Maps, Forms & Glossary

The average load or force at which the item fails or no longer supports a load. (New York City Economic Development Corporation, Waterfront Facilities Maintenance Management System, May 2016)

Any one of a number of remote and hand-held devices which use a timed pulse-echo signal to gauge the wall thickness of a metal member. (New York City Economic Development Corporation, Waterfront Facilities Maintenance Management System, May 2016)

The procedure by which uses, development, or improvement of real property subject to city regulation are reviewed pursuant to NYC Charter Section 197-c. (NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability)

The portion of a pier or wharf structure between the bottom of the deck and the waterline. (New York City Economic Development Corporation, Waterfront Facilities Maintenance Management System, May 2016)

An action that is neither a Type I Action nor a Type II Action. (NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability)

Direction opposite the predominant movement of littoral materials in longshore transport. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Beyond the FEMA designated 100 year flood plain. (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, In-Water and Riparian Management of Sediment and Dredged Material, November 2004)

Live branch cuttings placed in layers with soil lifts wrapped in erosion control fabric. (Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Hudson River Shoreline Restoration Alternatives Analysis, 2006)

Vegetated shallows are special aquatic sites under the 404(b)(1) Guidelines. (US Army Corps of Engineers, 2012 Nationwide Permits, Conditions, and Definitions)

Waves generated by the motion of a vessel through water. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Horizontal beam on a bulkhead used to laterally transfer loads against the structure and hold it in a straight alignment. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

An imaginary vertical column of water used as a control volume for computational purposes. Usually the size of a unit area and as deep as the depth of water at that location. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory Glossary, 2015)

An activity that can only be conducted on, in, over or adjacent to a waterbody because such activity requires access to water, and involves the use of water as an integral part of the activity. (Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, Title 6. Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Chapter 5. Subchapter E, Part 608. Use and Protection of Waters, Definitions)

For purposes of the Nationwide Permits, a waterbody is a jurisdictional water of the United States. If a jurisdictional wetland is adjacent - meaning bordering, contiguous, or neighboring - to a waterbody determined to be a water of the United States, that waterbody and its adjacent wetlands are considered together as a single aquatic unit. Examples of "waterbodies" include streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands (US Army Corps of Engineers, 2012 Nationwide Permits, Conditions, and Definitions)

That area of land within which or upon which the flow of water is ordinarily confined due to existing topography. (Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, Title 6. Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Chapter 5. Subchapter E, Part 608. Use and Protection of Waters, Definitions)

The activity on waterfront property which encompasses the receipt of cargo or goods at the wharves, piers, docks or bulkheads from ships and their delivery to points inland, or the receipt of such cargo or goods at such wharves, piers, docks or bulkheads from points inland for shipment by ships, and shall include the temporary storage of such cargo or goods in the sheds or warehouses on such property pending their delivery or shipment. (Rules of the City of New York, Title 66: Department of Small Business Services)

All property whether owned by The City of New York or privately owned, fronting on all the tidal waters in the port of The City of New York and including all upland extending inshore to the property line of the first adverse owner and shall include such land under water extending outshore to the pierhead line or the property line, whichever extends furthest outshore. This term includes all property defined as "wharf property" below. (Rules of the City of New York, Title 66: Department of Small Business Services)

Juncture of land and sea. This line migrates, changing with the tide or other fluctuation in water level. Where waves are present on the beach, this line is also known as the limit of backrush. (Approximately, the intersection of land with Stillwater level.) (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

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, as well as other waters such as intrastate lakes, rivers, streams, (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds. These are waters where permits are required for the discharge of dredged or fillmaterial pursuant to Section 404. (US Army Corps of Engineers New York District, Regulatory Program Applicant Information Guide, 2014)

Ridge, deformation, or undulation of the surface of a liquid. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Normal seasonal wave regimen along a shoreline. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Highest part of a wave or that part above still water level. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Progressive reduction in wave height when a wave spreads into the shadow zone behind a barrier after the wave has passed its end. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Direction from which a wave approaches. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Vertical distance between a crest and the preceding trough. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Time in which a wave crest traverses a distance equal to one wavelength. Time for two successive wave crests to pass a fixed point. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

