Washington Administrative Code › Title 332 - Natural Resources, Board and Department of (See also Title 222) › Chapter 332-30 - Aquatic land management › Section 332-30-106 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
All definitions in this section shall apply to the
				department and to port districts managing aquatic lands under a
				management agreement (WAC
				332-30-114 ). For the
				purpose of this chapter:
(1)
			 "Accretion" means the natural buildup of shoreline through the
			 gradual deposit of alluvium. The general principle of common law
			 applicable is that a riparian or littoral owner gains by accretion
			 and reliction, and loses by erosion. Boundary lines generally will
			 change with accretion.
(2) "Alluvium" means material
			 deposited by water on the bed or shores.
(3) "Anniversary date" means the
			 month and day of the start date of an authorization instrument unless
			 otherwise specified in the instrument.
(4) "Aquaculture" means the culture
			 and/or farming of food fish, shellfish, and other aquatic plants and
			 animals in fresh water, brackish water or salt water areas.
			 Aquaculture practices may include but are not limited to hatching,
			 seeding or planting, cultivating, feeding, raising, harvesting of
			 planted crops or of natural crops so as to maintain an optimum yield,
			 and processing of aquatic plants or animals.
(5) "Aquatic lands" means all
			 state-owned tidelands, shorelands, harbor areas, and the beds of
			 navigable waters (RCW 79.105.060(1)
			  ). Aquatic lands are part of the
			 public lands of the state of Washington (see subsection (51) of this
			 section). Included in aquatic lands are public places subsection (53)
			 of this section, waterways subsection (78) of this section, bar
			 islands, avulsively abandoned beds and channels of navigable bodies
			 of water, managed by the department of natural resources directly, or
			 indirectly through management agreements with other governmental
			 entities.
(6) "Aquatic
			 land use classes" means classes of uses of tideland, shorelands and
			 beds of navigable waters that display varying degrees of water
			 dependency. See WAC 332-30-121.
(7) "Authorization instrument"
			 means a lease, material purchase, easement, permit, or other document
			 authorizing use of state-owned aquatic lands and/or
			 materials.
(8) "Avulsion"
			 means a sudden and perceptible change in the shoreline of a body of
			 water. Generally no change in boundary lines occurs.
(9) "Beds of navigable waters"
			 means those submerged lands lying waterward of the line of extreme
			 low tide in navigable tidal waters and waterward of the line of
			 navigability in navigable lakes, rivers and streams. The term,
			 "bedlands" means beds of navigable waters.
(10) "Commerce" means the exchange
			 or buying and selling of goods and services. As it applies to aquatic
			 land, commerce usually involves transport and a land/water
			 interface.
(11) "Covered
			 moorage" means slips and mooring floats that are covered by a single
			 roof with no dividing walls.
(12) "Department" means the
			 department of natural resources.
(13) "Dredging" means enlarging or
			 cleaning out a river channel, harbor, etc.
(14) "Educational reserves" means
			 accessible areas of aquatic lands typical of selected habitat types
			 which are suitable for educational projects.
(15) "Enclosed moorage" means
			 moorage that has completely enclosed roof, side and end walls similar
			 to a car garage i.e. boathouse.
(16) "Environmental reserves" means
			 areas of environmental importance, sites established for the
			 continuance of environmental baseline monitoring, and/or areas of
			 historical, geological or biological interest requiring special
			 protective management.
(17) "Erosion" means the gradual
			 cutting away of a shore by natural processes. Title is generally lost
			 by erosion, just as it is gained by accretion.
(18) "Extreme low tide" means the
			 line as estimated by the federal government below which it might
			 reasonably be expected that the tide would not ebb. In Puget Sound
			 area generally, this point is estimated by the federal government to
			 be a point in elevation 4.50 feet below the datum plane of mean lower
			 low water, (0.0). Along the Pacific Ocean and in the bays fronting
			 thereon and the Strait of Juan due Fuca, the elevation ranges down to
			 a minus 3.5 feet in several locations.
(19) "Fair market value" means the
			 amount of money which a purchaser willing, but not obligated, to buy
			 the property would pay an owner willing, but not obligated, to sell
			 it, taking into consideration all uses to which the property is
			 adapted and might in reason be applied (Donaldson v. Greenwood, 40
			 Wn.2d 238, 1952). Such uses must be consistent with applicable
			 federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting the property
			 as of the date of valuation.
(20) "First class shorelands" means
			 the shores of a navigable lake or river belonging to the state not
			 subject to tidal flow, lying between the line of ordinary high water
			 and the line of navigability, or the inner harbor line where
			 established and within or in front of the corporate limits of any
			 city, or within two miles thereof upon either side (RCW
			 79.105.060(3) ).
			 These boundary descriptions represent the general rule; however
			 exceptions do exist. To determine if the shorelands are within two
			 miles of the corporate limits of a city, the distance is measured
			 along the shoreline from the intersection of the corporate limit with
			 the shoreline.
(21)
			 "First class tidelands" means the shores of navigable tidal waters
			 belonging to the state lying within or in front of the corporate
			 limits of any city, or within one mile thereof upon either side and
			 between the line of ordinary high tide and the inner harbor line; and
			 within two miles of the corporate limits on either side and between
			 the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide
			 (RCW
			 79.105.060(4) ).
			 In general, the line of ordinary high tide is the landward boundary.
			 The line of extreme low tide, or the inner harbor line where
			 established, is the waterward boundary. To determine if the tidelands
			 are within two miles of the corporate limits of a city, the distance
			 is measured along the shoreline from the intersection of the
			 corporate limit with the shoreline.
(22) "Fiscal year" means a period
			 of time commencing on the first day of July and ending on the
			 thirtieth day of June of the succeeding year. A fiscal year is
			 identified by the year in which it ends, e.g., fiscal year 1985 is
			 the period July 1, 1984 through June 30, 1985.
(23) "Floating house" means any
			 floating structure that is designed, or has been substantially and
			 structurally remodeled or redesigned, to serve primarily as a
			 residence. "Floating houses" include house boats, house barges, or
			 any floating structures that serve primarily as a residence and do
			 not qualify as a vessel as provided in subsection (74) of this
			 section. A floating structure that is used as a residence and is
			 capable of navigation, but is not designed primarily for navigation,
			 nor normally is capable of self propulsion and use as a means of
			 transportation is a floating house, not a vessel.
(24) "Governmental entity" means
			 the federal government, the state, county, city, port district, or
			 other municipal corporation or political subdivision
			 thereof.
(25) "Harbor
			 area" means the area of navigable waters determined as provided in
			 section 1 of Article XV of the state Constitution which shall be
			 forever reserved for landings, wharves, streets, and other
			 conveniences of navigation and commerce (RCW
			 79.105.060(5) ).
			 Harbor areas exist between the inner and outer harbor lines as
			 established by the state harbor line commission.
(26) "Harbor area use classes"
			 means classes of uses of harbor areas that display varying degrees of
			 conformance to the purpose for which harbor areas were established
			 under the Constitution.
(27) "Harbor line" means either or
			 both:
(a) A line (outer harbor
			 line) located and established in navigable waters as provided for in
			 section 1 of Article XV of the state Constitution beyond which the
			 state shall never sell or lease any rights whatever to private
			 persons (RCW
			 79.105.060(12)
			 ).
(b) A line (inner
			 harbor line) located and established in navigable waters between the
			 line of ordinary high tide and the outer harbor line, constituting
			 the inner boundary of the harbor area (RCW
			 79.105.060(8)
			 ).