A. 
Characteristics and protected interests.
(1) 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities involving inland banks and beaches are necessary and proper for the following reasons: Inland banks and beaches aid in flood prevention; serve to provide, protect, and enhance habitat for rare, endangered, and significant wildlife and fauna; and serve to provide important wetland scenic views and recreation. Banks are areas where groundwater discharges to the surface and where, under some circumstances, surface water recharges the groundwater. Where banks are partially or totally vegetated, the vegetation serves to maintain the bank's stability, which in turn protects water quality by reducing erosion and siltation. Banks act to confine floodwaters during most storms, preventing the spread of water to adjacent land. Alterations which permit water to frequently and consistently spread over a larger and more shallow area increase the amount of land routinely flooded and elevate water temperatures. Land within 100 feet of a bank is likely to be significant to the protection and maintenance of the bank, and therefore to the protection of the interests which these resource areas serve to protect. Banks may provide shade that moderates water temperatures as well as providing breeding habitat, escape cover, and feeding areas, all of which are important for the protection of fish. Banks may also help channel water and thus maintain a water depth which helps keep the water temperatures cool in warm weather, thus providing habitat necessary for both fish and the food sources for fish. Inland banks may act as a sediment source for inland beaches. By confining floodwaters, banks decrease the erosion of topsoil from adjacent land surfaces and help prevent flood and storm damage to buildings and roads. Confining floodwaters also decreases water pollution by preventing floodwaters from mixing with many contaminants found on roads, near and in dwellings, from fertilized soil, and from septic tanks. Banks may provide nesting habitat for some species of birds. Banks and particularly beaches provide wildlife and human access to water bodies. Characteristics that are critical to recreation are topography, vegetative cover, wildlife habitat, and access to and along the shore. Characteristics that are critical to wetland scenic views are relief and elevation; plant and animal habitat and diversity; and solitude.
(2) 
In view of the foregoing, whenever a proposed project involves removing, filling, dredging, altering or building upon an inland bank or beach, the Commission shall find that the bank or beach is significant to the protection of the following interests: groundwater, flood control, erosion control, storm damage prevention, water pollution, fisheries, scenic views, and wildlife. These findings may be overcome only upon a clear showing that the inland bank or beach does not play a role in protecting any of the interests given above and only upon a specific written determination to that effect by the Commission.
B. 
Performance standards. Inland banks and beaches or land within 100 feet of an inland bank and beach shall be presumed significant to the interests protected by the bylaw as referenced in Subsection A; therefore, the following regulations shall apply:
(1) 
Projects shall be permitted only where no adverse effect exists on bank stability, groundwater and surface water quality, the water-carrying capacity of an existing channel within a bank, bank height, and the capacity of the bank to provide habitat for fisheries and/or wildlife.
(2) 
Elevated walkways designed not to affect bank vegetation shall be required for pedestrian passage over an inland bank (but not an inland beach that is gently sloping).
(3) 
All projects which are not water-dependent shall maintain at least a twenty-five-foot natural undisturbed area adjacent to an inland bank or beach. All structures which are not water-dependent shall be at least 50 feet from an inland bank or beach.
(4) 
The septic leach facility of a septic system shall be at least 100 feet from the seasonal highest documented water line of the water body.
(5) 
No structure of any kind shall be permitted on an eroding bank to protect any building built pursuant to a permit granted after the effective date of these regulations.
(6) 
Piers shall be constructed and maintained using procedures determined by the Commission to be the best available measures to minimize adverse effects on interests protected by the Bylaw.
(7) 
The Commission may impose such additional requirements as are necessary to protect the interests protected by the Bylaw.
A. 
Characteristics and protected interests.
