Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act

Metadata also available as

Metadata:

Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
Publication_Date: 20080707
Title: Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Larger_Work_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM)
Title:
Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Georegulations Geodatabase
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Description:
Abstract:
Authorities: M.G.L. c. 30, §§ 61-62H: Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act; 301 CMR 11.00: MEPA Regulations.
Jurisdiction: Projects requiring a state environmental license or permit, or funding.
Applicability: Proposed projects are subject to Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) review if they equal or exceed the MEPA thresholds. Examples of threshold activities include:
* Alteration of 25 or more acres of land. * Alteration of designated significant habitat, and/or taking of endangered or threatened species or species of special concern. * Alteration of coastal dunes, barrier beaches, or coastal banks; alteration of 500 ft. of fish run or inland bank; alteration of 1,000 s.f. of salt marsh or outstanding resource waters; alteration of 5,000 s.f. of bordering or isolated vegetated wetlands; new or expanded fill or structure in a velocity zone or regulatory floodway; alteration of one-half acre of other wetlands. * Projects proposed within an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
See 301 CMR 11.03: Review Thresholds for a complete discussion of these thresholds.
PLEASE NOTE: It is important to thoroughly review the complete list of MEPA thresholds for applicability to a particular proposal.
Regulatory Summary: The MEPA Unit, within the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, administers this review. MEPA provides opportunities for public review of the potential environmental impacts of projects for which state agency action is required; and helps state agencies to satisfy their obligation to avoid damage to the environment, or if damage to the environment cannot be avoided, to minimize and mitigate the damage to the maximum extent practicable. State agency action includes activities that are undertaken, permitted, and/or funded by agencies of the Commonwealth, and the transfer of lands owned or controlled by the Commonwealth. Major categories of project impacts subject to review include land; rare species; wetlands, waterways and tidelands; water; wastewater; transportation; energy; air; solid and hazardous waste; historical and archaeological resources; and state-designated ACECs.
The intent of the MEPA review is to inform project proponents and state agencies of potential adverse environmental impacts while a proposal is still in the planning stage. The proponent, through the preparation of one or more review documents, identifies required state agency actions and describes the means by which the proposal complies with applicable regulatory standards and requirements. All relevant state agencies are required to identify any aspects of the proposal that require additional description or analysis prior to completion of the agency action, most commonly issuance of an environmental permit.
Review Process: Proponents of projects that require state action and that meet or exceed MEPA review thresholds (301 CMR 11.03: Review Thresholds) must file an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) (301 CMR 11.05: ENF Preparation and Filing) and may be required to file an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (301 CMR 11.07: EIR Preparation and Filing). Notice of the availability of review documents and the ENFs are published in the semi-monthly Environmental Monitor (www.mass.gov/envir/mepa/secondlevelpages/currentissue.htm). The total review period for an ENF is 30 days from the publication date of the Monitor, of which the first 20 days is available for public and agency comments. After the close of public comment and before the last day of the ENF review, the Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs issues a certificate stating whether or not an EIR is required and, if so, what the scope of the EIR will be. The scope is limited to the potential environmental damages of the proposal that are within the subject matter of required state permits. The EIR review period last for 37 days following the date of the Environmental Monitor in which notice of its availability is published, of which the first 30 days are available for public and agency comment. Within seven days after the close of comments, the Secretary issues a certificate stating whether or not the EIR adequately and properly complies with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act and its implementing regulations. No state permits can be issued until the Secretary certifies that the EIR complies with MEPA, that is, the environmental impacts have been fully described and all necessary plans to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse effects are in place.
The MEPA regulations also provide mechanisms to review proposals that are below MEPA thresholds but may have adverse environmental impacts (301 CMR 11.04: Fail-Safe Review), project changes and time lapses (301 CMR 11.10: Project Changes and Lapses of Time), and for waivers of certain provisions of the regulations (11.11: Waivers).
Forms: Environmental Notification Form at <http://www.mass.gov/envir/mepa/thirdlevelpages/downloads.htm>.
Fees: None.
Website: www.mass.gov/envir/mepa.
Contact: MEPA Office (617) 626-1020.
Purpose:
These georegulations data were developed for illustrative purposes to depict the geographic extent(s) of specific laws and policies. They were derived from various sources for planning purposes only and do not necessarily represent contemporary legal spatial positions or orientation(s). All users should verify the location of any boundary of interest prior to use by contacting the controlling legal authority (i.e. Federal, Commonwealth, or town agency) listed in the metadata for guidance.
Supplemental_Information: <http://www.mass.gov/czm/permitguide/regs/policyact.htm>
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: unknown
Ending_Date: unknown
Currentness_Reference: publication date
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.533318
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -69.829777
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.888312
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.181270
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: coastal zone management
Theme_Keyword: CZM
Theme_Keyword: georegulations
Theme_Keyword: georegulation
Theme_Keyword: law
