Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program

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Draft Action Plan 23*:
Enhancing Public Education and Participation

About the new Buzzards Bay CCMP Action Plans
The Buzzards Bay NEP is now updating our 1992 landmark Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) to reflect the great progress achieved since that plan was finalized. It will include new goals, objectives, and recommendations to meet the environmental needs for Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed throughout the next decade. This new document will also meet the requirements for a Massachusetts Watershed Action Plan, which will enable new funding opportunities through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

On this page is a draft action plan from the updated Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. The text on this page is a public draft provided to invite comment and discussion of the subject by residents and stakeholders. It may contain goals and recommendations that have not yet been endorsed or approved by the Buzzards Bay Steering Committee. The views or information contained here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the US Environmental Protection Agency.

We want your feedback on this action plan. First, please read the Enhancing Public Education and Participation Action Plan. Then at the bottom of this page click the "rate this action plan" button to provide comments on each goal, objective and recommendation contained in this Action Plan. Based on your feedback, we will update and revise all the action plans in the new CCMP.

Enhancing Public Education and Participation

December 28, 2009 draft

Problem

[this is an excerpt]
Government can be slow to address environmental problems because of work force or financial constraints, political pressures, concerns of potential economic impacts, or failure of legislative and executive bodies to revise or adopt new laws and regulations. In a democracy, the response of government to any problem is strongly driven by the public's concerns and understanding of the issues. If the public is ill-informed on a particular environmental issue, or if it does not have a clear understanding of important technical and regulatory issues, they may fail to appreciate the costs and benefits of management actions, or inaction.

Because many of the recommendations in the Buzzards Bay CCMP are directed toward local government, and may require voter approval, or approval by Town Meeting or local boards, it is particularly important to have an informed citizenry to help make these decisions. In this regard, citizen groups and environmental non-governmental organizations can provide a crucial role in educating adults and children that will ultimately lead to the necessary social, political, regulatory, legislative, and legal actions to support efforts to protect and restore Buzzards Bay and surrounding watershed. The contribution of these non-governmental partners will be most important when legislative bodies and governmental boards must make specific planning, regulatory, and budgetary decisions. The public media and government agencies have important responsibilities in providing clear summaries of environmental issues.

Background

In recent decades, as our understanding of the impact of individual and cumulative environmental impacts of human activity has improved, environmental standards to protect the environment have become stricter, and new tools have been developed and implemented by all levels of government. While there have been continued and ongoing successes in Massachusetts and elsewhere in controlling point-source and certain non-point source pollution, water quality improvements have begun to taper off because of unabated development pressures on the coast, together with regulatory limitations and self-imposed limits of state and federal agencies to address certain types of environmental degradation. Simply put, we have collectively picked the low-hanging fruit by fixing the largest problem point discharges, but have left many watershed-level non-point source pollution problems lingering.

This situation arose because of the complexity, scale, and costs associated with addressing the cumulative impacts of non-point source pollution at the watershed level. Although restoration actions will continue under federal mandates like the Clean Water Act, the actual implementation of unfulfilled programs will be difficult without broader public support.


To fully understand the basis of these goals and recommendations, please read the complete Education and Outreach Action Plan (1/5/10 draft, pdf file).

Goals

Goal 23-1. To expand the public knowledge of the natural resources and water quality of Buzzards Bay and surrounding watershed and the threats they face.

Goal 23-2. To increase public participation in actions that support of the goals, objectives, and recommenda-tions in the CCMP.

Objectives

[under development]

Recommendations

[under development]


To fully understand the basis of these goals and recommendations, please read the complete Enhancing Public Education and Participation Action Plan (1/5/10 draft, pdf file).

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