RSA 482-A:2 · Definitions

482-A:2 Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of environmental services.
I-a. "Council" means the wetlands council established in RSA 21-O:5-a.
I-b. "Department" means the department of environmental services.
II. "Division" means the division of water resources, department of environmental services.
II-a. "Local governing body" means "local governing body" as defined in RSA 672:6.
III. "Local legislative body" means "local legislative body" as defined in RSA 672:8.
IV. "Mean high tide" shall be determined according to the published tables and standards of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, adjusted to the locality from such tables.
V. "Municipality" shall include cities, towns, and village districts.
VI. "Person" shall mean any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or legal entity of any kind including municipal corporations, governmental departments and agencies, or their subdivisions.
VII. "Sand dune" shall mean a hill or ridge of sand piled up by the wind and commonly found on the seacoast.
VIII. "Boat slip" means:
(a) On water bodies over 10,000 acres, means a volume of water 25 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 3 feet deep as measured at normal high water and located adjacent to a structure to which a watercraft may be secured.
(b) On water bodies of 10,000 acres or less, a volume of water 20 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep as measured at normal high water mark and located adjacent to a structure to which a watercraft may be secured.
VIII-a. "Boathouse" means a docking structure having a permanent roof covering one or more boat slips.
IX. "Structure" means, notwithstanding any other provision of law, something installed, erected, or constructed, but shall not include a bench, landing with dimensions no larger than 10 feet wide by 10 feet long, or stairs with a width not exceeding 6 feet, provided that such benches, landings, or stairs are installed, erected, or constructed without regrading or recontouring of the shoreline and are not over water. Structures include, but are not limited to, the following: fence, dock, breakwater, post, pile, building, bridge, culvert, and wall.
IX-a. "Structural height" means the vertical distance from its lowest dock surface of a structure to the highest point of the structure.
X. "Wetlands" means an area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal conditions does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
XI. "Wetland functions" means the practical measurable values of wetlands. The 12 primary wetland functions are ecological integrity, wetland-dependent wildlife habitat, fish and aquatic life habitat, scenic quality, educational potential, wetland-based recreation, flood storage, groundwater recharge, sediment trapping, nutrient trapping/retention/transformation, shoreline anchoring, and noteworthiness.
Source. 1989, 225:2; 339:1. 1991, 20:1, 2. 1996, 296:12, 39. 2002, 272:14. 2004, 243:1. 2012, 235:4, eff. Aug. 17, 2012. 2025, 141:8, 9, eff. July 1, 2025.