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LJ' <br />Environmental Oversight Committee <br />Minutes <br />October 14, 2015 <br />COMMUNICATIONS <br />Montgomery, MD Passes Healthy Lawn's Bill: <br />EOC member Michael Talbot distributed an email to the committee relative to a favorable vote <br />passed by the Montgomery County Council is support of the Healthy Lawns Bill. Montgomery <br />County, Maryland is the first county in the U.S. that has passed measures to restrict the use of <br />pesticides in lawn care as a method to protect the health of Montgomery County residents. It is <br />similar to regulations in Canada that have been imposed in some provinces to ban the use of <br />pesticides for aesthetic purposes. <br />It was explained that state-wide changes to the regulations would be required for the enactment <br />of this bill in the State of Massachusetts. It was noted that 78% of pesticide use on the Cape is <br />applied on turf, and an additional 9% directed on golf course turf. This may be a favorable <br />direction to reduce the impacts of the extensive use of pesticides on Cape Cod. It was noted that <br />Eversource uses less than 1% of pesticides on its right-of-ways. <br />A brief discussion followed with regards to clear cutting on power lines and other invasive areas <br />with the use of goats. This is becoming a common practice, and an adaptive management <br />approach to the use of pesticides. <br />ACTION ITEMS UPDATE <br />Pond & Estuary Water Qualily Monitoring:, Update: No report. <br />Mash ee Comprehensive Wastewater & Nitrogen. Management Plan CWMP : Update on <br />Final Approval and Implementation: <br />In accordance with the Clean Water Act, negotiations have begun with the Towns of Barnstable <br />and Sandwich with regards to coordination in achieving TMDL compliance with respect to the <br />joint management of the shared watersheds in a five-year review. <br />In the fair share agreement, a watershed permit is issued to a single community or to an <br />assemblage of communities. With the assembling of three communities, all three TMDL's and <br />their 208 apportionments are considered. The TMDL is thus multiplied by the pounds of <br />nitrogen, and allocated to communities on a percentage base in the five-year exam to determine <br />if the communities have achieved compliance with respect to their daily load requirements. <br />This method would grant a period of time for a community to implement measures, and allow for <br />towns to receive credit by achieving a TMDL implementation. This initiative also creates an <br />administrative permitting mechanism to be formally credited toward compliance. It was noted <br />this process is conducted solely under state authority. <br />Mr. York indicated that he is using attenuated load figures in his current projections. <br />M <br />