(1) 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities involving vegetated wetlands are necessary and proper for the following reasons: Vegetated wetlands serve to support rare/significant species (plant and animal); serve to provide rare/significant species (plant and animal) habitat; serve to remove pollutants from surrounding waters; serve to aid in the prevention of flooding and are important to fishing, shellfishing, recreation, and wetland scenic views. The plant communities, soils, and associated low, flat topography of vegetated wetlands remove or detain sediments, nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorous) and toxic substances (such as heavy metal compounds) that occur in run-off and floodwaters. Some nutrients and toxic substances are retained for years in plant root systems or in the soils. Others are held by plants during the growing season and released as the plants decay in the fall and winter. This latter phenomenon delays the effect of nutrients and toxins until cold-weather periods, when the release of these materials is less likely to reduce water quality. Vegetated wetlands are areas where groundwater discharges to the surface and where, in some circumstances, surface water discharges to the groundwater. The profusion of vegetation and the low, flat topography of vegetated wetlands slow down and reduce the passage of floodwaters during periods of peak flows by providing temporary floodwater storage, and by facilitating water removal through evaporation and transpiration. This reduces downstream flood crests, erosion, and resulting damage to private and public property. During dry periods the water retained in vegetated wetlands is essential to the maintenance of base flow levels in streams or into the groundwater which in turn is important to the protection of water quality, water supplies, and wildlife. Wetland vegetation provides shade that moderates water temperatures important to fish life. Vegetated wetlands that are always wet or that are flooded by adjacent water bodies and waterways provide food, breeding habitat, and cover for fish. Fish populations in the larval stage are particularly dependent upon food provided by these wetlands since they provide large quantities of microscopic plant and animal food material. Wetland vegetation provides habitat for a wide variety of insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Many of these, particularly insects, are food sources for fish. Vegetated wetlands, together with land within 100 feet of a vegetated wetland, serve to moderate and alleviate thermal shock and pollution resulting from runoff from impervious surfaces which may be detrimental to wildlife, fisheries, and shellfish downstream of the vegetated wetland. The maintenance of base flows by vegetated wetlands is significant to the maintenance of a proper salinity ratio in estuarine areas downstream of the vegetated wetland. A proper salinity ratio, in turn, is essential to the ability of shellfish to spawn successfully and therefore to provide for the continuing procreation of shellfisheries. A proper salinity ratio is also important for many species of fish. Vegetated wetlands are excellent places for birdwatching and hunting. Some vegetated wetlands, particularly bogs, provide habitat for rare plants and animals. Vegetated wetlands along pond edges can prevent erosion by wind-driven waves and serve to provide storage for floodwaters. Characteristics of vegetated wetlands that are critical to wetland scenic views are water quality, vegetative characteristics, habitat, and a sense of presence, expanse and biodiversity. Land within 100 feet of a vegetated wetland is considered to be significant to the protection and maintenance of vegetated wetlands, and therefore to the protection of the interests which these resource areas serve to protect.
(2) 
In view of the foregoing, whenever a proposed project involves removing, filling, dredging, altering, or building upon a vegetated wetland, the Commission shall find that the vegetated wetland is significant to the protection of the following interests: public and private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion control, storm damage prevention, water pollution, fisheries, shellfish, wildlife, scenic views, and recreation. These findings may be overcome only upon a clear showing that the vegetated wetland does not play a role in protecting any of the interests given above and only upon a specific written determination to that effect by the Commission.
B. 
Performance standards. Vegetated wetlands or land within 100 feet of vegetated wetlands shall be presumed significant to the interests protected by the Bylaw as referenced in Subsection A; therefore, the following regulations shall apply:
(1) 
Proposed projects which are not water-dependent shall maintain at least a twenty-five-foot natural undisturbed area adjacent to vegetated wetlands. All structures which are not water-dependent shall be at least 50 feet from a vegetated wetland, and all structures shall maintain an undisturbed two-foot separation to high groundwater. Fifty percent of the area between the twenty-five-foot buffer and the fifty-foot buffer shall not be altered. Additional soils and groundwater information may be required for applications in areas of high groundwater.
(2) 
Proposed projects shall not use procedures that the Commission determines changes the flood protection function (leveling out of storm surges by storing and slowly releasing water) of vegetated wetlands by significantly changing the rate of water flow through the wetlands (by channelization or other means).
(3) 
No permit shall be issued which authorizes the destruction of forested swamps. The Commission may authorize the excavation of other vegetated wetlands to create ponds or clear the edge of a pond if the project is designed to increase wildlife habitat diversity and to minimize groundwater or surface water loss.
(4) 
The septic leach facility of a septic system shall be at least 100 feet from the vegetated wetland.
(5) 
Piers shall be constructed and maintained using procedures determined by the Commission to be the best available measures to minimize adverse effects on interests protected by the Bylaw.
(6) 
Elevated walkways determined to be water-dependent designed not to affect existing vegetation shall be required for pedestrian passage over vegetated wetlands.
(7) 
Fertilizers shall be used in accordance with the Best Management Practices for Landscape Fertilizer Use on Nantucket Island (a copy of which is attached to these regulations as Appendix A[1]).
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment tot his chapter.
(8) 
The Commission may impose such additional requirements as are necessary to protect the interests protected under the Bylaw.
A. 
Characteristics and protected interests.
