Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-158 - Flood plain management › Section 173-158-030 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions
				shall apply:
"Base flood" means the flood having a one percent chance of
				being equalled or exceeded in any given year. Also referred to as the "one
				hundred-year flood."
"Best available information" means in the absence of official
				flood insurance rate map data, communities can use data from other federal,
				state, or other sources provided this data has either been generated using
				technically defensible methods or is based on reasonable historical analysis
				and experience.
"Designated floodway" means the regulatory floodway which has
				been delineated on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or the flood
				boundary/floodway map (FBFM) of a community's flood insurance study and is
				included in the community's flood damage prevention ordinance.
"Development" means any man-made change to improved or
				unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other
				structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, extraction or drilling
				operations or storage of equipment or materials.
"Dwelling" means one or more rooms designed for occupancy by a
				person or family for living and sleeping purposes, containing kitchen
				facilities and rooms with internal accessibility, for use solely by the
				dwelling's occupants.
"Encroachment" means any alteration or development within the
				regulatory floodway that would result in any increase in flood levels during
				the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
"Existing farmhouse" means a farmhouse which was built prior to
				the adoption of the local flood insurance rate map and local ordinances
				implementing the NFIP.
"Farmhouse" means a single family dwelling located on a farm
				site where resulting agricultural products are not produced for the primary
				consumption or use by the occupants and the farm owner.
"Flood or flooding" means a general and temporary condition of
				partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or
The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters
				from any source.
"Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)" means the official map on
				which the federal insurance administration has delineated both the areas of
				special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the
				community.
"Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse
				and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the
				base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more
				than one foot.
"New construction" means structures for which the "start of
				construction" commenced on or after the effective date of the local
				ordinance.
"Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
				association, organization, cooperative, public or municipal corporation, or any
				agency of the state or local governmental unit however designated.
"Replacement residential structure" means a residential
				structure built as a substitute for a previously existing residential structure
				of equivalent use and size.
"Residential structure" means a place in which one lives:
				Dwelling.
"Special flood hazard area" means an area subject to a base or
				one hundred-year flood; areas of special flood hazard are shown on a flood
				hazard boundary map or flood insurance rate map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99,
				AH, VO, V1-30, VE, or V.
"Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas
				or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground. Manufactured homes are
				considered structures.
"Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and
				means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of
				construction, repair, reconstruction, placement, or other improvement was
				within one hundred eighty days of the permit date. The actual start means
				either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site,
				such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the
				construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the
				placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does
				not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, or filling; nor does
				it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include
				excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundation or the erection of
				temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of
				accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or
				not part of the main structure.
"Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a
				structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its before damage
				condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the
				structure before the damage occurred.
"Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction,
				rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of
				which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure
				before the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes
				structures that have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual
				repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with
				existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which
				have been identified by the local code enforcement or building official and are
				the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or
Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the
				alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a
				historic structure.
"Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirements of
				this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be
				prohibited by this chapter.
"Wetlands" means lands transitional between terrestrial and
				aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the
				land is covered by shallow water. Wetlands have one or more of the following
				three attributes: At least periodically, the land supports predominantly
				hydrophytes; the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and the
				substrate is nonsoils and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water
				at some time during the growing season of each year.
Statutory Authority: Chapter 86.16 RCW. 02-15-093 (Order
				  00-26), § 173-158-030, filed 7/16/02, effective 8/16/02. Statutory
				  Authority:
				  RCW
				  86.16.061. 90-21-089, § 173-158-030,
				  filed 10/19/90, effective 11/19/90; 89-07-022 and 90-06-059 (Order 88-57 and
				  88-57A), § 173-158-030, filed 3/7/89 and 3/6/90, effective 4/6/90.
				  Statutory Authority: Chapter 86.16 RCW. 88-10-058 (Order 88-6), §
				  173-158-030, filed 5/4/88.