Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided in this chapter, no person shall remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon or within one hundred (100) feet of any bank, beach, dune or flat; upon or within one hundred (100) feet of any freshwater wetland, coastal wetland, marsh, wet meadow, bog, or swamp; upon or within one hundred (100) feet of any lake, pond, creek, river, stream, estuary or the ocean; upon any land under said waters; or upon or within one hundred (100) feet of any land subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater, surface water or tidal action; or upon land subject to coastal storm flowage; or upon an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) as defined in §
160-4 herein. Any activity proposed or undertaken outside any area specified above shall not be subject to regulation under this chapter unless, in the judgment of the Conservation Commission, said activity will result or has resulted in the removing, filling, altering or building upon any area specified.
A. Areas subject to protection under the bylaw: Except as permitted
by the Conservation Commission or as provided in this chapter, no
person shall remove, fill, dredge, alter, or build upon any of the
following resource areas or associated buffer zones:
[Amended 4-26-2017]
(1) Bank, beach, dune, flat, freshwater wetland, marsh, bog, coastal
wetland, swamp, wet meadow.
(2) Lake, pond, creek, river, stream, estuary, the ocean.
(3) Upon any land subject to flooding or inundation by tidal action,
groundwater or surface water.
(4) Within one hundred (100) feet of any resource area in Subsection
A(1),
(2) or
(3) above.
(5) Upon land subject to coastal storm flowage.
(6) Upon an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
B. Activities subject to regulation under the Bylaw.
(1) Activities within the resource areas. Any activity proposed or undertaken within an area specified in OWR §
196A-2A which, in the judgment of the Commission, will constitute removing, filling, dredging or otherwise altering or building upon any resource area subject to protection under the Bylaw as set forth in §
196A-2A is subject to regulation under the Bylaw and requires notification to the Commission of the intent of such activity, the appropriate filing of documentation and permission from the Conservation Commission to proceed.
(2) Activities within the buffer zone. Any activity proposed or undertaken within one hundred (100) feet of an area specified in OWR §
196A-2A(1),
(2) or
(3) (hereinafter called the buffer zone) which, in the judgment of the Commission, will alter an area subject to protection under the Bylaw is subject to regulation under the Bylaw and requires the appropriate filing of documentation and permission from the Conservation Commission to proceed.
(3) Activities outside resource area or buffer zones. Any activity proposed or undertaken outside the areas specified in §
196A-2A above shall not be subject to regulation under the Bylaw and these regulations unless, in the judgment of the Conservation Commission, said activity will result or has resulted in the removing, filling, altering or building upon an area or adversely affecting either the resource area or buffer zone specified in §
196A-2A above.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ABUTTER: 310 CMR 10.04
Owner of land sharing a common boundary or corner with the
site of the proposed activity in any direction.
ABUTTER NOTIFICATION: MGL c. 131, § 40
Any person filing a Notice of Intent or requesting a prior
Determination with a Conservation Commission shall at the same time
give written notification thereof, by delivery, in hand or certified
mail, return-receipt requested, to all abutters and owners of property
within one hundred (100) feet of the property line of the land where
the activity is proposed at the mailing addresses shown on the most
recent applicable tax list of the assessors. If any work is to occur
on a property with shoreline on a pond of less than ten (10) acres,
abutter notification shall be extended to all pond shore owners. Said
notification shall be at the applicant's expense, and shall state
where copies of the notice of intent may be examined and obtained
and where information regarding the date, time and place of the public
hearing may be obtained. Proof of such notification, with a copy of
the notice mailed or delivered, shall be filed with the Conservation
Commission.
ACEC: 310 CMR 10.23
An Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is established
[MGL c. 21A, § 2(7)] in special areas that meet designation
criteria. The performance standard, of "no adverse effect" on any
of the interests protected by these regulations, must be met for activities
in this special area [310 CMR 10.24(5)]. (See Areas of Critical Environmental
Concern, MCZM 1982.)
