AMTRAK 1991 YEARLY OPERATIONAL PLAN SANFORD ECOLOGICAL SERVICES, Inc.
30 Turnpike Road, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772 Telephone (508) 460.9900
FAX (508) 481.2009
May 1, 1991 4®w6u
PlAY 8
Dear Board of Health Members:
CITY OF SALENI
Enclosed please find a draft copy of the 1:95k1LT-R--WWW Operational
Plan prepared for the AMTRAK National Railroad Passenger
Corporation. Also enclosed is a copy of the public notice which
appeared in the Environmental Monitor dated April 24 , 1991 which
describes the procedure set forth by the Department of Food and
Agriculture Pesticide Board for the public review of this document.
This Yearly Operational Plan was drafted in compliance with the
Rights of Way Management Regulations (333 CMR 11. 00) . Department
approval of a Yearly Operational Plan, in conjunction with an
approved 5-year Vegetation Management Plan, is required before the
railroad can perform any vegetative management practices which
entail the selective use of herbicides. The enclosed plan
identifies areas in your municipality where herbicide spraying has
been restricted due to the proximity of certain "Sensitive Areas" ,
as defined in the Rights of Way Management Regulations.
This document is being provided to the Conservation Commission,
Board of Health, and head of government in each municipality for
review.
Please feel free to call me with any questions pertaining to this
Yearly Operational Plan or the public review procedure set forth by
the Department.
Thank you for your attention to this submittal.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Albano, M.A.
Sanford Ecological Services, Inc.
enclosure
BOURNE OFFICE:
258 Main Street, Unit B,2, Bourne, Massachusetts 02532 • Telephone (508) 759.4407
FAX (508) 759-7808
7 ulq�
NOTICE
Pursuant to the provisions of the Rights Of Way Management
Regulations , 333 CMR 11: 00, in order to apply herbicides to
control vegetation along Railroad rights-of-way, a 5-year
Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) and a Yearly Operational Plan
(YOP) must be approved by the Department of Food and Agriculture
(DFA) . Therefore, notice of receipt of a YOP and procedures for
public review are hereby given as required by Section 11. 06 (3) .
Yearly Operational Plans for AMTRAK National Railroad
Passenger Corporation have been prepared by Sanford Ecological
Services, Inc. , of Southborough, and have been submitted to the
Department. The submitted YOPs concern the following rail
lines : the "Northeast Corridor" in Massachusetts which is
owned, operated, and maintained by AMTRAK; the "Springfield
Line" which is owned, operated, and maintained by AMTRAK; and
the "Commuter Rail Lines" which are owned by the Massachusetts
Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) , but operated and maintained
by AMTRAK under contractual. agreement.
Municipalities identified in the AMTRAK YOPs as locations
where treatment of railroad rights-of-way with herbicides will
by carried out during the 1991 calendar year are:
Northeast Corridor
Attleboro, Boston, Canton, Dedham, Foxboro, Mansfield, Sharon,
Westwood.
S rin field Line
Springfield and Longmeadow.
Commuter Rail Lines
Actoa, Andover, Attleboro, Ayer, Bellingham, Belmont, Beverly,
Billerica, Boston, Boxborough, Cambridge, Canton, Chelsea,
Concord, Dedham, Everett, Fitchburg, Franklin, Gloucester,
Hamilton, Haverhill, Hopedale, Ipswich, Lawrence, Leominster,
Lincoln, Littleton, Lowell, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Manchester,
Medford, Melrose, Milford, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, North
Andover, Norwood, Reading, Revere, Rockport, Salem, Saugus,
page 1 of 5
Shirley , Somerville , Stoughton , Swampscott , Tewksbury ,
Wakefield, Walpole , Waltham, Wenham, Weston , Westwood,
Wilmington, Winchester, and Woburn.
Sanford Ecological Services has submitted the following
summary of the AMTRAK Yearly Operational Plans:
The AMTRAK YOP for the 1991 calendar year proposes one
post-emergent selective herbicide application targeting
vegetation growing in the ballast of the rights-of-way.
The Yearly Operational Plans for the "Commuter Rail Line"
and "Northeast Corridor" consist of six sections, while the
"Springfield Line" has five. Section 1 contains herbicide
information relating to the herbicide product and adjuvant
proposed , and herbicide application rates , timing and
equipment. Section 2 identifies the company who will
perform the herbicide application, the qualifications of
this company, and the Supervisor for each AMTRAK line.
Field procedures are identified in Section 3 - specifically,
identification of target vegetation , procedures for
identifying and delineating sensitive areas , herbicide
management (including procedures for mixing and loading
herbicides, sources of water, and safeguards used to prevent
contamination) , and a list of emergency contacts. Section 4
lists municipalities included in this plan, as shown above.
Section 5 contains an explanation of the maps locating
restricted spray zones which have been deemed as such due to
the proximity of sensitive areas considered "not readily
identifiable in the field" to the area to be treated. These
sensitive areas are: surface waters - and wetlands, primary
recharge areas of aquifers , surface and ground drinking
water supplies, and appropriately identified private wells
(for "appropriate" identification techniques, refer to 333
CMR 11. 04 (2) (c) (3) ) . The plan also outlines how "sensitive
areas readily identifiable in the field" will be handled
within this program. These are considered to be inhabited
and agricultural areas. Section 6 describes Layover Yard
utility and management. This section is not contained in the
"Springfield Line" YOP.
