CZ-Mail
August 2002

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.

East Boston Harbor Plan Signed
On July 15, Environmental Affairs Secretary Bob Durand signed the City of Boston's East Boston Waterfront District Municipal Harbor Plan (MHP). The plan covers approximately 59 acres of East Boston waterfront and will revitalize this underutilized and largely inaccessible shoreline with new residential development and new, publicly accessible space, and will result in the creation of nearly four miles of Harborwalk. The plan focuses on flexible implementation of the state's Chapter 91 Regulations (which govern public rights in filled tidelands) for two development sites: Hodge Boiler Works and Clippership Wharf. Through creative and thoughtful placement of required ground-floor Facilities of Public Accommodation, the Clippership Wharf project will draw the public to the shoreline through the important Lewis Mall corridor, which connects Maverick Square to the waterfront, with spectacular views of downtown Boston. The Hodge Boiler Works project will offer a seamless connection from Clippership Wharf to the existing LoPresti Park via the Harborwalk and its planned open space configuration. For a copy of the MHP, see the CZM website at: www.mass.gov/czm/ebostonmhp.pdf.

EOEA Personnel Take Voluntary Furloughs to Prevent Layoffs
To address budget cuts facing the Commonwealth and to try to prevent mandatory furloughs or layoffs, EOEA Office of the Secretary personnel, including staff at CZM, were given the opportunity to take voluntary furlough days (i.e., leave without pay). The furlough program begins immediately and will last through the end of the calendar year. Nearly 90 percent of EOEA staff is participating, agreeing to take a few hours to up to several days off without pay-so please have patience during this time.

Brayton Point Power Plant Permit Unveiled
On July 22, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator (EPA) Bob Varney, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Lauren Liss, and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Protection Director Jan Reitsma announced the issuance of the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharge permit for Brayton Point Power Station (BPPS). BPPS, which is located in Somerset, is the largest fossil-fuel burning power plant in New England and the largest industrial source affecting Mount Hope Bay. The permit is the culmination of six years of review of scientific data on Mount Hope Bay and the plant's effects on water quality, fish habitat, and fish eggs, larvae, juveniles, and adults. The renewed discharge permit will require Pacific Gas and Electric, owners of BPPS, to reduce the plant's annual heat discharge to the estuary by 96 percent and to cut its water withdrawals for cooling by about 94 percent-that is, from nearly one billion gallons per day to 56 million gallons per day. Regulatory agencies, environmental groups, and power generating businesses across the country are all watching closely, as this permit is being seen by many as a national test case for power plant regulation. For more on BPPS and the permit, see www.epa.gov/region1/braytonpoint/index.html.

CZM Seafloor Assessment off Martha's Vineyard
CZM, the Town of Edgartown, DEP, and Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve are teaming up to identify and assess seafloor habitats in Cape Poge to assist the Martha's Vineyard Conservation Commission with managing shellfish resources. CZM used DEP's aerial photographs and state-wide seagrass map as a foundation for the work. These aerial photographs revealed areas of vegetation (e.g., eelgrass and/or macroalgae) and no cover (i.e., bare substrate). A single-beam acoustic device, underwater video, direct observation, and sediment grabs supplemented aerial photography and improved the description of seafloor habitats in Cape Poge. A single-beam acoustic device, known as RoxAnn, was calibrated to local seafloor conditions and distinguished seafloor characteristics throughout the study area. The acoustic data were verified by video imaging and sediment grabs. Video was geographically referenced to show identified habitat conditions and further describe variability in seafloor features. The acoustic and video data will be analyzed using geographic information system (GIS) software. The next steps of the study are to post-process the data, incorporate information into GIS, analyze and describe data, write a technical report, and create resource maps. Stay tuned to CZ-Mail for updates.

Interstate Stormwater Technology Demonstration Protocol
In April, state environmental agencies in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, California, and Massachusetts endorsed a unique protocol to guide technology manufacturers in the collection of scientifically credible data on the effectiveness of stormwater technologies and to streamline evaluation of this data. This agreement will allow Massachusetts to take advantage of other state's decisions regarding the performance and applicability of a technology, because decisions will now be based on the quality and quantity of data outlined in the protocol. Massachusetts DEP led the effort to develop the protocol and both DEP and CZM are involved in technology reviews, which are overseen by the Strategic Envirotechnology Partnership (STEP) in EOEA. Currently, CZM is field-testing three technologies (Stormtreat, Downstream Defender, and Vortechnics). For all entities conducting such testing, the protocol must be followed to ensure that the data will be acceptable to DEP, or the other states that have adopted the protocol for evaluating stormwater technologies. For the protocol, see: www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/pollprev/techservices/tarp/pdffiles/Tier2protocol.pdf. For more on the protocol and its implementation, contact DEP's Nancy Baker at nancy.baker@state.ma.us.

