Welcome to CZ-Mail, the monthly email update from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). This update provides information on major CZM initiatives, available tools and publications, upcoming workshops and events, grants, contracting opportunities, job openings, coastal legislation, and other news of interest to people working on coastal issues. More information about CZM's programs, publications, and other coastal topics can be found online at http://www.mass.gov/czm/. If you have suggestions on how to make CZ-Mail more useful, would like to add your name to the mailing list, or would like to have your name removed, please email your request to CZ-Mail@state.ma.us.

2002 Pumpout List and Tide Chart Available
Sewage released from boats contributes bacteria, nutrients, and chemicals to coastal waters. Pumpout facilities are available throughout Massachusetts so boaters can conveniently and properly dispose of their wastes. To get a wallet-sized 2002 Boater Guide to Tides and Pumpout Facilities, which is printed on water-proof paper and contains pumpout information and a tide chart for Massachusetts, email your request and mailing address to czm@state.ma.us. For an electronic copy of the 2002 pumpout list, go to www.mass.gov/czm/potoc.htm.

Federal/State/Industry Initiative for Cleaner Outboard Engines
On March 27, a partnership of federal and state agencies, along with industry representatives, kicked off “Get On Board,” a voluntary initiative to encourage the sale of low-polluting outboard motors and personal watercraft engines in Massachusetts. Modeled after a successful New Hampshire program, the initiative is designed to accelerate the sale of low pollution 2- and 4-stroke marine engines, which emit substantially less pollution than conventional marine engines. Together, the “Get On Board” partners will work to achieve a goal of selling 75 percent clean engines in Massachusetts in 2002, 80 percent in 2003, and 95 percent by 2004. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations require that by 2006, all manufacturers’ average emissions for new outboard and personal watercraft engines meet low-pollution standards. The “Get On Board” partners are EPA's New England Office, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, the Cape Cod Marine Trades Association, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, and the Marine Retailers Association of America. For more on cleaner outboard engines, see the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm/boatengines.htm.

Grant Opportunities
Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grant Round Starts June 1 - The Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grant Program administered by CZM provides communities in the coastal watershed with funds to reduce transportation-related nonpoint pollution sources, specifically stormwater runoff from roadways and sewage from boats. Over the last 7 years, CZM has funded 72 projects totaling approximately $3.4 million. As in past years, about $600,000 is available for the 2002 grant round and the Request for Responses (RFRs) will be released on June 1. Proposals are due July 31, 2002. Announcement letters and RFRs are sent directly to conservation commissions and departments of public works in coastal watershed committees, and the RFR will also be available on the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm. For more information on the CPR Program, communities south of Boston should email Steve.Mckenna@state.ma.us. Boston and communities north should email or Robin.Lacey@state.ma.us.

4 the Environment Grants - This CZM grant program assists and encourages municipalities to replace traditional 2-stroke outboard motorboat engines with cleaner, more efficient 4-stroke engines or new 2-stroke engines that meet the same environmental standards. (For more on the clean engine issue, see the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm/boatengines.htm. Specifically, CZM is targeting engines that run for hundreds of hours annually in shallow, sensitive areas, typically those involved with shellfish and water quality monitoring operations, along with other town waterway tasks. CZM provides 75 percent of the cost of a clean-burning engine, with a 25 percent cash match from the municipality, and the municipality must agree to retire the existing 2-stroke engine being replaced. This year, municipalities that demonstrate that they have a unique requirement for an outboard engine above 50 horsepower (last year's limit) will be eligible for funding as well, although CZM's share for these engines may be less than 75 percent. The RFR for these grants is expected to be released on May 1. For more on how to apply for these grants, email Steve.Mckenna@state.ma.us.

Job Postings
Coastal Geology Fellow - CZM is offering a part-time paid fellowship to conduct research on various coastal process topics, assist CZM Coastal Geologists in drafting educational materials, and assist in setting up a database for CZM technical assistance projects. The application deadline for this position is April 11. For a complete posting, see the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm.

COASTSWEEP Coordinator - CZM is offering a paid fellowship to coordinate COASTSWEEP, the state-wide beach cleanup held throughout September and October. The fellow will work part-time in May, full-time from June-September, and then part-time through November. The application deadline is April 11. A complete posting is available at www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm.

Dredge Disposal Site Data Management Fellow - CZM is offering a part-time paid fellowship to collect and assemble monitoring data associated with several aquatic sites for the disposal of dredged materials. In addition, the fellow will be responsible for reviewing the permits authorizing use of these sites and for determining whether permit conditions relating to data acquisition have been fulfilled. The application deadline is April 11. For more information, see www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm.

