Source: https://www.mass.gov/guides/wetlands-information
Timestamp: 2019-05-27 08:22:06
Document Index: 493942666

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 6']

Wetlands Information | Mass.gov
Guide Wetlands Information
Wetlands are an important feature in the protection of water resources in Massachusetts. They can help clean drinking water supplies. Wetlands prevent flooding and storm damage during storm events. And wetlands also support a huge variety of wildlife!
Factsheet: Summary of 2014 Revisions to Wetlands, Waterways, and Water Quality Certification Regulations
Revisions to Massachusetts' Wetlands, Waterways, and Water Quality Certification regulations to streamline permitting procedures while maintaining environmental protection. Revised October 2014.
Ecological Restoration Projects Slide Presentation
Explains the revisions to the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations (310 CMR 10.00) promulgated in October 2014, including new project types and eligibility requirements. November 2014.
Ecological Restoration Permitting Flowchart
The Ecological Restoration Permitting Flowchart visually depicts how to distinguish between the two wetlands regulatory permitting options for ecological restoration projects - the General Permit or Limited Project.
Information about the 2010 Permit Extension Act, which established an automatic four-year extension to certain permits and licenses relative to the use or development of real property during the qualifying period of August 15, 2008 through August 15, 2012.
Aerial Application of Pesticide to Control Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) Carrying Mosquitoes
All about Eastern Equine Encephalitis and aerial spraying of pesticides to control mosquitos that carry the disease.
What municipal officials need to know about wetlands protection and permitting requirements.
What are wetlands, and how MassDEP works to protect them from pollution and loss - an overview of the Wetlands Program and how it works with communities and other interests.
What wetlands are, their importance to the environment and economy, and what we can all do together to preserve and protect them.
MassDEP's Wetlands Circuit Rider Program
Circuit riders provide technical, administrative, and regulatory assistance to conservation commissions, municipal boards, and consultants, in implementing the provisions of the Wetlands Protection Act.
Wetlands & Waterways Presentations and Fact Sheets
Wetlands- and Waterways-related presentations and other materials from workshops, conferences, and meetings.
Wetlands Replication Study
Report of a 1998 study on wetland replication in 44 Massachusetts towns.
Mapping and Protecting Vulnerable Wetlands and Stormwater Management Planning Project
These maps show where each community's vulnerable wetlands are located relative to developed sites, so that they can better determine and plan the appropriate placement for, and type of, stormwater-control options to better protect these resources and reduce phosphorus loading to the Charles River.
Permitting Ecological Restoration Projects under the Wetlands Protection Act
MassDEP revised the wetlands regulations to encourage wetland restorations to support ecological connectedness and resilience, adaptation to sea level rise, and flood and storm damage protection for private property and public infrastructure. The regulatory process and procedures are explained in this video.
The Wetlands Stream Crossing Standards
The Massachusetts Stream Crossing Standards were incorporated into the wetlands regulations to support resilience to stream crossing infrastructure and to help maintain ecosystem integrity for fish and wildlife passage and to promote stream continuity. This video explains the standards for wetland resources that can also help to mitigate riverine flooding due to larger and more frequent storms.
Stream Crossing Catastrophe
This video illustrates how an undersized stream crossing can damage roadways that potentially affect public safety and local economies where the crossing serves as a major thoroughfare.
Vulnerable Wetlands:
MassDEP received Wetland Program Development grants from the U.S. EPA to create YouTube videos and training for MS4 communities on how to develop and use GIS maps as stormwater management planning tools.
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 1: What they are and why they are important
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 2: Stormwater and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 3: Headwater streams and vernal pool clusters
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 4: GIS maps - vulnerable wetlands index and subwatershed of interest
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 5: GIS Maps - subwatershed of interest series
Vulnerable Wetlands Part 6: 10 rules of thumb to protect and restore vulnerable wetlands
Final wetland monitoring and assessment reports, including field and assessment data
Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment: Research and Development
This list contains some of the research that has been conducted by MassDEP, UMass-Amherst and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to develop a Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Strategy for Massachusetts.
Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) ensure the reliability and scientific accuracy of data collected during environmental monitoring field work.
Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment: Final Reports and Data
This listing includes final wetland monitoring and assessment reports, including field and assessment data.
Salt Marsh Monitoring - Flickr Gallery
Photos from salt marsh sampling on the North Shore in August 2009.
