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North East
Maine
(+) Maine Sea Grant has developed an Accessing the Maine Coast Web site. This site is an information resource for coastal property owners, beach and waterfront users, public and environmental interest groups, and municipal, state, and federal governments. The site offers legal tools to address the specific coastal access questions and needs of these stakeholder groups.
(+) Maine has produced Protecting Maine's Beaches for the Future (2006), A Proposal to Create an Integrated Beach Management Program. This comprehensive and forward thinking document is a must read for beach managers everywhere.
(+) Three bonds supporting the Land for Main's Future (LMF) Program, a $35 million in 1987, $50 million in 1999, and $12 million in 2005, have passed by overwhelming margins.
(+) A 1,910-acre riverfront property which is one of the largest undeveloped coastal properties in Maine was donated to the Maine chapter of The Nature Conservancy, which plans to preserve the land for clamming, hiking, hunting and other recreational activities. The land stretches from Route 209 to the New Meadows River, opposite Cundy's Harbor.
(+) Maine Coast Heritage Trust, a statewide land conservation organization, announced in August 2006 it had raised more than $100 million to accelerate land conservation on Maine’s coast. Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s “Campaign for the Coast” is the largest land conservation capital campaign in Maine’s history.
(+) $304 million has been expended through 2007 to try to eliminate Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), $23 million in 2007 alone. Twenty-five communities have completely eliminated CSOs. The number of CSO outfalls has been cut by 46% since 1989. CSO overflow volume per inch of precipitation has decreased by almost 2/3rds since 1989.
(-) A proposed piece of legislation, L.D. 1218, would allow the owner of a residential property to build, repair or replace a permanent barrier to protect the property from natural disaster. It was scheduled to be presented in mid-April 2009 at a State House public hearing before the Legislature's Natural Resources Council. "It's a 180-degree reversal of our policy in the state of Maine and it would be detrimental to our beach system," said Stephen Dickson, a marine geologist with the Maine Geological Survey.
(-) As of October 2007, 11 communities statewide still had a "301 (h) waiver" allowing them to discharge primary treated wastewater into rivers or the ocean. The federal Clean Water Act (written in 1972) required all wastewater treatment facilities to upgrade to secondary treatment by the late 1980s.
(-) In March 2006 one of Kennebunkport’s Board of Selectmen opined that the easiest solution to high bacteria readings at Goose Rocks Beach “short of draining the town’s coffers” trying to identify and eliminate pollution sources would be to simply post signs reading: “No lifeguard on duty. Water quality unknown. Swim at your own risk.”
(-) Most dry beach areas of Maine's coastline are privately owned.
(-) Approximately 50% of southern Maine’s beaches are armored.
(-) In 1995 and 1999 Maine weakened its retreat policies by allowing seawalls and other shoreline stabilization to be fortified. Draft rules adopted by the Board of Environmental Protection in June 2003 would give property owners living on frontal dunes unlimited chances to rebuild if they follow certain conditions, which include getting a permit from DEP and rebuilding with "flood-proof designs" and elevated structures.
(-) Of the more than 1,500 coastal access points from Kittery to Eastport, 66 percent are privately owned.
New Hampshire
(+) Effective July 1, 2008 under the New Shoreland Protection Act Standards, a state shoreland permit is required for construction, excavation or filling activities not included in the exemptions detailed in the law, within 250 feet of the reference line. For coastal waters the reference line is the highest observable tide line.
(+) The New Hampshire Coastal Program has updated their Coastal Access Map. The updated map, which is accessible in pdf format on the NH Coastal Program Web site, includes coastal boat access points and hiking trails, fishing and wildlife viewing locations as well as points of interest like science and education centers.
(+) New Hampshire's coastal waters were recently designated as a No Discharge Area. While boating in a No Discharge Area, marine sanitation devices must be secured to ensure overboard discharge is not occurring.
(+) In a 1997 survey by the University of New Hampshire, about 82 percent of respondents considered the protection or improvement of water quality in rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds a “high” priority.
(0) New Hampshire expanded its NOAA-approved coastal zone management area by 700% and increased wetland and shoreland enforcement personnel in the coastal zone by 25%.
(-) Very little publicly-available information exists regarding shoreline structure policy and inventory. The same is true for coastal erosion data.
(-) Budget cuts at the federal level for 2005 decreased funding for Nonpoint Source Pollution implementation grants.
Massachusetts
(+) In May 2008 CZM launched its new StormSmart Coasts program with a series of regional workshops. StormSmart Coasts is designed to support local efforts to protect people and property in coastal floodplains from erosion and storm damage. The program features an extensive StormSmart Coasts Web site that includes regulatory tools, case studies, planning strategies, and other technical assistance materials.
(+) EPA's water quality grade for the Charles River, based on the number of days the river met state boating and swimming standards for bacteria was B++. For 2007, the Charles met boating standards 100 percent of the time, and swimming standards 63 percent of the time, according to data collected by the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) between Watertown Dam and Boston Harbor. These measurements are the best levels recorded since the Charles River Initiative began in 1995. The Charles has improved dramatically from the launch of EPA’s Charles River Initiative in 1995, when the river received a D for meeting boating standards only 39 percent of the time and swimming standards just 19 percent of the time.