ACT: 310 CMR 10.04
The Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, Chapter
131, Section 40, hereinafter referred to as "the Act."
[Amended 4-26-2017]
ACTIVITY
Any form of draining, dumping, dredging, damming, discharging,
excavating, filling or grading; the erection, reconstruction, or expansion
of any building or structure; the driving of pilings; the construction
or improvement of roads and other ways; the changing of runoff characteristics;
the intercepting or diverging of ground or surface water systems;
the discharging of pollutants; the destruction of plant life including
cutting or pruning, the application of fertilizer, pesticides or insecticides;
and any other changing of the physical characteristics of land, or
of the physical or chemical characteristics of water. Structures shall
include, but not be limited to, dwellings, garages, patios, tennis
courts, playgrounds, mobile homes, swimming pools, pavement, signs,
fences, retaining walls, antennae, utilities, conduits, fuel storage
tanks, air-conditioning units, subsurface sewage disposal systems,
or other temporary or permanent construction or facility.
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
A review by the Commission or its agent pursuant to a written request to the Conservation Commission to determine whether or not additional filing will be necessary to perform work of a minor nature in an area subject to protection under §
196A-2A or, if not, whether to approve such work.
ADVERSE EFFECT: MGL c. 131, § 40
A greater than negligible change in the resource area or
one (1) of its characteristics or factors that diminishes the value
of the resource area to one or more of the interests of the Act or
this Bylaw, as determined by the issuing authority. "Negligible" means
small enough to be disregarded.
AESTHETICS: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
The performance standard for aesthetics in wetlands, related
water resources and adjoining land areas specifies that placement
of buildings, structures or parking facilities shall not detract from
the site's scenic qualities and shall blend with the natural
landscape. Also, in those areas, building sites should be kept away
from the crest of hills, and foundations should be constructed to
reflect the natural terrain.
ALTER: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Includes, without limitation, the following activities when
undertaken to, upon, within or affecting resource areas protected
by this chapter:
A.
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel or aggregate
materials of any kind.
B.
Changing preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics,
sanitary distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns or flood
retention characteristics.
C.
Drainage or other disturbance of the water level or water table.
D.
Dumping, discharging, or filling with any material which may
degrade water quality.
E.
Placing of fill or removal of materials, which would alter elevation.
F.
Driving of piles or erection or repair of buildings or structures
of any kind.
G.
Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
H.
Destruction of plant life, including cutting or pruning of trees
and shrubs especially those species that are endangered, threatened,
or of special concern.
I.
Changing water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand or other
physical or chemical characteristics of water.
J.
Any activities, changes or work which may cause or tend to contribute
to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
APPLICANT: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Any person who files a notice of intent, request for determination of applicability or administrative review, or on whose behalf such notice is filed either under MGL c. 131, § 40 or the Orleans Wetlands Protection Bylaw, Chapter
160 of the Orleans Code.
BANK (INLAND): 310 CMR 10.54(2)
The portion of the land surface which normally abuts and
confines a water body. It occurs between a water body and a vegetated
wetland and adjacent floodplain, or, in the absence of these, it occurs
between a water body and an upland.
BANK COASTAL: 310 CMR 10.30(2)
The seaward face or side of any elevated landform, other
than a coastal dune, which lies at the landward edge of a coastal
beach, land subject to tidal action or other wetland.
BEACH (COASTAL): 310 CMR 10.27(2)
Any unconsolidated sediment subject to wave, tidal and coastal
storm action which forms the gently sloping shore of a body of salt
water and includes tidal flats. Coastal beaches extend from the mean
low water line landward to the dune line, coastal bank line or the
seaward edge of existing man-made structures, when these structures
replace one of the above lines, whichever is closest to the ocean.
