Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 1 - GENERAL LAND OFFICE › Chapter 26 - COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 26.3 - Definitions and Abbreviations

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) The
				  following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the
				  following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Agency or subdivision--Any state agency,
				  department, board, or commission or political subdivision of the
				  state.
(2) Adverse effects or
				  adversely affect--Effects that result in the physical destruction or
				  detrimental alteration of a CNRA. Such detrimental alterations are:
(A) construction in critical dune areas and
				  coastal hazard areas that increase risks to human safety or the potential for
				  damage to property or CNRAs from floods, hurricanes, or other storms;
(B) alterations that interfere with public
				  use and enjoyment of, or access to and from, those CNRAs to which the public
				  has a right of use, enjoyment, or access;
(C) alterations that damage or destroy
				  coastal historic areas;
(D)
				  alterations that harm the functions and values of CNRAs as habitat for
				  terrestrial and aquatic wildlife;
(E) alterations that disrupt wildlife
				  corridors or fish or bird migratory routes;
(F) discharges of pathogens, radioactive
				  materials, dissolved minerals or solids, toxic substances, or suspended solids
				  at levels harmful to humans or terrestrial or aquatic life or that
				  significantly impair the aesthetic qualities of CNRAs;
(G) alterations of salinity regimes, nutrient
				  supply, oxygen concentration, or temperature regimes in coastal waters that are
				  harmful to terrestrial or aquatic life;
(H) alterations of hydrology, water flow,
				  circulation patterns, water level, or surface drainage that are harmful to
				  humans or terrestrial or aquatic life, impair the aesthetic qualities of CNRAs,
				  or exacerbate erosion of shorelines or river deltas;
(I) alterations of littoral and sediment
				  transport processes that reduce the supply of sediments available to those
				  processes or would otherwise exacerbate erosion of shorelines or river
				  deltas;
(J) alterations that
				  increase losses of shore areas or other CNRAs from a rise in sea level with
				  respect to the surface of the land, whether caused by actual sea-level rise or
				  land surface subsidence; and
(K)
				  emission of air pollutants at levels that are harmful to humans or terrestrial
				  or aquatic life or that significantly impair the aesthetic qualities of
				  CNRAs.
(3) Avoid and
				  otherwise minimize--To avoid adverse effects to the greatest extent
				  practicable. Adverse effects that cannot be avoided must then be minimized to
				  the greatest extent practicable.
(4) Coastal Coordination Act--Texas Natural
				  Resources Code, Chapter 33, Subchapter F.
(5) Coastal zone--The area within the
				  boundary established in §27.1 of this title (relating to Coastal
				  Management Program Boundary).
(6)
				  CMP coordinator--The GLO Coastal Resources staff member designated by the
				  commissioner.
(7) Coastal hazard
				  areas--Special hazard areas and critical erosion areas.
(8) Coastal natural resource area (CNRA)--Any
				  area defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, §
											33.203(1)
				  that is located within the coastal zone.
(9) Coastal waters--Waters under tidal
				  influence and waters in the open Gulf of Mexico.
(10) Commissioner--Commissioner of the
				  GLO.
(11) Committee--Coastal
				  Coordination Advisory Committee.
(12) Critical areas--A coastal wetland, an
				  oyster reef, a hard substrate reef, submerged aquatic vegetation, or a tidal
				  sand or mud flat.
(13) Cumulative
				  adverse effects--Adverse effects increasing in significance due to the
				  collective effects of a number of actions.
(14) Pollutant--Any constituent that
				  contaminates or alters the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality
				  of any CNRA so as to be harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal
				  life, vegetation, or property or to the public health, safety, or welfare or
				  that impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of CNRAs for any lawful
				  purpose.
(15)
				  Practicable--Available and capable of being done after taking into
				  consideration existing technology, cost, and logistics in light of the overall
				  purpose of the activity.
(16)
				  Public beach--Any public beach as defined in Chapter
				  61 of the
				  Texas Natural Resources Code., §61.013(c).
(17) Secondary adverse effects--Adverse
				  effects which would result from a proposed action and cause significant
				  modifications or alterations to the physical or chemical characteristics of
				  coastal natural resource areas beyond the limit of the immediate project
				  area.
(18) Water-dependent use or
				  facility--An activity or facility that must be located in coastal waters or on
				  submerged lands or that must have direct access to coastal waters in order to
				  serve its basic purpose and function. Facilities that are water-dependent
				  include, but are not limited to, public beach use and access facilities, boat
				  slips, docks, breakwaters, marinas, wharves and other vessel loading or
				  off-loading facilities, utility easements, boat ramps, navigation channels and
				  basins, bridges and bridge approaches, revetments, shoreline protection
				  structures, culverts, groins, saltwater barriers, navigational aids, mooring
				  pilings, simple access channels, fish processing plants, boat construction and
				  repair facilities, offshore pipelines and constructed wetlands below mean high
				  water. Activities that are water-dependent include, but are not limited to,
				  marine recreation (fishing, swimming, boating, wildlife viewing), industrial
				  uses dependent on marine transportation or requiring large volumes of water
				  that cannot be obtained at inland sites, mariculture, exploration for and
				  production of oil and gas under coastal waters or submerged lands, and certain
				  meteorological and oceanographic activities.