Boaters Help Keep the Charles River Safe for Swimming on Fourth of July
Every year thousands of spectators gather along the banks of the Charles River to watch the Fourth of July fireworks, with hundreds of boaters passing through the Charlestown Dam to anchor in the Charles River Basin and watch the spectacle. This year, the more than 1,200 boaters who entered the locks were greeted by volunteers from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, who provided the following clean boating tips: 1) please don't discharge boat waste overboard, the Charles River Yacht Club gives free pumpouts, and 2) please don't discharge oily bilge water, CZM provides free oil-absorbent bilge socks. Each boater was offered a bilge sock, a list of contact information for pumpout services in Massachusetts, and other information on safe and healthy boating practices. The boaters proved to be good stewards. The Charles River Yacht Club pumpout boat pumped more than 1,000 gallons of boat sewage that week and water quality samples analyzed by the EPA throughout the week showed that the Charles met boating standards every day and only violated swimming standards on June 27 and July 1 at one isolated station. Clean boating efforts continue in Boston Harbor, with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and The Boston Harbor Association distributing bilge socks provided by CZM. Statewide, CZM is also distributing 18,000 free bilge socks, pumpout lists, and other items (see Products/Publications below to order your clean boating materials).

Grant Opportunities
Volunteer Monitoring Assistance Grants Available - EOEA, through the Massachusetts Watershed Initiative (MWI), is providing grants through the Volunteer Monitoring Assistance Program for volunteer groups that monitor inland and coastal systems, coordinate their efforts with state priority projects under the MWI, and gather valuable information to support the protection and restoration of important aquatic habitats and natural resources. Grant proposals must be submitted by August 13. For a copy of the grant announcement, see www.comm-pass.com.

Self-Help, Urban Self-Help Grants Available - EOEA, through the Division of Conservation Services (DCS), is conducting the annual Fiscal Year 2003 grant round for the Self-Help, Urban Self-Help, and federal Land and Water Conservation Fund programs. The programs provide financial assistance to cities and towns for the purchase of conservation land, the purchase of park land, or the renovation or development of public outdoor recreation facilities. The filing deadline for the Fiscal Year 2003 Grant Round is September 6, 2002.

Requests for Responses (RFRs)
Massachusetts Chapter 91 Mapping Project - CZM is seeking proposals from Professional Land Surveyors, or similarly qualified professionals, to prepare plans depicting tidelands jurisdiction of the DEP Waterways Regulation Program. The closing date for this RFR is August 8. For a copy of the RFR and supporting documentation, see www.comm-pass.com.

Calendar
COASTSWEEP 2002 - Come join CZM for the 15th annual COASTSWEEP cleanup, officially kicking off on September 21. Throughout the second half of September, CZM organizes thousands of volunteers to participate in this statewide effort to clean up our shoreline. Last year, over 4,000 volunteers scoured 180 miles of coastline and removed close to 70,000 pounds of trash and marine debris! To get involved, either as a local cleanup coordinator or a participant, visit the COASTSWEEP website at: www.coastsweep.umb.edu. For additional questions or comments, contact the COASTSWEEP Coordinator at coastsweep@umb.edu.

North Shore Shoreline Change Workshop - CZM is hosting a workshop to distribute the new Shoreline Change Maps for the North Shore, to be held as part of the North Shore Conservation Commission Network on August 8 at the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers at 9:00 a.m. CZM staff will distribute hard copies of the maps, along with fact sheets and data tables, to the communities of Amesbury, Beverly, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Ipswich, Lynn, Manchester, Marblehead, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, Peabody, Revere, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, and Swampscott. Staff will also give a 30 to 45 minute presentation explaining the project and how to use the new maps. The target audience for the workshop is conservation and planning agents or commission representatives, regional consultants, and any other groups or individuals involved with coastal planning or siting in the coastal zone. For more information, email CZM's Andrea Cooper at andrea.cooper@state.ma.us, Kathryn Glenn at kathryn.glenn@state.ma.us, or Rebecca Haney at rebecca.haney@state.ma.us.

