Current through August 30, 2024
(a) For purposes of the road maintenance
requirements of this section, a landing is considered part of a road.
(b) An operator shall conduct the following
maintenance on an active road:
(1) keep
culverts, flumes, and ditches functional;
(2) if a settling basin is used, keep an
adequate reserve volume; sediment removed from a settling basin during
maintenance operations must be deposited in a location where it is not likely
to enter nearby surface waters;
(3)
perform road surface maintenance as necessary to minimize erosion of the
surface and the subgrade;
(4)
during operations, keep the road surface crowned or outsloped, and keep the
downhill side of the road free from berms except those intentionally
constructed for protection of fill;
(5) when grading on a nonrock-decked bridge,
minimize the deposit of road surface material on the bridge surface;
and
(6) when grading on a
rock-decked bridge, avoid pushing material over the rub rails or through gaps
in the bridge surface.
(c) An operator or forest landowner shall
conduct the following maintenance on an inactive road:
(1) as soon as feasible following termination
of active use, keep ditches and drainage structures maintained as necessary to
assure water flow and fish passage;
(2) keep the road surface crowned, outsloped,
water barred, or otherwise left in a condition not conducive to erosion;
and
(3) except as provided in (d)
of this section, keep ditches and drainage structures clear and in good
repair.
(d) An operator
or forest landowner is not subject to the penalties or liable for the monetary
damages under AS 41.17 for any damage occurring from a condition brought about
by public use of a road, unless an operator or forest landowner fails to make
repairs under a directive of the division.
(e) If necessary to prevent significant
degradation of surface water quality or fish habitat, the division will, in its
discretion, require an operator or forest landowner to perform the following
activities:
(1) install additional or larger
culverts or other drainage improvements as determined necessary by the
division;
(2) provide additional
road maintenance;
(3) close an
inadequately maintained portion of the road system in accordance with
11 AAC 95.320; and
(4) rehabilitate unstable or erodible exposed
soils by a suitable method to minimize siltation of surface waters.
(f) Winter roads must be
maintained as follows:
(1) winter roads must
be maintained to provide a frozen running surface that will support logging
vehicle traffic; during thaw periods or spring breakup, an operator shall
suspend or manage road use as necessary to minimize erosion of soils and
organic material, and to minimize significant impacts to non-forested muskeg
vegetation;
(2) before spring
breakup, an operator shall perform maintenance activities to reduce meltwater
runoff and erosion of soils and organic material; those maintenance activities
may include creating runoff breaks in snow berms, use of slash debris on road
surfaces, water bars, or other techniques demonstrated to be
effective.
Authority:AS
41.17.010
AS 41.17.055
AS
41.17.080