BEACH (BARRIER): 310 CMR 10.29(2)
A narrow low-lying strip of land generally consisting of
coastal beaches and coastal dunes extending roughly parallel to the
trend of the coast. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow
body of fresh, brackish or saline water or a marsh system. A barrier
beach may be joined to the mainland at one or both ends.
BEST AVAILABLE MEASURE: 310 CMR 10.04
The most up-to-date technology or the best designs, measures
or engineering practices that have been developed and that are commercially
available.
BOG
See "vegetated wetland."
BORDERING: (SEE § 196A-3 ON INCORPORATION)
The Orleans Bylaw has omitted the state requirement that any freshwater or coastal wetland, marsh, wet meadow, bog or swamp must border on any lake, pond, creek, river, stream, estuary or the ocean in order to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Orleans Conservation Commission, §
160-2. Therefore, the definition of bordering is omitted from these regulations.
BUFFER ZONE: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
The area of land extending one hundred (100) feet horizontally landward from the boundary of any resource area specified in §
160-2, except for an ACEC and land subject to coastal storm flowage.
[Amended 4-26-2017 ]
COASTAL BANK (TOP OF)
The top of a coastal bank shall be delineated by applying
MA DEP Wetlands Program Policy 92-1 issued March 3, 1992. The buffer
zone for the resource area shall extend inland for 100 feet from the
designated top of the bank.
COASTAL DUNE: 310 CMR 10.28(2)
Any natural, hill, mound or ridge of sediment landward of
a coastal beach deposited by wind action or storm overwash. Coastal
dune also means sediment deposited by artificial means and serving
the purpose of storm damage prevention or flood control.
CONDITIONS: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Those requirements set forth in a written permit issued by the Conservation Commission for the purpose of permitting and regulating, or prohibiting any activity that removes, fills, dredges, or alters or will alter an area subject to protection under the Bylaw as set forth in §
196A-2A.
CONSERVATION COMMISSION ADMINISTRATOR: ORLEANS CONSERVATION
COMMISSION
The duly authorized agent of the Commission, with the authority
to carry out certain Commission's functions. These shall include,
but not be limited to, administrative reviews, site visits, review
of application compliance with submission requirements, enforcement,
reports to the Commission and any other duties assigned by the Commission.
CUMULATIVE EFFECT: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
The effect of activities regulated under this Bylaw which
may be individually insignificant to the interests and values under
this Bylaw, but when considered in relation to other past, or present
activities in a given area may be significant to said interests and
values in the aggregate.
DETERMINATION: 310 CMR 10.04
A.
A determination of applicability is a written finding by the
Conservation Commission after public hearing as to whether a site
or the work proposed thereon is subject to the jurisdiction of the
OWP and does or does not require the filing of a notice of intent.
B.
A determination of significance is a written finding by the Conservation Commission, after a public hearing, that the area on which the proposed work is to be done, or which the proposed work will alter, is significant to one or more of the interests identified in §
160-2.
C.
A notification of nonsignificance is a written finding by the Conservation Commission, after a public hearing, that the area on which the proposed work is to be done, or which the proposed work will alter, is not significant to any of the interests of the §
160-2.
DITCH
Any depression through which water flows as drainage in times
of high water. (See also "stream.")
DOCK
Any structure, accessible by land, including but not limited
to ramp, pier, wharf, dock and float which could be used to access
boats whether or not tied.
EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION CONTROL: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
A.
Erosion control means the regulation of activities or processes
which would threaten, by wearing away the surface soil or by undermining
the interior portions of the landforms, the stability of landforms
and resource areas, and the soil and/or vegetation associated with
protected resources and adjoining land areas.
B.
Sedimentation control means the regulation of activities, or
processes that would threaten the ability of wetlands to settle out
sediments and other waterborne material beyond their capacity to do
so without adverse effect on other wetland functions.
ESTUARY: 310 CMR 10.04
A.
Any area where fresh and salt water mix and the tidal effects
are evident; or
B.
