141-090-0020 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
For the purpose of these rules:
(1) "Agent" means a business partner,
			 attorney, or any individual who is legally authorized to represent the
			 landowner's interests.
(2)
			 "Applicant" means a person who has applied to the Department for a wetland
			 delineation report approval, a jurisdictional determination, or a removal or
			 fill authorization.
(3) "Aquatic
			 Resources of Special Concern" (ARSC) means waters of this state that provide
			 functions, values and habitats that are limited in quantity because they are
			 naturally rare or have been disproportionately lost due to prior impacts. These
			 include bogs, fens, cold water habitat, hot springs, interdunal wetlands, kelp
			 beds, mature forested wetlands, native eelgrass beds, off-channel habitats
			 (alcoves and side channels), ultramafic soil wetlands, vernal pools, wet
			 prairies, wooded tidal wetlands, certain alkaline wetlands and lakes, and
			 others as determined by the Department.
(4) "Authorization Application" means the
			 written application for an authorization to place fill in or remove material
			 from waters of this state as required by OAR 141-085, 141-089, 141-0100 and
			 141-0102.
(5) "Basis of
			 Jurisdictional Determination" means a summary statement of the criteria and
			 indicators that support the Department's jurisdictional
			 determination.
(6) "Change in
			 Circumstances" means a change in site conditions that fundamentally alters the
			 hydrology or substrate to the extent that the "normal circumstances" of waters
			 of this state are changed. The change in circumstances may be due to
			 alterations on- or off-site that affect the site sufficiently to enlarge,
			 reduce, or change the status or geographic extent of a jurisdictional water. A
			 change in circumstances includes, but is not limited to, a dike breach or
			 drainage system failure that restores former hydrologic conditions to a site,
			 placement of fill material, or a water source diversion.
(7) "Consultant" means a person who provides
			 professional services to the public.
(8) "Cowardin" means Cowardin, L. M., V.
			 Carter, F. C. Golet, E. T. LaRoe. 1979.
Classification of wetlands and
			 deepwater habitats of the United States
, U. S. Department of the
			 Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C.
(9) "Delineation" means a determination of
			 the presence of wetlands and other waters that includes marking boundaries on
			 the ground and on a detailed map prepared by professional land survey or
			 similar accurate methods.
(10)
			 "Delineation Map" means a map included in a Wetland Delineation Report or
			 provided with a Jurisdictional Determination by the Department that shows the
			 tax lot(s) and study area(s) investigated and the location, size, and
			 boundaries of all wetlands and other waters.
(11) "Determination" means a decision that a
			 site may, does, is unlikely to, or does not contain waters of this state. A
			 determination does not include the exact location or boundaries of waters of
			 this state.
(12) "Director" means
			 the Director of the Department of State Lands or their designee.
(13) "Department" means the Oregon Department
			 of State Lands, including the Director.
(14) "Fill" means the total of deposits by
			 artificial means equal to or exceeding 50 cubic yards or more of material at
			 one location in any waters of this state. However, in designated essential
			 salmonid habitat (ESH) areas (OAR 141-102) and in designated State Scenic
			 Waterways (OAR 141-100) "fill" means any amount of deposit by artificial
			 means.
(15) "Final Order" means a
			 final agency action expressed in writing. "Final order" does not include any
			 tentative or preliminary agency statement, including a "preliminary
			 jurisdictional determination," and does not preclude further agency
			 consideration of the subject matter of the final order.
(16) "Geographic Information System" (GIS)
			 means a system of hardware, software, and data storage that allows for the
			 analysis and display of information that has been geographically
			 referenced.
(17) "Global
			 Positioning System" (GPS) means a navigation system which consists of a network
			 of satellites and earth receiver stations which allows a person to determine,
			 via a receiver, their respective position in latitude, longitude, and
			 altitude.
(18) "Hydrogeomorphic
			 Method" (HGM) means the wetland classification based on a wetland's location in
			 the landscape and the sources and characteristics of water flow defined in
			 Adamus, P.R.2001.
Guidebook for hydrogeomorphic (HGM)-based assessment
			 of Oregon wetland and riparian sites: Statewide classification and
			 profiles
. Oregon Division of State Lands, Salem, OR.
(19) "Indicator" means soil characteristics,
			 vegetation, hydrology evidence, or other field data that indicate, by their
			 presence or absence, the existence of certain environmental conditions.
			 Indicators are used with other information, mapped or anecdotal, to determine
			 the state's jurisdiction over wetlands and other waters.
(20) "Jurisdictional Determination" (JD)
			 means a written decision by the Department that waters of this state subject to
			 regulation and authorization requirements of OAR 141-085, 141-089, 141-0100 and
			 141-0102 are present or not present within a study area. The JD may include a
			 delineation of the geographic boundaries of the area subject to state
			 jurisdiction. For example, a JD may include the location of a wetland boundary
			 or the location of the ordinary high water line (ordinary high water mark) of a
			 waterway. A JD may, but does not necessarily, include a determination that a
			 particular activity in a water of this state is subject to authorization
			 requirements. The decision record includes the basis of the jurisdictional
			 determination and is a final order subject to reconsideration according to the
			 provisions in 141-090-0050.
(21)
			 "Landowner" means the legal owner of the property for which a JD is requested
			 or made.
