Stoimwater and Sediment 



will allow. Therefore the quality of field work which supports permit language is 

 extremely important, and must not be sacrificed to expediency. 



A Task Force finding which was corroborated in interviews with staff and observers 

 concerns intervention in the permitting process on the part of DEM administration. On 

 recommending denial of certain projects, staff have been informed that the project "will go 

 through," and have been advised to attach the permit conditions which they would 

 professionally judge most able to mitigate impacts. Staff scientists have then attached die 

 conditions, laiowing full well they would not be implemented. 



Intergovernmental Consistency and Enforcement 



A number of town councils have policies which are in conflict with the 

 Freshwater Wetlands Act. In some instances, town policies are established to ensure 

 tiiat roads are interconnected to facilitate movement of service and emergency vehicles and 

 allow for efficient maintenance of inftastructure. In these communities, development of 

 cul-de-sacs is discouraged or prohibited, and road or facility construction may be forced 

 into wetiand areas, even at increased expense to the developer. 



In such situations, the Wetlands Section has no power to require that 

 town policy be consistent with state requirements. Applicants tend to prefer 

 going through the hearing and appeals process at DEM rather than obtaining a variance 

 from multiple municipal bodies. In many towns, public works departments and municipal 

 boards and commissions are insufficiendy informed and/or unsympathetic regarding the 

 objectives and regulatory requirements of the wetiands program. 



Conflicts also arise with other state agencies regarding runoff and 

 erosion control issues. Problems with DOT are complex, and have 

 persisted over a number of years. Although the Wetiands Section maintains good 

 working relations with DOT design personnel, who incorporate wetiands requirements into 

 contract and design specifications, required practices are infrequentiy adhered to by DOT 

 contractors. 



Dumping of excess materials on adjacent property, including wetiand areas, is a routine 

 practice among DOT contractors, who frequentiy obtain permission to dump from abutters 

 without regard to potential involvement of wetiands. Contractors consistentiy underbid 

 projects, knowing that contract specifications cannot be effectively enforced. DOT places a 

 resident engineer on the site of major projects, but resident engineers have not generally 

 been willing to exert vigorous authority over contractors, and communication between the 

 resident engineer and top EXDT officials is insufficient 



Therefore, although DOT has the authority to withhold payment if a contractor fails to 

 comply with contract stipulations, the control over disbursement can readily be 

 circumvented at higher levels. DEM's Wetiands Section can issue cease and desist orders 

 to a contractor for violations, but the orders apply only to areas over which the Section has 

 jurisdiction. The contractor can continue to work elsewhere on die site, further limiting the 

 utility of the threat of non-payment Once a notice of violation has been served to a 

 contractor, workload is such that weeks may pass before Section staff are able to follow up 

 on the correction. 



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