New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Chapter X - DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES
Subchapter A - GENERAL
Article 1 - MISCELLANEOUS RULES
Part 666 - Regulation Or Administration And Management Of The Wild, Scenic And Recreational Rivers System In New York State Excepting Private Land In The Adirondack Park
Section 666.3 - Definitions

(a) Accessory structure means any structure covering an area of 800 square feet or less, located on the same premises and incidental and subordinate to the main structure.

(b) Accessory use means any use of a structure, lot or portion thereof that is customarily incidental and subordinate to and does not change the character of the principal use of the structure or lot.

(c) Act means the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System Act as set forth in title 27 of article 15 of the Environmental Conservation Law or any successor provision of law.

(d) Agricultural use means any management of any land for the production of agricultural products including crops; field crops; fruits; vegetables; horticultural specialties; livestock and livestock products; including the sale of products grown or raised directly on such land, and the construction, alteration or maintenance of fences, agricultural roads, agricultural drainage systems and farm ponds, but not including land used for the processing of any agricultural product.

(e) Agricultural use structure means any barn, stable, shed, silo, garage, fruit and vegetable stand or other building or structure directly and customarily associated with agricultural use.

(f) Basal area means the sum of the cross-sectional areas of specified or total vegetation within a given area measured at 4 1/2 (4.5) feet (breast height) above ground.

(g) Boat launching site means a site for the launching of boats and that may or may not contain a ramp for trailer boats or attendant parking facilities.

(h) Clearcutting means any cutting of trees one inch or more in diameter measured at breast height that results in a residual density of trees of less than 30 square feet of basal area per acre.

(i) Clustering means the varying of the area and shoreline frontage requirements for structures within a specific tract of land from the area and shoreline frontage requirements of a local zoning ordinance, for the purpose of preserving the natural and scenic qualities of the land in accordance with the provisions of section 281 of the Town Law, section 7-738 of the Village Law and article 37 of the General City Law.

(j) Commercial sign directory means any structure, frame or other support that contains two or more signs as that term is used in this Part.

(k) Commercial use means any use involving the offer for sale or rental, sale, rental or distribution of goods, services or commodities or the provision of recreation facilities or activities for a fee, but not including the manufacturing of goods or commodities.

(l) Commissioner means the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, his successors to office and any agency which may succeed to the duties of such office.

(m) Community means an area of existing development delineated by Department of Environmental Conservation as part of the final boundary setting process that has a minimum of 30 acres and, at the time of legislative designation, a minimum of 85 percent of the lots developed. In addition, the area must have either lot sizes that average one-half acre or less or no less than 40 percent of the lots developed for industrial, institutional and/or commercial uses.

(n) Cultural feature means any building, structure, historic district, area, site or object, including an underground or underwater site, of significance in the history, architecture, archaeology or culture of this State, its communities or the nation and is eligible for inclusion on the State Register or National Register of Historic Places.

(o) Department means the Department of Environmental Conservation or any agency or body that may succeed to the duties of such office.

(p) Development means any activity that materially affects the existing condition, use or appearance of any land, structure or improvement including any grading, road construction, installation of utilities or other improvements or any other development preparatory or incidental to any such activity, or the subdividing of land as defined in this Part, by any person.

(q) Existing dam means a dam that is in existence when a river is designated in the system and that is presently capable of impounding water in a manner and at a level consistent with the design of the structure as it existed on the date upon which the river was designated in the system.

(r) Forest management means forestry practices, including harvesting of a forest woodland or plantation or other types of cuttings planned as part of a deliberate forest management program and the construction, alteration or maintenance of forest management roads, skidways, logging landings and fences, and related research and educational activities.

(s) Forest management road means any dirt or other unimproved road, including skidways, and used solely for forest management purposes.

(t) Forestry management structure means any structure directly and customarily associated with forest management.

(u) Free-flowing means existing or flowing in natural condition without impoundment, diversion, straightening, riprapping or any other modification of the waterway except for stream improvement structures for fishery management purposes.

(v) Height means the distance as measured from the lowest point of natural ground surface grade elevation to the highest point of the structure.

(w) Improvement means any change in or addition to land, including but not limited to grading, filling, excavating or adding banks, fences, dikes, ditches, pipelines, poles, electrical conduits, roads, streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots or spaces.

