HYANNIS, Mass. — October 15, 2014 — State officials are looking for the public's input on an update to the document that includes new information on potential routes for transmission lines from offshore wind energy projects, provisional areas for pilot sand mining projects and a proposed set of fees for companies seeking to develop projects in the planning zone.
Like Cape Cod's shifting shoreline, a lot has changed since the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan was first released in 2009.
Now state officials are looking for the public's input on an update to the document that includes new information on potential routes for transmission lines from offshore wind energy projects, provisional areas for pilot sand mining projects and a proposed set of fees for companies seeking to develop projects in the planning zone.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Director Bruce Carlisle outlined changes in the draft updated plan and fielded questions about its contents during a public meeting at Heritage House in Hyannis as part of a review required every five years by the 2008 Ocean Management Act.
The plan was intended to develop siting priorities, locations and standards for allowed uses, facilities and activities in state waters, Carlisle said. It was also meant to identify special, sensitive and unique estuarine and marine life and habitats, as well as to support infrastructure that is important to the state's economy and quality of life, he said. The plan does so using the best available science and data, he said.
The most recent review of the plan and that data began in January 2013, he said. In some cases the changes are dramatic.
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