Grants Available to Communities for Stormwater Management

May 20, 1996
Contact: Anne Donovan
(617) 727-9530 x411

Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM) announces that grants are now available to Massachusetts cities and towns under Round 2 of the Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Program. Through CPR, up to $4 million will go to municipalities within Massachusetts coastal watersheds over five years. These funds will be used to reduce transportation-related nonpoint pollution sources, specifically stormwater runoff from roadways and sewage from boats. The area covered under the CPR program includes all of the watersheds that flow into and consequently impact Massachusetts coastal waters.

"The Coastal Pollutant Remediation Program underscores the state's commitment to improve coastal water quality and to increase local economic opportunities," explained Trudy Coxe, Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. "Cleaner coastal waters means shellfish beds can be opened, which will allow more commercial and recreational diggers to harvest these resources. Clean water also improves prospects for aquaculture throughout the Commonwealth."

A primary goal of the CPR program is to complement other state initiatives aimed at restoring water quality in order to open shellfish beds for recreational and commercial use. More than 40,000 acres of shellfish beds have been opened over the last year thanks to the Shellfish Bed Restoration Program and efforts by the Division of Marine Fisheries to conduct current sanitary surveys to assess water quality and verify the safety of shellfisheries for public use.

In Fiscal Year 1996, the CPR Program awarded a total of $200,000 to seven communities with individual grants ranging between $10,000 and $53,000. The grant award recipients were Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth, Ipswich, Seekonk, Wareham, and Weymouth, all of which funded projects that significantly improve coastal water quality. In Weymouth, for example, CPR funds were used to treat runoff from a storm drain that was discharging into the Back River. This project will clean up a significant source of bacteria and toxic contaminants that are keeping 150 acres of shellfish beds closed to harvesting, hopefully leading to the reopening of the beds. In addition, Seekonk has worked with local citizen water quality monitoring groups to survey all storm drains discharging into the Runnins River and used a CPR grant to build small leaching basins to treat runoff at the most polluted sites.

Any town that is located within the Massachusetts Coastal Watershed is eligible for the CPR program. The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and MCZM will work with communities to help them develop grant proposals. Proposals for the second grant round are due to MCZM by August 2, 1996 at 5:00 pm. Proposals should be sent to: Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, 100 Cambridge Street, 20th Floor, Boston, MA 02202, ATTN: Steve Barrett.

"MCZM recognizes the importance of helping communities deal with road runoff and other stormwater issues," explained Peg Brady, Director of MCZM. "I am excited we can offer a second round of CPR grants, which will allow communities to improve their coastal water quality."

To receive a hard copy or to ask specific questions about the program, call MCZM's Steve Barrett, CPR Grants Coordinator, at (617) 727-9530, ext. 413.