(+) On May 28, 2008, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the Oceans Act of 2008, legislation that will require Massachusetts to develop a first-in-the-nation comprehensive plan to manage development in state waters. The new ocean management plan, which must be completed by December 31, 2009, will be developed by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) in consultation with a 17-member ocean advisory commission and an ocean science advisory council. This was the culmination of a four year campaign to pass the nation's first state Ocean Act. Passage of this law was a top recommendation of a 2004 report by the Massachusetts Ocean Management Task Force.
(+) MassDEP has revised its Beach Nourishment: Guide to Best Management Practices in Massachusetts — developed for those proposing beach nourishment projects to minimize erosion and potential adverse environmental impacts, to promote the beneficial reuse of clean, compatible, dredge material, and to expedite regulatory review.
(+) In 2005, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the authority of a local government to bar residential construction in a flood-prone area and ruled that the community does not have to compensate the owner for being unable to build a home on a seaside property.
(+) Massachusetts’ Office of Coastal Zone Management hosts an online map server with long-term erosion rates. The Web site also has information fact sheets on shoreline change.
(+) Massachusetts Water Resources Authority developed at $230 million plan to control sewage and storm water contamination of beaches in North Dorchester and South Boston.
(+) A revised edition of The Massachusetts Coast Guide to Boston and the North Shore was published in 2004. This is now available online.
(0) The South Shore of Nantucket has retreated half a mile since colonial times. At least 25 buildings have either been condemned or destroyed since the 1980s. More than 50 homes could be destroyed in the next ten years.
(-) Governor Deval Patrick has proposed “streamlining” permits to destroy wetlands. The pending plan would 1) abolish many citizen appeals; 2) cut procedural safeguards governing wetland appeals making it harder to protect wetlands; and 3) eliminate independent review of state permit decisions. The net effect of these changes would leave lawsuits as the only effective means of preventing wetlands destruction.
(-) Private ownership extends to the low tide line. About three-quarters of the coastal frontage is privately owned.
(-) Environmental funding for Massachusetts has been cut by 25%, according to a report from the New England chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Rhode Island
(+) In November 2008 the $359 million "CSO Phase One" project in Providence, Rhode Island was publicly commissioned. The project consists of a 3-mile-long tunnel designed to capture water from a 1-1/2 inch rainstorm and then pump it to the Fields Point sewage treatment plant. This should result in greatly reduced areas of shellfish bed closures.
(+) Rhode Island kicked off an innovative project in Fall 2008 to zone its offshore waters for diverse activities, including renewable energy development. The Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), to be developed by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and the University of Rhode Island (URI), will be a two-year research and planning process that integrates the best available science with open public input and involvement.
(+) About 60 to 70 volunteers planted approximately 2,500 plugs of American beach grass on a section of dunes at Narragansett's Town Beach in March 2008 in a “dune restoration” project.
(+) The Department of Environmental Management awarded nearly $4 million in state and federal grants to 27 entities across the state in March 2007 to restore water quality.
(+) Rhode Islanders passed a $19 million bond in the November 2004 elections that will provide money to upgrade local wastewater treatment facilities and provide municipalities grants to deal with stormwater discharges. As part of the stormwater grant program, beaches have been identified as a top priority.
(+) Rhode Island completed the Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan in 2005. The intent of this plan is to limit development on Greenwich Bay and improve water quality, recreation and fish harvests. The objectives of the plan include increasing the number of homeowners tied to public sewers, reducing the nitrogen discharged from local sewage treatment plants, ending beach closures because of waterborne bacteria by 2010 and opening half the bay to winter or year-round shellfish harvesting by 2020.
(+) On the dunes of barrier beaches, residential or non-water dependent structures that are more than 50% destroyed may not be rebuilt regardless of insurance carrier coverage.
(-) In Narragansett Bay, 25% of the shoreline is armored.
(-) Aside from the public beach areas, the state agencies and coastal towns are not typically concerned with the conditions of surfing areas because they are not high-use public areas. Rhode Island does not recognize surfing as an economic, cultural, and recreational resource.
Connecticut
(+) In November 2007 Connecticut received a "blue ribbon" award from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for a pollution credit trading system designed to reduce nitrogen pollution in Long Island Sound from wastewater treatment plants. Around the same time, the state legislature approved $415 million in Clean Water Revenue Bonds, which provide loans to cities and towns to upgrade sewage treatment plants.
(+) A measure signed by President Bush in October 2006 authorizes $100 million for land acquisition, habitat protection and expanded public access in selected shoreline areas, and a list of 33 sites in New York and Connecticut where the money may be spent has been compiled.
(+) On June 5, 2008 the Long Island Sound (LIS) Fund Advisory Committee voted, it its most recent funding round, to award $310,613 in grants for 14 projects to help preserve and protect Long Island Sound.
