Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 10.00 - Wetlands Protection › Regulations for All Wetlands › Section 10.06 - Emergencies

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1) Unless authorized by a Severe Weather
				Emergency Declaration issued by the Commissioner pursuant to 310 CMR 10.06(8),
				any person requesting permission to do an emergency project shall specify why
				the project is necessary for the protection of the health or safety of the
				citizens of the Commonwealth and what agency of the Commonwealth or subdivision
				thereof is to perform the project or has ordered the project to be performed.
				If the project is certified to be an emergency by the conservation commission
				or the Commissioner, the certification shall include a description of the work
				which is to be allowed and shall not include work beyond that necessary to
				abate the emergency. A site inspection shall be made prior to
				certification.
(2) An emergency
				certification shall be issued only for the protection of public health or
				safety.
(3) The time limitation for
				performance of emergency work shall not exceed 30 days, or 60 days for
				Immediate Response Actions approved by the Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC)
				of the Department of Environmental Protection in accordance with the provisions
				of
				310 CMR
				40.0410: Immediate Response Actions, unless
				written approval of the Commissioner is obtained.
(4) A copy of an emergency certification
				shall be sent to the Department when it is issued by a conservation commission,
				and to the conservation commission when it is issued by the
				Department.
(5) The Department may,
				on its own motion or at the request of any person, review: an emergency
				certification issued by a conservation commission and any work permitted
				thereunder; a denial by a conservation commission of a request for emergency
				certification; or the failure by a conservation commission to act within 24
				hours of a request for emergency certification. Such review shall not operate
				to stay the work permitted by the emergency certification unless the Department
				specifically so orders. The Department's review shall be conducted within seven
				days of: issuance by a conservation commission of the emergency certification;
				denial by a conservation commission of the emergency certification; or failure
				by a conservation commission to act within 24 hours of a request for emergency
				certification. If certification was improperly granted, or the work allowed
				thereunder is excessive or not required to protect the health and safety of
				citizens of the Commonwealth, the Department may revoke the emergency
				certification, condition the work permitted thereunder, or take such other
				action as it deems appropriate.
(6)
Agricultural Emergencies
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of 310 CMR
				10.06(1) through (4), any person may undertake work for the emergency
				agricultural activities described in 310 CMR 10.06(6)(g) when necessary to:
1. eliminate an imminent threat to land in
				agricultural use;
2. restore land
				in agricultural use that has been damaged due to a storm or other sudden,
				unforeseen event; or
3. provide an
				emergency agricultural water source when the existing agricultural water source
				suddenly and unforeseeably has been rendered unusable or unavailable.
4. eradicate an infestation of Asian
				longhorned beetles (Anoplophora glabripennis) in response to an order or
				regulation issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
				pursuant to 7 USC §§ 7701 et seq. (the Plant Protection Act), or the
				Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) pursuant to M.G.L. c. 132,
				§ 11.