(1) 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities involving inland water bodies are necessary and proper for the following reasons: Where land under water bodies is composed of pervious material, such land represents a point of exchange between surface water and groundwater. Depending upon the hydrological conditions and water levels at a given point in time, these areas may serve as exchange or discharge points, or both, with groundwater. An area may serve as recharge area at one season and a discharge point at another time. This allows pollutants and nutrients easy access into private wells or the general groundwater supply. The physical nature of land under water bodies is highly variable, ranging from deep organic and fine sedimentary deposits to gravel and large rocks. The organic soils and sediments play an important role in the process of detaining and removing dissolved and particulate nutrients from surface water above. These also serve as traps for toxic substances (such as heavy metal compounds). Land under water bodies, in conjunction with banks, serves to confine floodwater within a definite channel during the most frequent storms. Filling within this channel blocks flows which in turn causes backwater and overbank flooding during such storms. An alteration of land under water bodies that causes water to frequently spread out over a large area at lower depth increases the amount of property that is routinely flooded. Additionally, it results in an elevation of water temperature and decrease in wildlife habitat in the main channel, both of which are detrimental to fisheries, particularly during periods of warm weather and low flows. It may also flood waterfowl nesting sites which otherwise would not be disturbed. Land under ponds and lakes is vital to a large assortment of warm water fish during spawning periods. Species such as large-mouth bass (Micropterus salomoides), small-mouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), blue gills (Lepomis macrochirus), pumpkinseeds (Lepomis gibbous), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), and rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) build nests on the lake and bottom substrates within which they shed and fertilize their eggs. Land within 100 feet of any bank abutting land under a water body is significant to the protection of the interests which these water bodies serve to protect. Characteristics of water bodies which are critical to wildlife, wildlife habitat, and fisheries include water circulation and flushing rates, distribution of sediment grain size, and water quality (including amounts of dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and pollutants). Leaving ponds and the land bordering ponds in an unobstructed state may be important to recreational swimming, fishing, and boating. Water bodies and the area around them also provide other recreational opportunities such as hunting and wildlife observation. Cattail borders or other vegetated borders of large ponds are important in reducing shoreline erosion and storm damage by dissipating the high energy of storm waves and by anchoring the sediments. Water bodies provide important feeding and/or drinking areas for many types of aquatic wildlife, birds, and animals. Ponds and other water bodies produce insects that hatch and are used as food by several species of birds, particularly swallows. Ducks, geese, swans, and herons all use water bodies and surrounding borders for feeding, shelter, and/or nesting areas. Many other birds, animals, reptiles, and amphibians use land under water bodies, water bodies, and the borders of water bodies for various parts of their life cycles. Changes in sediments, water quality, water level, or species composition of food sources or ground cover may be detrimental to any of the above wildlife and wildlife habitat. Ponds and the land surrounding them often form important wetland scenic views. The enclosed area and the limited size of most freshwater bodies on Nantucket make them particularly sensitive to pollution or nutrient inputs. These inputs can change the plant and animal species composition of the water body and thus can be detrimental to fish and wildlife. Bioaccumulation of pollutants through food webs can also create dangerous levels of pollutants or toxins for wildlife and humans.
(2) 
In view of the foregoing, whenever a proposed project involves removing, filling, dredging, altering or building upon water bodies or the land beneath them, the Commission shall find that water bodies and the land beneath them are significant to the protection of the following interests: public and private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion control, storm damage prevention, water pollution, fisheries, wildlife, scenic views, and recreation. These findings may be overcome only upon a clear showing that the water body or the land beneath it does not play a role in protecting any of the interests given above and only upon a specific written determination to that effect by the Commission.
B. 
Performance standards. Inland water bodies or land within 100 feet of inland water bodies shall be presumed significant to the interests protected by the Bylaw as referenced in Subsection A; therefore, the following regulations shall apply:
(1) 
No proposed project shall use procedures that the Commission determines have an adverse effect on significant wildlife habitat, wildlife, fisheries, existing water quality, recreation, wetland scenic views, or alter the critical characteristics of an inland water body.
(2) 
Proposed projects which are not water-dependent shall maintain at least a twenty-five-foot natural undisturbed area adjacent to land under a water body. All structures which are not water-dependent shall be at least 50 feet from land under a water body, and all structures shall maintain an undisturbed two-foot separation to high groundwater. Fifty percent of the area between the twenty-five-foot buffer and the fifty-foot buffer shall not be altered. Additional soils and groundwater information may be required for applications in areas of high groundwater.