Theme_Keyword: policy
Theme_Keyword: jurisdiction
Theme_Keyword: boundary
Theme_Keyword: boundaries
Theme_Keyword: Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act
Theme_Keyword: MEPA
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: environment, 007
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts
Place_Keyword: Gulf of Maine
Access_Constraints:
None. These data are in the public domain. GIS files are freely available for download.
Use_Constraints:
Public domain data from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management as the source of these data. You are not permitted to use CZM's name or to suggest that CZM endorses your project or product, without its express written consent. While efforts have been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the state of the art, CZM cannot assume liability for any damages or misrepresentation caused by any inaccuracies in the data or as a result of changes to the data caused by system transfers. The user must be aware of data conditions and bear responsibility for the appropriate use of these data with respect to possible errors, original map scale, collection methodology, currency of data, and other conditions specific to these data.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: Mailing Address
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800, Boston, MA 02114-2136
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2136
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Contact_Instructions: email only
Data_Set_Credit:
These spatial data were created by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA).
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.0.1770
Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report: An attribute accuracy report was not conducted for these data.
Logical_Consistency_Report: A logical consistency report was not conducted for these data.
Completeness_Report:
The data is thought to be complete; no data has been purposefully excluded.
Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:
A positional accuracy report was not conducted for these data. Most data used to create the georegulations data came from MassGIS, NOAA, or MMS. Consequently, by and large the data are as accurate as the source data.
Quantitative_Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Assessment:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Value: n/a
Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:
Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report: n/a
Lineage:
Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector
Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: G-polygon
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 1
Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Grid_Coordinate_System:
Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: State Plane Coordinate System
State_Plane_Coordinate_System:
SPCS_Zone_Identifier: 2001
Lambert_Conformal_Conic:
Standard_Parallel: 41.716667
Standard_Parallel: 42.683333
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -71.500000
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 41.000000
False_Easting: 200000.000000
False_Northing: 750000.000000
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000000
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000000
Planar_Distance_Units: meters
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222
Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Altitude_System_Definition:
Altitude_Resolution: 1.000000
Altitude_Encoding_Method:
Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: mepa_new
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SL_CITE
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: MNG_AGCY
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: CONTACT
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: UNIT_NAME
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: UNIT_TYPE
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: PROGRAM
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SL_LINK
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: MGL_CITE
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: CMR_CITE
Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: Mailing Address
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800, Boston, MA 02114-2136
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2136
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Contact_Instructions: email only
Resource_Description: Downloadable Data
Distribution_Liability:
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these data, errors and conditions originating from physical sources used to develop these data may be reflected in the data supplied. The client must be aware of data conditions and bear responsibility for the appropriate use of the information with respect to possible errors, original map scale, collection methodology, currency of data, and other conditions specific to certain data. In no event shall CZM be liable for any damages, whether general, special, incidental or consequential damages, arising out of your use of these data. Your sole remedy for damages is to stop using the data. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CZM and its employees against any claim, loss, liability or expense, including attorneys' fees, resulting from loss of or damage to property or the injury to or death of any person arising out of the use of the data.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Transfer_Size: 0.002
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: <http://www.mass.gov/czm/czm.htm>
Fees:
GIS and coordinate files may be downloaded at no charge by following links on the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management website (<http://www.mass.gov/czm/>).
Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20081030
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: Mailing Address
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800, Boston, MA 02114-2136
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2136
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Contact_Instructions: email only
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
Metadata_Time_Convention: local time
Metadata_Extensions:
Online_Linkage: <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>
Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile
Metadata_Extensions:
Online_Linkage: <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>
Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile
Metadata_Extensions:
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Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile
Generated by mp version 2.9.6 on Thu Oct 30 10:38:01 2008