208 Plan earns EPA Environmental Merit Award

May 11, 2016

2016 EPA Merit Award Presentation: (L-R) Technical Services Director for Water Resources Tom Cambareri, Communications Coordinator David Still II , Deputy Director Patty Daley, Special Projects Coordinator Danielle Donahue, Special Projects CoordinatorErin Perry, Region 1 Deputy Administrator Deborah Szaro and EPA Region 1 Director Curt Spaulding.

The New England Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the Cape Cod 208 Plan a 2016 Environmental Merit Award in recognition of its exceptional work and commitment to the environment.

Along with the Commission, the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and MassDEP will also be recognized for their support in producing the Section 208 Plan Update.

“Cape Cod is clearly one of New England’s special places,” MaryJo Feuerbach, EPA Region 1 Watershed Program Director, said in making the presentation May 10 at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. “The plan was updated last summer and really is pushing the envelope in terms of encouraging new, innovative nutrient reduction technologies and provides a strong framework for towns to work together in cases where they share watersheds.”

Cape Cod Commission Deputy Director Patty Daley, Technical Services Director for Water Resources Tom Cambareri and Special Projects Coordinator Erin Perry, Special projects Coordinator Danielle Donahue and Communications Coordinator David Still II attended the ceremony. Commission staff was joined on state by Collaborative Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb and staff from MassDEP.

EPA’s Environmental Merit Award is an annual award that recognizes outstanding environmental advocates who have made significant contributions toward preserving and protecting our natural resources.

The Section 208 Plan established a new path forward for wastewater infrastructure planning in Massachusetts. Along with offering a new set of technologies to restore water quality to coastal embayments and estuaries suffering from excess nitrogen, the plan introduced a targeted, watershed-based regulatory framework. The approaches identified in the plan, including access to innovative financing options, will help communities reduce overall costs of implementation.

This annual ceremony has recognized the environmental achievements of New Englanders for more than four decades.