Section 604(b) of the federal Clean Water Act established the Water Quality Management Planning Grant Program, a vehicle by which states can provide funds to eligible entities such as: Regional Planning Agencies, Councils of Government, counties, Conservation Districts, cities, and towns, to conduct watershed or sub-watershed based nonpoint source assessment and planning projects.

For FFY2022, MassDEP will focus Section 604(b) grant funds on nonpoint source assessment and planning projects that result in the following:

Development of a Watershed-based Plan (WBP) for local watershed planning and to support future 319 grant implementation projects. An online tool to support development of WBPs can be found at: http://prj.geosyntec.com/MassDEPWBP;
Development of a WBP for the Section 319 Grant’s Healthy Watersheds Project, to be used to guide watershed protection and management activities;
Determination of the nature, extent, and causes of water quality problems and determination of pollutant load reductions necessary to meet water quality standards;
Development of preliminary designs and implementation plans that will address water quality impairments in impaired watersheds; or
Development of green infrastructure projects that manage wet weather events to maintain or restore natural hydrology