Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §480-B, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 603, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

1.__Coastal sand dune systems.__"Coastal sand dune systems" means sand and gravel deposits within a marine beach system, including, but not limited to, beach berms, frontal dunes, dune ridges, back dunes and other sand and gravel areas deposited by wave or wind action.__Coastal sand dune systems may extend into coastal wetlands.__"Coastal sand dune systems" includes dunes that have been artificially created, dunes that have been altered by development activity and dunes supported by sand fencing or stabilization structures.__Coastal sand dune systems naturally migrate landward through the process of overwash.__For the purposes of this definition, a small windblown accumulation of sand within a street is not considered a dune.

Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §480-B, sub-§§1-A to 1-O are enacted to read:

1-A.__A-zone.__"A-zone" means an area of special flood hazard that is subject to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

1-B.__B-zone.__"B-zone" means the area between the landward boundary of an A-zone and the presumed high-water mark of a__ 500-year flood.__This zone also includes areas of 100-year shallow flooding where water depths are less than one foot or the flooded area is less than one acre.

1-C.__Back dunes.__"Back dunes" means sand dunes and eolian sand flats that lie landward of the frontal dune or a low- energy beach.__Back dunes include those areas containing artificial fill over back dune sands or over wetlands adjacent to the coastal sand dune system.

1-D.__Beach.__"Beach" means the zone of unconsolidated sand or gravel that extends landward from the mean low-water line to the seaward toe of a dune.__"Beach" includes the beach face and berm.

1-E.__Beach face.__"Beach face" means the portion of a foreshore that lies nearest to the sea and regularly receives the swash of breaking waves.__The beach face is the steepest part of the foreshore.

1-F.__Beach nourishment. "Beach nourishment" means the artificial addition of sand or gravel to a beach or subtidal area adjacent to a beach.