Beaches Conference - Northeast Beaches: A Balancing Act is designed to stimulate discussion among the various coastal interest groups concerned with the welfare and health of our coasts. The conference will be held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on October 24-26, with a pre-conference field trip on October 23. Researchers, managers, consultants, and coastal stewards will present papers and participate in panels on the following issues to foster a creative and open dialogue: coastal habitat, beach management, coastal access, coastal processes, water quality, dredging, beach nourishment, and beach economics. See the CZM website later this summer for an agenda and registration information.

Products/Publications
Coastlines Magazine: Premier Edition! - The summer edition of the new CZM Coastlines magazine is now being distributed. Hurricanes are the feature of this 50+ page edition, which provides information on: Bay State hurricanes and their potential impacts, building and rebuilding to withstand a storm, preparing for hurricane season, and a wide range of tools available for reducing risks in hurricane-prone areas. Articles on invasive species, energy issues in the coastal zone, public access to the coast, and other coastal topics are also included. To add your name to the Coastlines mailing list, email CZM at czm@state.ma.us. Also see the CZM website later this month for the new Coastlines magazine online.

CZM's New Shoreline Change Maps Are on the Web - Shoreline change maps, accompanying data, and all supporting technical documents from CZM's update of the Historic Shoreline Change Project are now on the CZM website and a browser developed by the Massachusetts Geographic Information System (MassGIS). The 1:10,000 scale shoreline change maps and accompanying data tables show the relative positions of four or five historic shorelines and depict the long-term change rate at 40-meter (approximately 131-feet) intervals along the shore. See www.mass.gov/czm/hazards/shoreline_change/shorelinechangeproject.htm.

Salt Marsh Monitoring Handbook - The Volunteer's Handbook for Monitoring New England Salt Marshes helps local volunteer groups collect and record data on salt marsh health in a consistent and scientifically sound manner. This 100+ page handbook includes chapters on salt marsh monitoring, New England salt marshes, study design, and monitoring plants, invertebrates, fishes and crabs, birds, salinity, and tidal hydrology. For an electronic copy of the handbook, see www.mass.gov/czm/volunteermarshmonitoring.htm. To order a hard copy, please email your request to czm@state.ma.us.

Still Available - These products and publications, listed in the last CZ-Mail, are still available:

• The Massachusetts Clean Marina Guide is available on the CZM website at: www.mass.gov/czm/marinas/guide/macleanmarinaguide.htm. The guide is designed as a reference for owners and operators of marine boating facilities and provides information on cost-effective strategies and practices to impacts on the coastal environment. For a hard copy, please email your request to czm@state.ma.us.
• Massachusetts Shifting Shorelines: New Data on Shoreline Change, a 4-page fact sheet describing the Massachusetts Shoreline Change Project, the recent updates to the state's shoreline change maps, and ways to use these maps and data is available. For a copy of the fact sheet, email your request and mailing address to czm@state.ma.us. See www.mass.gov/czm/hazards/pdf/shorelinechangefactsheet.pdf for a PDF version and www.mass.gov/czm/hazards/shoreline_change/shorelinechange.htm for HTML.
• A Technical Report Evaluating Innovative Stormwater Treatment Technologies, which evaluates two StormTreat(tm) System (STS) installations, is available in PDF at www.mass.gov/czm/masection319npsproject9502.pdf. Detailed data are given in the report, along with numerous recommendations to improve design, installation, and maintenance of these systems, as well as to perform future evaluations of their effectiveness.
• CZM is distributing 18,000 free bilge socks that remove oil, diesel, and other petroleum products from bilge water, preventing pollution discharge into the marine environment. For a bilge sock, email your request and contact information to robin.lacey@state.ma.us.
• 2002 Boater Guide to Tides and Pumpout Facilities, a wallet-sized pamphlet printed on waterproof paper, contains pumpout information and a tide chart for Massachusetts. For a copy, 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.
• "Coastal zone management: it's the wave of the future" is the slogan featured on a window decal produced by CZM. If you'd like one, email your request and mailing address to czm@state.ma.us.

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, including the proposed HubLine high-pressure natural gas pipeline. HubLine is to be routed through western Massachusetts Bay and would cross several commercial ship anchorages and shipping channels. The applicant, Algonquin Gas Transmission Company, is working with the shipping industry to determine an appropriate depth of burial below the sea floor to minimize the possibility of large ships anchors fouling in the pipeline. In the Fore River Designated Port Area, CZM has worked with the shipping industry to ensure that an appropriately designed bridge will replace the existing Route 3A Bridge. The gantries and road sections of the long-awaited temporary bridge over the Fore River have been lifted into place. The Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD) expects to open the temporary bridge to vehicular traffic in January, 2003. CZM is urging MHD to demolish the existing bridge immediately thereafter to reduce hazards to navigation.

