Title 11 . Natural Resources

Chapter 112 . District Coastal Management Plan Requirements

Section 990. Definitions

11 AAC 112.990. Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter,

(1) "active floodplain" means the low land and relatively flat areas adjoining rivers, lakes, and streams that are subject to regular inundation by floods;

(2) "adjacent" means near but not necessarily touching;

(3) "barrier islands and lagoons" means

(A) depositional coastal environments formed by deposits of sediment offshore; or

(B) coastal remnants that form a barrier of low-lying islands and bars protecting a salt-water lagoon with free exchange of water to the sea;

(4) "beach" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 114.990;

(5) "coastal area" has the meaning given "coastal zone" in AS 46.40.210 , except that "coastal area" includes federally owned land and water within the coastal zone;

(6) "coastal water" means those waters, adjacent to the shorelines, that contain a measurable quantity or percentage of sea water, including sounds, bays, lagoons, ponds, estuaries, and tidally influenced waters;

(7) "department" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210 ;

(8) "designate" means

(A) for a district, to identify in a district plan approved by the department; and

(B) for a state agency, to identify in a planning document or as part of a review under 11 AAC 110;

(9) "district" means a coastal resource district as defined in AS 46.40.210 ;

(10) "district plan" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 114.990;

(11) "estuary" means a semiclosed coastal body of water that has a free connection with the sea and within which seawater is measurably diluted with freshwater derived from land drainage;

(12) "exposed high-energy coasts" means open and unprotected sections of coastline with exposure to ocean generated wave impacts and usually characterized by coarse sand, gravel, boulder beaches, and well-mixed coastal water;

(13) "freshwater wetlands" means those environments characterized by rooted vegetation that is partially submerged either continuously or periodically by surface freshwater with less than 0.5 parts per thousand salt content and not exceeding three meters in depth;

(14) "major energy facility"

(A) means a development of more than local concern carried out in, or in close proximity to, the coastal area, that is:

(i) required to support energy operations for exploration or production purposes;

(ii) used to produce, convert, process, or store energy resources or marketable products;

(iii) used to transfer, transport, import, or export energy resources or marketable products;

(iv) used for in-state energy use; or

(v) used primarily for the manufacture, production, or assembly of equipment, machinery, products, or devices that are involved in an activity described in (i) - (iv) of this subparagraph;

(B) includes marine service bases and storage depots, pipelines and rights-of-way, drilling rigs and platforms, petroleum or coal separation, treatment, or storage facilities, liquid natural gas plants and terminals, oil terminals and other port development for the transfer of energy products, petrochemical plants, refineries and associated facilities, hydroelectric projects, other electric generating plants, transmission lines, uranium enrichment or nuclear fuel processing facilities, geothermal facilities, natural gas pipelines and rights-of-way, natural gas treatment and processing facilities, and infrastructure related to natural gas treatment and processing facilities;

(15) "natural hazards"

(A) means the following natural processes or adverse conditions that present a threat to life or property in the coastal area: flooding, earthquakes, active faults, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, storm surges, ice formations, snow avalanches, erosion, and beach processes;

(B) includes other natural processes or adverse conditions designated by the department or by a district in a district plan;

(16) "natural hazard area" means an area designated by a district under 11 AAC 114.250(b) or a state agency under 11 AAC 112.210(b) ;

(17) "offshore areas" means submerged lands and waters seaward of the coastline as measured from mean low tide;

(18) "practicable" means feasible in light of overall project purposes after considering cost, existing technology, and logistics of compliance with the standard;

(19) "program" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990;

(20) "public need" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 114.990;

(21) "reasonably foreseeable" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990;

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

(23) "rivers, streams, and lakes" means those portions of water bodies that

(A) are catalogued under AS 41.14.870 as important for anadromous fish;

(B) are not cataloged under AS 41.14.870 as important for anadromous fish, but have been determined by the deputy commissioner of the department to contain or exhibit evidence of anadromous fish, in which event the anadromous portion of the stream or waterway extends up to the first point of physical blockage; or

(C) are delineated based on written scientific findings demonstrating to the satisfaction of the coordinating agency, in consultation with the state resource agency with expertise, that the project or activity would cause significant and adverse impact to

(i) water bodies identified in (A) or (B) of this paragraph; and

(ii) coastal waters;

(24) "rocky islands and sea cliffs" means islands of volcanic or tectonic origin with rocky shores and steep faces, offshore rocks, capes, and steep rocky seafronts;

(25) "saltwater wetlands" means those coastal areas along sheltered shorelines characterized by halophilic hydrophytes and macro algae extending from extreme low tide to an area above extreme high tide that is influenced by sea spray or tidally induced water table changes;

(26) "scientific evidence" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 114.990;

(27) "tideflats" means mostly unvegetated areas that are alternately exposed and inundated by the falling and rising of the tide;

(28) "transportation routes and facilities" include natural transportation routes dictated by geography or oceanography, roads, highways, railways, air terminals, and facilities required to operate and maintain the route or facility;

(29) "uses of state concern" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210 ;

(30) "utility routes and facilities" include power transmission lines, mineral slurry lines, oil and gas pipelines, natural transportation routes dictated by geography or oceanography, water and sewage transfer, and facilities required to operate and maintain the route or facility;

(31) "water-dependent" means a use or activity that can be carried out only on, in, or adjacent to a water body because the use requires access to the water body;

(32) "water-related" means a use or activity that is not directly dependent upon access to a water body, but which provides goods or services that are directly associated with water-dependence and which, if not located adjacent to a water body, would result in a public loss of quality in the goods or services offered;

(33) "wetlands" means saltwater wetlands and those freshwater wetlands that have a direct drainage to coastal waters.

(34) "avoid or minimize" means a process of avoiding adverse impacts to the maximum extent practicable and, if avoidance is not practicable, minimizing impacts where practicable;

(35) "coordinating agency" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990.

(36) "direct and significant impact" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 114.990;

(37) "subsistence fishing" has the meaning given in AS 16.05.940 ;

(38) "subsistence uses" has the meaning given in AS 16.05.940 .

History: Eff. 7/1/2004, Register 170; am 10/29/2004, Register 172

Authority: AS 46.39.010

AS 46.39.030

AS 46.39.040

AS 46.40.010

AS 46.40.040