Commission allows UMass Dartmouth Spartina planting after classifying work as a minor activity

The Dartmouth Conservation Commission voted unanimously on June 9 to allow a UMass Dartmouth Spartina (cordgrass) research planting to proceed this season by construing the work as a minor activity under state wetland regulations.

Commissioners spent more than an hour debating whether to permit the planting before the university’s recently submitted Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) completes public-notice requirements. Julia, a UMass Dartmouth representative, said the project’s planting window is narrow and that replanting outside the season could delay results by a year or more. Anna, a research associate and lab manager at UMass Dartmouth, described past successful plantings and said timing is critical to the plugs’ survival.

Several commissioners expressed concern that approving work before final agency review would set a precedent that private developers could exploit. "I can envision every contractor and developer just doing the same thing, going ahead and doing what they want and then coming back with an after the fact," Commissioner Mike said, reflecting the central procedural worry.

Staff member Eduardo told the commission the work could be eligible for treatment as a minor activity under state regulation 310 CMR 10.02, which lists the planting of native species as a minor activity. Eduardo said that classification would allow the commission to authorize the limited research planting without creating the same pathway that a would-be developer might rely on to avoid permit review. After discussion, a commissioner moved "to construe the proposal by University of Massachusetts Dartmouth regarding the project at Smith's Neck Road to be a minor activity under the state regulations and that they be allowed to proceed with planting as described." The motion passed in a unanimous roll call.

The vote permits the university's planting layout change to proceed this season while the newly filed RDA is scheduled for the commission’s July 7 meeting for formal review. The action does not amend any existing order of conditions (staff clarified a determination of applicability cannot be amended); instead, the commission recorded its determination that the described planting qualifies as a minor activity under the cited regulation.

Commissioners asked staff to document the decision and to monitor the work; they also discussed whether the commission should consider an expedited permitting track for bona fide scientific research in future rulemaking to avoid similar timing conflicts.

The commission’s motion and its unanimous vote were recorded at the meeting; the university representatives said they would proceed under the clarified classification and follow up at the July hearing.