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Alaska Statutes.

Title 46. Water, Air, Energy, and Environmental Conservation

Chapter 40. The Alaska Coastal Management Program

Section 210. Definitions.

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AS 46.40.210. Definitions.

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,

(1) "area which merits special attention" means a delineated geographic area within the coastal area which is sensitive to change or alteration and which, because of plans or commitments or because a claim on the resources within the area delineated would preclude subsequent use of the resources to a conflicting or incompatible use, warrants special management attention, or which, because of its value to the general public, should be identified for current or future planning, protection, or acquisition; these areas, subject to the department's definition of criteria for their identification, include:

(A) areas of unique, scarce, fragile or vulnerable natural habitat, cultural value, historical significance, or scenic importance;

(B) areas of high natural productivity or essential habitat for living resources;

(C) areas of substantial recreational value or opportunity;

(D) areas where development of facilities is dependent upon the utilization of, or access to, coastal water;

(E) areas of unique geologic or topographic significance which are susceptible to industrial or commercial development;

(F) areas of significant hazard due to storms, slides, floods, erosion, or settlement; and

(G) areas needed to protect, maintain, or replenish coastal land or resources, including coastal flood plains, aquifer recharge areas, beaches, and offshore sand deposits;

(2) "coastal resource district" means each of the following that contains a portion of the coastal area of the state:

(A) unified municipalities;

(B) organized boroughs of any class that exercise planning and zoning authority;

(C) home rule and first class cities of the unorganized borough or within boroughs that do not exercise planning and zoning authority;

(D) second class cities of the unorganized borough, or within boroughs that do not exercise planning and zoning authority, that have established a planning commission, and that, in the opinion of the commissioner of commerce, community, and economic development, have the capability of preparing and implementing a comprehensive district coastal management plan under AS 46.40.030 ;

(E) coastal resource service areas established and organized under AS 29.03.020 and AS 46.40.110 - 46.40.180;

(3) "coastal use or resource" means a land or water use or natural resource of the coastal zone; "coastal use or resource" includes subsistence, recreation, public access, fishing, historic or archaeological resources, geophysical resources, and biological or physical resources found in the coastal zone on a regular or cyclical basis;

(4) "coastal zone" means the coastal water including land within and under that water, and adjacent shoreland, including the water within and under that shoreland, within the boundaries approved by the former Alaska Coastal Policy Council and by the United States Secretary of Commerce under 16 U.S.C. 1451 - 1465 (Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended); "coastal zone" includes areas added as a result of any boundary changes approved by the department and by the United States Secretary of Commerce under 16 U.S.C. 1451 - 1465; "coastal zone" does not include

(A) those lands excluded under 16 U.S.C. 1453(1); or

(B) areas deleted as a result of any boundary changes by the department in conformance with 16 U.S.C. 1451 - 1465;

(5) "consistency review" means the evaluation of a proposed project, the scope of which is determined under AS 46.40.094 and 46.40.096, against the statewide standards adopted under AS 46.40.040 for those evaluations and the enforceable policies in an applicable district coastal management plan approved under AS 46.40.060 ;

(6) "department" means the Department of Natural Resources;

(7) "district coastal management plan" means a plan developed by a coastal resource district, including enforceable policies of that plan, setting out policies and standards to guide public and private uses of land and water within that district and approved by the department as meeting the requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted under this chapter;

(8) "enforceable policy" means a policy established by this chapter or approved by the department as a legally binding policy of the Alaska coastal management program applicable to public and private activities;

(9) "project" means all activities that will be part of a proposed development;

(10) "resource agency" has the meaning given in AS 46.39.010;

(11) "use of direct and significant impact" means a use, or an activity associated with the use, which proximately contributes to a material change or alteration in the natural or social characteristics of a part of the state's coastal area and in which

(A) the use, or activity associated with it, would have a net adverse effect on the quality of the resources of the coastal area;

(B) the use, or activity associated with it, would limit the range of alternative uses of the resources of the coastal area; or

(C) the use would, of itself, constitute a tolerable change or alteration of the resources within the coastal area but which, cumulatively, would have an adverse effect;

(12) "uses of state concern" means those land and water uses that would significantly affect the long-term public interest; "uses of state concern" include

(A) uses of national interest, including the use of resources for the siting of ports and major facilities that contribute to meeting national energy needs, construction and maintenance of navigational facilities and systems, resource development of federal land, and national defense and related security facilities that are dependent upon coastal locations;

(B) uses of more than local concern, including those land and water uses that confer significant environmental, social, cultural, or economic benefits or burdens beyond a single coastal resource district;

(C) the siting of major energy facilities, activities pursuant to a state oil and gas lease, a state gas only lease, or a federal oil and gas lease, or large-scale industrial or commercial development activities that are dependent on a coastal location and that, because of their magnitude or the magnitude of their effect on the economy of the state or the surrounding area, are reasonably likely to present issues of more than local significance;

(D) facilities serving statewide or interregional transportation and communication needs; and

(E) uses in areas established as state parks or recreational areas under AS 41.21 or as state game refuges, game sanctuaries, or critical habitat areas under AS 16.20.