Port and Harbor Planning in the Massachusetts Coastal Zone

CZM works hard to make sure that waterfront areas in the Commonwealth grow in a safe, environmentally sound, and economically prosperous manner. One way CZM pursues these goals is to encourage the creation or expansion of water-dependent facilities in developed port and harbor areas. This approach maximizes the value of these developed ports and ensures that businesses that require close proximity to harbors, such as shipping and fishing facilities, will have a place to flourish. CZM also helps communities to develop harbor plans to promote sustainable development in these vital economic areas. The success of these plans, however, often rests on the navigability of the harbors. Assessing dredging needs and siting options for disposal of dredged materials are, therefore, two CZM priorities.

CZM is playing a leading role in preparing the Commonwealth's ports and harbors for the economic opportunities of the 21st Century. The major initiatives CZM is undertaking in this area are:

• The Four Ports Planning Initiative - CZM is working with four major ports outside of Boston Harbor (Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford/Fairhaven, and Fall River) to meet future harbor development and dredging needs through a scoping and advanced planning process, culminating in detailed Port Plans that focus on implementation.
• The Dredged Materials Management Plan - Ports seeking to dredge their channels to maintain existing commercial traffic or to attract larger vessels must currently undertake a lengthy and expensive process to identify a disposal site for material that cannot be placed in the open water ("unsuitable material"). To solve this problem, CZM is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a statewide Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). To coordinate with the Four Ports Initiative, the DMMP will focus initially on Gloucester, Salem, New Bedford/Fairhaven, and Fall River.

Through these initiatives, CZM has developed a series of Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) Technical Reports. These publications characterize the environmental and economic issues surrounding dredged material management in the Commonwealth, providing information on marine resources (sediment type and quality, seafloor habitat, fisheries, and archaeology) and the impacts associated with dredging and dredged material disposal.

From 1997-1999, CZM published the Designated Port Area Bulletin with updates on the DMMP and Port Planning Processes. See the Designated Port Area Bulletin Archives.