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• Conservation Commission. <br /> Web addresses for these regulations are provided as hyperlinks embedded within the text of this <br /> document for future reference. For each set of regulations available electronically,HW <br /> conducted keyword searches to quickly identify sections referring to lawns, nutrient loading, or <br /> fertilizer management. The keywords used in the search included: lawn,nitrogen (and all words <br /> starting with the letters "nitr"to cover nitrate and nitrite), nutrient, fertilize (and all words <br /> starting with the letters "fert"to cover fertilization and fertilizer), and pesticide. In addition,HW <br /> reviewed each town's wetlands protection regulations to determine the extent of a wetland <br /> resource area buffer they required. <br /> HW then reviewed and assessed all regulation sections related to fertilizer and nitrogen <br /> management to identify how they address nitrogen and fertilizer management for lawns, golf <br /> courses, or other areas. Some sections were not directly relevant as they used these keywords in <br /> other contexts, such as wastewater, aquaculture,cranberry farming, or nutrient retention by salt <br /> marshes and wetlands. Relevant sections have been copied into this section,with the most <br /> applicable sentence(s)highlighted, for easy access and review. <br /> 3.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS <br /> Most of the existing regulations were developed with the goal of protecting drinking water <br /> supplies, and are therefore designed to manage nitrogen loading within the Zone II wellhead <br /> protection areas to the towns' wells and other water resources. In these regulations,the primary <br /> source of nitrogen being regulated is wastewater discharge through septic system effluent; <br /> although,there is mention of fertilizer impacts within some of the Town's regulations, and some <br /> require that fertilizer loadings be included in any required nitrogen loading analysis. <br /> It is important to note that the existing town regulations do not specifically control fertilizer <br /> loading impacts to Pleasant Bay or other coastal estuaries. However,the Orleans wetlands <br /> protection regulations provide the opportunity to restrict lawn sizes or eliminate lawns entirely <br /> within 100 feet of a wetland resource area,which could include Pleasant Bay or one of its sub- <br /> watersheds. The Brewster Zoning Bylaw also limits cultivated lawn sizes to 10%of the lot area <br /> within the Groundwater Protection District. In addition, it should be noted that based on <br /> discussions with the Pleasant Bay Alliance Watershed Work Group,many, if not all <br /> Conservation Commissions take the opportunity to control lawn size and lawn fertilization <br /> practices in the issuance of Orders of Conditions for new projects within their jurisdiction. <br /> Conservation Commissions in each of the four towns have adopted a requirement for a 50-foot <br /> no-disturb buffer to wetland resource areas. However, many existing properties that come before <br /> Conservation Commissions have little or no buffer,and the creation or enhancement of buffers <br /> on these properties often can be negotiated as part of mitigation to obtain an Order of <br /> Conditions. Further specifics on each town's regulations are provided below. <br /> Some of the local regulations provide specifications for topsoil requirements and fertilizer <br /> application rates. However,these standards vary among the Towns. It is recommended that <br /> set of standard requirements based on the same best management practices used for outreach to <br /> Pleasant Bay Fertilizer Management Plan 7 Horsley Witten Group,Inc. <br /> Final Report December 2010 <br />