FY 2022 -
FY 2023 SNEP
Southeast New England Program
Year in Review: 2022
Boston Massachusetts
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Rhode Island
Our Program
The Southeast New England Program (SNEP) at EPA Region 1 is a geographic program aimed at improving water
quality, protecting and restoring habitat and supporting sustainability across a region that includes three Tribal
Nations, Rhode Island, and southeastern Massachusetts. This document provides an overview of the SNEP 2022
achievements made by EPA and our partner programs: the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants (SWIG) pro-
gram, which is managed by Restore America's Estuaries; the SNEP Network, which is managed by the New England
Environmental Finance Center; the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program; and the Buzzards Bay National Estuary
Program.
This document includes highlights from each program team to provide information on all major activities and
accomplishments that were funded or directly supported by the Southeast New England Program between 2022 -
2023.
How to Navigate This Document. Each section of this document was written by the primary team member of the
SNEP subsidiary or partner. The title of each Program and subsidiary is hyperlinked to the main web page of that
organization. If you'd like to learn more about any specific area of our Program, we strongly encourage you to visit
their corresponding web page. To stay in the loop on all things SNEP, be sure to register for our newsletter and
mailing list, HERE.
loEPA
United States
Environment I Protection
Agency
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FY 2022 -
FY 2023
SNEP
Southeast New England Program
Year in Review: 2022
Our Prog
In FY22, EPA-SNEP received $6 Million in regular ("base") appropriations as well as $3 Million as a
part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Through base appropriations, SNEP allocated $5.66M
in grant funding to support our Program partners throughout the region, including funding for the
Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Bay National Estuary Programs, our five pilot watershed projects,
the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grant (SWIG) program, and the SNEP Network Together these
awards supported new and ongoing projects across the region and leveraged an additional $1.64M in
matching funds.
Continued Engagement and Outreach. The EPA SNEP Team continued its work with our Steering
Committee and subcommittees. The Steering Committee is tasked with providing oversight and
guidance on the direction of the Program; the Monitoring subcommittee is tasked with st reamlining
available water quality and habitat data throughout the region; and the Ecosystem Services
subcommittee works to communicate the story of the Program and region through the restoration
work that our Program supports. Steering Committee and subcommittee meetings are now scheduled
quarterly. We announced the nomination and confirmation of our first-ever subcommittee chairs:
Tim Pasakarnis (Cape Cod Commission) as chair of the Monitoring subcommittee, andBryce DuBois
(College of Holy Cross) as chair of the Ecosystem Services subcommittee. As chairs, Tim and Bryce
will work to guide their respective subcommittees and represent their interests at each Steering
Committee meeting.
First-ever SNEP Symposium. In May 2022, SNEP successfully hosted its first-ever virtual Symposium.
We welcomed over thirty-two speakers across three concurrent presentation tracks and poster
presentations, and over 150 attendees joined us throughout this all-day event. All presentation
materials are now archived on our website.
Watershed-Scale Implementation. Between FY21-FY22, SNEP launched the Pilot Watersheds
Initiative (PWI) with the selection of five pilot watershed grants. EPA will invest $750,000 in each
watershed to pilot innovative solutions that address common environmental challenges impacting
Tribes and communities, including excess nutrients, degraded habitat, and vulnerability to climate
change stressors. Projects will demonstrate the effectiveness of small-scale stormwater control
measures, wetland biofilters, streambank improvements, and provide an case study of a community-
centered climate resilience plan. By projects' end, SNEP will have invested $3.75 Million in the PWI
over five years. More information about each pilot can be found on the SNEP website.
BIL-ding Lasting Change. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provides SNEP with $15 Million
over five years. In FY22, the SNEP Team worked with the Steering Committee to identify priority
needs that support long-lasting change across landscapes throughout our Region. For this first
year, SNEP has awarded $1.15M to Barnstable County, Massachusetts, to pilot the development
of Responsible Management Entities to support the use of new, more effective nitrogen reducing
septic systems on and near Cape Cod. Our program also funded the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct
groundwater research and monitoring across the region to better understand ways to address
nutrients. EPA released a SNEP Request for Applications in November to award $930,000 to support
projects that enhance decentralized wastewater in Rhode Island. The SNEP Team is also working to
support stormwater, habitat, and flood-prevention infrastructure improvements in the region.
