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The Commission is pleased to report that we, Commission is also following closely the studies being along with our consultants and the Shellfish Constable, done in Falmouth and other places regarding on-site completed the Final Recommended Plan/Final alternatives to sewers, although, to date, none has Environmental Impact Report for the WNMP in June demonstrated its feasibility at the scale required to meet and forwarded it for approval by the Massachusetts our mandated nitrogen targets. Environmental Policy Act Office (MEPA), DEP and the Cape Cod Commission(CCC). The Plan describes The Secretary of Energy&Environmental Affairs work to be done in five 5-year phases, plus a issued his Certificate that the Final Plan/Final EIR preliminary phase regarding completion of the Plan complies with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy review and approval process by DEP and the CCC. As Act on July 31. CCC review of the Plan as a each phase is completed, the condition of our Development of Regional Impact (DRI) began with a waterways and other factors will be analyzed to public hearing on July 14. The hearing was continued determine how well the plan is working toward to November 10, when we had hoped to get final achieving the TMDLs and whether or not adjustments approval by the CCC. However, at the request of need to be made to the Plan (a process referred to as Selectmen Gottlieb,for reasons noted below,the CCC "adaptive management"). This adaptive management hearing has been continued to May 16,2016. As part approach has become particularly important as the Plan of the CCC process, the Plan will have to be found relies heavily on the proposal by Shellfish Constable consistent with the CCC's recently adopted "Section Rick York to remove a significant portion of the water 208 Plan", which was approved by the EPA in column nitrogen load through seeding and commercial September. The Chairman and other Commissioners harvesting of large numbers (millions) of shellfish, participated in a number of workshops over the last using Quahogs in Hamblin and Jehu Ponds,Great and year as part of the development of the 208 plan. Little Rivers and Ockway Bay, and a significant expansion of current oyster propagation efforts in the Once our Plan is fully-approved, the Town can Mashpee River,Shoestring Bay and Popponesset Bay. qualify for 0% interest loans for wastewater facilities The oyster propagation efforts are also being enhanced primarily intended to prevent nutrient enrichment of by the Wampanoag Tribe. In conjunction with water bodies or water supplies. The loans, however, sewering and other nitrogen reduction measures such are only available to applicants who have adopted land as stormwater bio-retention areas, development use controls intended to limit wastewater flows to the controls and land purchases to reduce "buildout" amount authorized by zoning and wastewater population and other measures, shellfish seeding and regulations as of the date DEP approves our Plan (so- commercial harvesting on a large scale may make called"growth neutral"regulations). The 0%loans are meeting the TMDL targets for Hamblin and Jehu Ponds available only until 2019, in competition with other and Great River possible on their own, and also similar projects around the state, so we have a strong ultimately reduce the area of the Town that has to be incentive to fund implementation of our wastewater sewered in other watersheds (thus reducing resulting plan as soon as possible and to adopt the required costs by about half from previous estimates) while regulations (as was done by Falmouth in 2014). The providing local jobs and economic development. Commission will propose adoption of such regulations Should the shellfish proposal prove as effective as in 2016. hoped, only the first two or three phases of sewer facility construction would be required to meet the As noted,our CCC hearing has been continued to TMDLs (shellfish cannot meet the TMDLs on their May of 2016. This is intended to allow the Town, own in the Mashpee River and Shoestring Bay sub- along with Barnstable and Sandwich, to negotiate a watersheds, or at all in the Quashnet/Moonakis River "watershed-based permit" for the Popponesset sub-watershed, meaning that significant sewer watershed which would legally define the construction will still be required in those sub- responsibilities of each town in funding and watersheds). As each 5-year phase is completed and implementing the measures needed to meet the TMDL water quality results become known, it may be targets for Popponesst Bay. This would be the first necessary to construct portions or all of the later phases such permit issued by DEP in the state. Funding for of the proposed sewer facilities if the shellfish option the effort was included in a Selectmen's article does not produce the hoped-for results. The approved at the October 2015 Town Meeting. Should 153