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Earth Night

Chapter 253 of the Mass. General Laws was amended in 2002 to shift the primary responsibility for dam inspections and maintenance from the Commonwealth to the public and private owners of the dams. Regulations implementing the new dam safety law went into effect late in 2005.

Q. Why is additional legislation needed?

A. There are more than three thousand dams in the Commonwealth, most of which are privately owned or have been abandoned, and many of which no longer serve their original purpose or any other purpose. Many of these dams do not comply with the Commonwealth's health and safety standards and therefore pose an immediate threat to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment. The removal of dams serving no purpose would eliminate threats posed by those dams and would protect the environment, restore wildlife habitat, enhance fish passage, and eliminate regulatory requirements to register, inspect, and repair useless dams.

Q. What does this bill accomplish?

A. The bill gives the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation DCR) the clear authority to seek the repair or removal of a dam that is deemed to cause significant environmental harm (existing law limits DCR's authority to issues of public safety only). The bill also gives equal standing to the alternative of dam removal in addition to dam repair in DCR and dam owners' response to dealing with a dam that is obsolete, structurally deficient and/or otherwise problematic from a public safety and/or environmental perspective.

Q. What incentives does the bill provide to encourage owners of structurally-deficient dams to address the deficiency through dam repair, modification or removal?

A. The bill increases the penalties for a dam owner failing to abide by the new rules requiring all dam owners to register and periodically inspect their dams, and increases the penalties for dam owners failing to abide by an order issued by the DCR Commissioner requiring the owner to address the deficiencies through dam repair, modification or removal.

Q. How does the bill address the larger issue of evaluating the nature and extent of the current or potential harm to public safety or the environment by the more than 3,000 dams in the Commonwealth?

A. The bill directs the DCR, in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Game, to complete a detailed report of all dams on public and private property in the Commonwealth that categorizes and prioritizes al the dams in the state in terms of the current or potential threat they pose to public safety and/or the environment as well as whether or not the such dams continue to serve any useful purpose. Dams whose existence, condition or operation are deemed to pose a threat to freshwater animal and plant and resident or migratory fish species habitat or movement will be given particular attention as candidates for removal.

WE URGE YOU TO SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION IN 2OO6 TO PROTECT OUR RIVERS AND THE INTEGRITY OF RIVERINE HABITATS.

For more information, contact Deirdre Menoyo at dmenoyo@mac.com or Nancy Goodman at ngoodman@environmentalleague.org or (617) 742-2553.