Meeting Justice40 Goals. The Justice40 initiative set the goal that at least 40% of benefits for
some BIL-funded efforts are directed to disadvantaged communities throughout the U.S. To meet
this goal, the SNEP Team is working with regional partners to finalize a programmatic definition of
"disadvantaged communities" that be used for our efforts that is consistent with federal guidance
and supports the efforts of our regional partners. Once complete, EPA will design and release an
enviornmental justice (EJ)-specific SNEP grant opportunity to meet our Justice40 goals.
From Concept to Implementation. The SNEP Team aims to fully implement the advice received
during each workshop we host. This year, SNEP hosted a workshop to identify strategies for the
Program to support public risk communication about Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the region.
As a result of the workshop, the SNEP Team is now working to create a public-facing informational
resource on HABs.
Changes on the H-ORISE-n. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellow Shasten
Sherwell completed her work with our Program this year. During her time with us, Shasten focused
on developing a Harmful Algal Blooms detection and monitoring strategy for underserved areas
within the SNEP region with a specific focus on freshwater cyanobacteria blooms. The SNEP Team
will continue the seasonal water quality monitoring this spring and summer. We are currently in the
process of recruiting a new ORISE intern to specialize in data management and data visualization for
our Program.
The SNEP Team is Growing and Changing. Over the past year, EPA has hired on two new full-time
employees: Matthew Stamas and Haley Miller. Matt is an environmental engineer who will support the
SNEP Network and work to expand stormwater initiatives. Haley is a wetland ecologist and will seek
to restore and protect habitat and ecosystem function. Both Matt and Haley will additionally serve as
Grant Project Officers for our many upcoming grant awards and support the numerous new initiatives
our Program will release over the next five years as we implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
FY22 Grants by Project Category and Funding Received
Outreach, Education, Training
Feasibility Study
Planning 18-23
Implementation
,1. iSl tV ' 0 A AiA ilui *L - A
\\SNEP TEAM:
Mary Jo Feuerbach, SNEP Manager
Ian Dombroski, Program Coordinator
^dam Reilly, Communications Coordinator
^argherita Pryor, SWIG and Policy
I Coordinator
Matthew Stamas, Stormwater and
Network Coordinator
Haley Miller, Habitat Coordinator
FY22 SNEP Funding
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$7,000,000
$6,000,000
$3,000,000
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
?-
Grants
Interagency
Administrative
Contracts
Total
Agreements
Costs
¦ BIL
$2,072,000
$625,000
$303,000
$3,000,000
¦ Base
$5,665,035
$5,000
$13,872
$316,093
$6,000,000
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Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program
Joe Cos to, Director
The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP), a unit of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, works to protect and restore water quality and living resources
in Buzzards Bay and its watershed. The Program receives funding from, and is part of, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Estuary Program; and partners closely
with the Southeast New England Program.
Buzzards Bay Municipal Mini-Grants Program. In November 2022, the Buzzards Bay NEP awarded $195,000 in additional, federally funded grant awards for projects that will
protect drinking water supplies, preserve important habitat, and address pollution from stormwater runoff in the Buzzards Bay watershed. These five grants to four towns, which
are being matched by over $132,000 in private contributions and in-kind services, were awarded with funding from SNEP.
Rochester - $70,000 to work with the Towns of Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Marion, and Acushnet, along with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, to purchase and permanently protect
240 acres of land important to protect the Mattapoisett River Valley aquifer.
Mattapoisett - $35,000 to establish a strategic master plan for stormwater management in the Shipyard Lane area.
Westport - $30,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to purchase and permanently protect 25 acres of land associated with the headwaters of Snell Creek.
Fairhaven - $25,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to permanently protect 9 acres of land that provide a key upland buffer to wetlands and that protect important
wildlife habitats.
Mattapoisett - $35,000 to work with the Mattapoisett Land Trust to purchase and permanently protect 14 acres of undeveloped land.
Read more about the projects HERE.
Buzzards Bay Targeted Grants. With funding from SNEP's base budget and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, the Buzzards Bay NEP was able to initiate five subawards:
Baywatchers Program: The Buzzards Bay NEP continued to support the Buzzards Bay Coalition's Baywatchers water quality monitoring program with a $40,000 grant. For
30 years, Baywatchers has collected basic water quality, nutrient, and algal pigment information around Buzzards Bay during the summer months and educated the public
on local water quality.