Any partially enclosed coastal body of water where the tide
meets the current of any stream or river or groundwater discharge.
FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FILL: 310 CMR 10.04
Any deposition of material that raises an elevation, either
temporarily or permanently.
FIRM
Flood Insurance Rate Map.
FISH: MGL c. 130
Fish includes all species of fresh and salt water finfish
and shellfish.
FLOOD ZONES
Areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and depicted on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps as subject
to wave action or flooding during large coastal events.
A.
VELOCITY ZONEThe area and elevation designated as subject to severe wave action during large coastal storm events.
B.
ZONE— The area and elevation designated as likely to be flooded during a one-hundred-year flood event.
C.
ZONE— The area and elevation designated as likely to be flooded during a five-hundred-year storm event.
D.
ZONE— An area of minimal flooding.
HARDSHIP: Orleans Conservation Commission
A.
The occasion when a literal enforcement of the provisions of
these regulations would involve a substantial hardship, financial
or otherwise, to the petitioner or appellant;
B.
The hardship is owing to circumstances relating to the soil
conditions, shape or topography of such land or structures and especially
affecting such land or structures but not affecting generally the
zoning district in which it is located; and
C.
Desirable relief may be granted without either substantial detriment
to the public good or nullifying or substantially derogating from
the intent or purpose of the OWP.
D.
Excessive economic burden placed on an applicant as a result
of the wetlands regulations may be considered to be a hardship. It
is presumed that any proposed private activity within the area of
jurisdiction will place public resources at risk. An applicant is
expected to take steps to protect these public resources. Such steps
may place an economic burden on the applicant that would not be placed
on a person working beyond the area of jurisdiction. Some additional
economic burden is presumed to be a reasonable requirement necessary
to protect the public resource. In order to demonstrate hardship,
the applicant must show that the public resource can be equally protected
at less cost by some other means. Hardship shall in no case be a condition
unique to the applicant. The hardship must be associated with activities
on the property for which the proposal is made.
LAKE: 310 CMR 10.04
Any open body of fresh water with a surface area of 10 acres
or more and shall include great ponds.
LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING: 310 CMR 10.57(2)
An area with low, flat topography and inundated by floodwaters
rising from creeks, rivers, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, estuaries
or the ocean.
A.
Isolated (10.57)(2)(b)(1)(2)(3).
LAND UNDER WATER BODIES AND WATERWAYS: 310 CMR 10.56(2)
The bottom of, or land under the surface of the ocean or
any estuary, creek, river, stream, pond or lake. Said land may be
composed of sand, gravel, rocks, bedrock, peat, fine sediments, or
organic muck.
LAND UNDER SALT PONDS: 310 CMR 10.33(2)
A shallow enclosed or semi-enclosed body of saline water
that may be partially or totally restricted by barrier beach formations.
Salt ponds may receive fresh water from small streams emptying into
their upper reaches and/or springs in the salt pond itself (or along
its margin).
MARSH (SALT)
Coastal wetland areas that extend landward up to the highest
tide line of the year, and where a significant portion of the vegetation
community is adapted to saline conditions and is composed of, but
not limited to nor necessarily including all of, the following plants
or groups of plants: salt marsh cord grass (Spartina alterniflora),
salt meadow cord grass (Spartina patens), spike grass (Distichlis
spicata), black grass (Juncus gerardi), groundsel tree (Baccharis
halimifolia), sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum), seaside goldenrod
(Solidago sempervirens), sea blite (Suaeda maritima), samphire (Salicornia
europaea), glasswort (Salicornia bigelovii), saltmarsh bulrush (Scirpus
robustus), salt bush (Atriplex patula), seaside plantain (Plantago
juncoides) and aster (Aster tenuifolius).
MEADOW
See "vegetated wetlands."
MEPA: 310 CMR 10.04
The Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, MGL c. 30, §§ 62
through 62H and the regulations promulgated thereto, 301 CMR 10.00
et seq.
NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI): 310 CMR 10.04
The written notice filed by any person intending to remove,
fill, dredge or alter an area subject to protection under the Massachusetts
Wetlands Protection Act (the Act), MGL c. 131, § 40 or the
Orleans Wetlands Protection Bylaw (the Bylaw).
ORDER: 310 CMR 10.04
Order of conditions, superseding order, final order or enforcement
order, whichever is applicable.
PERSON: MGL c. 131, § 40
Includes any individual, group of individuals, association,
partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust, estate,
the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof, administrative
agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body or any other legal
entity or its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
PERSON AGGRIEVED: 310 CMR 10.04/ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Any person who, because of an act or failure to act by the
issuing authority, may suffer an injury in fact which is different
either in kind or magnitude from that suffered by the general public
and which is within the scope of the interests identified in the Bylaw
facts to allow the Conservation Commission to determine whether or
not the person is in fact aggrieved.
PLANS: 310 CMR 10.04/ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Such data, maps, engineered drawings, calculations, specifications, schedules and other materials, if any, deemed necessary by the issuing authority to describe the site and/or the work, to determine the applicability of the Bylaw or to determine the impact of the proposed work upon the interests identified as set forth in §
196A-1B.
POND, INLAND: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Any open body of fresh water, either naturally occurring
or man-made by impoundment, which is never without standing water
due to natural causes, except during periods of extended drought.
For purposes of this definition, "extended period of drought" shall
mean any period of four (4) or more months during which the average
rainfall for each month is fifty percent (50%) or less of the ten-year
average for that same month. Basins or lagoons which are part of wastewater
treatment plants shall not be considered nor shall swimming pools
or other impervious man-made retention basins.
PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
The capacity of an area subject to protection under the Bylaw, OWPB §
160-2 to provide necessary wildlife habitat (see "wildlife habitat"); and also the ability of any resource area to provide food, breeding habitat, or escape cover for any species falling within the definition of "wildlife" set forth in these regulations.
PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY: 310 CMR 10.04
Any source or volume of surface or ground water demonstrated
to be in public use or approved for water supply pursuant to MGL c.
111, § 160 by the Division of Water Supply of the DEP or
shown to have a potential for public use.
RECONSTRUCTION
Alteration and rebuilding of up to 25% of the structure,
measured by square footage of the foundation, or cubic footage of
the structure. Alteration and rebuilding of over 25% of the structure
shall be considered new construction.
RECREATION: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Any leisure activity or sport taking place in, on, or within
100 feet of a resource area which is dependent on the resource area
directly or indirectly for its conduct and enjoyment. Recreational
activities include, but are not limited to, the following: noncommercial
fishing and shellfishing, hunting, boating, swimming, walking, painting,
birdwatching and aesthetic enjoyment.
RESOURCE AREAS: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
A.
(1)
Bank, beach, dune, flat, freshwater wetland, marsh, bog, coastal
wetland, swamp, wet meadow.
(2)
Lake, pond, creek, river, stream, estuary, the ocean and any
land under said waters.
(3)
Any land subject to flooding or inundation by tidal action,
groundwater or surface water.
(4)
Land subject to coastal storm flowage.
(5)
Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
B.
Definitions of specific resource areas are contained in other
sections of these regulations and the state wetland regulations.
RIVER
A natural flowing body of water that empties to any ocean,
lake, pond, other wetland, or other river, and which flows throughout
the year.
SALT POND: 310 CMR 10.33(2)
A shallow enclosed or semi-enclosed body of saline water
that may be partially or totally restricted by barrier beach formation.
Salt ponds may receive fresh water from small streams emptying into
their upper reaches and/or springs in the salt pond itself.
SIGNIFICANT: 310 CMR 10.04
Plays a role. A resource area is significant to an interest identified in §
196A-1B when it plays a role in the provision or protection, as appropriate, of that interest.