GIS Fellow - CZM is offering a fellowship to play a critical role in the development and maintenance of MORIS, Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System, a powerful tool for coastal managers to collect, manage, search, and display data relevant to a wide array of coastal issues. Specifically, the GIS Fellow will contact state agencies, nonprofits, and other coastal management entities to identify data that they have available, and evaluate the appropriateness/usefulness of this data for MORIS. The GIS Fellow will then collect, format, and incorporate this data into MORIS. Applications are due April 19. For the full posting, see www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm.

Invasive Species Education Fellow - CZM is seeking an intern to work with the Aquatic Invasive Species Working Group to compile and develop educational materials regarding aquatic invasive species. Applications must be received by April 11. See the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm/jobsandgrants.htm for a complete posting.

Calendar
Coastal Decision-Maker Workshops - These workshops are designed to provide information on current science and management issues to coastal decision-makers (i.e., planners, selectmen, town administrators, scientists, landscapers, real estate agents, builders, fishermen, water quality monitors, and others who make decisions in their professional lives or in volunteer capacities that affect coastal resources). These workshops are a partnership of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, CZM, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant. Upcoming workshops that are part of this series include:

• April 9 - New Insights for Cape Cod ACECs. An opportunity to learn about Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and ideas for stewardship, to be held at the West Barnstable Community Building. For information, email Katie Lund, at katie.lund@state.ma.us or call (508) 289-2889.
• April 19-20 - QPX Technical Workshop. An "invitation only" workshop on the current status of technical knowledge of the quahog disease QPX. The audience is researchers involved in QPX research and state shellfish regulators from New Jersey to Maine. For information, contact Dale Leavitt at (508) 830-6478.
• April 26 - Entering the New Energy Age Workshop-Energy Efficiency for Municipalities. Learn about ways to assess and reduce energy use, modifying behaviors to achieve "no-cost" energy savings, and various funding options. Contact Laurie Tompkins at (508) 457-0495 x108 for more information.
• April-June - Coastal Hazards Workshop Series. These four workshops will introduce the latest scientific and management tools relating to a wide variety of coastal hazard issues including coastal development, shore protection, and hazard mitigation. The workshops are scheduled for April 16, May 2, May 23, and June 8. See the CZM website at http://www.mass.gov/czm/hazards/index.htm for times, locations, contact and registration information, and details on the topics covered at each workshop.
• June 6 - North Shore Botany Training. The CZM soils training program for conservation commissioners and their agents has been expanded this year to include botany training, thanks to funding provided by the Parker and Ipswich Rivers Watershed Teams. These classroom and “field” sessions incorporate the identification of numerous trees and plants for wetland delineations. The first field session is free and will be held on June 6 from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. The program will start at Endicott Park in Danvers but will be moving to several other locations. Space is very limited. To register or obtain additional information, email andrea.cooper@state.ma.us or call CZM North Shore Regional Office at (978) 281-3972.
• Spring - Current Status of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Restoration and Management. A workshop on the current status of SAV management and restoration to be held in Woods Hole. Contact Bill Burt at (508) 375-6702 for details.
• Spring - Aquaculture Business Cooperative. A development workshop to investigate small business options for small-scale shellfish farmers interested in developing their own marketing/handling cooperative. For information, contact Dale Leavitt at (508) 830-6478.

Earthday - CZM will have a booth at the 92.9 WBOS EarthFest 2002 at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston on Saturday April 27, 2002. Come visit to learn about CZM programs, projects, and volunteer opportunities. For more on EarthFest 2002, see the WBOS website at www.wbos.com.

Legislative Update
Environmental Bond Bill - The Environmental Bond Bill (House Bill 4909), was filed by Governor Jane M. Swift in June of 2001 and included $750 million in capital funds for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and its departments for the next five years. This February, the bill was reported from the Committee on Long-Term Debt, which funded all accounts originally proposed, but at a $625 million level. All programs that are currently depleted or will be depleted in the coming months, such as Self-Help, Urban Self-Help, the Watershed Initiative, Agricultural Preservation Restrictions, the Department of Environmental Management Land Acquisition, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement Infrastructure, and Metropolitan District Commission Beaches, are fully funded, although there were significant cuts to other line items. The bill is currently in Joint Rules. For more information on the bill and its status, see the Coalition for the Environmental Bond website at www.massland.org.

For News on Federal Coastal and Marine Legislation - The Coastal Services Organization (CSO) publishes a weekly report of legislative, policy, and program developments at the federal level. For online versions of this report, see www.sso.org/cso/wklydev.htm.

Project Review Highlights
CZM is in the process of reviewing several proposals that highlight interesting aspects of its project review and federal consistency review functions. Three current reviews are discussed below.

HubLine - The HubLine, proposed by Algonquin Gas Transmission Company, is a 29.73-mile, 30-inch high-pressure pipeline bringing natural gas supplies from the fields off of Sable Island, Canada, to Boston-area markets. The pipeline is to interconnect with a Maritimes & Northeast 30-inch pipeline at Beverly Harbor and will run through western Massachusetts Bay to the Sithe Fore River electrical generating station in Weymouth. A 24-inch lateral pipeline is also proposed to Deer Island. The federal actions that make this project subject to CZM's federal consistency review are the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) Section 10/404 Permit. CZM has become a cooperating agency with the FERC, providing information to that agency regarding state and local permitting requirements and local resource knowledge.

