California Code of Regulations
Title 14 - Natural Resources
Division 5.5 - California Coastal Commission
Chapter 8 - Implementation Plans
Subchapter 1 - Local Coastal Programs (LCPs) and State University or College Long Range Development Plans (LRDPs)
Article 18 - Map Requirement and Boundary Determination Criteria
Section 13577 - Criteria for Permit and Appeal Jurisdiction Boundary Determinations

Universal Citation: 14 CA Code of Regs 13577

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024

For purposes of Public Resources Code Sections 30519, 30600.5, 30601, 30603, and all other applicable provisions of the Coastal Act of 1976, the precise boundaries of the jurisdictional areas described therein shall be determined using the following criteria:

(a) Streams. Measure 100 feet landward from the top of the bank of any stream mapped by USGS, or identified in a local coastal program. The bank of a stream shall be defined as the watershed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity at the outer line of the stream channel which separates the bed from the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill, and serves to confine the water within the bed and to preserve the course of the stream. In areas where a stream has no discernable bank, the boundary shall be measured from the line closest to the stream where riparian vegetation is permanently established. For purposes of this section, channelized streams not having significant habitat value should not be considered.

(b) Wetlands.

(1) Measure 100 feet landward from the upland limit of the wetland. Wetland shall be defined as land where the water table is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to promote the formation of hydric soils or to support the growth of hydrophytes, and shall also include those types of wetlands where vegetation is lacking and soil is poorly developed or absent as a result of frequent and drastic fluctuations of surface water levels, wave action, water flow, turbidity or high concentrations of salts or other substances in the substrate. Such wetlands can be recognized by the presence of surface water or saturated substrate at some time during each year and their location within, or adjacent to, vegetated wetlands or deep-water habitats.

For purposes of this section, the upland limit of a wetland shall be defined as:

(A) the boundary between land with predominantly hydrophytic cover and land with predominantly mesophytic or xerophytic cover;

(B) the boundary between soil that is predominantly hydric and soil that is predominantly nonhydric; or

(C) in the case of wetlands without vegetation or soils, the boundary between land that is flooded or saturated at some time during years of normal precipitation, and land that is not.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the term "wetland" shall not include wetland habitat created by the presence of and associated with agricultural ponds and reservoirs where:

(A) the pond or reservoir was in fact constructed by a farmer or rancher for agricultural purposes; and

(B) there is no evidence (e.g., aerial photographs, historical survey, etc.) showing that wetland habitat pre-dated the existence of the pond or reservoir. Areas with drained hydric soils that are no longer capable of supporting hydrophytes shall not be considered wetlands.

(c) Estuaries. Measure 300 feet landward from the mean high tide line of the estuary. For purposes of this section, an estuary shall be defined as a coastal water body, usually semi-enclosed by land, having open, partially obstructed, or intermittent exchange with the open ocean, and in which ocean water is at least occasionally diluted by freshwater from the land. The salinity level my be periodically increased to above that of the open ocean due to evaporation.

(1) The mean high tide line shall be defined as the statistical mean of all the high tides over the cyclical period of 18.6 years, and shall be determined by reference to the records and elevations of tidal benchmarks established by the National Ocean Survey. In areas where observations covering a period of 18.6 years are not available, a determination may be made based on observations covering a shorter period, provided they are corrected to a mean value by comparison with observations made at some suitably located control tide station.

(d) Tidelands. Tidelands shall be defined as lands which are located between the lines of mean high tide and mean low tide.

(e) Submerged Lands. Submerged lands shall be defined as lands which lie below the line of mean low tide.

(f) Public Trust Lands. Public Trust lands shall be defined as all lands subject to the Common Law Public Trust for commerce, navigation, fisheries, recreation, and other public purposes. Public Trust lands include tidelands, submerged lands, the beds of navigable lakes and rivers, and historic tidelands and submerged lands that are presently filled or reclaimed, and which were subject to the Public Trust at any time.

(g) Beaches. Measure 300 feet landward from the inland extent of the beach. The back beach, or dry beach, if it exists, shall be included. The inland extent of the beach shall be determined as follows:

(1) from a distinct linear feature (e.g., a seawall, road, or bluff, etc.);

(2) from the inland edge of the further inland beach berm as determined from historical surveys, aerial photographs, and other records or geological evidence; or

(3) where a beach berm does not exist, from the further point separating the dynamic portion of the beach from the inland area as distinguished by vegetation, debris or other geological or historical evidence.

(h) Coastal Bluffs. Measure 300 feet both landward and seaward from the bluff line or edge. Coastal bluff shall mean:

(1) those bluffs, the toe of which is now or was historically (generally within the last 200 years) subject to marine erosion; and

(2) those bluffs, the toe of which is not now or was not historically subject to marine erosion, but the toe of which lies within an area otherwise identified in Public Resources Code Section 30603(a)(1) or (a)(2).

Bluff line or edge shall be defined as the upper termination of a bluff, cliff, or seacliff. In cases where the top edge of the cliff is rounded away from the face of the cliff as a result of erosional processes related to the presence of the steep cliff face, the bluff line or edge shall be defined as that point nearest the cliff beyond which the downward gradient of the surface increases more or less continuously until it reaches the general gradient of the cliff. In a case where there is a steplike feature at the top of the cliff face, the landward edge of the topmost riser shall be taken to be the cliff edge.

The termini of the bluff line, or edge along the seaward face of the bluff, shall be defined as a point reached by bisecting the angle formed by a line coinciding with the general trend of the bluff line along the seaward face of the bluff, and a line coinciding with the general trend of the bluff line along the inland facing portion of the bluff. Five hundred feet shall be the minimum length of bluff line or edge to be used in making these determinations.

(i) First Public Road Paralleling the Sea.

(1) The "first public road paralleling the sea" means that road nearest to the sea, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 30115, which:

(A) is lawfully open to uninterrupted public use and is suitable for such use;

(B) is publicly maintained;

(D) is not subject to any restrictions on use by the public except when closed due to an emergency or when closed temporarily for military purposes; and

(E) does in fact connect with other public roads providing a continuous access system, and generally parallels and follows the shoreline of the sea so as to include all portions of the sea where the physical features such as bays, lagoons, estuaries, and wetlands cause the waters of the sea to extend landward of the generally continuous coastline.

When based on a road designated pursuant to this section, the precise boundary of the permit and appeal jurisdiction shall be located along the inland right-of-way of such road.

(2) Whenever no public road can be designated which conforms to all provisions of (i)(1) above, and a public road does exist, which conforms to all provisions of (i)(1) except (i)(1)(E), the effect of designating the first public road paralleling the sea shall be limited to the following:

(A) all parcels between the Pacific Ocean and such other public road; and

(B) those parcels immediately adjacent of the sea inland of such other public road.

(3) Where the Commission determines that the designation of the "first public road paralleling the sea" results in the inclusion of areas within the permit and appeal jurisdiction where the grounds for an appeal set forth in Public Resources Code Section 30603(b) are not an issue, the Commission may take action to limit the geographic area where developments approved by a local government may be appealed to the Commission, to that area where any such grounds are, in fact, an issue.

1. Amendment of subsection (i)(2) filed 8-2-89; operative 9-1-89 (Register 89, No. 32).
2. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (a), redesignating a portion of subsection (c) as new subsection (c)(1), amending format of subsection (h) and amending subsection (i)(2) filed 2-7-2019 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2019, No. 6).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 30501 and 30620.6, Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections 30519 and 30603, Public Resources Code.

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