(x) Industrial use as it applies to such new uses allowed in communities means uses that are limited to light manufacturing, production, assembly of goods or warehousing.

(y) Industrial uses as it applies to the determination of community boundaries means all existing uses that are customarily associated with the production, storage and transportation of goods.

(z) Institutional use means government buildings, health care facilities, churches, schools, fire and police facilities, water and sewage treatment plants, correctional facilities, or other facilities of a similar public or semipublic nature as determined by the department.

(aa) Integrated pest management means the use of practical non-chemical approaches, including possible limited use of approved pesticides, for the avoidance and control of pest infestations. It also includes general education and technical training of on-site personnel and the establishment of implementation procedures, evaluation mechanisms and reporting for the management program.

(bb) Land means the earth, on or below the surface of the ground, including all natural resources.

(cc) Land use means any use or appearance of land or a structure, including the particular nature, scale, extent, density and intensity of the use.

(dd) Local government means any county, city, town or village.

(ee) Logging landing means an area where harvested trees are assembled for further processing or are loaded for transportation.

(ff) Lot coverage means that portion or percentage of the lot which is occupied by buildings, structures, pavement or other impervious surfaces.

(gg) Major public utility use means: any electric power transmission or distribution line and associated equipment with a rating of more than 15 kilovolts and that is one mile or more in length; any telephone inter-exchange or trunk cable or feeder cable that is one mile or more in length; any telephone distribution facility containing 25 or more pairs of wire and designed to service a new residential subdivision; any television, cable television, radio, telephone and other communication transmission tower; any pipe, conduit or other appurtenance used for the transmission of gas, oil or other fuel that is one mile or more in length; or any electric substation, generating facility or maintenance buildings. Also see subdivision (vv) of this section.

(hh) Mean high water means the approximate high-water level for a given body of water at a given location, that distinguishes between predominantly aquatic and predominantly terrestrial habitat as determined, in order of use, by the following:

(ii) Mobile home means any self-contained dwelling unit designed to be transported on its own wheels or those of another vehicle and which may contain the same water supply, sewage disposal and electric systems as immobile housing. A dwelling unit that is constructed in sections and transported to and assembled on the site and fixed to a permanent foundation is not a mobile home.

(jj) Motor vehicle means a device for transport incorporating a motor or an engine of any type for propulsion and with wheels, tracks, skids, skis, propeller, air cushion or other contrivance for traveling on or over land or water or through water, other than a motorized vessel as defined in this Part.

(kk) Motorized equipment means any machine or device powered or driven by an internal combustion engine of any type.

(ll) Motorized vessel means any boat or craft driven or powered by an internal combustion engine of any type.

(mm) Multiple family dwelling means any detached building of three or more dwelling units.

(nn) One hundred (100) year floodplain means any land susceptible to being inundated by water from a flood having a one percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year.

(oo) Open space recreation use means any recreation use particularly oriented to and utilizing the outdoor character of an area including necessary trails. Motorized open space recreation usemeans any open space recreation use which utilizes a motor vehicle or motorized vessel and non-motorized open space recreation use means any other open space recreation use.

(pp) Person means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, organization, government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, or any other entity.

(qq) Principal building means any structure which exceeds 800 square feet of floor space. In addition, all agricultural use structures and private dwellings or mobile homes occupied by a farmer of land will together constitute a single principal building.

(rr) Private dwelling means any detached building containing one or two dwelling units, including a mobile home.

(ss) Private road means any road other than a forest management road or a public road.

(tt) Project shall mean any action, activity or development which may result in direct or indirect physical impact on a river area, including, but not limited to, any activity specifically regulated by this Part.

(uu) Public road means any road over which the public has a right of way.

(vv) Public utility use means any electric power transmission or distribution line; any telephone or television trunk or feeder cable or distribution line; any pipe or conduit for the transmission of gas, oil, or other fuels; any water or sewage system pipe or conduit; any television, radio, telephone or other communication transmission tower or receiving device or facility; and any appurtenant facilities whether or not such use is subject to review under articles VII, VIII, and X of the Public Service Law. Also see subdivision (gg) of this section.

