| (a) The following words, terms, and phrases, when used
in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Agency or subdivision--Any state agency, department,
board, or commission or political subdivision of the state.
(2) Adverse effects or adversely affect--Effects that
result in the physical destruction or detrimental alteration of a
CNRA. Such detrimental alterations are:
(A) construction in critical dune areas and coastal
hazard areas that increase risks to human safety or the potential
for damage to property or CNRAs from floods, hurricanes, or other
storms;
(B) alterations that interfere with public use and
enjoyment of, or access to and from, those CNRAs to which the public
has a right of use, enjoyment, or access;
(C) alterations that damage or destroy coastal historic
areas;
(D) alterations that harm the functions and values
of CNRAs as habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife;
(E) alterations that disrupt wildlife corridors or
fish or bird migratory routes;
(F) discharges of pathogens, radioactive materials,
dissolved minerals or solids, toxic substances, or suspended solids
at levels harmful to humans or terrestrial or aquatic life or that
significantly impair the aesthetic qualities of CNRAs;
(G) alterations of salinity regimes, nutrient supply,
oxygen concentration, or temperature regimes in coastal waters that
are harmful to terrestrial or aquatic life;
(H) alterations of hydrology, water flow, circulation
patterns, water level, or surface drainage that are harmful to humans
or terrestrial or aquatic life, impair the aesthetic qualities of
CNRAs, or exacerbate erosion of shorelines or river deltas;
(I) alterations of littoral and sediment transport
processes that reduce the supply of sediments available to those processes
or would otherwise exacerbate erosion of shorelines or river deltas;
(J) alterations that increase losses of shore areas
or other CNRAs from a rise in sea level with respect to the surface
of the land, whether caused by actual sea-level rise or land surface
subsidence; and
(K) emission of air pollutants at levels that are harmful
to humans or terrestrial or aquatic life or that significantly impair
the aesthetic qualities of CNRAs.
(3) Avoid and otherwise minimize--To avoid adverse
effects to the greatest extent practicable. Adverse effects that cannot
be avoided must then be minimized to the greatest extent practicable.
(4) Coastal Coordination Act--Texas Natural Resources
Code, Chapter 33, Subchapter F.
(5) Coastal zone--The area within the boundary established
in §27.1 of this title (relating to Coastal Management Program
Boundary).
(6) CMP coordinator--The GLO Coastal Resources staff
member designated by the commissioner.
(7) Coastal hazard areas--Special hazard areas and
critical erosion areas.
(8) Coastal natural resource area (CNRA)--Any area
defined in Texas Natural Resources Code, §33.203(1) that is located
within the coastal zone.
(9) Coastal waters--Waters under tidal influence and
waters in the open Gulf of Mexico.
(10) Commissioner--Commissioner of the GLO.
(11) Committee--Coastal Coordination Advisory Committee.
(12) Critical areas--A coastal wetland, an oyster reef,
a hard substrate reef, submerged aquatic vegetation, or a tidal sand
or mud flat.
(13) Cumulative adverse effects--Adverse effects increasing
in significance due to the collective effects of a number of actions.
(14) Pollutant--Any constituent that contaminates or
alters the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of any
CNRA so as to be harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal
life, vegetation, or property or to the public health, safety, or
welfare or that impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of
CNRAs for any lawful purpose.
(15) Practicable--Available and capable of being done
after taking into consideration existing technology, cost, and logistics
in light of the overall purpose of the activity.
(16) Public beach--Any public beach as defined in Chapter
61 of the Texas Natural Resources Code.
(17) Secondary adverse effects--Adverse effects which
would result from a proposed action and cause significant modifications
or alterations to the physical or chemical characteristics of coastal
natural resource areas beyond the limit of the immediate project area.
(18) Water-dependent use or facility--An activity or
facility that must be located in coastal waters or on submerged lands
or that must have direct access to coastal waters in order to serve
its basic purpose and function. Facilities that are water-dependent
include, but are not limited to, public beach use and access facilities,
boat slips, docks, breakwaters, marinas, wharves and other vessel
loading or off-loading facilities, utility easements, boat ramps,
navigation channels and basins, bridges and bridge approaches, revetments,
shoreline protection structures, culverts, groins, saltwater barriers,
navigational aids, mooring pilings, simple access channels, fish processing
plants, boat construction and repair facilities, offshore pipelines
and constructed wetlands below mean high water. Activities that are
water-dependent include, but are not limited to, marine recreation
(fishing, swimming, boating, wildlife viewing), industrial uses dependent
on marine transportation or requiring large volumes of water that
cannot be obtained at inland sites, mariculture, exploration for and
production of oil and gas under coastal waters or submerged lands,
and certain meteorological and oceanographic activities.
(b) The following words, terms, and phrases, when used
in this chapter shall have the following meanings, with respect to
CNRAs.
(1) Coastal barrier--An undeveloped area on a barrier
island, peninsula, or other protected area, as designated by United
States Fish and Wildlife Service maps.
(2) Coastal historic area--A site that is specially
identified in rules adopted by the Texas Historical Commission as
being coastal in character and that is:
(A) a site on the National Register of Historic Places,
designated under 16 United States Code, §470a and 36 Code of
Federal Regulations, Chapter I, Part 63; or
(B) a state archaeological landmark, as defined by
Texas Natural Resources Code, Subchapter D, Chapter 191.
(3) Coastal preserve--Any land, including a park or
wildlife management area, that is owned by the state and that is subject
to Chapter 26, Parks and Wildlife Code, because it is a park, recreation
area, scientific area, wildlife refuge, or historic site; and designated
by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission as being coastal in character.
(4) Coastal shore area--An area within 100 feet landward
of the high water mark on submerged land.
(5) Coastal wetlands--Wetlands, as the term is defined
by Texas Water Code, §11.502, located:
(A) seaward of the Coastal Facility Designation Line,
established by rules adopted under Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter
40;
(B) within rivers and streams to the extent of tidal
influence, as shown on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's
stream segment maps and described as follows:
(i) Arroyo Colorado from FM Road 1847 to a point 100
meters (110 yards) downstream of Cemetery Road south of the Port of
Harlingen in Cameron County;
(ii) Nueces River from US Highway 77 to the Calallen
Dam 1.7 kilometers (1.1 miles) upstream of U.S. Highway 77 in Nueces/San
Patricio County;
(iii) Guadalupe River from State Highway 35 to the
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Salt Water Barrier at 0.7 kilometers
(0.4 miles) downstream of the confluence with the San Antonio River
in Calhoun/Refugio County;
(iv) Lavaca River from FM Road 616 to a point 8.6 kilometers
(5.3 miles) downstream of US Highway 59 in Jackson County;
(v) Navidad River from FM Road 616 to Palmetto Bend
Dam in Jackson County;
(vi) Tres Palacios Creek from FM Road 521 to a point
0.6 kilometer (0.4 mile) upstream of the confluence with Wilson Creek
in Matagorda County;
(vii) Colorado River from FM Road 521 to a point 2.1
kilometers (1.3 miles) downstream of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad
in Matagorda County;
(viii) San Bernard River from FM Road 521 to a point
3.2 kilometers (2.0 miles) upstream of State Highway 35 in Brazoria
County;
(ix) Chocolate Bayou from FM Road 2004 to a point 4.2
kilometers (2.6 miles) downstream of State Highway 35 in Brazoria
County;
(x) Clear Creek from Interstate Highway 45 to a point
100 meters (110 yards) upstream of FM Road 528 in Galveston/Harris
County;
Cont'd... |