(3) 
The septic leach facility of a septic system shall be at least 100 feet from the water body and/or its bordering vegetated wetland, whichever results in the greater separation. Septic leach facilities shall be separated from each other by 200 feet if the lot containing one of them contains a water body or fronts on a water body and the septic location is within the jurisdiction of the Bylaw.
(4) 
There shall be no filling of a water body, except as allowed pursuant to a waiver from these regulations as set forth in § 390-3F.
(5) 
Fertilizers shall be used in accordance with the Best Management Practices for Landscape Fertilizer Use on Nantucket Island (a copy of which is attached to these regulations as Appendix A[1]).
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(6) 
Boat piers shall be constructed using those procedures that the Commission determines to be the best available measures to minimize adverse effects on the interests protected by the Bylaw.
(7) 
The Commission may impose such additional requirements as are necessary to protect the interests protected under the Bylaw.
A. 
Characteristics and protected interests.
(1) 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities involving land subject to flooding are necessary and proper for the following reasons: Bordering land subject to flooding provides a temporary storage area for floodwater which has overtopped the bank of the main channel of a creek, river, or stream or the basin of a pond or lake. During periods of peak runoff, floodwaters are both retained (i.e., slowly released through evaporation and percolation) and detained (i.e., slowly released through surface discharge). Over time, incremental filling of these areas causes displacement of flooding effects and increases in the extent and level of flooding by eliminating flood storage volume or by restricting flows, and, thereby, increases in damage to public and private properties. Pollutants or contaminants located on bordering land subject to flooding may be washed into surface waters and from there to groundwater, or percolate directly into groundwater. Sources of pollutants within these areas thus have widespread effects on interests protected by the Bylaw. Bordering land subject to flooding provides an important source of microscopic plant and animal material which enriches the nearby water body, may serve as significant wildlife habitat, and can serve as the basis for a food web which supports many fish or wildlife. Bordering land provides important wildlife habitat and wildlife access to surface water resources. Bordering land subject to flooding is often low and level and thus helps prevent erosion of soil into water bodies by surface water runoff. The topography and location of bordering land subject to flooding is critical for protection of flood control capabilities. Isolated land subject to flooding provides a temporary storage area where run-off and high groundwater collect and slowly evaporate or percolate into the ground. These areas, even though small, usually are numerous and thus very important in preventing more serious flooding somewhere else. Filling causes lateral displacement of ponded water or increased run-off onto contiguous properties, which may result in damage to those properties and others which were not previously affected as much. The additive nature of the flood protection provided by these isolated areas and the fact that filling one may redirect water so as to radically change watershed sizes means that small changes in one area may have large effects in another area. Isolated land subject to flooding helps prevent erosion by breaking up watersheds so that run-off does not become so great as to have enough force to erode soil. Areas where the isolated land subject to flooding is pervious are likely to serve as significant recharge points to the groundwater aquifer. Contamination in the area may find easy access into groundwater and neighboring wells. Isolated land subject to flooding which is covered by a mat of organic peat or muck may help remove contaminants before the floodwater enters the groundwater. Isolated land subject to flooding may provide important wildlife habitat for amphibians, particularly during their breeding period, and some rare plants. It also may provide important wildlife habitat for several species of birds, including ducks.
(2) 
For the foregoing reasons, whenever a proposed project involves removing, filling, dredging, altering, or building upon land subject to flooding, the Commission shall find that the land is significant to protection of the following interests: private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion control, and water pollution. These findings may be overcome upon a clear showing that the land subject to flooding does not play a role in protecting any of the interests given above, and only upon a specific written determination to that effect by the Commission.
B. 
Performance standards. Isolated land subject to flooding or land within 100 feet of isolated land subject to flooding shall be presumed significant to the interests protected by the Bylaw as referenced in Subsection A; therefore, the following regulations shall apply:
(1) 
Work on isolated wetlands and small ponds is subject to the regulations set forth in § 390-19 (ponds) and § 390-18 (vegetated wetlands).
(2) 
Projects on land subject to flooding shall be permitted only in connection with such procedures determined by the Commission as not having the effect of reducing the ability of the land to absorb and contain floodwaters.
(3) 
If such a site is available on the applicant's land, all septic tanks and leach facilities shall be located outside the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(4) 
Underground fuel oil or gasoline tanks, or tanks designed to hold any hazardous substance, shall not be permitted on land subject to flooding.
(5) 
Proposed projects shall employ such safeguards as determined by the Commission to preclude groundwater or surface water pollution triggered by flooding.