(ww) Refuse means anything thrown away or rejected as worthless or useless, including but not limited to trash, rubbish, garbage and human wastes.

(xx) River means a flowing body of water or a section or portion thereof, including streams, creeks, runs, kills, rills, branches or lakes, which has been designated in the act, including any tributary thereto expressly included in the designation.

(yy) River area means the river and the land area in its immediate environs bounded as established by the commissioner pursuant to section 15-2711 of the act. Upon designation and until boundaries are established by the commissioner, the river area shall be that area within one-half mile of each bank of the river.

(zz) River area management plan means a plan for the management of a river area or areas as described in section 666.6 of this Part.

(aaa) River bank means that land area immediately adjacent to and which slopes toward the bed of a watercourse, the integrity of which is necessary to maintain the watercourse. For purposes of this Part, a bank will not be considered to extend more than 50 feet horizontally from the mean high water line, except that it may be extended upgrade to the crest of a contiguous bluff, cliff, hillside or similar feature, where necessary to protect a watercourse.

(bbb) River bed means that land area covered by water at mean high water.

(ccc) Road means any highway, hard-surfaced road, improved or dirt road.

(ddd) Run-of-river means an operational mode for an impounding structure wherein the instantaneous outflow from the impoundment (as releases, spillage, and/or leakage) is always equal to the instantaneous inflow into the impoundment. The storage level of the impoundment must not be permitted to fall below the crest of the dam/flashboards except for emergency situations.

(eee) Scientific features means any special physical or natural attributes in the designated river area that are verified by scientific investigation.

(fff) Sign means any inscribed surface, pattern or artificial lighting, pictorial, symbolic, ornamental or emblematic structure, barrier, fluttering apparatus or other visually communicative or expressive device that is visible from an out-of-doors position and is used to advertise or call the public's attention to any business activity, object, service or place, give directions or to bear any other kind of message. The term sign must not include any traffic control device; any sign placed for less than three months to advertise any event sponsored by a civic, religious, fraternal group or similar not-for-profit organization; to advertise the sale of any merchandise on a temporary basis from a residence; to address any candidate or question that is the subject of a public election or any political issue; to advertise the availability of the premises or some portion thereof for sale or lease; or any patriotic flag or banner not used to advertise a commercial use.

(ggg) State agency means any department, bureau, commission, board or other agency of the State, including any public benefit corporation, any member of which is appointed by the Governor.

(hhh) Statewide rivers inventory means the inventory of river corridor natural, cultural, and recreational resources maintained by the department.

(iii) Stream improvement structure for fishery management purposes means any structure made of naturally occurring materials which are designed solely for fishery management purposes and which do not materially alter the natural character of the waterway. Examples include fish barrier dams, fish passage structures, minor diking, cribbing, riprapping, bank stabilization and stream deflectors and other structures or improvements.

(jjj) Structure means any object, other than a traffic control device, which is constructed, installed, or placed on land to facilitate land use, and includes such examples as buildings, mobile homes, sheds, tanks, outdoor lighting, bridges, water access parking areas, fences and poles and any fixtures, additions and alterations thereto and, unless placed for a period of less than six months, trailers, travel trailers, campers, or tents.

(kkk) Subdividing of land or subdivision means any active, effective, or proposed division of land into lots, parcels or sites, whether contiguous or not, for the purpose of any form of separate ownership or occupancy as part of a common scheme (including grading, road construction, installation of utilities or other improvements or any other land use and development preparatory or incidental to any such division) by any person or by any other person controlled by, under common control with or controlling such person or by any group or person acting in concert as part of a common scheme or plan. Subdivision of land shall include any map, plat or other plan of the division of land, whether or not previously filed.

(lll) Trail means a marked and maintained path or way four feet or less in width, and located and designed to provide for reasonable access in a manner causing the least effect on the local environment.

(mmm) Undisturbed area means that portion of a lot or subdivision that is left in a natural state without grading, mowing, landscaping, or destruction or removal of vegetation.

(nnn) Water access parking area means a site for the parking of not more than 10 vehicles with foot trail access to the water and which does not contain a ramp for trailer boats.

(ooo) Water-dependent use means an activity that can only be conducted on, in, over or adjacent to a water-body, because such activity requires access to water, and involves the use of water as an integral part of the activity.