Title 11 . Natural Resources

Chapter 114 . District Coastal Management Plan Requirements

Section 990. Definitions

11 AAC 114.990. Definitions

Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this chapter

(1) "affected city or village" means a city or village that may object under AS 46.40.180 (b);

(2) "approved district plan" means a

(A) district plan approved under 11 AAC 114.335, 11 AAC 114.355, and 11 AAC 114.360; and

(B) district plan approved by the former Coastal Policy Council and in effect under sec. 46(c), ch. 24, SLA 2003, as amended by sec. 16, ch. 31, SLA 2005;

(3) "area which merits special attention" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210 ;

(4) "beach" means an area affected by wave action directly from the sea;

(5) "city" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800 ;

(6) "commissioner" means the commissioner of the department;

(7) "coastal area" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(8) "coastal use or resource" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210

(9) "coastal water" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(10) "concept-approved draft" means a proposed district plan or significant amendment that has received district approval under 11 AAC 114.330(a) , but that has not received commissioner approval under 11 AAC 114.335;

(11) "department" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210 ;

(12) "designate" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(13) "direct and significant impact" means an effect of a use, or an activity associated with the use, that will proximately contribute to a material change or alteration of the coastal waters, and in which

(A) the use, or activity associated with the use, would have a net adverse effect on the quality of the resources;

(B) the use, or activity associated with the use, would limit the range of alternative uses of the resources; or

(C) the use would, of itself, constitute a tolerable change or alteration of the resources but which, cumulatively, would have an adverse effect;

(14) "district" means a coastal resource district as defined in AS 46.40.210 ;

(15) "district enforceable policy" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990;

(16) "district plan"

(A) means a district coastal management plan established under AS 46.40.060 or a district coastal management program approved by the former Coastal Policy Council and in effect under sec. 46(c), ch. 24, SLA 2003, as amended by sec. 16, ch. 31, SLA 2005;

(B) includes special area management plans under 11 AAC 114.400 and district-initiated plans for areas which merit special attention described in 11 AAC 114.420 and 11 AAC 114.430;

(17) "facilities related to commercial fishing and seafood processing" includes hatcheries and related facilities, seafood processing plants and support facilities, marine industrial and commercial facilities, and aquaculture facilities;

(18) "federally recognized Indian tribe" has the meaning given "Indian tribe" in 25 U.S.C. 450b;

(19) "governing body" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800 ;

(20) "important habitat" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.300;

(21) "island" means a body of land surrounded by water on all sides;

(22) "local knowledge" means a body of knowledge or information about the coastal environment or the human use of that environment, including information passed down through generations, if that information is

(A) derived from experience and observations; and

(B) generally accepted by the local community;

(23) "local usage" means current and actual use of a coastal resource by residents of the locality in which the resource is found;

(24) "major energy facility" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(25) "matter of local concern" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.070 (a)(2)(C);

(26) "municipality" has the meaning given in AS 29.71.800 ;

(27) "Native corporation" means a regional or village corporation as defined in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);

(28) "natural hazard areas" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(29) "natural hazards" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(30) "new matter" means new language or deletions;

(31) "office" means the office of project management and permitting within the department;

(32) "person" means

(A) an individual;

(B) a corporation, partnership; association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of a state;

(C) the federal government;

(D) a state, regional, or local government; or

(E) an entity of the federal government or of a state, regional, or local government;

(33) "program" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990;

(34) "public hearing draft" means a proposed district plan or significant amendment, as developed

(A) through the hearing and review process under 11 AAC 114.300 - 11 AAC 114.325; and

(B) before conceptual approval by a district under 11 AAC 114.330;

(35) "public need" means a documented need of the general public and not that of a private person;

(36) "reasonably foreseeable" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 110.990;

(37) "resource agency" has the meaning given in AS 46.39.010 ;

(38) "revised public hearing draft" means a public hearing draft that includes changes resulting from the review process under 11 AAC 114.320(d) or 11 AAC 114.325;

(39) "saltwater wetlands" has the meaning given in 11 AAC 112.990;

(40) "scientific evidence" means facts or data that are

(A) premised upon established chemical, physical, biological, or ecosystem management principles as obtained through scientific method and submitted to the office to furnish proof of a matter required under this chapter;

(B) in a form that would allow resource agency review for scientific merit; and

(C) supported by one or more of the following:

(i) written analysis based on field observation and professional judgment along with photographic documentation;

(ii) written analysis from a professional scientist with expertise in the specific discipline; or

(iii) site-specific scientific research that may include peer-review level research or literature;

(41) "sensitivity" means the tendency to be altered easily or to be vulnerable to changes from other forces, uses, or activity in the environment;

(42) "significant amendment" means an amendment to an approved district plan that, except as provided under 11 AAC 114.340(b) ,

(A) results in a major revision, addition, or deletion to

(i) an enforceable policy developed under 11 AAC 114.270; or

(ii) the implementation methods or authorities included in the district plan under 11 AAC 114.280;

(B) alters the district boundaries, other than by technical adjustments;

(C) designates and develops a plan for an area which merits special attention or special area management plan under 11 AAC 114.400; or

(D) restricts or excludes a use of state concern not previously restricted or excluded;

(43) "suitability" means the fitness and appropriateness of the coastal environment to support a given use or activity;

(44) "traditional village council" means

(A) a council organized under 25 U.S.C. 476 (Indian Reorganization Act);

(B) a council recognized by the United States as eligible for federal aid to Indians; or

(C) a village entity recognized by the commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development under 3 AAC 190.110 - 3 AAC 190.150;

(45) "transitional and intertidal area" means an area subject to periodic or occasional inundation by tides, including coastal floodplains, storm surge areas, tsunami and hurricane zones, and washover channels;

(46) "use of state concern" has the meaning given in AS 46.40.210 ;

(47) "village" means an unincorporated community

(A) where at least 25 persons reside within the village boundary as a social unit, as determined by the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development;

(B) that has a traditional village council;

(48) "village boundary" means

(A) the area within a three mile radius of the post office in the village; or

(B) if there is no post office in the village, the area within a three mile radius of a site designated by the commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development;

(49) "zone of direct influence" means the portion of the coastal zone extending seaward and landward from the zone of direct interaction;

(50) "zone of direct interaction" means the portion of the coastal zone where physical and biological processes are a function of direct contact between land and sea;

(51) "subsistence uses" has the meaning given in AS 16.05.940 .

History: Eff. 7/1/2004, Register 170; am 10/29/2004, Register 172; am 6/1/2005, Register 175

Authority: AS 46.39.010

AS 46.39.030

AS 46.39.040

AS 46.40.010

AS 46.40.040

AS 46.40.060

AS 46.40.070

Editor's note: As of Register 171 (October 2004), the regulations attorney made technical revisions under AS\n 44.62.125(b)(6) to reflect the name change of the Department of Community and Economic Development to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development made by ch. 47, SLA 2004 and the corresponding title change of the commissioner of community and economic development.