7 Del. Admin. Code § 7502-3.0
Proposed Wetlands Regulations were issued February 10, 1975 by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. These proposed regulations were drafted based on consultation with individuals knowledgeable in the field of wetlands, both singly and in workshops. A public hearing was held March 4, 1975 for the purpose of receiving comments and suggestions for the regulations. Public Notices were published in the Morning News and Evening Journal on February 3, 1975, Sussex Countian on February 6, 1975 and in the Delaware State News on February 9, 1975. Revised proposed regulations were issued January 19, 1976. A public hearing was held March 4, 1976. Public notices were published on February 5, 1976 in the Sussex Countian, Delaware State News, the Delaware Coastal Press and the Wilmington Morning News. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has carefully considered all submitted comments and materials, as well as basic materials available regarding wetlands in general and Delaware wetlands in particular. Data drawn from these sources is summarized in these Findings. Major changes from the proposed regulations and comments on other suggestions made are discussed below:
The historic right of private ownership land includes public regulation of land to prevent harm to the public. These regulations follow those historic principles.
Additional exemptions could not be added to the regulations because of the wording of 7 Del.C. 6604. This section requires a permit for all activities in all wetlands except those exempt in the Act.
Consideration of the effect of proposed wetlands activities on neighboring land is mandated by the Wetlands Act so that land use regulation will no longer be segmented.
Time limitations on final decisions of the Department which were suggested could cause a crippling effect on the program where complexities of the application or personal limitations require more time.
The definition of mean high water mark will provide guidance to the Department in those few instances where the designation as wetlands is not obvious from the vegetation and topographical features. There are standard methods of short-term observations at a specific site which are correlated with the long-term data from the National Ocean Survey, to provide a boundary for the Department to use.
Educational value of the wetlands was eliminated from the considerations of the Secretary for permit applications.
The suggestion of relatively rigid categories of wetlands was examined with interest, but not adopted. Administrative experience with wetland regulation will determine whether such categories should be adopted in the future.
7 Del. Admin. Code § 7502-3.0