Code of Massachusetts Regulations
313 CMR - DIVISION OF WATER SUPPLY PROTECTION
Title 313 CMR 11.00 - Watershed Protection
Section 11.03 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 313 MA Code of Regs 313.11

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

Advisory Ruling means a ruling issued by the Division pursuant to 313 CMR 11.06(1).

Agriculture, Land in Agricultural Use, Management, and Normal Maintenance or Improvement of Land in Agricultural Use shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in 310 CMR 10.04: Definitions.

Alteration means:

(a) draining, dumping, dredging, damming, discharging, excavating, filling or grading;

(b) the erection, reconstruction or substantial expansion of any buildings or Structures;

(c) the driving of pilings;

(d) the construction or reconstruction or paving of roads and other ways;

(e) the construction or reconstruction of utilities;

(f) the changing of run-off characteristics in a manner likely to degrade the quality of the water in the watersheds by increasing imperviousness, decreasing infiltration rates, or by introducing pollutants;

(g) the intercepting or diverting of Ground Waters, surface waters, reservoirs, tributaries, or aquifers; and

(h) the installation or substantial expansion of drainage, sewage and water systems.

Applicability Decision means the written decision issued by the Division pursuant to 313 CMR 11.06(2)(e).

Aquifer means a geological formation, group of formations, or part of a formation in the Wachusett Watershed that is capable of yielding a significant amount of water to a well or spring, as determined by reference to the Maps, as defined in 313 CMR 11.07. The land directly overlaying an aquifer shall be deemed to be part of said aquifer.

Authority means the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

Bank means the portion of the land surface which normally abuts and confines a water body. It occurs between a water body and a Bordering Vegetated Wetland and adjacent Flood plain, or in the absence of these, it occurs between a water body and an upland. A bank may be partially or totally vegetated or may be comprised of exposed soil, gravel or stone. The upper boundary of a bank is the first observable break in the slope or the mean annual flood level, whichever is lower. The lower boundary of a bank is the mean annual low flow level.

Bordering Vegetated Wetland means a wet meadow, except meadows used for the grazing of livestock, marsh, swamp, bog or other area, hydrologically connected to and bordering on a Tributary, Reservoir, Flood plain, or Surface Water, which supports at least 50% wetland species and as defined in the Wetlands Protection Act as defined in 313 CMR 11.03.

Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or his or her designee.

Commonwealth means the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Date of Issuance means the date a determination, order or decision is hand delivered or mailed as provided in 313 CMR 11.00.

Date of Submission means the date the Division assigns a file number to a request or application submitted pursuant to 313 CMR 11.06. Assignment of a file number shall not imply that a request, application or supporting documents have been determined adequate to support the relief requested, but only that the submission is complete in accordance with the requirements of 313 CMR 11.06.

DCR means the Department of Conservation and Recreation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

DEP means the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Department means the Department of Conservation and Recreation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Director means the Director of the Division of Water Supply Protection or his or her designee.

Discharge or Discharge of Pollutant means any addition of Pollutants or combination of Pollutants from any source including, but not limited to, discharges from surface runoff, which are collected or channelled by man and through pipes, sewers, swales, channels, direct overland flow, or other conveyances.

Disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, incineration or placing into or on any land or water so that the matter disposed of may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including Ground Water.

Division means the Division of Water Supply Protection of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Dwelling means any structure or building, or any portion thereof which is used, intended to be used, or designed to be occupied for human habitation purposes, including, but not limited to, houses, hotels, motels, apartments and condominiums.

Exemption Decision means a decision of the Division, in consultation with DEP, to exempt a Tributary from regulation under St. 1992, c. 36 issued pursuant to 313 CMR 11.06(4)(g).

Flood Plain means the land adjoining a Tributary, Reservoir or Surface Water, which is subject to inundation from a flood having a 1% chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year, commonly known as the 100 year flood plain, as determined by reference to the Maps, 313 CMR 11.07.

Forest Cutting Plan means a forestry activities plan approved under 304 CMR 11.00: Forest Cutting Practices.

Generate or Generation of Pollutants means the origination, creation or production of Pollutants.

