N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 6 § 608.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 50, December 11, 2024

Section 608.1 - Definitions

(a) Banks means that land area immediately adjacent to, and which slopes toward, the bed of a watercourse, and which is necessary to maintain the integrity of a watercourse. For purposes of this Part, a bank will not be considered to extend more than 50 feet horizontally from the mean highwater line; with the following exception: where a generally uniform slope of 45 degrees (100 percent) or greater adjoins the bed of the watercourse, the band is extended to the crest of the slope or the first definable break in slope, either a natural or constructed (i.e. road or railroad grade) feature, lying generally parallel to the watercourse.

(b) Bed means that land area of a watercourse covered by water at mean high water.

(c) Breach of a dam shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(d) Commissioner means the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation or a duly authorized designee.

(e) Construct means to build. With respect to a dam, construct shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(f) Dam shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(g) Department means the Department of Environmental Conservation.

(h) Docking facility means any marina, boat basin, marine terminal, and any other areas on navigable waters containing a single structure or a collection of related structures, such as docks, piers, platforms, bulkheads, breakwaters, and pilings, used for the reception, securing, and protection of boats, ships, barges or other water craft.

(i) Emergency Action Plan shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(j) Engineer, with respect to the requirements of this Part that are applicable to dams, shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(k) Environmental Conservation Law or ECL means the New York State Environmental Conservation Law.

(l) Erect, as used in ECL article 15 section 0503, with respect to a dam, means to construct a new dam.

(m) Fill means any solid or semi-solid, organic or inorganic material including. but not limited to, earth, clay, silt, sand, gravel, stone, rock, shale, concrete, ashes, cinder, slag, metal, stumps, solid waste as defined in Part 360 of this Title, or any other similar material, whether or not enclosed or contained by a structure.

(n) Height, with respect to a dam, is the vertical dimension from the downstream toe of a dam at its lowest point to the top of a dam.

(o) Indirect placement of fill means positioning material landward and in close proximity to the mean high water elevation of a waterbody such that the material is introduced into the waterbody by natural erosive forces thereby creating a fill below the mean high water elevation.

(p) Local public corporation means any municipal corporation or district corporation, as is set forth in ECL article 1 section 0303 subdivision 15, and further defined in the General Construction Law section 66 subdivisions 2 and 3.

(q) Maximum impoundment capacity is the volume of water that is impounded when the water level is at the top of a dam.

(r) Mean low water or mean high water means, respectively, the approximate average low water level or high water level for a given body of water at a given location, that distinguishes between predominantly aquatic and predominantly terrestrial habitat as determined, in order of use by the following:

(1) available hydrologic data, calculations, and other relevant information concerning water levels (e.g., discharge, storage, tidal, and other recurrent water elevation data); (mean high water elevations are established, using this method, for certain waterbodies as presented in section 608.11 of this Part);

(2) vegetative characteristics (e.g., location, presence, absence or destruction of terrestrial or aquatic vegetation);

(3) physical characteristics (e.g., clear natural line impressed on a bank, scouring, shelving, or the presence of sediments, litter or debris); and

(4) other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding area.

(s) Moorings means a float, buoy, chain, cable, rope, pile, spar, dolphin or any other device or combination of devices that are anchored or fixed in navigable waters of the State to which a vessel can be made fast.

(t) Mooring area means a collection of individual moorings located within a definable area of navigable waters of the State and under single private ownership or control.

(u) Navigable waters of the State means all lakes, rivers, streams and other bodies of water in the State that are navigable in fact or upon which vessels with a capacity of one or more persons can be operated notwithstanding interruptions to navigation by artificial structures, shallows, rapids or other obstructions, or by seasonal variations in capacity to support navigation. It does not include waters that are surrounded by land held in single private ownership at every point in their total area.

(v) Ordinary maintenance, with respect to a dam, means work that does not affect the structural integrity or function of a dam or an aspect of the safety of the dam. Ordinary maintenance is work involved in the routine or regular upkeep of a dam, and includes, by way of example only, activities such as debris removal, mowing grass, cleaning trash racks, and exercising valves.

(w) Owner, with respect to a dam, shall have the meaning set forth in Part 673 of this Title.

(x) Perimeter means a boundary of a docking facility or mooring area consisting of a series of connected imaginary lines on a plan or map, encompassing all related structures such as docks, bulkheads, breakwaters, pilings, piers, platforms or moorings and the travel lanes and berthing areas that function together to create a facility or area at which vessels may be docked or moored.

(y) Person means any individual, firm, copartnership, association or corporation, other than the State or a public corporation.

(z) Platform means a generally horizontal, flat surface located in, on or over a waterbody, on which structures can be constructed or any activities can be conducted.

(aa) Protected stream means any stream or particular portion of a stream for which there has been adopted by the department or any of its predecessors any of the following classifications or standards: AA, AA(t), A, A(t), B, B(t), or C(t). Streams designated (t)(trout) also include those more specifically designated (ts)(trout spawning).

(ab) Public corporation means a municipal or district corporation, a city, town, village or school district or a public benefit corporation.

(ac) Removal of a dam means eliminating a dam to the approximate original topographic contours.

(ad) Repair or Reconstruction of a dam means alterations, changes or modifications to a dam which may affect the structural integrity or function of a dam, or an aspect of the safety of a dam. Repair or reconstruction includes, by way of example only, activities such as changing the spillway elevation or spillway capacity of the dam. Repair or reconstruction does not include ordinary maintenance.

(ae) Single private ownership means the ownership by a person, joint ownership by more than one person or a single nongovernmental entity such as an association, corporation, trust or estate. It does not include ownership by any unit of government, including a village, town, county, city or the State or the United States or any subdivision, department, agency or authority thereof or by any public corporation.

(af) Stream means a watercourse or portion thereof, including the bed and banks thereof. Small ponds or lakes with a surface area at mean low water level of 10 acres or less and located in the course of a stream shall be considered part of a stream and subject to regulation under this Part. A stream does not include a pond or lake having a surface area of greater than 10 acres at mean low water level.

(ag) Substantial reconstruction of structures, other than dams, means restoration or rebuilding involving 50 percent or more of an existing fixed structure's surface area.

(ah) Watercourse means that area of land within which or upon which the flow of water is ordinarily confined due to existing topography.

(ai) Water-dependent use means an activity that can only be conducted on, in, over or adjacent to a waterbody because such activity requires access to water, and involves the use of water as an integral part of the activity.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 § 608.1