CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Conservation Administrator
Mary Ellen Schloss
Town Hall
75 Middle Street
E. Weymouth, MA 02189-1360
Email- mschloss@weymouth.ma.us
Phone (781) 340-5007
Fax (781)335-3283

Conservation Commission members:
George Loring - Chairman
Steven DeGabriele - Vice-Chairman
Scott Dowd - Member
Adrienne Gowen - Member
Laura Harbottle - Clerk

Featured Information:

Alexan at Arbor Hill Documents 

Riverfront Mitigation Planting, Herring Brook 

Information for Applicants

• NOI Local App
• File Fees
• Affidavit of Service
• Abbutter Order Form
• Blank Abutters List
• Abutters Notice
• Weymouth's Wetlands Protections Ordinance (Town's Ordinance section 7-301) - PDF 191k

Links and other relevant Info

• When to Contact the Conservation Commission - PDF 18k
• Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act - (http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/laws/regulati.htm#wl )
• Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissioners - (http://www.maccweb.org/ )
• Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife - (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/ )
• US Environmental Protection Agency - (http://www.epa.gov/ )
• Wetlands Protection Act Reference Guide - Useful Links

Volunteer Opportunities for residents. Please contact the Conservation Administrator.

The Weymouth Conservation Commission
The Weymouth Conservation Commission serves the town in a regulatory and advisory way. This is the principal town agency with the duty of protecting our aquatic natural resources.

The Commission has several functions. It can advise other boards on conservation matters. It can accept gifts of land or money for conservation purposes. And it does the planning for projects concerning our environment.

But perhaps the most significant impact of the Commission results from its administration of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act.

Wetlands Protection Act
The Wetlands Protection Act was passed to protect more than just wetlands. It was passed to protect us and our families, and our friends and neighbors. The reason is that by protecting our wetlands we're protecting our water supply. We're guarding against flood damage. We're preventing pollution. We're protecting our shellfish and fisheries.

Everybody is affected by the Wetlands Protection Act. Everybody should care about it.

Perhaps the simplest way to explain the Act, and how the Conservation Commission works with it is to break it down, word by word.

Wetlands
The following definition is a paraphrase of the law to make it easier to understand. Any legal discussion would be based on the original wording of the law.

Any lands under water or adjoining water are wetlands. There are fresh-water and salt-water wetlands. Any meadow, swamp, or bank bordering on water is a wetland. Any dune, beach, marsh, or flat bordering on water is a wetland. The water may be a pond or lake. It may be a creek, a stream, or a river. It may be an estuary or ocean. In addition, any land subject to tidal action, flooding, or storm flowage is a wetland.

Whether you are a developer working on a large area, or a homeowner with a project like enlarging your lawn, filling a swampy area, or building a dock or path, you may not work on wetlands without approval. If you are not sure, check with the Conservation Commission. Sometimes the whole Commission will visit the site. They will make a determination based on their investigation. You should find out what the Commission thinks before you do any work on that piece of property.

Protection
The Act protects every wetland by regulating the ways in which it may be altered. In a wetland, or within one hundred feet of a wetland, there is to be no removal, filling, dredging or altering of any kind, UNLESS the Commission sees that precautions are taken to prevent damage to the wetland. If your project involves wetland, file a Notice of Intent with the Conservation Commission for their guidance on the environmental aspects.

Act
When you appear before the Commission, here is what they'll be trying to determine. They'll want to know if the work you're going to do will significantly affect any one of these seven concerns:

1. Public or private water supply
2. Ground water supply and quality
3. Flood Control
4. Storm damage protection
5. Water pollution
6. Shellfish
7. Fisheries

If even one of these is adversely affected, the Conservation Commission must decide between what you want to do and what is good for you and everybody. Then you will be issued an Order of Conditions, which is a permit defining the conditions under which you may work.

If there are disagreements, appeals may be made to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE). An appeal may be made by the holder of the permit, by an abutter, by any ten interested persons, or by the DEQE itself. Any project approved by the Conservation Commission will display an authorization sign.

Exceptions to the Rule
The Wetlands Protection Act doesn't apply to repair of existing utilities, mosquito control work, farmlands or land that comes under some special act of its own.

Time
You'll have your hearing within 21 days after you file for it

You'll know what conditions the Commission has determined, called the Order of Conditions, within 21 days after your hearing.

An appeal can be made to the DEQE within 10 days after the Commission issues your Order of Conditions.

You can begin your work after the appeal period is over.

Expenses
You have to pay $25.00 to file for a hearing and you have to pay for the legal notices the Commission is required to publish.

It can cost you $1000 a day, plus six months in jail, if you violate an Order of Conditions or start work without a hearing.

Filing is cheaper.

More Information
You can read the Act in the Town Hall. You can get copies of the regulations telling you how to apply for a hearing under the Act and forms to complete for the hearing, from the Conservation Commission.

The Weymouth Conservation Commission meets at 7:30 PM on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Town Hall. The office is open daily at Town Hall.