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Department of Planning, Conservation, and Development.

SECTION 2- DEFINITIONS AS USED IN THESE REGULATIONS

• 2.1- "Act" means the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act, Sections 22a-36 through 22a-45 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended.
• 2.2- "Agency" means the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses of the City.
• 2.3- "Bogs" are wetlands and/or watercourses usually distinguished by evergreen trees and shrubs underlain by peat deposit, poor drainage and highly acidic conditions.
• 2.4- "City" means the City of Middletown in the County of Middlesex in the State of Connecticut.
• 2.5- "Clear-cutting" means the harvest of timber products in a fashion which removes all species of trees larger than 2" in diameter at breast height.
• 2.6- "Clearing and grubbing" means the removal of all vegetation including stumps.
• 2.7- "Commission member" means a member of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency of the City of Middletown.
• 2.8- "Commissioner of Environmental Protection" means the Commissioner of the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
• 2.9- "Contamination or rendering unclean or impure" means any alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of any of the waters of the State including, but not limited to, change in odor, color, turbidity, taste or temperature.
• 2.10- "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.
• 2.11- "Deposit" includes but shall not be limited to, fill, grade, dump, place, discharge or emit.
• 2.12- "Designated Agent" means that Department of City government or representative of that Department which has been duly authorized by the Agency to regulate and inspect regulated activities and to enforce permit conditions on behalf of the Agency; and, to maintain as may be required for or directed by the Agency the necessary records.
• 2.13- "Detention basin (pond)" means a storage facility for the temporary storage or stormwater runoff. Detention basins or ponds differ from retention basins in that the water storage is only temporary, often released by mechanical means at such time as downstream facilities can handle the flow.
• 2.14- "Discharge" means the emission of any water, substance, or material into water or watercourses whether or not such substance causes pollution.
• 2.15- "Disturbing 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, alternation or obstruction of water flow, or will result in the pollution of the wetlands or watercourse.
• 2.16- "Essential to the farming operation" means that the activity proposed is necessary and indispensable to sustain farming activities.
• 2.17- "Farming" means using any tract of land for growing crops, raising livestock or other agricultural uses.
• 2.18- "Feasible" means able to be constructed or implemented consistent with sound engineering principles.
• 2.19- "Gardening" means the tilling of soil, planting, cultivating and harvesting of vegetable matter.
• 2.20- "Grazing" means using any tract of land to feed or supply farm animals with grass or pasture, to tend farm animals, or feeding.
• 2.21- "Harvesting of crops" means gathering plants or animals or plant or animal products which have been grown to be harvested.
• 2.22- "Intermittent watercourse" means those waterways which are characterized by non-persistent flow. For purpose of these regulations, intermittent watercourses shall be delineated by a defined permanent channel and bank and the occurrence of two or more of the following characteristics:
  1. Evidence of scour or deposits of recent alluvium or detritus,
  2. the presence of standing or flowing water for a duration longer than a particular storm incident, and
  3. the presence of hydrophytic vegetation.
• 2.23- "Marshes" are wetlands and/or watercourses distinguished by the absence of trees and shrubs and the dominance of soft-stemmed herbaceous plants. The water table in marshes is at or above the surface throughout the year, but seasonal fluctuations are encountered and areas of open water six (6") inches or more in depth are common.
• 2.24- "Materials" means any substance, solid or liquid, organic or inorganic, but not limited to, soil, sediment, aggregate, land, gravel, clay, bog, mud, debris, sand, refuse or waste.
• 2.25- "Nurseries" means land used for propagating trees, shrubs, or other plants for transplanting, sale or for use as stock for grafting.
• 2.26- "Official Wetlands and Watercourses Map for Middletown, Connecticut" is the series of topographic maps with wetlands superimposed prepared by Purcell Associates (1980).
• 2.27- "Permit" means an approval to conduct a regulated activity under the authority of the Agency and includes the whole or any part of, any document, certificate or approval or similar form of permission which may be required of any persons by the provision of these regulations.
• 2.28- "Permittee" means the person to whom said permit has been issued.
• 2.29- "Person" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or legal entity of any kind including municipal organizations, governmental agencies or subdivisions thereof.
• 2.30- "Pollution" means harmful thermal effect or the contamination or rendering unclean or impure of any waters of the State by reason of erosion of any waste or other materials discharged or deposited therein by any public or public sewer or otherwise so as directly or indirectly to come in contact with any waters. This includes, but is not limited to, sedimentation and erosion resulting from any filling, land clearing or excavation activity.
• 2.31- "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.
• 2.32- “Regulated activity” means 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, but shall not include the specified activities in section 22a-40 of the Connecticut General Statutes.
  Furthermore, any clearing; grubbing; filling; grading; paving; excavating; constructing; including the underground installation of fuel tanks; depositing or removing of material; earth-moving; discharging of storm-water or the clear cutting of trees on the land within one-hundred (100’) feet, measured horizontally from the boundary of any wetland or watercourse, is a regulated activity.
  The construction or placement of decks, pool, sheds, play equipment or other accessory uses associated with the use and enjoyment of residential properties are permitted within regulated areas. Staff may refer any such application to the Agency for a review and/or permit.
  The Agency may rule any other activity, located within such regulated area or in any other non-wetland and/or watercourse area as provided by in Section 2.33 of these regulations, that is likely to impact or affect a wetland or watercourse is a regulated activity.
  (Amendment Effective 5/30/2006)
• 2.33- “Regulated area” is the geographic area in which the Agency reviews regulated activities in order to determine if such activities will likely impact or affect a wetland or a watercourse.
  It includes all wetlands and watercourses as defined herein plus all adjacent non-wetland, non-watercourse) areas measured horizontally from the established wetland or watercourse boundaries to a distance of one hundred (100’) feet.
  The regulated area will be extended by the Agency if the Agency determines that activities beyond the one hundred foot (100’) regulated area are likely to impact or affect a wetland or watercourse.
  (Amendment Effective 5/30/2006)
• 2.34- "Remove" includes but shall not be limited to: drain, excavate, mine, dig, dredge, suck, grub, clear cut timber, bulldoze, dragline or blast.
• 2.35- "Rendering unclean or impure" (see 2.8- Contamination).
• 2.36- "Retention basis" means a pond, pool, or basin used for the permanent storage of water runoff. Retention basins differ from detention basins in that the latter are temporary storage areas. Both types of basins may provide for controlled release of the water.
• 2.37- "Significant impact or major effect" means any activity which will or may cause:
  Substantial turbidity, erosion, siltation or sedimentation in regulated area, a substantial reduction of an inland wetlands' or watercourses' natural flood storage capacity, the construction or alteration of a watercourse channel which might result in increasing the volume or velocity of water leading to upstream or downstream flooding.

