Local Initiatives 



Environmental Protection Officer could be designated an ex-officio member of the planning 

 board or the town council, and would serve as an agent of the town with the flexibility and 

 authority to initiate regulatory and legal action. The Environmental Protection Officer 

 would assist the building inspector and the staff of the building department in ensuring 

 compliance with state and local resource protection requirements. 



The Environmental Protection Officer, and the Officer's staff assistants would be 

 licensed professionals who had successfully completed training in biology, ecology, 

 environmental science, environmental engineering, forestry, or a related field. 



The officer would serve as a liaison between town and regional bodies having 

 jurisdiction over land use and water quality related concerns, including the town council, 

 the planning and zoning boards, the conservation commission, the wastewater management 

 district, the department of public works, and the soil and water conservation district. The 

 officer would attend board meetings, work with related state agencies, assist applicable 

 boards in reviewing resource inventory assessments and permit applications, and foster 

 communication among these groups. 



Copies of all state environmental permit applications would be submitted to the 

 Environmental Protection Officer. The officer would familiarize himself/herself with state 

 permitting requirements, and would be required to attend periodic workshops held by the 

 state permitting agencies to update environmental protection officers and local building 

 inspectors regarding adjustments to state requirements. Upon payment of a review fee to 

 cover administrative and research costs, permit applicants would be able to obtain from the 

 officer a preliminary review of the adequacy of the application, and potential adjustments 

 necessary in order to comply with state requirements. 



Dedicated permit fees, land transfer assessments, fines collected as a result of 

 enforcement actions, etc. could be used to fund these positions. 



***Ensure that building inspectors have sufficient staff assistance to enable 

 them to meet their responsibilities in monitoring compliance with local and state 

 programs related to water quaUty and resource protection. Staffing capability must be 

 sufficient to ensure that a full review procedure can be completed, including: 



a) preliminary site visit to appraise owner/developer of the state and local permits 

 which will be required, including as applicable: 



-freshwater weUands 



-coastal 



-ISDS 



-other state discharge permits 



-town zoning approval 



-town subdivision approval 



-floodplain development (copies of variance requests forwarded to the Division of 



Planning, CRMC and Freshwater Wetlands Section 

 -town erosion and sediment control plan 

 -town stormwater management plan 

 -town building permit 



b) review of permit application recordance in the land evidence records 



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