[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 33, Volume 3]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 33CFR328.3]



[Page 465-466]

 

                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS

 

 CHAPTER II--CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF 

                                 DEFENSE

 

PART 328_DEFINITION OF WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES--Table of Contents

 

Sec.  328.3  Definitions.



    For the purpose of this regulation these terms are defined as 

follows:

    (a) The term waters of the United States means

    (1) All waters which are currently used, or were used in the past, 

or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, 

including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

    (2) All interstate waters including interstate wetlands;

    (3) All other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams 

(including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, 

sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds, 

the use, degradation or destruction of which could affect interstate or 

foreign commerce including any such waters:

    (i) Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers 

for recreational or other purposes; or

    (ii) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in 

interstate or foreign commerce; or

    (iii) Which are used or could be used for industrial purpose by 

industries in interstate commerce;

    (4) All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the 

United States under the definition;

    (5) Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs (a) (1) through 

(4) of this section;

    (6) The territorial seas;

    (7) Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are 

themselves wetlands) identified in paragraphs (a) (1) through (6) of 

this section.



[[Page 466]]



    (8) Waters of the United States do not include prior converted 

cropland. Notwithstanding the determination of an area's status as prior 

converted cropland by any other Federal agency, for the purposes of the 

Clean Water Act, the final authority regarding Clean Water Act 

jurisdiction remains with EPA.



Waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons designed 

to meet the requirements of CWA (other than cooling ponds as defined in 

40 CFR 423.11(m) which also meet the criteria of this definition) are 

not waters of the United States.

    (b) The term wetlands means those areas that are inundated or 

saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration 

sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a 

prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil 

conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and 

similar areas.

    (c) The term adjacent means bordering, contiguous, or neighboring. 

Wetlands separated from other waters of the United States by man-made 

dikes or barriers, natural river berms, beach dunes and the like are 

``adjacent wetlands.''

    (d) The term high tide line means the line of intersection of the 

land with the water's surface at the maximum height reached by a rising 

tide. The high tide line may be determined, in the absence of actual 

data, by a line of oil or scum along shore objects, a more or less 

continuous deposit of fine shell or debris on the foreshore or berm, 

other physical markings or characteristics, vegetation lines, tidal 

gages, or other suitable means that delineate the general height reached 

by a rising tide. The line encompasses spring high tides and other high 

tides that occur with periodic frequency but does not include storm 

surges in which there is a departure from the normal or predicted reach 

of the tide due to the piling up of water against a coast by strong 

winds such as those accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm.

    (e) The term ordinary high water mark means that line on the shore 

established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical 

characteristics such as clear, natural line impressed on the bank, 

shelving, changes in the character of soil, destruction of terrestrial 

vegetation, the presence of litter and debris, or other appropriate 

means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas.

    (f) The term tidal waters means those waters that rise and fall in a 

predictable and measurable rhythm or cycle due to the gravitational 

pulls of the moon and sun. Tidal waters end where the rise and fall of 

the water surface can no longer be practically measured in a predictable 

rhythm due to masking by hydrologic, wind, or other effects.



[51 FR 41250, Nov. 13, 1986, as amended at 58 FR 45036, Aug. 25, 1993]