Or. Admin. R. 141-090-0020 - Definitions

For the purpose of these rules:

(1) "Agent" means a business partner, attorney or any individual who is legally authorized to represent the landowner's interests.

(2) "Applicant" means a person who has applied to the Department for a wetland delineation report approval, a jurisdictional determination and a removal or fill authorization.

(3) "Authorization Application" means the written application for an authorization to place fill in or remove material from waters of this state as required by OAR 141-085, 141-089, 141-0100 and 141-0102.

(4) "Basis of Jurisdictional Determination" means a summary statement of the criteria and indicators that support the Department 's jurisdictional determination.

(5) "Change in Circumstances" means a change in site conditions that fundamentally alters the hydrology or substrate to the extent that the "normal circumstances" of waters of this state are changed. The change in circumstances may be due to alterations on a site or alterations offsite that affect the site sufficiently to enlarge, reduce, or change the status or geographic extent of a jurisdictional water. A change in circumstances includes, but is not limited to, a dike breach or drainage system failure that restores former hydrologic conditions to a site, placement of fill material, or a water source diversion.

(6) "Consultant" means a private individual or firm whose business is to provide professional services to the public.

(7) "Delineation" means a determination of wetland presence that includes marking the wetland boundaries on the ground and on a detailed map prepared by professional land survey or similar accurate methods.

(8) "Determination" means a decision that a site may, does, is unlikely to, or does not contain waters of this state, including wetlands. A determination does not include the precise location or boundaries of any wetlands or waterways determined to be present.

(9) "Director" means the Director of the Department of State Lands or his or her designate.

(10) "Department" means the Oregon Department of State Lands, including the Director.

(11) "Final Order" means a final agency action expressed in writing. "Final order" does not include any tentative or preliminary agency statement, including a "preliminary jurisdictional determination," and does not preclude further agency consideration of the subject matter of the final order.

(12) "Global Positioning System" (GPS) means a navigation system which consists of a network of satellites and earth receiver stations which allows a person to determine, via a receiver, their respective position in latitude, longitude, and altitude.

(13) "Indicator" means soil characteristics, vegetation, hydrology evidence or other field data that indicate, by their presence or absence, the existence of certain environmental conditions. Indicators are used with other information, mapped or anecdotal, to determine the state's jurisdiction over waters of this state.

(14) "Jurisdictional Determination" (JD) means a written decision by the Department that waters of this state subject to regulation and authorization requirements of OAR 141-085, 141-089, 141-0100 and 141-0102 are present or not present on a land parcel. The JD may include a delineation of the geographic boundaries of the water area subject to state jurisdiction. For example, a JD may include the location of a wetland boundary or the location of the ordinary high water line of a waterway. A JD may, but does not necessarily, include a determination that a particular activity in a water of this state is subject to authorization requirements. The decision record includes the basis of the jurisdictional determination and is a final order subject to reconsideration according to the provisions in 141-090-0050.

(15) "Landowner" means the legal owner of the parcel(s) for which a JD is requested or made.

(16) "Local Wetlands Inventory" (LWI) means a wetland inventory map and supporting data that is conducted according to the requirements in OAR 141-086 and has been approved by the Department.

(17) "Manual" means the 1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual including the two regional supplements that cover Oregon: Arid West and Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast, and applicable guidance (see OAR 141-090-0030) all of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The public may obtain a copy of the manual from the Department's website.

(18) "National Wetlands Inventory" (NWI) means the wetlands inventory prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

(19) "New Information" means data, reports, photographs, observations or similar information that is provided to or obtained by the Department after the Department has issued a jurisdictional determination or issued an authorization.

(20) "Non-wetland" means an area that does not meet the wetland definition and criteria.