SHELLFISH: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Mollusks and crustaceans including but not limited to various
species of the following: clams, conchs, mussels, oysters, periwinkles,
quahogs, razor clams, scallops, sea clams, lobsters and crabs.
SHELLFISH HABITAT: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Those areas below the mean high water line in any coastal
resource area that provides or has provided the characteristics, including
but not limited to sediment type and grain size, circulation patterns,
hydrologic regime, water chemistry, plant communities and food supply,
necessary to support shellfish species.
STORM DAMAGE PREVENTION: 310 CMR 10.04
The prevention of damage caused by water and wind from storms,
including, but not limited to erosion and sedimentation, damage to
vegetation, property or buildings, or damage caused by flooding, waterborne
debris or waterborne ice.
STREAM: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
A body of running water, including brooks and creeks, which
moves in a definite channel in the ground due to a hydraulic gradient.
A portion of a stream may flow through a culvert or beneath a bridge.
Such a body of running water which does not flow throughout the year
(i.e., which is intermittent) is also a stream.
SWAMP
MGL c. 131, § 40, pp 8.
TIDES: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
A.
SPRING: 10.04Those tides that occur at or near the time when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon are in phase (new and full moons), and which are of the greatest amplitude during the approximately fourteen-day tidal cycle.
B.
NEAPThose tides that occur between the new and full moons and have less variation than the spring tides.
C.
EXTREMEThose tides generally associated with storms or astronomical configurations and are perceptibly higher and lower than the spring tides.
D.
MEAN HIGH WATER: 10.23The line where the arithmetic mean of the high water heights observed over a specific nineteen-year metonic cycle (the National Tidal Datum Epoch) meets the shore and shall be determined using hydrographic survey data of the National Ocean Survey of the U.S. Department of Commerce and local observations.
E.
MEAN LOW WATER: 10.23The line where the arithmetic mean of the low water heights observed over a specific nineteen-year metonic cycle (the National Tidal Datum Epoch) meets the shore and shall be determined using hydrographic survey data of the National Ocean Survey of the U.S. Department of Commerce and local observations.
TIDAL FLAT: 310 CMR 10.27(2)(b)
Any nearly level part of a coastal beach which usually extends
from the mean low water line landward to the more steeply sloping
face of the coastal beach or which may be separated from the beach
by land under the ocean.
VEGETATED FRESHWATER WETLAND (WET MEADOWS, MARSHES, SWAMPS AND
BOGS): MGL c. 131 § 40, 310 CMR 10.55/ORLEANS CONSERVATION
COMMISSION
The term "freshwater wetlands" as used in this section shall
mean wet meadows, marshes, swamps, bogs, areas where groundwater,
flowing or standing surface water or ice provides a significant part
of the supporting substrate for a plant community for at least five
months of the year; emergent and submergent plant communities in inland
waters; that portion of any bank which touches any inland waters.
Freshwater wetlands are areas where the topography is low and flat,
and where the soils are annually saturated and within which 50% or
more of the species of the vegetational community consists of the
wetland plant species identified below:
A.
BOGS: MGL c. 131, § 40Areas where standing or slowly running water is near or at the surface during a normal growing season and where a vegetational community has a significant portion of the ground or water surface covered with sphagnum moss (Sphagnum) and where the vegetational community is made up of a significant portion of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups of plants: aster (Aster nemoralis), azaleas (Rhododendron canadense and R. viscosum), black spruce (Picea mariana), bog cotton (Eriophorum), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), high bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), larch (Larix laricina), laurels (Kalmia augustifolia and K. polifolia), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), orchids (Arethusa, Calopogon, Pogonia), pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea), sedges (Cyperaceae), sundews (Droseraceae), sweet gale (Myrica gale), white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides).
B.
