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(1) Classification. The following definitions and terms shall be used in classifying geologically hazardous areas:

(a) Landslide Hazard Areas. Lands potentially subject to mass movement due to a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors. The following classifications shall be designated as landslide hazards and are subject to the requirements of this chapter:

(i) Areas of historic, existing or ongoing landslide activity as evidenced by downslope movement of a mass of materials including rock, soils, fills, and vegetation.

(ii) Glaciolacustrine silt and clays on terraces.

(iii) Slopes fifteen (15) percent or steeper with a combination of: slowly permeable silt and clay interbedded sand and gravel, and sidehill springs or seeps from perched water tables.

(iv) Soils mapped and described by the Soil Survey of Clallam County, Washington, issued February 1987, as amended, classified as having a severe or very severe erosion hazard potential.

(v) Planar slope forms sixty-five (65) percent or steeper with vertical relief of ten (10) or more feet, except areas composed of consolidated rock.

(vi) Concave slope forms twenty-five (25) percent or steeper with vertical relief of ten (10) or more feet, except areas composed of consolidated rock.

(vii) Any slopes greater than eighty (80) percent subject to rockfall during seismic shaking.

(viii) Marine coastlines including marine bluffs potentially unstable due to wave action or mass wasting and littoral dune systems which border the ordinary high water mark.

(ix) Ravines with a vertical relief of ten (10) or more feet in depth except areas composed of consolidated rock.

(x) Channel meander hazard. Areas subject to the natural movement of stream channel meanders associated with alluvial plains where long-term processes of erosion and accretion of the channel can be expected to occur. Such meander hazards are characterized by abandoned channels, ongoing sediment deposition and erosion, topographic position, and changes in the plant community, age, structure and composition. These areas do not include areas protected from channel movement due to the existence of permanent levees or infrastructure improvements such as roads and bridges constructed and maintained by public agencies. These areas also do not include areas outside the meander hazard which may be subject to rapid movement of the entire stream channel or avulsion.

(xi) Any area located on or adjacent to an active alluvial fan or debris flow, presently or potentially subject to inundation by debris or deposition of stream-transported sediments.

(xii) Slopes that are parallel or sub-parallel to planes of weakness, such as bedding planes, joint systems and fault planes in subsurface materials.

(b) Erosion Hazard Areas. Lands meeting the following classifications shall be designated as erosion hazard and are subject to the requirements of this chapter:

(i) Landslide hazard areas.

(ii) Areas of existing erosion activity which causes accelerated erosion, sedimentation of critical areas, and/or threatens public health, safety, and welfare.

(iii) Any slope forty (40) percent or steeper with a vertical relief of ten (10) or more feet, except areas composed of consolidated rock.

(iv) Concave slope forms equal to or greater than fifteen (15) percent with a vertical relief of ten (10) or more feet, except areas composed of consolidated rock.

(v) Soils classified by the soil survey of Clallam County as having a moderate, severe, or very severe erosion hazard potential.

(c) Seismic Hazard Areas. Lands meeting the following classifications shall be designated as seismic hazard and are subject to the requirements of this chapter.

(i) Landslide hazard areas and materials.

(ii) Artificial fills especially on soils listed in subsection (1)(c)(iii) of this section and areas with perched water tables.

(iii) The following soil types described within the Clallam County soil survey as beaches, Mukilteo muck, Lummi silt loam, Sequim-McKenna-Mukilteo complex, and Tealwhit silt loam.

(iv) Other areas as determined by the Clallam County Building Official pursuant to 1997 Washington State Uniform Building Code, Chapter 18, as amended.

(2) Designation. Lands classified as landslide, erosion or seismic hazards are hereby designated as geologically hazardous areas and are subject to the procedures and standards of this chapter and section. Geologically hazardous areas shall be mapped whenever possible. These maps shall be advisory and used by the Administrator to provide guidance in determining applicability of the standards to a property. Sites which include geologically hazardous areas which are not mapped shall be subject to the provisions of this section and chapter. These maps may be based on the following information sources:

(a) Sweet Edwards/EMCOM Hazard Rating Maps;

(b) Coastal Zone Management Atlas;

(c) Soil Survey of Clallam County;

(d) U.S.G.S. Topographic Maps;

(e) Aerial photos; and

(f) Recent geologic events.