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RI Coastal Resources Management Council

...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders

CRMC adopts new SAV regulations, shoreline change maps

May 31, 2007, NARRAGANSETT – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council has adopted a number of regulation changes, including a comprehensive reworking of its existing regulations on Submerged Aquatic Vegetation and the addition of supplemental shoreline change maps showing erosion rates. The changes become effective in June.

The CRMC at its April 24 Council meeting unanimously approved the regulations – the introduction of new shoreline change maps, changes to the recently overhauled Section 300.4 – Recreational Boating Facilities, extensive additions to Section 300.18- Submerged Aquatic Vegetation, and a small addition to Table 1.B – Review Categories for Inland Activities of Section 320 and 325, all of the RI Coastal Resources Management Program (CRMP) or Red Book.

The shoreline change maps are in addition to those already incorporated into the Red Book – those for the south coast between Watch Hill and Point Judith. The new maps will complete the profile for the shoreline from Point Judith into and including Narragansett Bay and its islands to the eastern shore of Little Compton. These maps will show shoreline change rates that will be applied to appropriate sections of the CRMC’s regulations to address issues such as setbacks of activities from coastal features. The 150 maps detail erosion rates for the shoreline; Block Island is not included and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The maps are available online, at www.crmc.ri.gov and also at the CRMC offices in Wakefield.

The changes to Section 300.4 – Recreational Boating Facilities prohibit terminal floats on residential docks in excess of 200 square feet, and in Type 2 waters, alterations to marinas will have all in-water and dry-stacked vessels count toward the 25 percent increase in vessel/boat capacity. The changes also address the issue of excessive fetch (a 20-degree sector over four miles in any direction in which wind can blow over the water to generate waves), and utilizing this measurement to restrict the size of terminal floats in areas of high fetch. The regulations also require variance requests for residential boating facilities to include a plan prepared by a RI registered land surveyor which depicts the relationship of the proposed facility to the affected property line(s) and their extensions. And all residential docks will now have to be certified by the design engineer that it was constructed according to the approved plans within typical marine construction standards.

The revisions to Section 300.18 – Submerged Aquatic Vegetation include the addition of standards for surveying and a longer section containing more findings of fact. The section has also been renamed to Section 300.18 – Submerged Aquatic Vegetation and Aquatic Habitats of Particular Concern. The revised regulations allow for the denial of an application where impacts on SAV are substantial or cannot be avoided or minimized, or if the proposed activity is adjacent to or includes a restoration site and/or the site includes the sole sources of SAV habitat in that area. The regulations now require an SAV survey for activities proposed in areas of current or historic SAV habitat, and that surveys must be completed during peak biomass, between July 1 and September 15 in Narragansett Bay and between July 1 and August 15 in south shore coastal ponds and shallow water embayments. Prohibited activities over SAV include floats and float platform lifts (including grate-type structures) associated with residential docks; boat lifts having the capacity to service vessels larger than a tender; the long-term docking of vessels at a recreational boating facility; and residential docks that span eelgrass beds to avoid and/or minimize impacts to the eelgrass and which are proposed to be 200 feet or more in length seaward of the mean low water. A new section on standards has also been added to aid in the surveying process.

“The changes to the SAV regulations will enable the CRMC to better protect precious eelgrass beds - which play a pivotal role in our coastal ecosystems – from shading and disturbances, which have been shown to negatively impact eelgrass populations,” said CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian. “With the added scientific standards in our regulations, we will be able to minimize manmade impacts and help eelgrass flourish.”

Stedman Government Center
Suite 116, 4808 Tower Hill Road, Wakefield, RI 02879-1900
Voice 401-783-3370 • Fax 401-783-2069 • E-Mail cstaff1@crmc.ri.gov

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