Initial Proposal 7/13/12 1
Readopt with amendment Res 5200-5300, effective 10/1/05 (Document #8441), to read as follows:
CHAPTER Res 5200 RULES FOR THE OPERATION OF WOOD PROCESSING MILLS AND WOOD CONCENTRATION YARDS
Statutory Authority: RSA 227-G:4, II
PART Res 5201 DEFINITIONS FOR WOOD PROCESSING MILLS AND WOOD CONCENTRATION YARDS
Res 5201.01 Definitions.
(a) “Any stream, river, or brook which normally flows throughout the year” means a stream, river, or brook with a well defined stream bed or channel, and which is not intermittent, flowing during all seasons of the year.
(b) “Director” means “director” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, IV, namely “the director of the division of forests and lands, department of resources and economic development.”
(c) “Division” means “division” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, V, namely “the division of forests and lands, department of resources and economic development.”
(d) “Great pond” means any body of fresh water having an area of 10 acres or more.
(e) “Mill residue” means any portion of a log or bolt, except the principal product(s) of the mill, and includes:
(1) Sawdust;
(2) Shavings;
(3) Bark;
(4) Slabs;
(5) Edgings;
(6) Trimmings;
(7) Woodchips;
(8) Chip screenings;
(9) Rejected short log sections;
(10) Log end trim;
(11) Discarded undersize logs;
(12) Discarded oversize logs;
(13) Discarded cull logs;
(14) Discarded below grade, miscut or damaged principal products; and
(15) Any brush or portion of tree limbs and tops.
(f) “Portable sawmill” means any mill processing a primary forest product, located on a lot currently being harvested, and designed to be moved to new locations.
(g) “Primary forest product” means “primary forest product” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, XIII, namely “any portion of a tree, after felling, which will be processed into a secondary forest product, or will be utilized in its primary form.”
(h) “Primary wood processing mill” means “primary wood processing mill” as defined in RSA 227G:2, XIV, namely “any permanent or portable mill, or any off-site log yard operated by a primary wood processing mill, wherever located, sawing or otherwise processing logs, bolts, pulpwood, or other primary forest products into secondary forest products.”
(i) “Secondary forest product” means, any primary forest product that has been further processed in a mill.
(j) “Slash” means, branches, bark, tops, chunks, cull logs, uprooted stumps and broken or uprooted brush and trees left on the ground after timber harvesting operations, and other cutting operations. Wood chips and small chunks of woody debris are not considered slash when such materials are the result of public safety activities including but not limited to highway right of way maintenance.
(k) “Timber harvesting operation” means the removal of primary forest products where the removal is subject to intent to cut requirements of RSA 79:10 or the removal is one of those activities identified as exceptions to the intent requirements of RSA 79:10.
(l) “Wood concentration yard” means “wood concentration yard” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, XVIII, namely “any site established and used for the purchase and resale of primary forest products from off-site locations and which is not a primary wood processing mill. Any site used primarily to process or store bark mulch shall not be a wood concentration yard.”
[(l)](m) “Woodland” means “woodland” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, XVII, namely “includes cut-over land, slash, and such other land as bears a sufficient amount of wood growth, wood, weeds, grass, or other growth as to be likely to be burned over.”
PART Res 5202 INSPECTION OF PRIMARY WOOD PROCESSING MILLS AND WOOD CONCENTRATION YARDS
Res 5202.01 Inspection.
(a) Upon inspection, if a mill or concentration yard is found to be operating in violation of any of the following, the director or the director's authorized agents shall cause such mill or concentration yard to suspend operation:
(1) All mills located after March 3, 1996 shall be situated so that no part of the mill or mill waste is closer than 50 feet of the edge of a public highway, great pond, any stream, river, or brook which normally flows throughout the year;
(2) Piles of sawdust, shavings, woodchips, and bark shall be on a surface cleared of all trees and brush and be separated from the mill, incinerator, slash, and other wood products by at least 25 feet at all times;
(3) Dead snags and limbs of coniferous trees within 10 feet of the ground shall be removed within the limits of the mill site;
(4) Sawdust and shaving bins or containers may be located anywhere on the mill site but shall be at least 25 feet from slash and wood products;
(5) The ground surface of the mill site for a distance of 60 feet from any portion of the mill shall be kept free from all slash and flammable debris;
(6) Every mill or concentration yard required to be registered shall be equipped with a spark arrester;
(7) Draining any crank case on the ground at any mill or concentration yard or dumping flammables within the cleared area shall be prohibited; and
(8) The ground about the oil or gas supply for any engine powering a mill shall be kept clean.
(b) Not withstanding (a) above, the director shall also cause a mill to suspend operation if the mill or concentration yard engages in practices or behaviors which because of fire would endanger the public health or safety and that of the forest resources of the state.
(c) If any mill or concentration yard has been ordered to suspend operations pursuant to (a) or (b) above, the department shall hold an adjudicative hearing not later than 10 working days from the date of said order. The hearing shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Res 200.
PART Res 5203 REGISTRATION OF PRIMARY WOOD PROCESSING MILLS OR WOOD CONCENTRATION YARDS
Res 5203.01 Registration Required. Each primary wood processing mill or wood concentration yard shall be registered prior to initial startup and renewed annually thereafter. A primary wood processing mill or concentration yard owner or operator shall apply for registration by completing and submitting Form 5200, as described in Res 5203.02.
Res 5203.02 Form 5200, Application for Registration of Primary Wood Processing Mill or Wood Concentration Yard.