Nutrient Inputs to Buzzards Bay from Coastal Rivers: Because climate change will bring increasingly variable precipitation to the Northeast, understanding river-borne
sources of nutrients to Buzzards Bay will be critical to addressing nutrient loads to the Bay in the future. With a $45,000 award to the Woodwell Climate Research Center
of Woods Hole, this river monitoring effort, led by Woodwell scientist Chris Neill, continued to monitor 12 Buzzards Bay streams. The funding helped pay for continuous
monitoring equipment and laboratory testing to measure nitrogen inputs to Buzzards Bay.
Buzzards Bay Long-Term Salt Marsh Study: In 2022, the program expanded its partnership with the UMass Dartmouth Civil and Environmental Engineering program, by
working with students of Professor Dan MacDonald. The $49,000 award for this project enabled the students to conduct field surveys using Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The
imagery will be processed with photogrammetry software to generate highly detailed Digital Surface Models and georectified true color imagery. UMass Dartmouth will use
existing National Geodetic Survey rod benchmarks installed by the Buzzards Bay NEP as elevation controls. The work will continue through 2023. For more information on
the marsh studies, see this Buzzards Bay NEP web post.
New Bedford Public Schools Sea Lab Summer Program: With a $27,500 award from the Buzzards Bay NEP, Sea Lab will provide scholarships to up to 40 students to enable
more minority and economically disadvantaged youth in New Bedford to participate in its environmental studies program. The Buzzards Bay NEP funded a student initiative
to install water bottle filling stations and provide reusable bottles to reduce the single-use plastic water bottles by the school. Students also learned about environmental
issues by participating in a field trip to Cuttyhunk Island in Buzzards Bay, a whale watch off Cape Cod, and a weather station for the school.
Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative: In December, the Buzzards Bay NEP initiated a $97,000 award to Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) to address stormwater
impacts using EPA funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funding supported an MMA program manager and certain administrative costs of MMA co-op students in
the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative. Training videos for the program can be found at the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative YouTube channel. For additional
information about the collaborative, including an interactive map of stormwater infrastructure and discharge water quality data, see the Buzzards Bay Stormwater
Collaborative page.
SNEP and SNEP Grant Awardee Support. The Buzzards Bay NEP is an advising partner to EPA in implementing SNEP and is a supporting partner to several SNEP and the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) grant awards.
Watershed Assessment: The Buzzards Bay NEP is supporting a five-year focus on Apponagansett Bay by the Buzzards Bay Coalition under the SNEP Pilot Watershed
Initiative. The funding will help to identify and prioritize sources of watershed impairments and develop solutions to address stream alteration and nutrient loading in an
urbanized section of the Buttonwood Brook-Apponagansett Bay area of Massachusetts. The Buzzards Bay NEP is supporting the effort by providing land use analysis and GIS
services during the five-year project to support total maximum daily load (TMDL) development.
TMDL Assessment: The Buzzards Bay NEP is continuing to work with the Town of Bourne and the Buzzards Bay Coalition on a MassDEP 604(b) grant to conduct a TMDL
assessment for the Red Brook Harbor and Phinney's Harbor Complex in the Town of Bourne.
Runnel Study: The Buzzards Bay NEP is supporting a Runnel Study between the Woodwell Climate Center and the Buzzards Bay Coalition. Scientists are looking at how the
use of runnelsconstructed shallow drainage meandersmay promote revegetation in upper areas of salt marsh that are dying off from standing water. The results of this
work will help town officials and state and federal mangers develop possible mitigation strategies to protect and restore salt marshes. The Buzzards Bay NEP is documenting
changes in marsh boundaries, and processing GPS and elevation data for the study.
The Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
Mike Gere I, Director
In 2022, the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP) continued to prioritize
SNEP funding to support early development of new projects that will advance
water quality, wildlife habitat, and quality of life across the Narragansett Bay, Little
Narragansett Bay, Coastal Ponds and their watersheds in RI and MA.