A ray is a line extending outward from the source and representing the direction of propagation of the wave at any point along it. Rays are perpendicular to wave fronts. (Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Living Shoreline Design Guidelines for Shore Protection in Virginia' s Estuarine Environments, 2010)

See REFRACTION (of water waves). (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Ratio of wave height to wavelength. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Lowest part of a wave form between successive crests. Also, that part of a wave below that part of a wave below Stillwater level. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Horizontal distance between similar points on two successive waves measured perpendicular to the crest. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

The portion(s) of a geometric cross-ection parallel to the weak axis of bending. The term web is most commonly applied to that portion flanges of an H-pile or beam. (New York City Economic Development Corporation, Waterfront Facilities Maintenance Management System, May 2016)

Hole through a solid revetment, bulkhead, or seawall for relieving pore pressure. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Structure which raises the water level or diverts water flow. (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, In-Water and Riparian Management of Sediment and Dredged Material, November 2004)

Activities conducted in existing wetlands or other natural habitat to achieve specific management objectives or provide conditions which previously did not exist, and which increase one or more ecosystem functions. Enhancement may involve tradeoffs between the resource structure, function, and values; a positive change in one may result in negative effects to other functions. Examples of activities which may be carried out to enhance wetlands or natural habitats include, but are not limited to, alteration of hydrologic regime, vegetation management, erosion control, fencing, integrated pest management and control, and fertilization. (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2016)

A period of time agreed to by the FHWA, State DOT, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as necessary to establish wetland or natural habitat functional capacity in a compensatory mitigation project sufficient to compensate wetlands or habitat losses due to impacts of Federal-aid highway projects. The establishment period may vary depending on the specific wetland or habitat type being developed. (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2024)

The ability of a wetland or natural habitat to perform natural functions, such as provide wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, store surface water, or perform biogeochemical transformations, as determined by scientific functional assessment. Natural functions of wetlands include, but are not limited to, those listed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at 33 CFR 320.4(b)(2)(i) through (viii). (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2016)

The protection of ecologically important wetlands, other aquatic resources, or other natural habitats in perpetuity through the implementation of appropriate legal and physical mechanisms. Preservation of wetlands for compensatory mitigation purposes may include protection of upland areas adjacent to wetlands as necessary to ensure protection and/or enhancement of the aquatic ecosystem. (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2016)

The reestablishment of wetlands or natural habitats on a site where they formerly existed or exist in a substantially degraded state. (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2016)

Under the Clean Water Act, 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." (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, In-Water and Riparian Management of Sediment and Dredged Material, November 2004)

A unit of wetlands or habitat mitigation, defined either by area or a measure of functional capacity through application of scientific functional assessment. With respect to mitigation banks, this definition means the same as that in the Federal Guidance for the Establishment, Use, and Operation of Mitigation Banks. (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 23, Part 777, March 2016)

An open-type marginal platform structure, usually parallel to the shoreline, that is used primarily for berthing of vessels. It is usually connected to the shore at more than one point but may also have continuous access along the shore. (New York City Economic Development Corporation, Waterfront Facilities Maintenance Management System, May 2016)

Wharves, piers, docks and bulkheads and structures thereon and slips and basins, the land beneath any of the foregoing, and all rights, privileges and easements appurtenant thereto and land under water in the port of The City of New York, and such upland or made land adjacent thereto owned by The City of New York as is vested in or may be assigned to the Department of Ports and Trade. (Rules of the City of New York, Title 66: Department of Small Business Services)

The analytical quantification of target analytes in sediments being dredged or proposed for dredging. (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, In-Water and Riparian Management of Sediment and Dredged Material, November 2004)

(1) Waves being formed and built up by wind. (2) Loosely, any waves generated by wind. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Direction from which wind is blowing. (US Army Corps of Engineers, Low Cost Shore Protection: A Property Owner's Guide, 2004)

Waterfront Revitalization Program