As used in these regulations, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
ACT
The Inland Wetland and Watercourses Act, C.G.S. §§ 22a-36
through 22a-45, inclusive, as amended.
AGENCY
The Inland Wetlands Commission of the Town of Winchester.
ALTER
The same as "disturbing the natural and indigenous character
of the wetland or watercourse," as defined below.
BOGS
Areas distinguished by evergreen trees and shrubs underlain
by peat deposits, poor drainage and highly acidic conditions.
CLEAR-CUTTING
The harvest of timber in a fashion which removes all trees
down to a two-inch diameter at breast height.
COMMISSION MEMBER
A member of the Inland Wetlands Commission of the Town of
Winchester.
CONTINUAL FLOW
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
An individual(s) designated by the Agency to carry out its
functions and purposes.
DISCHARGE
Emission of any water, substance or material into wetlands
or watercourses, whether or not such substance causes pollution.
FARMING
Use of land for the growing of crops, raising of livestock
or other agricultural use.
FEASIBLE
Able to be constructed or implemented consistent with sound
engineering principles.
FOREST PRACTICE
Any activity which may alter the physical or vegetative characteristics
of any forest land which is undertaken in connection with the harvest
of commercial forest products, unless such harvest is undertaken pursuant
to the conversion of forest land to other uses and such conversion
has been approved by:
A.
The Planning and Zoning Commission; and
B.
If the forest land includes any wetlands or if the municipality
within which the land is located regulates forest practices under
C.G.S. § 23-65k, the inland wetlands agency of the municipality.
INTERMITTENT WATERCOURSES
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.
LICENSE
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 these regulations under the authority of the
Inland Wetlands Commission.
MANAGEMENT PRACTICE
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 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 fuel spillage; construction methods to prevent flooding
or disturbance of wetlands and watercourses; procedures for maintaining
continuous streams 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
Areas with soils that exhibit aquic moisture regimes that
are distinguished by the absence of trees and shrubs and are dominated
by soft-stemmed herbaceous plants. The water table in marshes is at
or above the ground surface throughout the year, but seasonal water
table fluctuations are encountered and areas of open water six inches
or more in depth are common.
MATERIAL
Any substance, solid or liquid, organic or inorganic, including
but not limited to: soil, sediment, aggregate, land, gravel, clay,
bog, peat, mud, debris, sand, refuse and waste.
NURSERIES
Land used for propagating trees, shrubs or other plants for
transplanting, sale or for use as stock for grafting.
ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK
A mark on the land caused by the presence and action of water,
which presence and action is so common and usual and so long continued
in all ordinary years as to mark upon the land a distinction between
the abutting upland and the watercourse. Such mark may be found by
examining the bed and bank of any watercourse and ascertaining thereon
an abrupt change in the characteristics of soil or vegetation or slope
of the land.
PERMIT
The whole or any part of any license, certificate or approval
or similar form of permission which may be required of any person
by the provisions of these regulations under the authority of the
Agency and the Act or other municipal, state and federal law.
PERMITTEE
The person to whom such permit has been issued.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, organization or legal entity of any kind, including municipal
corporations, governmental agencies or subdivisions thereof.
POLLUTION
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
resulting from any filling, land clearing or excavation activity.
PRUDENT
Economically or 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
Any operation within 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 100 feet of watercourses, but shall not include the specified permitted activities in §
390-4 of these regulations. The location of any portion of any subsurface waste disposal system within 150 feet of the mean waterline of any watercourses and 75 feet of all wetlands is deemed a regulated activity. The activities specified in §
390-4 of these regulations will or can require an uplands review if they are likely to impact or affect wetlands or watercourses. The Agency may also rule that any other activity located within the above-described regulated areas, or any non-wetland or non-watercourse area, is likely to impact or affect wetlands or watercourses and is a regulated activity.
REGULATED AREA
That area within 75 feet of any inland wetland or within
100 feet of any watercourse as defined in 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
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 ACTIVITY
Any activity, including but not limited to the following
activities, which may have a major effect or significant impact on
the area for which an application has been filed or on another part
of the inland wetland or watercourse system:
A.
Any activity involving a deposition or removal of material which
will or may have a major effect or significant impact on the regulated
area or on another part of the inland wetland or watercourse system;
or
B.
Any activity which substantially changes the natural channel
or may inhibit the natural dynamics of a watercourse system; or
C.
Any activity which substantially diminishes the natural capacity
of an inland wetland or watercourse to support desirable fisheries,
wildlife or any other biological life; or to prevent flooding, supply
water, assimilate waste, facilitate drainage, provide recreation or
open space; or to perform other functions; or
D.
Any activity which is likely to cause or has the potential to
cause substantial turbidity, siltation or sedimentation in a wetland
or watercourse; or
E.
Any activity which causes a substantial diminution of flow of
a natural watercourse or groundwater;
F.
Any activity likely to have or having the potential to cause
pollution of a wetland or watercourse; or
G.
Any activity which destroys unique wetland or watercourse areas
having demonstrable scientific or educational value.
SOIL SCIENTIST
An individual duly qualified in accordance with standards
set by the Federal Office of Personnel Management (formerly the U.S.
Civil Service Commission).
SUBMERGED LANDS
Those lands which are inundated by water on a seasonal or
more frequent basis.
SWAMPS
Areas with soils that exhibit aquic moisture regimes and
are distinguished by the dominance of wetland trees and shrubs.
TOWN
The Town of Winchester, Litchfield County, Connecticut.
VERNAL POOLS
Small bodies of standing freshwater that are most obvious
during the spring or fall of the year. They are usually temporary
in nature, lacking permanent surface water connections with other
wetlands or watercourses. They lack a permanent fish population but
may support breeding and development of amphibian or invertebrate
species such as, but not limited to, frogs and salamanders. (The presence
of such amphibians or invertebrate species is not required for identification
of a vernal pool under Connecticut Statutes.) Vernal pools must have
the following physical characteristics:
A.
Contain water for approximately two months during the growing
season.
B.
Occur within a confined depression or basin that lacks a permanent
outlet stream.
C.
Dries out most years, usually in late summer.
WASTE
Sewage or any substance, liquid, gaseous, solid or radioactive,
which may pollute or tend to pollute any of the wetlands or watercourses
of the Town.
WATERCOURSES
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 C.G.S. §§ 22a-28 through 22a-35, inclusive.
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
Land, including submerged land as defined in this section,
not regulated pursuant to C.G.S. §§ 22a-28 through
22a-35, inclusive, which consists of any of the soil types designated
as "poorly drained," "very poorly drained," "alluvial" and "floodplain"
by the National Cooperative Soil 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 aquatic (saturated) soil
moisture regime as defined by the USDA Cooperative Soil Survey.
Nothing in these regulations shall obviate the requirements
for the applicant to obtain any other assents, permits or licenses
required by law or regulation by the Town of Winchester, State of
Connecticut and the Government of the United States, including any
approval required by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Obtaining such assents,
permits or licenses is the sole responsibility of the applicant.
These regulations shall become effective April 17, 2006, upon
filing in the office of the Town Clerk and publication of a notice
of such action in a newspaper having general circulation in the Town
of Winchester.