Agencies and Organizations

Management of coastal risks involves a complex set of public agencies and private partners. The following is a partial list of involved parties.

In the future, this list will be expanded with commentary on the roles of each of these bodies and how they relate to each other in regards to managing coastal adaptation. For example, if a municipality like Marshfield decides to pursue the building of a new coastal structure as part of its adapation plan, then each of several Town bodies are required to evaluate the project's plan and its funding in a certain order. In parallel, a series of state and federal bodies will have authority over the permitting of the project. However, which bodies are involved at each level depends on the details of the project. Project planning and execution can be made more efficient if the "chain of command" is well understood and the bodies whose legal authority represent the tightest bottlenecks for the particular project can be identified and brought into active partnership at an early stage. Similar advantages can be leveraged from both private and government organizations who do not have legal authority over a project, but who may be able to provide other forms of aid such as grant funding, research studies, a voice for public opinion, logistical support, and well-experienced advice.

Government

Town of Marshfield

• Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator
  • Coastal Advisory Committee. See CAC Work Plan.
  • Waterways Committee
  • Energy Committee
  • Open Space Committee
  • Community Preservation Committee
• Planning Board, Planning Department, and Town Planner
• Board of Public Works, Department of Public Works, and DPW Superintendent
  • Engineering Division
• Conservation Commission and Conservation Agent
• Emergency Services
  • Fire Department
  • Police Department
    • Emergency Management
    • Harbor Master
    • Beach Commission and Beach Administrator
• Zoning Board, Building Department, and Building Commissioner

Regional (South Shore or Plymouth County)

• South Shore Coastal Hazards Adaptation Study
• Sea Level Rise Study Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, MA Presentation Slides (Kleinfelder) 16 May 2013 and the actual report (83 MB PDF file)
  • Press release about the study presentation
  • Towns tackle sea level rise Marshfield Mariner 23 May 2013

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

• Energy and Environmental Affairs
  • Office of Coastal Zone Management
    • StormSmart Coasts program
    • Inventories of Seawalls and Other Coastal Structures
    • Shoreline Change Project and Shoreline Change Browser. (For best results, please understand the information on the Project page before using the Browser.)
    • Coastal Hazards Commission and their report, Preparing for the Storm: Recommendations for Management of Risk from Coastal Hazards in Massachusetts, May 2007
  • Coastal Erosion Commission
  • Massachusetts Climate Change Adaptation Report and a very short summary.
  • Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
  • Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program (MassBays)
  • Department of Fish & Game
    • Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife)
    • Division of Marine Fisheries
    • Division of Ecological Restoration wetlands projects
    • Office of Fishing & Boating Access
• Seaport Advisory Council

Federal

• ACE
• EPA
• FEMA
• NOAA
  • Office for Coastal Management
    • DigitalCoast Sea level rise viewer mapping tool
• NWS
• NASA-GISS
• FWS
  • See the Coastal Barrier Resources Act web page: http://www.fws.gov/cbra/

Private

• Marshfield Citizens Coastal Coalition
• Duxbury Beach Reservation
  • Sacrificial Dune Role in Coastal Barrier Protection, Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2005: pp. 344-353. doi: 10.1061/40774(176)35
• Union of Concerned Scientists Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (2007)