The Plan also includes six Appendices ( except the
"Springfield Line" which has five) containing information
pertinent to the YOP sections . The appendices are as
follows: Main Line Maps, Layover Yard Maps (not applicable
to the "Springfield Line") , Determinations of Applicability,
the . Herbicide Fact Sheet, Massachusetts Rights of Way
Management Regulations (333 CMR 11. 00) , and the Preface -to
Wetland Regulations Relative to Rights of Way Management
(310 CMR 10. 00) . -
This program will commmence only after- final approval has
been granted by the DFA, preferably by May 1991.
page 2 of 5
Following approval , no spraying will occur without the
proper 21-day notification to all parties specified in
Section 11. 07 (333 CMR 11. 00) .
The applicant has further described the "Commuter Rail Lines"
that have been scheduled for treatment and the municipalities
they pass through as follows:
GLOUCESTER BRANCH
(Gloucester to Beverly [connects to Eastern Route M.L. ] )
Rockport Manchester
Gloucester Beverly
EASTERN ROUTE MAIN BRANCH
(Ipswich to Boston)
Ipswich Swampscott Chelsea
Hamilton Lynn Everett
Wenham Saugus Somerville
Beverly Revere Boston
Salem
NEW HAMPSHIRE MAIN LINE
(Haverhill to Boston)
Haverhill Wilmington Melrose
North Andover Tewksbury Malden
Lawrence Reading Somerville
Andover Wakefield
WESTERN ROUTE MAIN LINE
(Lowell to Boston)
Lowell Woburn
Tewksbury Winchester
Billerica Medford
Wilmington Somerville
FITCHBURG MAIN LINE
(Fitchburg to Boston)
Fitchburg Boxborough Waltham
Leominster Acton Belmont
Lunenburg Concord Cambridge
Shirley Lincoln Somerville
Ayer Weston Boston
Littleton
STOUGHTON BRANCH _
(Stoughton to canton [connects to Amtrak N.E.- Corridor Line] )
Stoughton
Canton
page 3 of 5
C
s
DORCHESTER BRANCH
Boston
FRANKLIN BRANCH
(Milford to Boston)
Hopedale Norfolk Westwood
Milford Walpole Dedham
Bellingham Norwood Boston
Franklin
NEEDHAM BRANCH
(Needham to Boston)
Needham
Dedham
Boston
Public Review
The Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) in particular
seeks the verification of sensitive area locations reported in
- the YOP. The Department itself has a limited ability to survey
the geography, land use, and the water supplies in all the
communities through which the rights-of-way are located.
Municipalities, however., have most of this information readily
available, and the particular knowledge with which to better
certify the sensitive areas in their communities. Therefore,
the Department requests, and urges , the assistance of the
"affected" municipalities in . reviewing the completeness and
accuracy of the maps contained in the submitted document. The
DFA has established the following procedures for this review.
Yearly operational plans (YOPs) and a copy of this notice
will be sent by the applicant to the Conservation Commmission,
Board of Health (or designated health agent) , and to the head of
government (Mayor, City Manager, Board of Selectmen) of each
municipality where herbicides are to be applied. along the
rights-of way during the calendar year 1991. Municipal agencies
and officials will have forty-five (45) days following receipt
of the YOP to review the maps contained in the document that
indicate the location of " sensitive areas not readily
identifiable in the field" for inaccuracies and omissions.
"Sensitive areas" will be defined as in Section 11. 02 (a-f) .
Municipal agencies and. officials are requested to forward.
the YOP to the appropriate official(s) in their municipality- - -_-
qualified to certify the accuracy of sensitive area locations as
listed. on the maps. The. maps should be corrected and returned
to the applicant, also a copy of the maps with these corrections-
indicated should be sent to the DFA to the address listed. below,
page 4 of 5
within the forty-five day review period. If a city or town
needs more time to carry out this review, it should send a
written request for an extension to the DFA and cite why there
is a "good cause" for requesting additional time.
All corrections will be required to be made by the
applicant, and corrected maps sent back to the city/town before
the YOP can be considered "approved" by the Department for
vegetation maintenance in that municipality. Any dispute on the
part of the applicant regarding corrections made by municipal
authorities should be indicated in writing to the Department and
to the city/town which requested the disputed changes within
fifteen (15) days of receipt of that request. The DFA will
decide whether or not the YOP should be approved without the
requested changes . The Department will consider the "final
approval" of a YOP individually for each municipality.
The final twenty-one (21) days of the public review period
can serve concurrently to provide public notification as
required by section 11. 07 of the Rights of Way Management
regulations, if the applicant has an approved VMP and if all the
requisite city/town offices which have received copies of the
YOP have completed their review and corrections have been duly
made by the applicant.
A failure by the city/town to respond to the applicant' s
submission of this YOP within the forty-five day public review
period will be considered by the DFA to indicate agreement by
municipal officials with the sensitive area demarcations as
provided by the applicant in their YOP.
Any questions or comments . on _the information provided in
this Notice and procedures established for the municipal review
as outlined above, should be addressed to:
Howard Gold, Director
Rights of Way Program
Pesticide Bureau
Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture
Leverett Saltonstall- Building, 21st Floor
100 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02202
Any additional questions or comments on information provided
as part of the proposed YOP should be addressed in writing to
the AMTRAK National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and a copy
should be sent to Howard Gold, Director, Rights of Way Program,
at the address indicated above.
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