250 R.I. Code R. § 250-RICR-130-05-1.5 - Definitions
A. For the purposes of these regulations the
following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Appurtenant works" means any ancillary
feature of a dam including such structures as dikes, training walls, spillways,
either in the dam or separate there from, low level outlet works, and water
conduits such as tunnels, channels, pipelines or penstocks, either through the
dam or its abutments.
2. "Dam"
means any barrier made by humans, including appurtenant works that impounds or
diverts water.
3. "Department"
means the Department of Environmental Management and may be used
interchangeably with Director.
4.
"Department dam engineer" means an individual employed by the Department who
possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and has demonstrated,
through a combination of education, experience, and/or training, that he/she is
qualified to perform visual inspections.
5. "Detailed investigation" means all
studies, investigations and analyses appropriate to evaluate the structural
safety and hydraulic capacity of a dam or reservoir and appurtenant
works.
6. "Director" means the
Director of the Department of Environmental Management, or his or her designee
and may be used interchangeably with Department.
7. "Embankment" means the fill material,
including but not limited to rock or earth, placed to provide a permanent
barrier that impounds water.
8.
"Freshwater wetlands" means those areas as defined in R. I. Gen. Laws §
2-1-18, et. seq., and the Wetlands
regulations.
9. "Hazard
classification" means a rating for a dam that relates to the probable
consequences of failure or misoperation of the dam, which is a determination
made by the Director based on an assessment of loss of human life, damages to
properties or structures located downstream of the reservoir, or loss of use as
a drinking water supply. This rating has no relationship to the current
condition of the dam. A higher hazard dam does not imply that it is more likely
to fail or be misoperated than a lower hazard dam.
10. "Height" means the vertical distance from
the elevation of the uppermost surface of a dam to the lowest point of natural
ground, including any stream channel, along the downstream toe of the
dam.
11. "High hazard dam" means a
dam where failure or misoperation will result in a probable loss of human
life.
12. "Hydraulic" means the
behavior of water relative to the dam. It is the manner in which water in the
reservoir is passed over or through the dam, via an outlet such as a spillway
or low level outlet.
13.
"Hydrologic" means the volume and speed at which precipitation flows along the
earth, combines into streams and discharges into a reservoir.
14. "Lifeline facilities" means essential
facilities, the loss of which can result in indirect threats to life. Lifeline
facilities may include hospitals, transportation links (highways, bridges,
airports, rail lines, waterways, ports and harbor facilities and emergency
evacuation routes), and utility systems (electric power plants, gas and liquid
fuel pipelines, telecommunication systems, water supply and waste water
treatment facilities).
15. "Low
hazard dam" means a dam where failure or misoperation results in no probable
loss of human life and low economic losses.
16. "Maintenance" means minor work on a dam
necessary to maintain the dam in proper working order, including activities
such as filling minor erosion areas, mowing or clearing vegetation provided
that it does not affect the integrity of the dam, lubricating and exercising
equipment and re-pointing masonry areas. Maintenance does not include repair of
a dam or substantial alteration of a dam.
17. "Owner" means the person or persons,
including any individual, firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company,
trust, corporation, municipality, agency, political or administrative
subdivision of the state or any legal entity of any kind holding legal title to
a dam.
18. "Person maintaining or
having control of a dam" means the person or persons, including any individual,
firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company, trust, corporation,
municipality, agency, political or administrative subdivision of the state or
any legal entity of any kind having authority to operate or maintain a
dam.
19. "Piping" means the
progressive development of internal erosion by seepage through the dam. Piping
appears downstream as a hole or a discharging flow of water that includes soil
particles from the dam embankment or foundation.
20. "Probable loss of human life" means loss
of human life that is likely to occur, or reasonably or realistically expected.
This definition does not include persons who are only incidentally in the
potential inundation area downstream of a dam. Examples include walking on the
dam, driving on lightly traveled roads on or downstream of the dam and
recreating downstream of the dam provided the area is not an established
recreational area.
21. "Qualified
engineer" means a professional engineer fully registered in the State of Rhode
Island, who is experienced with dam inspection, design, construction and
repair.
22. "Registered owner"
means a dam owner who has been issued a certificate of registration by the
Department.