Wetlands Permitting & Forms
These forms will help you apply for permits for wetlands projects.
Key Actions for Wetlands Permitting & Forms
Wetlands Permitting Forms
Additional Resources for Wetlands Permitting & Forms
Open file for Wetlands NOI Lookup
Online Wetland Permitting
Electronic filing allows MassDEP to more easily track permitted impacts, determine responsibility for wetland loss, pursue enforcement, and monitor compliance & mitigation success.
301 CMR 10.00: Densely Developed Areas
Defines a "densely developed area" under the Rivers Protection Act to protect wetlands in Massachusetts.
310 CMR 12.00: Adopting Coastal Wetlands Orders
Procedures for issuing activity-restriction orders in coastal wetlands areas.
310 CMR 13.00: Adopting Inland Wetlands Orders
Procedures for issuing activity-restriction orders in inland wetlands areas.
310 CMR 23.00: Renovation of Abandoned Cranberry Bogs
Establishes a permit process and performance standards for the renovation of eligible abandoned cranberry bogs.
Governs the fees set for MassDEP-issued permits and approvals, and the timelines for review of submitted permit applications.
Ensuring that dredging operations and material comply with the requirements of the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards and the federal Clean Water Act.
Guidance on Agriculture and Solar Energy under the Wetlands Protection Act and the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program
Regulatory guidance to cranberry growers, conservation commissions, solar power development companies, and other interested parties on the applicability of the Wetlands Protection Act to the installation of solar panels at cranberry-growing facilities.
Beach Nourishment: MassDEP's Guide to Best Management Practices for Projects in MA
The Massachusetts Vegetated Buffer Manual
Applying the Massachusetts Coastal Wetlands Regulations: A Practical Manual for Conservation Commissions
This guidance document was developed by the Office of Coastal Zone Management and MassDEP to help Conservation Commissions evaluate projects proposed in coastal resource areas for their potential to impact the storm damage prevention and flood control interests of the Wetlands Protection Act. It gives Commissions tools, data, and information to delineate the coastal resource areas, determine resource area functions, assess potential project impacts, and evaluate whether the project meets, or can be conditioned to meet, the performance standards. The manual also includes a separate attachment, Data Checklists for the Delineation of Resource Areas - Supplement to the Coastal Manual, which can be printed and carried out to the field to record information about landform features and characteristics. August 2017.
Dam Removal and the Wetlands Regulations
Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands Under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act
Complete Erosion and Sedimentation Control Guidelines: a Guide for Planners, Designers, and Municipal Officials
Eutrophication and Aquatic Plant Management In Massachusetts Final Generic Environmental Impact Report
Enforcement Manual for Wetlands
Forestry Memorandum of Understanding | Summary of Forestry Memorandum of Understanding
The DEP and Department of Conservation Recreation have collaborated in the review and update of the 1995 Forestry Exemption of the Wetlands Protection Act and the Requirements of the Forest Cutting Practices Act (MOU) to be more consistent with sustainable forest practices. The June 2018 edition of the MOU identifies the roles that each agency will play to ensure that forestry practices are conducted in an environmentally responsible manner consistent with the wetland and forest cutting practices regulations. The MOU also serves to advise municipal conservation commissions, landowners, and other persons involved in forestry activities as to the respective roles and responsibilities of all involved.
Farming in Wetland Resource Areas Manual: 1996 Edition
Massachusetts Wildlife Habitat Protection Guidance for Inland Wetlands
West Nile Virus Application of Pesticides to Wetlands Resource Areas
Stormwater Policies & Guidance for Wetlands
Revised and updated in February 2008 in accordance with revisions to the Wetlands regulations, 310 CMR 10.00, and the Water Quality Regulations, 314 CMR 9.00, relating to stormwater.
Changes to the Stormwater Management Standards, 2008
Wetlands Program Notice to Adopt Method to Convert Stormwater Quality Volume to a Peak Flow Rate
This is a notice that MassDEP is standardizing the computational method used to size proprietary manufactured stormwater treatment devices as part of the Wetlands Protection Program’s ongoing efforts to reduce stormwater pollution.
Wetlands Program Method to Convert Stormwater Water Quality Volume to Peak Flow Rate
Information on debris management, emergency repairs to structures located in wetlands, guidance on responding to spills of oil or hazardous materials, and tools for water utilities.
