Section 2
Definitions
2.1 As used in these regulations:
"Act" means the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act, sections 22a36 through 22a45, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended.
"Agency" means the Inland Wetlands Commission of the Town of Goshen.
"Bogs" are watercourses distinguished by evergreen trees and shrubs underlain by peat deposits, poor or very poor drainage, and highly acidic conditions.
“Town” means the Town of Goshen.
"Clearcutting" means the harvest of timber in a fashion which removes all trees down to a two inch diameter at breast height.
“Commission Member” means a member of the Inland Wetlands Commission of the Town of Goshen.
"Commissioner of Environmental Protection" means the commissioner of the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
"Continual flow" means a flow of water which persists for an extended period of time; this flow may be interrupted during periods of drought or during the low flow period of the annual hydrological cycle, June through September, but it recurs in prolonged succession.
"Deposit" includes, but shall not be limited to fill, grade, dump, place, discharge or emit.
“Designated Agent” mean an individual(s) designated by the agency to carry out its functions and purposes.
"Discharge" means emission of any water, substance, or material into waters of the state whether or not such substance causes pollution.
“Disturb the natural and indigenous character of the land” means that the activity will significantly alter the inland wetlands and watercourses by reason of removal or deposition of material, clear cutting, alteration or obstruction of water flow, or will result in the pollution of the wetland or watercourse.
"Essential to the farming operation" means that the proposed activity is necessary and indispensable to sustain farming activities on the farm.
"Farming" shall be consistent with the definition as noted in section 1-1(q) of the Connecticut General Statutes. (see Appendix A)
“Feasible” means able to be constructed or implemented consistent with sound engineering principles.
“License” means the whole or any part of any permit, certificate of approval or similar form of permission which may be required of any person by the provisions of sections 22a-36 to 22a-45, inclusive.
"Management practice" means a practice, procedure, activity, structure or facility designed to prevent or minimize pollution or other environmental damage or to maintain or enhance existing environmental quality. Such management practices include, but are not limited to: erosion and sedimentation controls; restrictions on land use or development; construction setbacks from wetlands or watercourses; proper disposal of waste materials; procedures for equipment maintenance to prevent fuel spillage; construction methods to prevent flooding or disturbance of wetlands and watercourses; procedures for maintaining continuous stream flows; confining construction that must take place in
watercourses to times when water flows are low and fish and wildlife will not be adversely affected.
"Marshes" are watercourses that are distinguished by the absence of trees and shrubs and the dominance of softstemmed herbaceous plants. The water table in marshes is at or above the ground surface throughout the year and areas of open water six inches or more in depth are common, but seasonal water table fluctuations are encountered.
"Material" means any substance, solid or liquid, organic or inorganic, including but not limited to soil, sediment, aggregate, land, gravel, clay, bog, mud, debris, sand, refuse or waste.
"Municipality" means the Town of Goshen.
"Nurseries" means places where plants are grown for sale, transplanting, or experimentation.
"Permit" see license
"Permittee" means the person to whom a license has been issued.
"Person" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or legal entity of any kind, including municipal corporations, governmental agencies or subdivisions thereof.
"Pollution" means harmful thermal effect or the contamination or rendering unclean or impure of any waters of the state by reason of any waste or other materials discharged or deposited therein by any public or private sewer or otherwise so as directly or indirectly to come in contact with any waters. This includes, but is not limited to, erosion and sedimentation resulting from any filling, land clearing or excavation activity.
“Prudent” means economically and otherwise reasonable in light of the social benefits to be derived from the proposed regulated activity provided cost may be considered in deciding what is prudent and further provided a mere showing of expense will not necessarily mean an alternative is imprudent.
"Regulated activity" means any operation or use of a wetland or watercourse involving removal or deposition of material, or any obstruction, construction, alteration or pollution, of such wetlands or watercourses, and any earth-moving, filling, construction or clear-cutting of trees within 75 feet of wetlands or 75 feet of watercourses, but shall not include activities specified in Section 4 of these regulations.
"Remove" includes, but shall not be limited to drain, excavate, mine, dig, dredge, suck, grub, clear cut timber, bulldoze, dragline or blast.
"Rendering unclean or impure" means any alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of any waters of the state, including, but not limited to, change in odor, color, turbidity or taste.
"Significant impact" means any activity, including, but not limited to, the following activities which may have a major effect:
1. Any activity involving deposition or removal of material which will or may have a substantial effect on the wetland or watercourse or on wetlands or watercourses outside the area for which the activity is proposed.
2. Any activity which substantially changes the natural channel or may inhibit the natural dynamics of a watercourse system.
3. Any activity which substantially diminishes the natural capacity of an inland wetland or watercourse to: support aquatic, plant or animal life and habitats; prevent flooding; supply water; assimilate waste; facilitate drainage; provide recreation or open space; or perform other functions.
4. Any activity which is likely to cause or has the potential to cause substantial turbidity, siltation or sedimentation in a wetland or watercourse.
5. Any activity which causes substantial diminution of flow of a natural watercourse or groundwater levels of the wetland or watercourse.
6. Any activity which is likely to cause or has the potential to cause pollution of a wetland or watercourse.
7. Any activity which damages or destroys unique wetland or watercourse areas or such areas having demonstrable scientific or educational value.
"Soil scientist" means an individual duly qualified in accordance with standards set by the federal Office of Personnel Management.
"Swamps" are watercourses that are distinguished by the dominance of wetland trees and shrubs.
"Submerged lands" means those lands which are inundated by water on a seasonal or more frequent basis.
"Waste" means sewage or any substance, liquid, gaseous, solid or radioactive, which may pollute or tend to pollute any of the wetlands and watercourses of the Town.
"Watercourses" means rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps, bogs, and all other bodies of water, natural or artificial, vernal or intermittent, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon the Town or any portion thereof not regulated pursuant to sections 22a28 through 22a35, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes. Intermittent watercourses shall be delineated by a defined permanent channel and bank and the occurrence of two or more of the following characteristics:
(a) evidence of scour or deposits of recent alluvium or detritus,
(b) the presence of standing or flowing water for a duration longer than a particular storm incident, and
(c) the presence of hydrophytic vegetation.
"Wetlands" means land, including submerged land as defined in this section, not regulated pursuant to sections 22a28 through 22a35, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes, which consists of any of the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial and floodplain by the National Cooperative Soils Survey, as it may be amended from time to time, of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Such areas may include filled, graded, or excavated sites which possess an aquic (saturated) soil moisture regime as defined by the USDA Cooperative Soil Survey.
| 