Ground Water means water below the land surface in a saturated zone, including perched ground water.

Hazardous Material or Waste means any material or waste, including oil, in whatever form, which because of its quantity, concentration, corrosivity, flammability, reactivity, toxicity, or infectious, chemical or radioactive characteristics, either separately or in combination with any substance or substances, constitutes a present or potential threat to human health, safety, welfare, or to the environment. Hazardous Material or Waste shall include those materials referred to in M.G.L. c. 21E and in 42 U.S.C. 103 and shall also specifically include oil.

Impervious means not allowing entrance or passage of water due to the presence on or above the ground of material having a percolation rate of greater than 30 minutes per inch, including, but not limited to, pavement, concrete, stone, peat, loam and other organic matter.

Leaching Field means a soil absorption system as such term is defined in 310 CMR 15.00: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage.

List of Affected Parcels means the list developed by the Division from maps prepared pursuant to M.G.L. c. 92A1/2, § 5(q).

Lot means an area of land subject to St. 1992, c. 36 in one ownership with definite boundaries described in a deed or shown on a plan recorded in the registry of deeds or registered in the registry district of the land court.

Maps means the maps described in 313 CMR 11.07.

Natural Basin means an area bounded peripherally by a water parting and draining ultimately to a particular water course or body of water; the catchment area or drainage basin from within which the waters of a stream or stream system are drawn.

Office means the Office of Watershed Management (OWM) within the Division of Water Supply Protection of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Owning an Interest in Real Property or Real Property Interest means having solely, jointly or severally with others:

(a) legal title to real property;

(b) the care, charge or control of real property in any capacity including, but not limited to as agent, executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee, or guardian of the estate of the holder of legal title;

(c) the status of a lessee under a written lease; or

(d) the status of an agent, trustee or other person appointed by the Courts of the Commonwealth.

Papers means all requests, documents, papers, notices, appeals and other written communications permitted or required by the regulations to be filed with the Division or the Department.

Party Aggrieved means any Person who, because of an act or failure to act by the Division or the Department under St. 1992, c. 36 or 313 CMR 11.00, may suffer an injury in fact which is different, either in kind or magnitude, from that suffered by the general public, and which is within the scope of the interests identified in St. 1992, c. 36. Such party must specify, in writing, sufficient facts to allow the Division or the Department to determine whether or not the party is, in fact, aggrieved.

Person means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, company, association, trust, or other business or non-profit organization; any agency, department, board, commission, quasi-public agency or authority of the Commonwealth; and any Federal, municipal or regional governmental or intergovernmental agency, department, board, commission, authority, or other entity, or any combination of individuals or entities including but not limited to those listed above, their agent, trustee, executor, receiver, assignee, or other representative thereof owning property or carrying on an activity regulated by St. 1992, c. 36.

Plans means such data, maps, engineering drawings, calculations, specifications, schedules and other materials, if any, deemed necessary by the Division to describe the Lot, portion of the Lot or the Alteration to determine the applicability of St. 1992, c. 36 or to determine the impact of the Alteration upon the interests identified in St. 1992, c. 36.

Pollutant means any substance, man-made or resulting from human activities, that can alter the biological, chemical, physical, or radiological character of water.

Post, Posted, or Posting means to display in a place of public view in electronic or printed form.

Regional Director means chief administrator of either the Wachusett/Sudbury Section or Quabbin/Ware Section of the Office of Watershed Management within the Division of Water Supply Protection (formerly referred to as "Superintendent" of either the Quabbin or Wachusett Reservoirs).

Reservoir means either the Wachusett or the Quabbin Reservoir.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) within the Executive Branch of the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Sewage Treatment Facility means any wastewater treatment facility used for treating, neutralizing or stabilizing sewage, including: treatment or disposal plants; the necessary intercepting outfall and outlet sewers; pumping stations integral to such facilities; and equipment and appurtenances related to the foregoing.

Sewer System means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, force mains, and all other structures, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting and conveying wastes to a site or works for treatment or disposal.

Storage means the actual or intended containment on a temporary basis or permanent basis which does not constitute Disposal.