(21) "Normal Circumstances" means the hydrology, soil and vegetative conditions that are naturally present, regardless of whether or not the soil or hydrology has been recently altered or the natural vegetation has been removed or altered. "Normal circumstances" includes a consideration of the permanence of any change to the site; for example, if several feet of fill material are placed on a wetland the new "normal circumstances" may be non-wetland. In such a situation, the Department may determine if the placement of fill material required a fill permit.

(22) "Offsite Determination" means a determination by the Department or any other person that is conducted without a site visit using maps, aerial photographs, observations from adjacent areas, or interviews with persons familiar with the site. An offsite determination is considered to be a Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination (PJD) unless otherwise stated in writing by the Department.

(23) "Onsite Determination" means a determination by the Department or any other person that includes a site visit to collect relevant data. An onsite determination may be either a PJD or a JD.

(24) "Other Waters" means waters of this state other than wetlands.

(25) "Person" means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, estate, association, body of government or other legal entity.

(26) "Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination" (PJD) means an advisory determination issued orally or in writing stating that wetlands or other waters of this state are present or not present on a parcel of land. Because a PJD is advisory in nature it has no specified duration or expiration and is not subject to appeal. PJDs include all wetland determinations by any person other than the Department, and also include wetlands mapped on the NWI or on an LWI.

(27) "Primary Contact" means the person or firm designated by the landowner, agent or applicant to serve as the Department's contact for the purpose of the review and approval of a wetland delineation report.

(28) "Removal-Fill Law" means ORS 196.800 through 196.990 and rules adopted thereunder relating to the filling and/or the removal of material in waters of this state.

(29) "Report" means a wetland delineation report.

(30) "Sample Plot" means an area on a parcel of land within which environmental data (e.g., soils, hydrology and vegetation) are collected that is representative of that area and documented on a wetland determination data form.

(31) "Site-specific methods" means what the field investigator actually did in order to conduct the wetland determination or delineation and prepare the wetland delineation report; for example, the offsite resources actually consulted, why certain portions of a study area were or were not selected for field sampling, actual plot sizes for vegetation sampling, and explanation of best professional judgment relied upon. A generic description of methods the field investigator generally employs is not site-specific.

(32) "Study Area" means the area that was investigated for the presence of waters of this state (e.g., usually a portion of a tax lot(s), parcel or other legally defined geographic area).

(33) "Waters of this state" means all natural waterways, all tidal and nontidal bays, intermittent streams, constantly flowing streams, lakes, wetlands, that portion of the Pacific Ocean that is in the boundaries of this state, all other navigable and nonnavigable bodies of water in this state and those portions of the ocean shore, as defined in ORS 390.605. (ORS 196.800(14) and OAR 141-085-0010 and 141-085-0015).

(34) "Wetlands" means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions (ORS 196.800(16) and OAR 141-085-0010).

(35) "Wetland Boundary" means a line marked on the ground and on a map that identifies the boundary line between wetlands and non-wetlands.

(36) "Wetland Delineation Report" means a written document that contains the methods, data, conclusions and maps used to determine if wetlands and other waters of this state are present on a land parcel and, if so, describes and maps their location and geographic extent. A wetland determination report documenting wetland presence or absence is included within this definition.

(37) "Wetland Map" means a map included in a Wetland Delineation Report or provided with a JD by the Department that shows the parcel(s) and/or study area(s) investigated and the location, size and boundaries of any wetlands and other waters.

Notes

Or. Admin. R. 141-090-0020

DSL 3-2001, f. 4-18-01, cert. ef. 7-1-01; DSL 2-2003(Temp) f. & cert. ef. 11-26-03 thru 5-23-04; DSL 1-2004, f. & cert. ef. 5-21-04; DSL 6-2007, f. 12-13-07, cert. ef. 1-1-08; DSL 6-2012, f. 12-13-12, cert. ef. 1-1-13

Stat. Auth.: ORS 196.845 & 196.692

Stats. Implemented: ORS 196.800 - 196.990, 196.600 - 196.665, 196.668 - 196.692 & 197.279