23. "Regulated dam"
means a low hazard dam that is six (6) feet or more in height or has fifteen
(15) acre-feet or more of storage capacity; or a high hazard dam; or a
significant hazard dam. An acre-foot is a unit of volume equal to 43,560 cubic
feet or 325,830 gallons (a measure that would cover one acre to a depth of one
foot).
24. "Removal" means the
destruction or breaching of a dam to the extent that the dam no longer impounds
or diverts water.
25. "Repair"
means any work performed at a dam that may affect the integrity of the dam,
including certain cutting or removal of trees where the resulting decomposition
of the tree root system could jeopardize the integrity of the dam, work
requiring excavation into the embankment fill or foundation of a dam, work
requiring reinforcement of the embankment or work requiring removal or
replacement of major structural components of a dam; or any related, new,
temporary or permanent access way(s) that may be required within freshwater
wetlands.
26. "Reservoir" means the
body of water that is impounded or diverted by a dam.
27. "Significant hazard dam" means a dam
where failure or misoperation results in no probable loss of human life but can
cause major economic loss, disruption of lifeline facilities or impact other
concerns detrimental to the public's health, safety or welfare. Examples of
major economic loss include but are not limited to washout of a state or
federal highway, washout of two or more municipal roads, loss of vehicular
access to residences, (e.g. a dead end road whereby emergency personnel could
no longer access residences beyond the washout area) or damage to a few
structures.
28. "Spillway" means a
structure, a low area in natural grade or any part of the dam which has been
designed or relied upon to allow normal flow or major flood flow to pass over
or through while being discharged from a reservoir.
29. "Substantial alteration" means any
physical modification to a dam that results in a permanent change in the water
elevation of the reservoir or in water flow downstream of the dam.
30. "Unsafe dam" means the condition of a
regulated dam, as determined by the Director, is such that an unreasonable risk
of failure exists that will result in a probable loss of human life or major
economic loss. Among the conditions that would result in this determination
are: excessive vegetation that does not allow the Director to perform a
complete visual inspection of a dam, excessive seepage or piping, significant
erosion problems, inadequate spillway capacity, inadequate capacity and/or
condition of control structure(s) or serious structural deficiencies, including
movement of the structure or major cracking.
31. "Visual inspection" means a visual,
technical evaluation of the physical conditions of a dam that affect
performance of the structure.
32.
"Wetlands regulations" means the "Rules and Regulations Governing the
Administration and Enforcement of the Freshwater Wetlands Act," Part 150-15-1
of this Title.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
A. For the purposes of these regulations the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Appurtenant works " means any ancillary feature of a dam including such structures as dikes, training walls, spillways, either in the dam or separate there from, low level outlet works, and water conduits such as tunnels, channels, pipelines or penstocks, either through the dam or its abutments.
2. "Dam " means any barrier made by humans, including appurtenant works that impounds or diverts water.
3. "Department " means the Department of Environmental Management and may be used interchangeably with Director.
4. "Department dam engineer" means an individual employed by the Department who possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and has demonstrated, through a combination of education, experience, and/or training, that he/she is qualified to perform visual inspections.
5. "Detailed investigation " means all studies, investigations and analyses appropriate to evaluate the structural safety and hydraulic capacity of a dam or reservoir and appurtenant works .
6. "Director " means the Director of the Department of Environmental Management, or his or her designee and may be used interchangeably with Department .
7. "Embankment " means the fill material, including but not limited to rock or earth, placed to provide a permanent barrier that impounds water.
8. "Freshwater wetlands " means those areas as defined in R. I. Gen. Laws § 2-1-18, et. seq., and the Wetlands regulations .
9. "Hazard classification " means a rating for a dam that relates to the probable consequences of failure or misoperation of the dam, which is a determination made by the Director based on an assessment of loss of human life, damages to properties or structures located downstream of the reservoir, or loss of use as a drinking water supply. This rating has no relationship to the current condition of the dam. A higher hazard dam does not imply that it is more likely to fail or be misoperated than a lower hazard dam.
10. "Height " means the vertical distance from the elevation of the uppermost surface of a dam to the lowest point of natural ground, including any stream channel , along the downstream toe of the dam.
11. "High hazard dam " means a dam where failure or misoperation will result in a probable loss of human life.
12. "Hydraulic " means the behavior of water relative to the dam . It is the manner in which water in the reservoir is passed over or through the dam , via an outlet such as a spillway or low level outlet .
13. "Hydrologic " means the volume and speed at which precipitation flows along the earth, combines into streams and discharges into a reservoir.
