Executive Order  No. 414: Establishing the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve and Commission

WHEREAS, the Massachusetts Military Reservation ("MMR") consists of approximately 22,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land located in Barnstable County primarily owned by the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, in May, 1997 a Community Working Group ("CWG") consisting of representatives of neighboring towns, military services located at MMR, and the Massachusetts National Guard was established to advise the Secretary of Environmental Affairs on the future use of the MMR; and

WHEREAS, the Massachusetts Military Reservation Master Plan Final Report, issued in September, 1998, and adopted by the CWG, recommends that approximately 15,000 acres of the MMR be subject to "permanent protection and coordinated management plans for water supply, wildlife habitat, and open space protection consistent with necessary and compatible military activities"; and

WHEREAS, the guiding principles of the Master Plan Final Report have been accepted by the Governor, the Secretary of Environmental Affairs, and the Massachusetts Army National Guard;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Argeo Paul Cellucci, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Supreme Executive Magistrate, do hereby order as follows:

Section 1 Definitions

As used in this Executive Order, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

"Commission", the Upper Cape Water Supply Commission established in Section 2.

"Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve" or "Reserve", the northern 15,000 acres of the MMR, more or less, as more precisely described in a plan prepared by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. The plan shall be prepared within 60 days of the date of this Executive Order.

Section 2. Establishment of the Commission

There is hereby established the Upper Cape Water Supply Commission. The Commission shall consist of three ex officio members: the Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife of the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement; the Director of the Division of Forests and Parks of the Department of Environmental Management; and the Director of the Division of Watershed Management of the Metropolitan District Commission; or their respective designees.

Section 3. Purpose and Powers

The purpose of the Commission shall be to ensure the conservation of the Reserve for the purposes of water supply and wildlife habitat protection, and for military activities that are compatible with those two purposes. The Commission shall monitor all activity on the Reserve to ensure that such activity is consistent with all applicable state and federal environmental laws and regulations, including environmental performance standards set forth in any draft or final Master Plan/Area-Wide Environmental Impact Report issued by the Secretary of Environmental Affairs pursuant to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, and shall report annually to the Governor on the extent to which activity on the Reserve is in compliance with such laws, regulations, and standards. The Commission may take any action it deems necessary to ensure the attainment of its purpose. State agencies shall cooperate with the Commission in accomplishing its purpose.

The Commission's powers shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

• to establish bylaws;  
• to hire staff, including an executive director;  
• to enter into contracts and other legal agreements;
• to acquire real or personal property or interests or rights therein, if necessary for the Commission's responsibilities relative to the Reserve; and
• to accept funds or property from any source, including gifts, bequests, grants, and restitution for purposes of carrying out the Commission's responsibilities relative to the Reserve.

Section 4. Advisory Council

For the purpose of advising the Commission on the use of the Reserve, there shall be an Advisory Council consisting of the following members: one representative of each of the towns of Falmouth, Bourne, Sandwich, and Mashpee; one representative of the military; one representative of the Cape Cod Commission; one representative of regional water supply interests; and eight additional members. All members shall be appointed by the Governor; provided, that the town representatives shall be recommended by the towns' respective Boards of Selectmen; the Cape Cod Commission representative shall be recommended by the Cape Cod Commission; the water supply representative shall be jointly recommended by the Falmouth, Bourne, Sandwich, and Mashpee Water Supply Districts; and the military representative shall be recommended by the Military Division of the Commonwealth.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 8th day of October in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.

Argeo Paul Cellucci

Governor

William Francis Galvin

Secretary of the Commonwealth