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. A Massachusetts Coastal Permitting Agency Directory is also included. See www.mass.gov/czm/fcr.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.

Legislative Update
State FY03 Budget Signed - FY03 Budget Signed - The final Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 state budget was released and signed by Governor Swift on July 29, 2002. As with other agencies and programs throughout government, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) and its agencies received significant cuts due to major shortfalls in revenue. Overall, EOEA has received a cut of approximately 14 percent in funding to operate at FY 2002 level of service. These additional cuts follow a year of implementing cost-saving measures like early retirement, cutting out-of-state travel, reducing postage by utilizing email wherever possible, and virtually eliminating our printing budget through greater utilization of the Internet. EOEA, similar to other agencies within the Administration, is aiming to keep all programs active while realizing that some reductions will have to be implemented during this period of declining revenues. In an effort to stay in front of this budget crisis and avoid layoffs or the closure of programs within the Office of the Secretary, EOEA implemented a voluntary service reduction program earlier this month to achieve the necessary savings we will have to incur in the coming year. (See EOEA Personnel Take Voluntary Furloughs to Prevent Layoffs above for more information.) Over 90% of employees in the Office of the Secretary have agreed to participate in the voluntary service reduction program, doing their part to ensure that no lay-offs or program closures will occur.

Environmental Bond Enacted - The state legislature enacted the Environmental Bond bill on the final day of the formal session July 31, 2002 and the bill is now before the Governor awaiting her signature. Governor Swift has until August 10th to act on the bill. Governor Swift originally filed a $750 million omnibus Environmental Bond Bill in June of 2001 to address the capital needs of our environmental agencies over the next five years. The final Environmental Bond Bill passed by the legislature includes all the accounts in the Governor's bill at a $707 million level. This bill is the largest environmental investment in our green infrastructure in the history of the Commonwealth. Included in the bill is funding for numerous state environmental programs that have been completely expended, such as Self-Help, Urban Self-Help, the Watershed Initiative, the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program, Department of Environmental Management Land Acquisition, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement Infrastructure, and Metropolitan District Commission Beaches. This long-term bond is crucial to protecting additional open space and making much-needed improvements and renovations to aging facilities at state forests, parks, and beaches. A broad coalition of stakeholders came together to help get the bill through the legislature, forming the Coalition for the Environmental Bond, which represents more than 300,000 Massachusetts residents, and includes over 190 municipalities, businesses, community groups, sportsmen groups, and non-profit organizations dedicated to land conservation, watershed protection, environmental education, parkland restoration, agricultural and forestry production, and historic preservation. The unprecedented level of support that this bill received demonstrates that Massachusetts citizens are strongly committed to environmental protection.

In the News
Here are links to newspaper articles from the last month on coastal issues:

• Red tide keeps estuary closed (Cape Cod Times, 7/6/01).
• In the struggle to save New England's fishing grounds, some argue quotas are the answer (Boston Globe, 7/10/02). (Boston Globe articles are available for a limited time only.)
• Updated statewide erosion study says the Cape coastline is diminishing faster than rest of state (Cape Cod Times, 7/22/02).
• New group aims to prevent whale entanglements (Cape Cod Times, 7/23/02).
• Court's ruling has a downside for fishermen (Boston Globe, 7/24/02). (Boston Globe articles are available for a limited time only.)
• Second firm proposes Nantucket wind farm (Boston Globe, 7/25/02). (Boston Globe articles are available for a limited time only.)

Other Items of Interest
Beach Water Quality Postings - Boston.com posts water quality reports for Boston-area beaches. The reports are provided by the Metropolitan District Commission. For the postings, see: http://travel.boston.com/seasons/summer/beaches/beach_daily_updates.html.

Historical Hurricane Tracks Mapping Tool - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coastal Services Center has developed an interactive mapping application that allows easy search and display of Atlantic hurricane data for the last 150 years. To use the tool, see http://hurricane.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/index.htm.

Marine Economics Website - NOAA's Coastal and Ocean Resource Economics (CORE) team has developed a website of information on marine-related socioeconomic research for a wide variety of applications and geographic areas. The site includes information on major projects such as the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) and the Socioeconomic Monitoring Program in the Florida Keys. See http://marineeconomics.noaa.gov/.

Gulf of Maine Expedition Update - Check out www.gomexpedition.org/ for updates on the progress of the kayakers journeying around the entire Gulf of Maine, from Provincetown to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.

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.