(22) "Local Wetlands
			 Inventory" (LWI) means a wetlands inventory map and supporting data that is
			 conducted according to the requirements in OAR 141-086 and has been approved by
			 the Department.
(23) "Manual" means
			 the
1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation
			 Manual
including the two regional supplements that cover Oregon: Arid
			 West and Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast, and applicable guidance (see
			 OAR 141-090-0030) all of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The public
			 may obtain a copy of the manual from the Department's website.
(24) "National Wetlands Inventory" (NWI)
			 means the wetlands inventory prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
			 Service.
(25) "New Information"
			 means data, reports, photographs, observations, or similar information that is
			 provided to or obtained by the Department after the Department has issued a
			 jurisdictional determination or issued an authorization.
(26) "Non-wetland" means an area that does
			 not meet the wetland definition and criteria.
(27) "Normal Circumstances" means the soil
			 and hydrologic conditions that are normally present, without regard to whether
			 the vegetation has been removed. "Normal circumstances" includes a
			 consideration of the permanence of any change to the site; for example, if fill
			 material is placed on a wetland, the new "normal circumstances" may be
			 non-wetland. In such a situation, the Department may determine if the placement
			 of fill material required a fill permit.
(28) "Off-site Determination" means a
			 determination by the Department or any other person that is conducted without a
			 site visit using resources such as maps, remotely sensed imagery, observations
			 from adjacent areas, or interviews with persons familiar with the site. An
			 off-site determination is a Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination (PJD)
			 unless otherwise stated in writing by the Department.
(29) "On-site Determination" means a
			 determination by the Department or any other person that includes a site visit
			 to collect relevant data. An on-site determination by the Department may be
			 either a PJD or a JD.
(30) "Other
			 Waters" means all waters other than wetlands regardless of
			 jurisdiction.
(31) "Person" means
			 an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, estate, association, body of
			 government, or other legal entity.
(32) "Preliminary Jurisdictional
			 Determination" (PJD) means an advisory determination issued in writing stating
			 that waters of this state are present or not present within a study area.
			 Because a PJD is advisory in nature, it has no specified duration or expiration
			 and is not subject to appeal. PJDs include all wetland determinations by any
			 person other than the Department and may also include wetlands mapped on the
			 SWI.
(33) "Primary Contact" means
			 the person designated by the landowner, agent, or applicant to serve as the
			 Department's contact for the purpose of the review and approval of a wetland
			 delineation report.
(34) "Removal"
			 means the taking of more than 50 cubic yards of material (or its equivalent
			 weight in tons) in any waters of this state in any calendar year; or the
			 movement by artificial means of an equivalent amount of material on or within
			 the bed of such waters, including channel relocation. However, in designated
			 ESH areas (OAR 141-102) and in designated State Scenic Waterways (OAR 141-100)
			 the 50-cubic-yard minimum threshold does not apply.
(35) "Removal-Fill Law" means ORS
			 196.800 through
			 196.990 and rules adopted
			 thereunder relating to the filling and/or the removal of material in waters of
			 this state.
(36) "Report" means a
			 wetland delineation or determination report.
(37) "Sample Plot" means a portion of a study
			 area within which environmental data (i.e., soils, hydrology, and vegetation)
			 are collected that is representative of that area and documented on a wetland
			 determination data form.
(38)
			 "Site-specific methods" means sampling, delineation, and investigative
			 procedures used to address the unique circumstances at a site. Boilerplate
			 content from the manual and generic procedures are not site-specific.
(39) "Statewide Wetlands Inventory" (SWI)
			 means a composite of wetland mapping (i.e., LWI, NWI, approved wetland
			 delineations) and other natural resource mapping for the state of Oregon that
			 is provided by the Department. The SWI is a screening tool to help identify
			 approximate locations of potential wetlands and waterways and is continually
			 revised as additional digital mapping information is received or obtained by
			 the Department.
(40) "Study Area"
			 means the area that was investigated for the presence of wetlands and other
			 waters.
(41) "Upland" means any
			 land that is not a wetland or other water.
(42) "Waters of this state" means all natural
			 waterways, tidal and nontidal bays, intermittent streams, constantly flowing
			 streams, lakes, wetlands, that portion of the Pacific Ocean that is in the
			 boundaries of this state, and all other navigable and non-navigable bodies of
			 water in this state and those portions of the ocean shore, as defined in ORS
			 390.605, where removal or fill
			 activities are regulated under a state-assumed permit program as provided in
			 33 U.S.C.
			 1344(g) of the Federal Water
			 Pollution Control Act, as amended.
(43) "Wetlands" means those areas that are
			 inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration
			 sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a
			 prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil
			 conditions (ORS 196.800(17) and
			 OAR 141-085-0510 (110)).
(44)
			 "Wetland Boundary" means a line marked on the ground and on a map that
			 identifies the boundary line between wetlands and non-wetlands.
(45) "Wetland Delineation Report" means a
			 written document that contains the methods, data, conclusions, and maps used to
			 determine if wetlands and other waters of this state are present within a study
			 area and, if so, describes and maps their locations and geographic extent. A
			 wetland determination report documenting the presence or absence of waters of
			 this state is included within this definition.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
				  196.845 & 196.692
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
				  196.800 - 196.990, 196.600 -
				  196.665, 196.668 - 196.692 & 197.279