A. Certified erosion and sedimentation control professional. A professional certified by the International Erosion Control Association (IECA).
B. Compensation fee utilization plan. A plan that specifies how funds received as a compensation fee payment will be allocated to reduce the impact of stormwater pollution to an impaired water resource.
C. Detention basin. A basin designed and constructed to provide temporary storage of runoff to control stormwater outflow from the site and peak flow in receiving waters, and to provide gravity settling of pollutants.
D. Developed area. "Disturbed area" excluding area that within one calendar year of being disturbed is returned to a condition with the same drainage pattern that existed prior to the disturbance and is revegetated, provided the area is not mowed more than once per year.
E. Direct watershed of a waterbody or wetland. The land area that drains, via overland flow, natural or man-made drainage systems, or waterbodies or wetlands, to a given waterbody or wetland without first passing through an upstream waterbody classified as GPA.
F. Disturbed area. All land areas that are stripped, graded, grubbed, filled, or excavated at any time during the site preparation or removing vegetation for, or construction of, a project.
"Disturbed area" does not include routine maintenance, but does include re-development and new impervious areas. "Routine maintenance" is maintenance performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, and original purpose of the facility. Paving impervious gravel surfaces while maintaining the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity and original purpose of the facility is considered routine maintenance. Cutting of trees, without grubbing, stump removal, disturbance or exposure of soil is not considered "disturbed area".
A disturbed area continues to be considered as disturbed area if it meets the definition of “developed area” or “impervious area” following final stabilization.
G. Drainageway. A natural or man-made channel or course within which surface discharge of water may occur. Drainageways include, but are not limited to rivers, streams and brooks (whether intermittent or perennial), swales, ditches, pipes, culverts, and wetlands with localized discharge of water.
H. Erosion and sedimentation control best management practices (erosion control BMPs). Methods, techniques, designs, practices, and other means to control erosion and sedimentation, as approved or required by the department.
NOTE: For guidance, see "Maine Erosion and Sediment Control BMPs Maine Department of Environmental Protection.”
I. Erosion control mix. A type of mulch that consists primarily of organic material such as shredded bark, stump grindings, composted bark, or fragmented wood generated as a by-product from log handling at wood mills. It includes a well-graded mixture of particle sizes with a mineral content that is less than 20% by weight, and is free from construction debris, refuse, and contaminants.
J. High use parking lot . A commercial or other parking lot with size and usage characteristics similar to a commercial lot, such as a fast-food restaurant, factory, convenience store, high-turnover restaurant, shopping center, office complex, school, or supermarket.
K. Impervious area. The total area of a parcel that consists of buildings and associated constructed facilities or areas that will be covered with a low-permeability material, such as asphalt or concrete, and areas such as gravel roads and unpaved parking areas that will be compacted through design or use to reduce their permeability. Common impervious areas include, but are not limited to, rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials, and macadam or other surfaces which similarly impede the natural infiltration of stormwater. A natural or man-made waterbody is not considered an impervious area, but is treated as an immediate runoff surface in curve number calculations.
L. Infiltration. Any process specifically used to meet all or part of the stormwater standards of this chapter by actively directing all or part of the stormwater into the soil. Infiltration is the process by which runoff percolates through the unsaturated overburden and fractured bedrock to the water table. For the purposes of this chapter, infiltration does not include:
(1) Incidental wetting of soil in ditches, detention basins or the equivalent;
(2) Wetting of underdrained basins, dry swales, or similar filtration systems; or
(3) Wetting of buffers meeting department requirements for use as stormwater control.
Discharge of runoff to areas of the site where the water will collect and percolate into the ground is considered infiltration if the volume, rate, or quality of the discharge exceeds the runoff capacity of the area. Underdrained swales, underdrained ponds, and similar practices that discharge to surface waters or to buffer strips meeting department requirements for stormwater buffers are not considered infiltration systems, although these may be used to treat runoff prior to discharge to an infiltration area.
M. Lake or pond. (1) A great pond, or (2) a lake or pond of any size used as a public water supply.
N. Landscaped area. An area of land that has been disturbed and re-planted or covered with one or more of the following: lawn or other herbaceous plants, shrubs, trees, or mulch; but not including area that has reverted to a natural, vegetated condition. A field or meadow is considered landscaped if it is mowed more than twice per twelve month period.
O. Linear portion of a project. The portion of a project consisting of a utility corridor, road, driveway, railroad track outside a yard or station, or similar transportation corridor, as determined by the department. Linear projects do not include golf courses.
P. Major river segment. The rivers or portions of rivers identified as follows: Saco River ; Androscoggin River ; Kennebec River ; West Branch Penobscot River below Elbow Lake ; East Branch Penobscot River below Wassataquiok Stream; Piscataquis River below Dover-Foxcroft; St. Croix River below Grand Lake ; Aroostook River below Ashland ; and St. John River below the Allagash River.
Q. Parcel. "Parcel" is defined the same as "parcel of land" in 06-096 CMR 371(1)(L).
R. Peak flow. The greatest rate of flow in a drainageway, measured as volume per unit of time, resulting from a storm of specified frequency and duration.
S. Person. An individual, firm, corporation, municipality, quasi-municipal corporation, state agency, federal agency or other legal entity. For purposes of an activity requiring review pursuant to the Site Law or Stormwater Management Law, "person" is further defined at 06-096 CMR 371(1)(M).
T. Practicable. Available and feasible considering cost, existing technology and logistics based on the overall purpose of the project.
U. Pre-development area. An impervious or developed area created prior to the effective date of the Stormwater Management Law for a stormwater project, or the effective date of the jurisdictional threshold under which a development is licensed for a Site Law development.
V. Protected natural resource. A s defined in the Natural Resources Protection Act at 38 M.R.S.A. § 480-B. These resources are referred to as "wetlands and waterbodies".
W. S tormwater . The part of precipitation, including runoff from rain or melting ice and snow, that flows across the surface as sheet flow, shallow concentrated flow, or in drainageways.
X. Stream. A river, stream, or brook as defined in the Natural Resources Protection Act at 38 M.R.S.A. § 480-B.
Y. Subcatchment. An area of a project site with a unique flow path to a specific point.
Z. Two (ten, twenty-five)-year, 24-hour storm. A precipitation event with a 50% (for two-year), 10% (for ten-year), or 4% (for 25-year) probability of being equaled or exceeded during any twenty-four hour period during any given year.
AA. Watershed. The land area that drains, via overland flow, drainageways, waterbodies, or wetlands to a given waterbody or wetland.
BB. Wetlands. Coastal and freshwater wetlands as defined in the Natural Resources Protection Act, 38 M.R.S.A. § 480-B.
Summary and Sections 1-3