Wetlands Program Policy 17-1: Photovoltaic System Solar Array Review
Process for reviewing solar-array projects that may impact wetland areas.
Wetlands Program Policy 85-2: Isolated Land Subject to Flooding
Definition and interpretation of the Wetlands Protection Act category "Land Subject to Flooding."
Wetlands Program Policy 85-4: Amended Orders
Policy on amended Orders of Conditions.
Wetlands Program Policy 86-1: Presumptions for Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems That Meet Title 5 or More Stringent Local Board of Health Requirements
Protecting the interests of the Wetlands Protection Act within the requirements of Title 5 or more stringent local Board of Health requirements.
Wetlands Program Policy 87-1: Expedited Review
Policy for expedited review of license, approval, or permit applications.
Wetlands Policy 88-2: Access Roadways
Determining whether a new roadway qualifies for consideration as a limited project under the Wetlands Protection Act.
Wetlands Program Policy 88-3: Multiple Filings
Policy for addressing projects for which multiple Notices of Intent have been filed.
Wetlands Program Policy 90-2: Rare Species
Determining adverse impacts to rare species habitat under the rules set forth in the Wetlands Protection Regulations.
Wetlands Program Policy 91-1: Plan Changes
This policy specifically distinguishes project plan changes which are substantial, and will require a new NOI filing, from those plan changes which are deemed insubstantial and thus may be considered as part of the appeal review process.
Wetlands Program Policy 91-2: Salt Ponds
Clarifying the Department's position on when salt pond openings to the ocean may be allowed in accordance with the Wetlands Protection Act, and providing guidance to the issuing authority with a process for the evaluation of a pond-opening proposal. This policy is intended to allow the Department to gather information and further evaluate the effects of pond openings.
Wetlands Program Policy 92-1: Coastal Banks
The purpose of this policy is to clarify the definition of coastal bank contained in the Wetlands Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00, by providing guidance for identifying 'top of coastal bank'. Regulatory Standards Coastal wetlands are defined in the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, s.40).
Wetlands Program Policy 95-1: Bordering Vegetated Wetland Delineation Criteria & Methodology
This policy defines which plant species or other plants are wetland indicator plants as specified in the wetland regulations (310 CMR 10.55(2)(c)). This policy also identifies a standard methodology for determining the boundary of Bordering Vegetated Wetlands (BVWs) in accordance with 310 CMR 10.55(2)(c)(1-3).
Wetlands Policy: Coordinated Review Relating to Endangered Species
Procedures for coordinated review under the Endangered Species and Wetlands Protection Regulations for state-listed wildlife in wetlands.
Wetlands Program Policy 08-1: Lack of Information Necessary for Conservation Commission Decisions
Reviewing requests for Superseding Orders of Conditions when a conservation commission denies an Order of Conditions (OOC), a Request for Determination of Applicability, or a Notice of Resource Area Delineation due to a lack of necessary information pursuant to 310 CMR 10.05(6).
Communities with Previously Registered Wetlands
Cities and towns that currently have registered wetlands with accompanying restriction orders under either the Coastal Wetlands Restriction Act (c.130, s.105) or the Inland Wetlands Restriction Act (c.131, s.40A).
Wetlands Program - Orthophotoquad Map Use & Distribution
List of possible municipal uses for Wetlands Orthophotoquad Maps.
Massachusetts Ecological Integrity Maps and MassDEP Maps Depicting Habitat of Potential Regional or Statewide Importance
These maps are intended to help prioritize land for conservation based on the assessment of ecological communities. The maps represent a percentage of the landscape with the highest wildlife-habitat value. Activities in these areas that are subject to the Wetlands Protection regulations should conduct a detailed wildlife habitat evaluation.
The current MassDEP Eelgrass layer is being updated. A paper has been published explaining the methodology of the updates.
Wetlands Loss Maps Q&A
This Q&A describes Wetlands Loss Maps. In order to protect this valuable land, MassDEP began compiling aerial photographs of the state to track the alteration and loss of wetlands. By comparing the photos, MassDEP can more effectively enforce the Wetlands Protection Act to restore already damaged areas and devise better strategies to prevent the destruction of these valuable resource areas.
Wetlands Maps: Mouth of Coastal River
Massachusetts Mouth of Coastal River Maps: These maps identify the Mouth Of The River (MOR) for coastal rivers in order to provide a clear, consistent, and predictable means of locating all river mouths in the Commonwealth.