Final Environmental Impact Report - Whittier Bridge/I-95 ...

EEA#14427 DEIR Certificate December 30,2011
additional information to the local conservation commissions for review. MassDOT should be
responsive to this directive because it has already filed NOls and subsequently, local decisions
may be issued in advance of the completion of MEPA review. In light of this fact, the FEIR
should discuss the submission of any updated applications/information to the local conservation
commissions or discuss how the project will be conditioned by the conservation commissions to
comply with the applicable wetlands regulations.
The FEIR should identify and delineate any additional wetlands impacts to occur since
filing the DEIR. The FEIR should provide updates on any consultations with MassDEP
regarding wetlands impacts and should address MassDEP's concerns that the project may require
a Variance under the Wetlands Protection Act. MassDOT should continue to coordinate closely
with MassDEP and the federal permitting agencies to develop appropriate mitigation strategies
for any unavoidable impacts to wetland resource areas. According to comments from MassDEP,
MassDOT has agreed, in the FEIR, to propose a construction access management system that
will avoid problems that could lead to unpermitted wetland resource area alteration and
environmental degradation. MassDOT has also agreed to confirm in the FEIR, the process it will
adopt to ensure that access and staging areas will not impact resource areas, that contractors will
be made explicitly aware of their compliance obligations under the WPA, and that an
experienced Environmental Monitor will be hired for project construction oversight and
contractor compliance training through the post-construction period. The FEIR should include
details of the contractual and field oversight measures that MassDOT will undertake to ensure
protection of wetland resource areas.
The FEIR should identify how riverfront mitigation or restoration will comply with the
WPA. The FEIR should include detailed plans of BVW replacement areas, including
groundwater elevation information, in accordance with the MassDEP March 2002,
Massachusetts Inland Replication Guidelines. The FEIR must identify the area and the amount
of any floodplain (Bordering Land Subject to Flooding (BLSF)) impacted along the Merrimack
River. The FEIR should clarify that project-related activities will be able to meet WPA standards
for BLSF and FEMA requirements for floodplain. The FEIR should indicate that the local
Conservation Commissions have been notified of any changes to resource area delineations and
that ORADs have been appropriately modified to reflect these changes. The FEIR should clarify
whether the project will require dredging as indicated in MassDEP' s comments. The FEIR
should indicate if measures will be implemented to reduce impacts to resource areas as a result
of flooding during the construction period.
Waterways and Tidelands
I note the comments from MassDEP which recommend that the project be classified as a
water-dependent use project, based on the review of the alternatives and due to the fact that the
structure cannot be reasonably relocated or operated away from tidal waters of the Merrimack
River. The FEIR should describe consistency with Chapter 91 licensing requirements, as
applicable. The FEIR should include information to support a Public Benefit Determination
(PBD) pursuant to 301 CMR 13.02.
19