Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act Glossary: Key Terms & Definitions for Developers and Consultants

Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act Key Terms & Definitions

Abutter: An owner of land that shares a common boundary or border with the land subject to the proposed work. The Wetlands Protection Act requires applicants to notify abutters of their proposed projects.

Area Subject to Protection Under the Act (ASBPUA): Any area specified in 310 CMR 10.02(1), including any wetland, floodplain, river, stream, lake, pond, or other surface water body, as well as certain designated adjacent upland areas.

Bank: The portion of the land surface that normally abuts and confines a water body, occurring between a water body and a vegetated bordering wetland and adjacent flood plain, or, in the absence of these, between a water body and an upland.

Bordering Vegetated Wetland (BVW): A type of freshwater wetland that borders on creeks, rivers, streams, ponds, or lakes, and is characterized by the presence of certain wetland indicator plants specified in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.

Buffer Zone: The area extending 100 feet horizontally outward from the boundary of any area specified in 310 CMR 10.02(1)(a), including bordering vegetated wetlands, salt marshes, banks, beaches, dunes, and certain floodplains.

Certificate of Compliance (COC): A document issued by a Conservation Commission or the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) certifying that work has been completed in accordance with a valid Order of Conditions and in compliance with the Wetlands Protection Act.

Coastal Wetland: Any bank, marsh, swamp, meadow, flat, or other lowland subject to tidal action or coastal storm flowage and supporting certain wetland indicator plant species specified in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.

Conservation Commission: The municipal agency responsible for administering the Wetlands Protection Act at the local level, including reviewing and issuing decisions on Notices of Intent and other permit applications.

Determination of Applicability (DOA): A written finding by a Conservation Commission or the MassDEP as to whether a site or the work proposed thereon is subject to the jurisdiction of the Wetlands Protection Act.

Freshwater Wetland: Any bank, marsh, swamp, meadow, or flat that is not a coastal wetland, as defined in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.

Inland Wetland: See "Freshwater Wetland."

Isolated Land Subject to Flooding (ILSF): An isolated depression or closed basin without an inlet or an outlet that at least once a year confines standing water to a volume of at least 1/4 acre-feet and to an average depth of at least six inches.

Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage (LSCSF): Land subject to any inundation caused by coastal storms up to and including that caused by the 100-year storm, surge of record, or storm of record, whichever is greater.

Land Subject to Flooding (LSF): An area with low, flat topography adjacent to and inundated by flood waters rising from creeks, rivers, streams, ponds, or lakes, and subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

Land Under Water Bodies and Waterways (LUW): The bottom of, or land under, the surface of the ocean or any estuary, creek, river, stream, pond, or lake, extending to the mean annual low water level.

Limited Project: Certain specified projects or activities that are allowed under the Wetlands Protection Act regulations despite not meeting all performance standards, due to their inherent nature or their serve an overriding public interest.

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP): The state agency responsible for overseeing the administration of the Wetlands Protection Act and promulgating the implementing regulations.

Mean Annual High Water Line: The line that is apparent from visible markings, changes in the character of soils, or other physical or biological characteristics resulting from the fluctuations of water and indicated by the boundary of terrestrial and wetland vegetation.

Notice of Intent (NOI): The permit application filed with a Conservation Commission by any person intending to remove, fill, dredge, or alter an Area Subject to Protection Under the Act.

Order of Conditions (OOC): The document issued by a Conservation Commission containing conditions that regulate or prohibit an activity under the Wetlands Protection Act.

Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM): A line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics, or by other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas, as defined in the federal Clean Water Act regulations.

Resource Area: Any of the areas specified in 310 CMR 10.02(1), 310 CMR 10.54(2), 310 CMR 10.58(2), and 10.60, including any wetland, floodplain, river, stream, lake, pond, or other surface water body.

Riverfront Area: The area of land between a river's mean annual high water line and a parallel line measured horizontally outward at a distance of 200 feet, subject to certain exceptions and additional criteria specified in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.

Salt Marsh: A coastal wetland that extends from the mean high tide line landward to the highest high tide line and is characterized by plants that are well adapted to or prefer living in saline soils.

Vernal Pool: A confined basin depression that provides habitat for certain amphibian, reptile, or invertebrate species and typically holds water for at least two continuous months in the spring and/or summer.

Wetlands Protection Act (WPA): Massachusetts General Law Chapter 131, Section 40, which regulates activities in or near wetlands, floodplains, rivers, streams, and other water bodies to protect public or private water supply, ground water supply, flood control, storm damage prevention, prevention of pollution, protection of land containing shellfish, protection of fisheries, and protection of wildlife habitat.