The Forward Conservation Commission on Jan. 6 approved two determinations for a city sewer-separation project on Birch Street: a positive wetland delineation and a negative determination that the proposed work does not require a notice of intent.

Danielle Galant, environmental scientist with CDM Smith and the project presenter, said the work is part of a broader 14,000-linear-foot sewer-separation program to address a court order aiming to reduce combined sewer overflows to nearby waters. She described the local portion as trenching to place separated drainpipe along the south side of Birch Street, followed by repaving. Galant said most proposed activity lies in the outer 50–100-foot band of the 100-foot buffer to a bordering vegetated wetland and that the western terminus includes a small encroachment into the 100-foot coastal-bank buffer.

Commission staff recommended a Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) was adequate because the scope of work was limited and largely within a previously approved limit of work. Members voted to make a negative determination that the work does not require a notice of intent and a separate positive determination confirming the delineation of resource areas. The determinations were approved on roll call (ayes recorded; tally not specified in the transcript).

Why it matters: The Birch Street work ties into a citywide effort to meet a court-ordered requirement to reduce combined sewer overflows, repair aging infrastructure, and alleviate street flooding. Local decisions about buffer-zone encroachments and delineations determine whether full notice-of-intent permitting is required.

Conditions and next steps: Staff noted standard erosion controls and a trench-and-rebury approach for the drainage pipe. The commission’s action treats the wetland line as delineated for the record while finding the limited roadway and pipe work does not trigger a full notice-of-intent filing; standard site controls and adherence to the delineation were required.