(+) The Connecticut Coastal Access Guide is now available online at http://www.lisrc.uconn.edu/coastalaccess/index.asp
(+) DEP recently completed a 2-year survey of beach and rocky intertidal zone invertebrates.
(+) In 2002 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that all municipal beaches must be opened to non-residents.
(0) 48 miles of Connecticut's shoreline were determined in 1979 to be significantly affected by erosion. It should be noted that the 48 miles designated as eroding in 1979 were identified in conjunction with the identification of a total of 278 miles of shoreline “fronting” Long Island Sound (LIS). In 2005, due to changes in resource categorizations, only 113 miles of shoreline were judged to be directly fronting LIS, so it has not been determined how much of the 113 miles of shoreline are significantly affected.
(-) A major sewer spill estimated at 28 million gallons occurred on December 12, 2008 in Greenwich due to a sewer main break. The water flowed to the Mianus River and then into Long Island Sound. The sewer main was not repaired until December 16.
(-) Very few educational materials about coastal hazards and the risks associated with living in coastal hazard zones have been developed.
(-) DEP's Clean Water Fund Web site only has information through 2001 and refers to 1997 as "currently."
(-) In 2005, CDEP identified a total of 1,065 shoreline miles as broken out under Beach Access. Of this, 69% is considered privately owned. If only beaches/bays/harbors/coves are considered, private ownership is 72%.
New York
(+) The New York City Council unanimously approved a Stormwater Management Plan in February 2008 that requires that a plan be drafted by October 1, 2008 that will focus on "natural methods" to reduce stormwater and sewage discharges. Rain barrels, cisterns, green roofs, redesign of drainage into vegetated areas and permeable paving are anticipated to be elements of the plan.
(+) A measure signed by President Bush in October 2006 authorizes $100 million for land acquisition, habitat protection and expanded public access in selected shoreline areas, and a list of 33 sites in New York and Connecticut where the money may be spent has been compiled.
(+) A bill passed in April 2006 by the State Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee created a New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council to coordinate state marine resources decisions, encourage ecosystem-based management approaches, and ensure that accurate information about the state of coastal fisheries is more widely available. It also called on the Council to create a comprehensive, ecosystem-based ocean management plan by the fall of 2008. UPDATE - the draft report was released in late January 2009.
(+) Governor Pataki included a new Ocean and Great Lakes Category in the expanded Environmental Protection Fund proposed in his 2006-2007 budget.
(+) Under average conditions, fecal coliform bacteria in New York harbor have decreased by as much as 98% since 1974. Water quality reportedly now meets state "bathing standards" in all open waters of the harbor.
(+) All of the shoreline below mean-high-water on Long Island is in public ownership.
(+) In March 2004, Governor Pataki announced more than $2.8 million in Environmental Protection Fund grants for 19 local projects that will expand recreational access and public amenities in Long Island communities, and protect and improve water quality.
(0) The average erosion rate for the south shore of Long Island is 1-2 ft/year. This erosion rate is small compared to the rest of East Coast, but the south shore tends to experience significant erosion during major coastal storms.
(-) According to Environmental Advocates of New York, the state conservation fund dedicated to preserving open space and keeping water clean is virtually insolvent after having been drained by the Paterson administration to offset other spending. Nearly $500 million had been "swept" from the fund since it was established in 1993, including $125 million during the 2008-2009 fiscal year with another $50 million authorized. Meanwhile, authorized contracts and payments have been delayed.
(-) Many of New York's sewage and wastewater facilities are past their design lives; 30 percent of the sewer pipes across the state were installed just after World War II and a quarter of wastewater treatment plants are more than 30 years old. The Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that repairs for municipal wastewater treatment systems statewide will be $36.2 billion over the next 20 years.
(-) According to Environmental Advocates of New York, for almost 15 years, New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation has failed to properly oversee and regulate the pollution discharged into New York’s waterways by more than 1,100 facilities.
(-) More than 27 billion gallons of combined sewer overflows from 460 sewers around New York City impact the city's waterways every year. The estimated combined sewer overflow volume for 2006 was 35 billion gallons.
(-) A study by Martin Cantor of Dowling College indicated that municipal and state beach closures from Memorial Day through Aug. 3, 2007 cost Long Island's tourism industry $60 million.
(-) New York City and New York State recently backtracked on a 1992 legal agreement to improve the sewer system to ensure water quality standards are achieved. The city now plans only limited improvements and to request that the standards themselves be relaxed.
(-) There are a total of 16 groins at Westhampton Beach Village. Four groins can be found in East Hampton. There are two groins in Ocean Beach, and there are numerous groins on Long Beach Island, Rockaway Spit, and Coney Island. Several groins are located along the north shore of Long Island.
(-) New York City has an antiquated law that prohibits use of NYC beaches from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Camp Hero State Park and Cape Montauk State Park have surfing restrictions or prohibitions.
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