Structure means a combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter, such as, but not limited to, a Dwelling, a building, framework, retaining wall, tent, reviewing stand, platform, bin, fence over six feet high, sign, flagpole, recreational tramway, mast for radio antenna or the like. Structure shall be construed, where the context requires, as though followed by the words "or part or parts thereof".

Subsurface Waste Water Disposal System means an on-site subsurface sewage disposal system as defined in 310 CMR 15.00: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage.

Surface Water(s) means water in the Watersheds, including any lake, spring, impoundment, and pond, as determined by reference to the Maps, 313 CMR 11.07. Surface water shall include the land located thereunder and the Banks thereto. Surface water shall exclude all Reservoirs, Tributaries, Aquifers, Ground Waters, and man-made farm ponds used for irrigation, as well as so-called great ponds of the Commonwealth which do not drain into a Tributary or a Reservoir.

Title 5 means Title 5 of the Massachusetts Environmental Code governing standard requirements for the siting, constructing, repair, replacement and maintenance of on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems, 310 CMR 15.00: The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage.

Treatment means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, incineration, stabilization or solidification, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any Hazardous Material or Waste so as to neutralize such Material or Waste or so as to render such Material or Waste less hazardous, non-hazardous, safer to transport, amenable to storage, or reduced in volume, except such method or technique as may be included as an integral part of a manufacturing process at the point of generation.

Tributary means a body of running water, including a river, stream, brook and creek, which moves in a definite channel in the ground due to a hydraulic gradient and which flows ultimately into a Reservoir in the Watersheds or the Ware River above the Ware River intake, as determined by reference to the Maps, 313 CMR 11.07. A Tributary shall include the land over which the water therein runs and the Banks thereto.

Uses and Activities means those uses and activities described in M.G.L. c. 92A1/2, § 5 and 313 CMR 11.04(3).

Variance Decision means the written decision issued by the Division pursuant to 313 CMR 11.06(3)(g).

Waters of the Watershed System means all waters that in their natural course would flow into the Ware River above the Colbrook Diversion, the open channel of the Wachusett Aqueduct, the Quabbin, Wachusett, Sudbury and Foss reservoirs and any other lake, pond, reservoir, aqueduct, stream, ditch, watercourse or any other open water under the provision of M.G.L. c. 92A1/2, §§ 2 and 5.

Watershed Reservation(s) means land within the Watershed System and described in St. 1972, c. 737 as amended by St. 1990, c. 436.

Watershed(s) means the Natural Basin from within which water drains or in the natural course would drain into the Quabbin Reservoir, the Wachusett Reservoir, or the Ware River upstream of the Ware River intake.

Watershed System means:

(a) all real and personal property interests held by or on behalf of the Commonwealth immediately prior to the effective date of St. 1992, c. 36 in and for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Water Supply Protection (formerly, the Metropolitan District Commission) water system which were part of or appurtenant to the Quabbin Watershed, Quabbin Reservoir, Ware River watershed, Wachusett watershed, Wachusett Reservoir, North and South Sudbury watersheds, Sudbury Reservoir, Framingham Reservoirs 1, 2 and 3, Blue Hills Reservoir, Bear Hill Reservoir, Spot Pond Reservoir, Fells Reservoir, Weston Reservoir, Norumbega Reservoir, Chestnut Hill Reservoir, including land, easements, buildings, Structures, all equipment, machinery, vehicles and appliances, improvements, water rights and rights in source of water supply; and

(b) all enlargements and additions to the former Metropolitan District Commission water system acquired or constructed by the Division for the purpose of the Watershed System, including land, easements, buildings, Structures, equipment, machinery, vehicles, and appliances, improvements, reservoirs, dams, water rights and rights in sources of water supply, but excluding the Waterworks System of the Authority.

Waterworks System means waterworks system as defined in M.G.L. c. 92 App. and 360 CMR 10.00: Sewer Use

Wetlands Protection Act means the Wetlands Protection Act, M.G.L. c. 131, § 40 and 310 CMR 10.00: Wetlands Protection.

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