The Massachusetts Bays management system: a valuation of bays resources and uses and an analysis of its regulatory and management structure: executive summary
Year: 1992
Type: book
Abstract: The roots of the Massachusetts Bays Program extend back to 1 982, when the City of Quincy filed suit against the Metropolitan District Commission and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission over the chronic pollution of Boston Harbor, Quincy Bay, and adjacent waters.Outdated and poorly maintained sewage treatment plants on Deer Island and Nut Island were being overwhelmed daily by sewage from the forty-three communities in the Metropolitan Boston area.Untreated and partially treated sewage were spilling into Boston Harbor.Litigation over the pollution of Boston Harbor culminated in 1 985 when the United States Attorney filed suit on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for violations of the Federal Clean Water Act.The settlement of this suit resulted, in 1 988, in the creation of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the agency currently overseeing a multi-billion dollar project to repair and upgrade Metropolitan Boston's sewage treatment system.In addition, the settlement resulted in the establishment of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust -an environmental philanthropy dedicated to improving the Commonwealth's coastal and marine resources.Two millon dollars in settlement proceeds are administered by the Trust to support projects dedicated to the restoration and protection of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay.The Trust provided $1 .6 million to establish the Massachusetts Bays Program, a collaborative effort of public officials, civic organizations, business leaders, and environmental groups to work towards improved coastal water quality.The funding was used to support both a program of public education and a scientific research program focusing on the sources, fate, transport and effects of contaminants in the Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays ecosystem.To maximize the efficiency of limited research funding, the sponsored research program was developed in coordination with research funded by the MWRA, the United States Geological Survey, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant Program.The study described in this report provides a strategy for assessing the value of the resources and uses of the Bays and their relationship to water quality.In addition, it provides an analysis of the regulatory and management structure of the Bays.In April, 1990, following a formal process of nomination, the Massachusetts Bays Program became part of the National Estuary Program.The additional funding provided as part of this joint program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is being used to continue a coordinated program of research in the Massachusetts Bays ecosystem, as well as supporting the development of a comprehensive conservation and management plan for the coastal and marine resources of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays.The information in this document has been subject to Massachusetts Bays Program peer and administrative review and has been accepted for publication as a Massachusetts Bays Program document.The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Management Conference.The reader is advised to keep in mind the limitations acknowledged by the authors of this report.In particular, note that in several key areas, reliable data is unavailable (e.g., the value of recreational shellfishing).Further, note that the public health focus used in this report is only one possible approach to specifying the relationship between water quality and Bays resource values.
Authors: Robert Bowen, Massachusetts Bays Program., Massachusetts Environmental Trust.
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3184638105