The Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) and the Pleasant Bay Resource Management Alliance has petitioned EPA to approve the No Discharge designation. Before EPA will endorse a No Discharge Area designation for any area, the applicant must demonstrate that there are enough “pumpout” facilities where boaters can get their sewage holding tanks pumped out. EPA has published the request in the Federal Register and will accept public comments on the proposal for 30 days, ending on June 7, 2010.
Other areas in New England already designated as No Discharge areas include:
- All state marine waters of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire;
- In Massachusetts: Harwich, Waquoit Bay, Nantucket Harbor, Wellfleet, Barnstable, and Buzzards Bay (including Wareham and Westport), Plymouth/ Duxbury/ Kingston area, Marshfield/ Scituate/ Cohasset, Salem Sound, Boston Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, and Revere/Saugus/Lynn/Nahant/Swampscott;
- In Maine, Boothbay Harbor, Casco Bay, Kennebunk/Kennebunkport/Wells, Southern Mount Desert area and Camden/Rockport/Rockland
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