SWAMPS, MGL c. 131, § 40Areas where the groundwater is at or near the surface of the ground for a significant part of the growing season or where runoff water from surface drainage frequently collects above the soil surface, and where a significant part of the vegetational community is made up of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups of plants: alders (Alnus), ashes (Fraxinus), azaleas (Rhododendron canadense and R. viscosum), black alder (Ilex verticillata), black spruce (Picea mariana), button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), American or white elm (Ulmus americana), white Hellebore (Veratrum viride), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), high bush blueberry (Vaccinum corymbosum), larch (Larix laricina), cowslip (Caltha palustris), poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), red maple (Acer rubrum), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), black gum tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), sweet pepper bush (Clethra alnifolia), white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), willow (Salicaceae).
C.
WET MEADOW, MGL c. 131, § 40Areas where the groundwater is at the surface for a significant part of the growing season and near the surface throughout the year and where a significant part of the vegetational community is composed of various grasses, sedges and rushes; made up of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups of plants: blue flag (Iris), vervain (Verbena), thoroughwort (Eupatorium), dock (Rumex), false loosestrife (Ludwigia), hydrophile grasses (Gramineae), marsh fern (Dryopteris thelypteris), rushes (Juncaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), smartweeds (Polygonum).
D.
MARSHES, MGL c. 131, § 40Areas where a vegetational community exists in standing or running water during the growing season and where a significant part of the vegetational community is composed of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of the following plants or groups of plants: arums (Araceae), bladderworts (Utricularia), bur reeds (Sparganiaceae), button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), cattails (Typha), common reeds (Phragmites), duck weeds (Lemnaceae), eel grass (Vallisneria), frog bits (Hydrocharitaceae), horsetails (Equisetaceae), hydrophilic grasses (Gramineae), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), pickerel weeds (Pontederiaceae), pipeworts (Ericoaulon), pond weeds, (Potamogeton), rushes (Juncaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), smartweeds (Polygonum), sweet gale (Myrica gale), water milfoil (Haloragaceae), water lilies (Mymphaeaceae), water starworts (Callitrichaceae), water willow (Decodon verticillatus).
VERNAL POOL HABITAT
Confined basin depressions that, at least in most years,
hold water for a minimum of two continuous months during the spring
and/or summer, and that are free of adult fish populations, as well
as the area within 100 feet of the mean annual boundaries of such
depressions. These areas are essential breeding habitat, and provide
other extremely important wildlife habitat functions during nonbreeding
season as well, for a variety of amphibian species such as wood frog
(Rana sylvatica) and the spotted salamander (Ambystoma macultum),
and are important habitat for other wildlife species.
WATER-DEPENDENT USES: 310 CMR 10.04
Those uses and facilities that require direct access to,
or location in, marine, tidal or inland waters and therefore cannot
be located away from said waters, including but not limited to: marinas,
public recreational uses, navigational and commercial fishing and
boating facilities, water-based recreational uses, navigation aids,
basins and channels, industrial uses dependent upon waterborne transportation
or requiring large volumes of cooling or process water that cannot
reasonably be located or operated at an upland site, crossings over
or under water bodies or waterways (but limited to railroad and public
roadway bridges, tunnels, culverts, as well as railroad tracks and
public roadways connecting thereto which are generally perpendicular
to the water body or waterway) and any other uses and facilities as
may further hereafter be defined as water-dependent in 310 CMR 9.00.
WILDLIFE: ORLEANS CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Wildlife includes all nondomestic animals, including but
not limited to, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and the
habitat required by these animals for nesting, cover and food, with
the exception of species of the Class Insecta which have been determined
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to be a pest whose protection
would be a risk to man. The definition encompasses but is not limited
to all vertebrate and invertebrate species listed by state and federal
agencies as endangered, threatened or of special concern.
WILDLIFE HABITAT: ORLEANS CHAPTER 160
Those resource areas subject to Conservation Commission jurisdiction
which, due to their plant community composition and structure, hydrologic
regime or other characteristics, provide important food, shelter,
migratory or overwintering areas or breeding areas for wildlife.