Infrastructure Planning Projects. Eight of nine green infrastructure planning
projects funded with a total of $500K of SNEP monies in 2021 are ongoing, with
community engagement and data collection underway to inform designs/reports
next year. New this year, NBEP provided $20OK to the Narragansett Bay National
Estuary Research Reserve to design and permit a state-of-the-art sediment place-
ment project in Succotash Marsh in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Further, NBEP
awarded $50K to the new Blackstone Watershed Collaborative at Clark University,
which continues to build its governance and community assistance programs after
launching with our assistance in 2021.
Building Capacity in Underserved Communities. NBEP is targeting its funding
to entities with the agency to develop projects that are responsive to local needs,
with special emphasis placed on building capabilities for project development in
underserved communities like Worcester, Central Falls, Providence, and Fall River.
All told, with deployment of our SNEP, Clean Water Act, and Bipartisan Infrastruc-
ture Law funding, the NEP is working to create and sustain a rich pipeline of high
quality projects across our study area.
¦ft ir y.
Narragansett Bay Estuarine Research
ReserveSuccotash Marsh Resilience Project
Planning and Design, Landscape photo of
Succotash Marsh during pre-planning site
visit. Photo credit: Narragansett Bay Estuary
Program
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SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants
Tom Ardito, Director
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island speaking
during the 2022 SWIG Awards at the Roger
Williams Park Botanical Center, Photo credit
Restore America's Estuaries
As 2022 came to a close, the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants (SWIG) looked back on its fifth year of grantmaking. Since 2018, SWIG has provided more than $12 million in
funding for nearly 60 grass-roots projects and partnerships working to restore coastal and watershed environments in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. As we enter
2023, SWIG looks forward to another impactful year, supporting local projects to restore clean water, healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities throughout Southeast New
England.
Building Change in Environmental Justice Communities. In 2022, the SWIG awarded a total of $1.9 million for 11 grants across Rhode Island and Massachusetts, selected from
more than $6 million in requests received. One focus area for the Program is environmental justice (EJ). Of the 11 grants awarded this year, 9 grants totaling nearly $1.6 million
(84%) of total SWIG grants were located within or directly benefited environmental justice communities. Among SWIG's EJ awards this year are:
$183,948 to the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center at Roger Williams Park to continue to engage the community in clean water restoration.
$150,000 to the City of Brockton, MA, to reduce flooding and facilitate economic re-use of a former railyard.
$150,000 to Community Music Works to build green infrastructure into its new music center in the West End neighborhood of Providence.
$215,569 to Groundwork Southcoast to engage local youth in restoring Cook Pond and nearby green spaces in Fall River, MA.
$262,077 to New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) to fight infestations of the invasive water chestnut in freshwater ponds in the
Blaekstone and Taunton River watersheds.
Supporting Innovation in the SNEP Region. SWIG funded a variety of other innovative projects in 2022, including:
$250,000 to the Town of Gloucester, RI, for commercial wastewater planning for the village of Chepachet.
$55,206 to the Center for Coastal Studies to remove derelict fishing gear from the shores of tiny Cuttyhunk Island; local artists will recycle the recovered gear into sculpture
that raises awareness of marine pollution.
$158,456 to the Town of Nantucket for a "living shoreline" project that will protect a vulnerable coastal road while restoring oysters and habitat in an island salt pond.
$124,000 to the Rhode Island Chapter of Trout Unlimited to plan removal of a derelict dam on the upper Pawtuxet River.
$138,616 to the Association to Preserve Cape Cod to restore more than 7 0 acres of wetland and estuarine habitat on Weir Creek.
$200,000 to the Southern Rhode Island Conservation District to restore clean water, improve public access, and foster flood resilience along the Lower Pawcatuck River in
downtown Westerly.
Completed Projects Across the SNEP Region. In addition to these new awards, the SWIG continued to oversee a broad portfolio of grants from prior years. Several SWIG projects
were successfully completed this year, including some that were delayed by the pandemic. Projects substantially completed in 2022 included:
Evaluating Nutrient Loadings to the Pawcatuck River and Little Narragansett Bay: $450,000 to RI Department of Environmental Management and CT Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection.
Plan to Restore Water Quality in Hundred Acre Cove: $132,338 to Save The Bay.
Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) for Lagoon Pond: $250,000 to Martha's Vineyard Commission.