(a) An applicant for registration of a primary wood processing mill or concentration yard shall supply on Form 5200 the following information:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the mill or concentration yard owner;
(2) An indication of whether the applicant is the owner, lessee, or other;
(3) The name, address, and telephone number of the mill or concentration yard operator, if different than the owner;
(4) An indication of whether the application is for an initial registration or an annual renewal;
(5) The type of mill or concentration yard being registered;
(6) The mill or concentration yard location;
(7) The principal product or products produced at the mill;
(8) The mill's annual production capacity, if applicable;
(9) The mill's estimated annual production, if applicable;
(10) The total volume of forest products processed and an estimate as to the state or province of origin; and
(11) The volume of wood chips, bark mulch and other mill byproducts produced.
(b) All information shall be typewritten.
(c) The applicant shall sign and date the form.
(d) The applicant shall include the fee of $20.00. If payment is by check or money order it shall be made payable to "treasurer, state of New Hampshire."
(e) The applicant shall mail or hand-deliver the completed application to:
Department of Resources and Economic Development
Division of Forests and Lands
172 Pembroke Road
P.O. Box 1856
Concord, NH 03302-1856
Res 5203.03 Notification of Registration of Primary Wood Processing Mill or Wood Concentration Yard.
(a) When a complete application for registration of a primary wood processing mill or wood concentration yard has been received by the director, the director shall issue a permanent registration number assigned to the mill or concentration yard together with a plate denoting such registration number, to be displayed in a conspicuous place at the mill or concentration yard.
(b) If the director determines that the application is deficient in any respect, the director shall, within 10 working days of receipt of the deficient application, notify the applicant in writing of the specific deficiencies and allow the applicant to amend the application.
PART Res 5204 REPORT OF PRIMARY WOOD PRODUCTS PROCESSED
Res 5204.01 Report Required.
(a) On or before January 31 of the following year, an operator of a registered primary wood processing mill or wood concentration yard shall submit to the director, a report by species and volume of primary wood products processed during the preceding calendar year.
(b) The report shall be based on the international 1/4 inch scale or its equivalent, or other commonly used basis of measure for products not measurable in board feet.
CHAPTER Res 5300 RULES FOR THE HARVESTING OF TIMBER
Statutory Authority: RSA 227-G:4, III and IV
PART Res 5301 DEFINITIONS FOR TIMBER HARVESTING
Res 5301.01 Definitions.
(a) “Basal area” means “basal area” as defined in RSA 227G:2, I, namely “the cross sectional area of a tree measured at a height of 4-1/2 feet above the ground, usually expressed in square feet per acre for a stand of trees.”
(b) “50 percent basal area” means 1/2 of the cumulative total of basal area of all live trees at least 2 inch diameter breast height which is the diameter measured 4-1/2 feet from ground level, before any trees were removed from specified area.
(c) “Director” means “director” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, IV, namely “the director of the division of forests and lands, department of resources and economic development.”
(d) “Fourth order stream” means “fourth order streams” as defined in RSA 227-G:2, XII, namely “those streams on a list maintained by the office of state planning, as of the effective date of this section, using the Strahler method whereby the highest year-round streams in a watershed are first order streams, their juncture yields second order streams, the juncture of second order streams yields third order streams, and the juncture of third order streams yields fourth order.”
(e) “Great pond” means any body of fresh water having an area of 10 acres or more.
(f) “Healthy growing trees” means live trees.
(g) “Land conversion” means the removal of naturally occurring or planted vegetation or planted trees from a specific lot, tract, or parcel of land or portion thereof for the purpose of permanently changing land use and characteristics from the natural growth or management and production of forest products to any other use. The term does not include silvicultural practices for forest or wildlife management purposes.
(h) “Landowner or authorized agent” means “owner” as defined in RSA 79:1, II (a), namely “any person or persons who own the land upon which wood or timber is cut; a previous owner who retains timber rights to land and who registers his claim with the registry of deeds; and any person who has purchased stumpage and cutting rights on public lands.”
(i) “Public highway” means highways such as are laid out in the mode prescribed therefore by statute, or roads which have been constructed for public travel over land which has been conveyed to a city or town or to the state by deed of a fee or easement interest, or roads which have been dedicated to the public use and accepted by the city or town in which such roads are located, or roads which have been used as such for public travel, other than travel to and from a toll bridge or ferry, for 20 years prior to January 1, 1968.
(j) “Scenic vista” means a point or area which affords a panoramic, unique, or highly pleasant view towards a feature or features in the distance.
(k) “Slash” means, branches, bark, tops, chunks, cull logs, uprooted stumps and broken or uprooted brush and trees left on the ground after timber harvesting operations, and other cutting operations. Wood chips and small chunks of woody debris are not considered slash when such materials are the result of public safety activities including but not limited to highway right of way maintenance.
(l) “Well distributed stand” means an intermixture of single trees and groups of trees interspersed throughout the specified area, such that the basal area is not concentrated in one portion of the specified area.
PART Res 5302 REQUIREMENTS FOR HARVESTING OF TIMBER
Res 5302.01 Conditions Required to Exceed 50 Percent Basal Area. One or more of the following conditions shall exist in order to exceed 50 percent basal area:
(a) Cutting up to and including 50 percent of the basal area of trees shall lead to substantial windthrow, mortality or other damage in the residual stand due to stand exposure, shallow or wet soils, stand age or species composition or a combination of these factors.
(b) Salvage of timber is necessary due to damage from fire, insects, diseases, ice, snow, wind or other such natural occurrences.
(c) Public safety is of a prime consideration, due to heavy conifer cover on the south side of major travel routes causing serious icing conditions.
(d) The location of clearings for log yards and truck routes within applicable areas is necessary due to terrain, wet soils, property boundaries, and other site conditions.
(e) Cutting is for the purpose of improving wildlife habitat and can be demonstrated to be part of a long term forest management plan or strategy.