Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 301 CMR - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS › Title 301 CMR 23.00 - Review and Approval of Municipal Harbor Plans › Section 23.05 - Standards for Municipal Harbor Plan Approval

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
An MHP or portion thereof shall be approved only upon a written
				determination by the Secretary that the following standards have been
				met.
(1) The MHP must be consistent
			 with all CZM Policies, as applicable. In evaluating the MHP for such
			 consistency, the Secretary shall take into account all relevant guidance as to
			 the interpretation and application of such Policies as may be available in
			 documents comprising the CZM Plan and other policy-related materials issued by
			 CZM, such as federal consistency determinations.
(2) The MHP must be consistent with state
			 tidelands policy objectives and associated regulatory principles, as set forth
			 in
			 310 CMR
			 9.00:
Waterways
. In evaluating the
			 MHP for such consistency, the Secretary shall take into account all relevant
			 guidance as to the interpretation and application of such regulations as may be
			 available in written determinations, licensing decisions, and other
			 administrative documents issued pursuant to
			 310 CMR
			 9.00, or as may otherwise be provided by DEP in
			 accordance with the consultation procedures of
			 301 CMR
			 23.08(2). In addition, the
			 Secretary shall act in accordance with the following provisions.
(a) As articulated in
			 310 CMR
			 9.00:
Waterways
, the primary state
			 tidelands policy objectives with which the MHP must be consistent are as
			 follows:
1. to ensure that development of all
			 tidelands complies with other applicable environmental regulatory programs of
			 the Commonwealth as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.33:
Environmental Protection
			 Standards
, and is especially protective of aquatic resources within
			 coastal Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.32(1)(e):
Areas of
			 Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)
;
2. to preserve any rights held by the
			 Commonwealth in trust for the public to use tidelands for lawful purposes, and
			 to preserve any public rights of access that are associated with such use, as
			 provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.35:
Standards to Preserve
			 Water-related Public Rights
;
3. to preserve the availability and
			 suitability of tidelands that are in use for water-dependent purposes, or that
			 are reserved primarily as locations for maritime industry or other specific
			 types of water-dependant use, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.32(1)(b):
Tidelands Within Designated Port Areas (DPAs)
and 9.36:
Standards to Protect Water-dependent Uses
;
4. to ensure that all licensed fill and
			 structures are structurally sound and otherwise designed and built in a manner
			 consistent with public health and safety and with responsible environmental
			 engineering practice, especially in coastal high hazard zones and other areas
			 subject to flooding or sea-level rise, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.37:
Engineering and Construction
			 Standards
;
5. to ensure
			 patronage of public recreational boating facilities by the general public and
			 to prevent undue privatization in the patronage of private recreational boating
			 facilities, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.38:
Use Standards for Recreational
			 Boating Facilities
; and to ensure that fair and equitable methods are
			 employed in the assignment of moorings to the general public by harbormasters,
			 as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.07:
Activities Subject to Annual
			 Permit
;
6. to ensure that
			 marinas, boatyards, and boat-launching ramps are developed in a manner that is
			 consistent with sound engineering and design principles, and include such
			 pumpout facilities and other mitigation measures as are appropriate to avoid or
			 minimize adverse impacts on water quality, physical processes, marine
			 productivity, and public health, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.39:
Standards for
			 Marinas/Boatyards/Boat Ramps
;
7. to ensure that dredging and disposal of
			 dredged material is conducted in a manner that avoids unnecessary disturbance
			 of submerged lands and otherwise avoids or minimizes adverse effects on water
			 quality, physical processes, marine productivity, and public health, as
			 provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.40:
Standards for Dredging and
			 Dredged Material Disposal
;
8. to ensure that nonwater-dependent use
			 projects do not unreasonably diminish the capacity of any tidelands to
			 accommodate water-dependent use, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.51:
Conservation of Capacity for
			 Water-dependent Use
;
9. to
			 ensure that nonwater-dependent use projects on any tidelands devote a
			 reasonable portion of such lands to water-dependent use, including public
			 access in the exercise of public rights in said lands, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.52:
Utilization of Shoreline for
			 Water-dependent Purposes
; and
10. to ensure that nonwater-dependent use
			 projects on Commonwealth tidelands, except in DPAs, promote public use and
			 enjoyment of such lands to a degree that is fully commensurate with the
			 proprietary rights of the Commonwealth therein, and that ensures that private
			 advantages of use are not primary but merely incidental to the achievement of
			 public purposes, as provided in
			 310 CMR
			 9.53:
Utilization of Shoreline for
			 Water-dependent Purposes
.