  A decrease in the minimum low flow of a watercourse during period of drought.

  The actual or potential pollution of a wetland, or watercourse.

  A reduction of the natural capacity of a regulated area to support desirable biological life, prevent flooding, supply water, assimilate waste, facilitate drainage and/or function effectively as a component of the wetlands ecosystem.

  . A loss of unique areas and/or undisturbed areas valuable for scientific or educational purposes.

  A reduction of the area's suitability for recreation which may result from destruction of wildlife habitat, scenic values, archeological and/or historical features.

  A conflict with the community plan of development or open space which may result from incompatible uses, loss of amenities.

  The creation of conditions which may adversely affect the health, welfare and safety of the individual or the community which may be incurred when unsuitable development occurs in wetlands along watercourses, or in areas subject to flooding.

• 2.38- "Soil Scientist" or Certified Professional Soil Scientist means an individual who satisfies one of the following requirements:
  1. Certified by the American Registry of Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crops and Soils, 667 South Seagoe Road, Madison, Wisconsin as a Certified Professional Soil Scientist (Soil Classifier), or
  2. is certified by the Soil Scientist of Southern New England with an "A" Rating, or
  3. duly qualified in accordance with standards set by the Federal Office of Personnel.
• 2.39- "Submerged lands" means those lands which are inundated by water on a seasonal or more frequent basis.
• 2.40- "Swamps" or wetlands and/or watercourses dominated by wetland trees and shrubs such as red maple, black gum and black ash. There is often a conspicuous understory of high bush shrubs and a rich diversity of wild flowers. Shrub swamps are another swamp type, which a higher water table. In swamps, the underlying deposits are relatively shallow and usually highly organic.
• 2.41- "Waste" means sewage or any substance, liquid, gaseous, solid or radioactive which may pollute or tend to pollute any of the wetlands or watercourses of the City.
• 2.42- "Watercourses" means rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, pond, 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 City or any portion thereof, not regulated pursuant to section 22a-28 to 22a-35, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes.
• 2.43- "Wetland restoration activity" is the activity pursued to restore a damaged, polluted, and/or altered wetlands to its natural state and function.
• 2.44- "Wetlands" means land, including submerged land not required by Section 22a-28 to 22a-35 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended, comprised of soil types which are designated by the National Cooperative Soils Survey, as it may be amended from time to time, of poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial and floodplain, including those areas which are inundated by surface or groundwater with a frequency sufficient to support and, under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that required saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction, and are shown for informational purposes on a map filed in the Office of the Town Clerk

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