(6) 
The Commission may require compensating or greater flood storage capacity in the same watershed if it permits any filling of land subject to flooding, and all filling of areas subject to flooding shall be strictly minimized. Except as stated in the preceding sentence, no proposed projects shall be permitted to displace or direct floodwaters, through fill or other means, to other areas.
(7) 
Building upon areas subject to flooding shall be in compliance with appropriate state and local building code requirements.
(8) 
Proposed projects in land subject to flooding shall use such procedures as the Commission determines will minimize their effect on wildlife.
(9) 
Fertilizers shall be used in accordance with the Best Management Practices for Landscape Fertilizer Use on Nantucket Island (a copy of which is attached to these regulations as Appendix A[1]).
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(10) 
The Commission may impose such additional requirements as are necessary to protect the interests protected by the Bylaw.
A. 
Characteristics and protected interests.
(1) 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities involving estimated habitat for rare/significant wildlife and rare/significant flora and fauna for inland wetlands are necessary and proper for the following reasons: Any inland resource area as defined in Chapter 136, Wetlands, § 136-3, of the Code of the Town of Nantucket within which any state rare species (plant or animal) officially listed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife; any area defined as a vernal pool in § 390-2 of these regulations[1]; any species (plant or animal) the Commission has recognized significant as defined in Chapter 136, Wetlands, § 136-1, of the Code of the Town of Nantucket; or any inland wetland resource area falling within any of the most recent Estimated Habitat Maps of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program shall be considered rare/significant species and habitat, as defined as "habitat" in § 390-2 of these regulations. Rare/Significant species and habitat preservation is important in order to maintain healthy ecosystems, wetland resources and biodiversity; important for protecting recreational interests, and important in protecting wetland scenic views.
[1]
Editor's Note: See the definition of "habitat" in § 390-2.
(2) 
In view of the foregoing, whenever a proposed project involves removing, filling, dredging, altering, or building within areas of estimated habitat for rare/significant wildlife and rare/significant flora and fauna for inland wetlands, the Commission shall find that such land is significant to the protection of the following interests: fisheries, shell fisheries, wildlife, biodiversity, recreation, and wetland scenic views. These findings may be overcome only upon a clear showing that these estimated habitat areas do not play a role in protecting any of the interests given above and only upon a specific determination to that effect by the Commission.
B. 
Performance standards. Estimated habitat areas shall be presumed significant to the interests protected by the Bylaws as referenced in Subsection A; therefore, the following regulations apply:
(1) 
No activity shall be permitted that alters existing vegetation within 50 feet of verified rare/significant species habitat, including certified vernal pools, and vernal pools defined in § 390-2.
(2) 
No activity shall be permitted that results in the construction or enlargement of a structure within 75 feet of verified rare/significant species habitat, including certified vernal pools, and vernal pools defined in § 390-2.
(3) 
No alteration of topography (filling or cutting) and/or drainage characteristics shall be permitted within 50 feet of verified rare/significant species habitat, including certified vernal pools, and vernal pools defined in § 390-2.
(4) 
No new construction or enlargement of drainage facilities within 50 feet of verified rare/significant species habitat, including certified vernal pools, and vernal pools defined in § 390-2, shall be permitted.
(5) 
No part of any septic system shall be placed within 50 feet and no leaching facility shall be placed within 100 feet of a verified rare/significant species habitat, including certified vernal pools, and vernal pools defined in § 390-2.
(6) 
The Commission may impose such additional requirements as are necessary to protect the interests protected by the Bylaw.
A. 
The Commission finds that regulations applicable to activities within the riverfront area (except as these activities are located within other wetland resource areas) are not appropriate for the following reasons:
(1) 
A riverfront area is the area of land between a river's mean annual high water line and a parallel line measured horizontally outward to a distance of 200 feet. The riverfront area may include or overlap other wetland resource areas or their buffer zones. The riverfront area does not have a buffer zone. Rivers begin at the point an intermittent stream becomes perennial, discharging throughout the year.
(2) 
Based on direct observation, periodic monitoring and inventory data and testimony provided by and to the Commission, rivers, as defined in § 390-2 of these regulations and as defined in 310 CMR 10.58(2) of the State Wetlands Protection regulations, do not exist within the Town of Nantucket. Existing water bodies on Nantucket that contain flowing water that empties into fresh and/or salt surface water bodies are intermittent, man-made canals or mosquito ditches, or exhibit dominant characteristics of tidally influenced flow.
B. 
Therefore, for the purposes of these regulations, the Commission finds that no riverfront area wetland resource areas exist on Nantucket.