14. "Lifeline facilities " means essential facilities, the loss of which can result in indirect threats to life. Lifeline facilities may include hospitals, transportation links (highways, bridges, airports, rail lines, waterways, ports and harbor facilities and emergency evacuation routes), and utility systems (electric power plants, gas and liquid fuel pipelines, telecommunication systems, water supply and waste water treatment facilities).
15. "Low hazard dam " means a dam where failure or misoperation results in no probable loss of human life and low economic losses.
16. "Maintenance " means minor work on a dam necessary to maintain the dam in proper working order, including activities such as filling minor erosion areas, mowing or clearing vegetation provided that it does not affect the integrity of the dam, lubricating and exercising equipment and re-pointing masonry areas. Maintenance does not include repair of a dam or substantial alteration of a dam.
17. "Owner " means the person or persons, including any individual, firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company, trust, corporation, municipality, agency, political or administrative subdivision of the state or any legal entity of any kind holding legal title to a dam.
18. "Person maintaining or having control of a dam" means the person or persons, including any individual, firm, partnership, association, syndicate, company, trust, corporation, municipality, agency, political or administrative subdivision of the state or any legal entity of any kind having authority to operate or maintain a dam.
19. "Piping " means the progressive development of internal erosion by seepage through the dam. Piping appears downstream as a hole or a discharging flow of water that includes soil particles from the dam embankment or foundation.
20. "Probable loss of human life " means loss of human life that is likely to occur, or reasonably or realistically expected. This definition does not include persons who are only incidentally in the potential inundation area downstream of a dam . Examples include walking on the dam , driving on lightly traveled roads on or downstream of the dam and recreating downstream of the dam provided the area is not an established recreational area.
21. "Qualified engineer " means a professional engineer fully registered in the State of Rhode Island, who is experienced with dam inspection, design, construction and repair.
22. "Registered owner " means a dam owner who has been issued a certificate of registration by the Department .
23. "Regulated dam " means a low hazard dam that is six (6) feet or more in height or has fifteen (15) acre-feet or more of storage capacity; or a high hazard dam; or a significant hazard dam. An acre-foot is a unit of volume equal to 43,560 cubic feet or 325,830 gallons (a measure that would cover one acre to a depth of one foot).
24. "Removal " means the destruction or breaching of a dam to the extent that the dam no longer impounds or diverts water.
25. "Repair " means any work performed at a dam that may affect the integrity of the dam , including certain cutting or removal of trees where the resulting decomposition of the tree root system could jeopardize the integrity of the dam , work requiring excavation into the embankment fill or foundation of a dam , work requiring reinforcement of the embankment or work requiring removal or replacement of major structural components of a dam ; or any related, new, temporary or permanent access way(s) that may be required within freshwater wetlands.
26. "Reservoir " means the body of water that is impounded or diverted by a dam .
27. "Significant hazard dam " means a dam where failure or misoperation results in no probable loss of human life but can cause major economic loss, disruption of lifeline facilities or impact other concerns detrimental to the public's health, safety or welfare. Examples of major economic loss include but are not limited to washout of a state or federal highway, washout of two or more municipal roads, loss of vehicular access to residences, (e.g. a dead end road whereby emergency personnel could no longer access residences beyond the washout area) or damage to a few structures.
28. "Spillway " means a structure , a low area in natural grade or any part of the dam which has been designed or relied upon to allow normal flow or major flood flow to pass over or through while being discharged from a reservoir.
29. "Substantial alteration " means any physical modification to a dam that results in a permanent change in the water elevation of the reservoir or in water flow downstream of the dam .
30. "Unsafe dam " means the condition of a regulated dam , as determined by the Director , is such that an unreasonable risk of failure exists that will result in a probable loss of human life or major economic loss. Among the conditions that would result in this determination are: excessive vegetation that does not allow the Director to perform a complete visual inspection of a dam, excessive seepage or piping, significant erosion problems, inadequate spillway capacity, inadequate capacity and/or condition of control structure(s) or serious structural deficiencies, including movement of the structure or major cracking.
31. "Visual inspection " means a visual, technical evaluation of the physical conditions of a dam that affect performance of the structure .
32. "Wetlands regulations " means the "Rules and Regulations Governing the Administration and Enforcement of the Freshwater Wetlands Act," Part 150-15-1 of this Title.