Environmental Planning

At BRPC, Environmental Planning is the analysis of how people impact natural resources. Decisions made regarding development and conservation, zoning, and land use may have visible and invisible impacts on the environment. Visible impacts include major land disturbances, loss of natural areas and wildlife, or pollution. Invisible impacts may be contamination of land, water and air by point or nonpoint source pollution.

Environmental planning projects involve protecting natural resources for future generations, identifying problem areas (such as stormwater, erosion hazards, and threatened sensitive areas) and developing strategies for correcting those problems. Services that BRPC provides include coordination of public education for new and changing environmental regulations; review of development projects under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act; assistance with resource protection bylaws; technical assistance regarding state environmental regulations.

Major Environmental Planning Projects

Farmington River Watershed 5-Year Action Plan
BRPC will partner with the Farmington River Watershed Association (FRWA) to develop a Five-Year Watershed Action Plan. The Watershed Action Plan will reflect local priorities and regional consensus on issues that cross municipal and state boundaries. The plan will result in goals, objectives, strategies, and potential solutions for the issues and problems within the Farmington River Watershed. The recommendations of the 5-Year Action Plan will receive priority for funding from state grant programs and other funding sources.

Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)
NEMO is an outreach program that teaches municipal officials how to recognize and address nonpoint source pollution through their actions (permitting, site plan review, policy setting, etc).

Berkshire Conservation Agent Program
The purpose of the Berkshire Conservation Agent Program is to provide communities in the Berkshires with the opportunity to access readily available, affordable, highly qualified services to assist them in complying with the Wetlands Protection Act, thereby improving water resources throughout the Berkshires.

Massachusetts Buffer Manual and Demonstration Project
This project promotes vegetated buffers as effective and attractive ways to minimize nonpoint source pollution and provide wildlife habitat. BRPC has planted buffers, presented at several conferences, and has created a user-friendly buffer manual describing the many environmental benefits of buffers. Download the Mass. Buffer Manual by clicking here.

Pontoosuc and Onota Lake Implementation Projects
These projects are implementing recommendations from Diagnostic/Feasibility studies on these lakes.

Lake Ashmere Implementation Project
Through this project, Best Management Practices to correct erosion and sediment loading to Lake Ashmere from a gravel road will be installed and education and outreach efforts will be conducted.

Adams Stormwater Management Assessment
Through this project, a comprehensive stormwater management framework to improve the water quality of the Hoosic River will be prepared. This project will assist the Town in complying with EPA Phase II Stormwater Program requirements and will contribute information that may be used to remove the Hoosic River from DEP's 303(d) list of impaired waters.

Adams Flood Control Restoration Project
The goal of the restoration project, under the section 1135 program is to restore fisheries and wildlife habitat in 2.2 miles of the Hoosic River in Adams, presently consisting of exposed concrete channel and originally constructed by the Adams Army Corps of Engineers.

Additional projects

• LAPA West
• Kampoosa Bog Hydrogeochemical Study
• Resource Area Mapping for Public Works Departments (DPWs)
• Unpaved Roads Assessment in the Farmington River Watershed
  (NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT thanks to the generous funding of the Berkshire Environmental Fund. Please call for copies.)