Field-Scale Validation of PRBs for Groundwater Nitrogen Remediation: $298,598 to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Index of Biotic Integrity: $250,000 to NEIWPCC.
Catalyzing Transformative Change in the Taunton River Watershed: $100,000 to Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District.
Watershed Planning and Green Infrastructure at Spectacle Pond: $187,500 to City of Cranston, RI.
Green Infrastructure Training and Employment: $198,891 to Groundwork Rhode Island.
Non-Structural Stormwater Approaches: $108,750 to City of Newport, RI.
Salt Marsh Resilience: $223,533 to Buzzards Bay Coalition.
Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative: $176,581 to Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA).
Upper Bass River Watershed Restoration Project: $253,779 to Friends of Bass River (FOBR).
Ecosystem Conference for Pleasant Bay: $8,984 to Center for Coastal Studies.
Planning a Ghost Gear Removal Program for Rhode Island: $17,385 to Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation.
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SNEP Network
Martha Sheils, Director
In 2022, The SNEP Network helped to build capacity at the organizational, community, and regional levels. Together, Network partners collaborated with communities, municipal,
state, federal and tribal entities to identify common roadblocks to advance regional stormwater management, climate resilience, and funding and financing goals. This past year,
the Network expanded its capacity in planning and community engagement by bringing in the Southeastern Regional Planning Economic and Development District (SRPEDD) as a
Network partner.
Increased Technical Assistance Throughout the SNEP Region. In September, the SNEP Network selected 10 community assistance projects, awarding free technical assistance
to 8 communities and 1 Tribe:
Groundwork Southcoast With New Bedford, MA
Town of Marion, MA
Town of North Kingstown, RI
Town of Shrewsbuiy, MA
Middletown, RI
Buzzards Bay Coalition
Burrillville Land Trust
Mashpee Wampanoag And Town of Mashpee, MA
Shrewsbury, MA
South Kingstown, RI
A complete list can be found HERE.
Completed Projects and Initiatives. This year, the Network has completed many of its multi-year projects and initiatives, including the following:
The New England Stormwater Retrofit Manual: The New England Stormwater Retrofit Guidance Manual is a key tool for improving the use of green infrastructure retrofits in
tight urban areas to manage stormwater volume and reduce pollutants entering local water bodies.
The StewMAP project: The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (Stew-Map) project team completed the final analysis of the survey results and wrapped up
the project. Stew-Map is a survey and public database designed to map where stewardship organizations work and how they are connected to each other with the goal
of strengthening community capacity for stewardship in this region. The products, interactive visualizations mapping organizational networks, and public data are now
available to download on the SNEP Network Website.
Bylaw Review Curriculum: SNEP Network partners Mass Audubon, Cape Cod Commission and the Blackstone Watershed Collaborative completed the Bylaw Review
Curriculum and successfully delivered two workshops in Worcester and Middleborough, Massachusetts. The training will help participants understand the links between
climate impacts and land use, define nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, and low impact development; understand local regulations in reducing costs and impacts,
and gain experience through an interactive exercise in using the bylaw review tool to prioritize local updates.
Buffer Restoration Guide: As a result of the technical assistance from the SNEP Network to assist with buffer restoration along the Maidford River, the SNEP Network
developed and launched a buffer restoration guide. This guide is intended to assist public and private property owners in RI and southeast MA who are interested in
restoring and improving buffers along a river, pond, lake or the coast.
Town of Charlestown: For the past two years, the SNEP Network has assisted the Town of Charlestown with drafting a conservation development ordinance for new
subdivisions that incorporates stormwater management and low impact development (LID) standards. The Town of Charlestown successfully adopted the conservation
development ordinance on August 31st, 2022.
The Canoe River Aquifer Pilot Project: Through a facilitative process, the Canoe River Aquifer project team assisted the 5 communities in the Canoe River Aquifer to narrow
down a list of over 200 localized projects down to 16 prioritized project clusters. This prioritized list will allow the communities to develop project proposals to seek
implementation funding.
Town of Portsmouth: The SNEP Portsmouth project team, led by Throwe Environmental and Elizabeth Scott, published the "Climate Resilience Planning and Financing
Strategy Report". The report details findings and recommendations after a series of multiple assessments and planning exercises with the Town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
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