CZM is paying particular attention to this project, as it would be the first marine installation of a high-pressure natural gas pipeline in New England. Given the enormous gas reserves that have been found in the Scotian Shelf and the growing demand for natural gas in this region, CZM anticipates future proposals of this type. Some of the coastal policy concerns raised by this project are limiting damage to benthic habitat by the pipe-laying process; re-thinking trenching methods to minimize sediment in the water column; and ensuring that the pipeline will not interfere with ships anchoring or navigating. The project has received its final Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Certificate and CZM expects the applicant to file a federal consistency certification shortly.

Cape Wind - Cape Wind Associates is proposing a data collection tower and a 170-machine, 420 megawatt (MW) wind farm on Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound. Electricity generated by the turbines is to be transmitted by cable to an NStar sub-station in Yarmouth (on Cape Cod) for transmission to the New England power grid. The proposed data tower and wind farm are in federal waters and must get an ACOE Section 10 Permit. Because the proposed project may affect the Commonwealth’s coastal zone, CZM has federal consistency jurisdiction even though the project is outside of state waters.

Cape Wind Associates has filed a federal consistency certification for a data collection tower on Horseshoe Shoals. The Corps is holding a public hearing on the data collection tower on April 11 in Hyannis and comments will be accepted for 30 days after the hearing. The proponents have filed an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) for the wind farm with MEPA. MEPA and ACOE are scoping the wind farm for Environmental Impact Reports.

Boston & Maine - A third proposal of interest to CZM is the petition by the Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) to discontinue service and abandon the Mystic Wharf Branch currently serving the Charlestown side of the Mystic River Designated Port Area. To abandon a rail line, approval by the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) is required. CZM had not included STB approvals in its list of federal activities automatically subject to its federal consistency review. Loss of bulk transport to a Designated Port Area and the Port of Boston, however, is a matter of concern to this agency, and CZM therefore petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) for authority to review this so-called "unlisted activity." OCRM granted CZM the requested authority but limited the scope of CZM's federal consistency review to those matters that do not conflict with the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution. The STB recognized CZM's authority in its December, 2001, decision and also granted the Massachusetts Port Authority's (Massport) request for a public use condition, giving Massport six months to negotiate the sale of the property from B&M to keep it available for bulk transportation to maritime industries.

Federal Consistency Review on the Web - The CZM website includes information on the project review and the federal consistency review processes in Massachusetts, including CZM Program Policies, a sample consistency certification, and the Coastal Zone Management Program Federal Consistency Review Regulations. See www.mass.gov/czm/fcr/index.htm. MEPA Review on the Web - For more information on state environmental review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, including a listing of all projects currently in review, see the MEPA Unit website at www.mass.gov/envir/mepa/index.htm.

Gulf of Maine Visionary Award Winners
Rick Karney, long-time Director and Shellfish Biologist for the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group (MVSG), and Vivien Li, Executive Director of The Boston Harbor Association (TBHA), received 2002 Gulf of Maine Council Visionary Awards this spring. Karney was recognized for his work, which demonstrates that shellfish aquaculture can be an environmentally and economically sustainable activity for coastal communities. Through his leadership, the MVSG's program of community resource management has also effectively preserved and expanded the Vineyard's traditional shellfisheries, primarily by running the nation's first solar shellfish hatchery and providing shellfish seed to towns for grow-out in local salt ponds and embayments. Li was recognized for her vigilant efforts to balance diverse and competing uses of the Boston waterfront. TBHA, a non-profit, public interest organization founded in 1973 by the League of Women Voters and the Boston Shipping Association, has played a defining role in the renaissance of Boston Harbor. With Li at the helm, TBHA has actively promoted the ambitious goal of a “clean, alive, and accessible Boston Harbor.” Congratulations to Rick and Vivien and thank you for your inspirational efforts on behalf of the Commonwealth’s coast. For more on these award winners and other visionaries from around the Gulf see www.gulfofmaine.org/council/awards.htm.

Coastlines Facelift Underway
Coastlines the CZM quarterly newsletter, is being transformed into a periodic magazine, to give more in-depth coverage of important coastal issues. The inaugural edition of the magazine will be released this June, with a feature on hurricane preparedness, along with articles on energy issues in coastal Massachusetts, invasive species, public access rights to the shore, and many others. If you are not on the Coastlines mailing list and would like your name added, email czm@state.ma.us with your request, including your mailing address. In addition, the new Coastlines magazine will be on the CZM website at www.mass.gov/czm.

A publication of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award No. NA17OZ1125. This publication is funded (in part) by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its sub-agencies.