COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
S.O.P. NO.ENV-01-15-1-000
MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PAGE 1 OF 2
HIGHWAY DIVISION
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
SUBJECT: Protection of Wetland Resource Areas at
DISTRIBUTION:
MassDOT Highway Facilities
A
EFFECTIVE:
11/23/10
ISSUED:
11/23/10
SUPERSEDES: ENV-01-15-1-000,
Dated 8/13/08
AUTHORIZED:Signature
on original
PURPOSE
To ensure that facility activities and operations are conducted in a manner consistent with environmental
regulations and that the activities and operations avoid impacts to Wetland and Riverfront Resource Areas
and associated buffer zones (ref: 310 CMR 10.00).
RESPONSIBILITY
It is the responsibility of the District Maintenance Engineer or their designee to maintain facility storage
areas and erosion control measures to prevent contaminated storm water from entering wetland resource
areas. It is also the responsibility of the facility personnel to report situations that prevent adherence to this
SOP to their immediate supervisor and the Environmental Management System Compliance Coordinator
(ECC).
It is the responsibility of the District Maintenance Engineer or their designee to assist in determining
appropriate storage areas at the facilities, and to promptly address identified deficiencies or compliance
problems.
It is the responsibility of the District Maintenance Engineer or their designee to request in writing to the
District Environmental Engineer to conduct a review of the scope of any proposed work at a MassDOT
Highway Facility to determine the need for wetland resource permits for facility related activities.
It is the responsibility of the District Environmental Engineer to contact the appropriate regulatory authority
and/or the Environmental Services Division Wetland/Water Resources Unit as necessary, to determine and
if necessary, obtain appropriate permits prior to commencement of work at the facility.
It is the responsibility of the District Environmental Engineer and/or the Environmental Services Division
Wetland/Water Resources Unit to document that the proposed work is out of the jurisdiction of the
applicable regulatory authority and no such permits are necessary.
It is the responsibility of the Wetland/Water Resources Unit to provide biennial Wetland Resource
Protection/Stormwater Management training to district maintenance personnel.
It is the responsibility of the ECC or designee to perform regular facility inspections and to report
compliance issues to the District Maintenance Engineer.
POLICY
No filling, grading, leveling, dredging, paving, or alteration of site topography and woody vegetation shall
occur within any regulated Resource Area on/or adjacent to a MassDOT Highway Facility without first
securing the necessary permits. As part of the scope of work development the facility map should be
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
S.O.P. NO.ENV-01-15-1-000
MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PAGE 2 OF 2
HIGHWAY DIVISION
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
SUBJECT: Protection of Wetland Resource Areas at
DISTRIBUTION:
MassDOT Highway Facilities
A
EFFECTIVE:
11/23/10
ISSUED:
11/23/10
SUPERSEDES: ENV-01-15-1-000,
Dated 8/13/08
AUTHORIZED:Signature
on original
reviewed for Resource Areas and a site visit conducted by the appropriate personnel (DEE or Environmental
Services Division Wetland/Water Resources Unit).
Equipment, vehicles, useable materials, and solid wastes related to maintenance activities shall be,
whenever practicable, stored outside the limits of any regulated Resource Area. If no other feasible storage
areas exist, then preference shall be given to the outer limits of the Buffer Zone (50-100 feet) or the outer
zone of the Riverfront Area (100-200 feet from the river). Storage or discharges within any resource area is
not allowed. The DME, in conjunction with the ECC and facility personnel, shall determine how and where
these items shall be stored.
Drainage structures that flow to Resource Areas and/or Buffer Zones or to catch basins and storm drains
within Wetland Resource Areas and/or Buffer Zones shall be protected. Appropriate protective measures
(hay bales, silt fence etc) shall be installed to minimize facility activities impact on resource areas.
Any equipment or material that are stored at a facility shall be consolidated and stored by the facility
personnel in a designated area and properly managed so as not to impact any regulated Resource Areas.
Stored equipment shall be inspected regularly for leakage or spills and no refueling of this equipment shall
take place within these areas
Materials (e.g. sand, loam, mixed gravel, etc.), may be stored within a previously disturbed regulated Buffer
Zone or upland Riverfront Area, but not within the 100-year floodplain. Such materials shall have proper
erosion and sedimentation controls put into place.
Discharges of process wastewater or domestic wastewater to a regulated Resource Area are not allowed
unless a state or federal discharge permit or exemption is obtained.
MassDOT personnel should also refer to the latest version of (now MassDOT) MassHighway Stormwater
Handbook for Highways and Bridges, May 2004. The latest version of the handbook is available at \\mhdshared\shareddata$\HQ\Environment\Environmental Web Site\Wetlands\A Final Handbook.pdf or by
request from the Environmental Services Division, Wetland/Water Resources Unit in Boston.