Roughly every four years, the Washington DC office of the US EPA conducts a review of the performance of each National Estuary Program in their efforts to implement the recommendations in the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. The Buzzards Bay NEP’s last program evaluation was in 2019, and our next is in 2024. This EPA guidance document contains information about the process. This page provides program evaluation materials for our 2024 evaluation and covers Buzzards Bay NEP activities from July 1, 2018, to September 30, 2023, corresponding to federal fiscal year funding FY18 to FY23. The documents below constitute the submission to the U.S. EPA for the program review period (documents will be posted in March 2024).

• Buzzards Bay NEP 2024 Program Evaluation Narrative Submission
• BBNEP Program Evaluation Appendix A attachments (278 MB)

Buzzards Bay NEP grants

Much of the federal funding received by the NEP is awarded as grants and sub awards to Buzzards Bay municipalities and partners.  Our funding often leverages funding from other state, local, federal, and private sources. During the past five years, the NEP has awarded more $2,125,000 in 44 grants and sub awards. Information about grants awarded by the Buzzards Bay NEP can be found on our Past Municipal and SNEP Grants Awarded page.

GPRA reports

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to conform to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and measure the performance or progress of grantees toward meeting the agency’s environmental goals. More specifically, each NEP is required to prepare annual summaries of wetlands and habitat protected. In 2005, EPA implemented an on-line reporting mechanism, called the National Estuary Program On-Line Reporting Tool (NEPORT). Information about projects and summaries of Buzzards Bay wetlands and habitat protected by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, local lands trusts, and the municipalities with support of the NEP, view our Interactive GPRA Map and Reports page or visit EPA’s page: National Estuary Program Reporting Environmental Results.

Supporting documents

The documents below have been combined in this file: BBNEP-PE2024-Appendix-A-attachments.pdf

Current and Past Work Plans

To understand the kinds of projects the NEP undertakes or supports each year, review our annual workplans below.

Federal FY18 Work Plan
Federal FY19 Work Plan
Federal FY20 Work Plan
Federal FY21 Work Plan
Federal FY22 Work Plan (base funds)
Federal FY22 IIJA Work Plan (BIL1)
Federal FY23 Work Plan (base funds)
Federal FY23 IIJA Work Plan (BIL2)

Other Program Plans and Documents

Buzzards Bay NEP Equity Strategy (approved August 2023)

U.S. EPA approval of NEP Equity Strategy

Buzzards Bay NEP IIJA Long Term Plan

NEP IDDE Workshops Flyer

Stormwater Program Monitoring Guide 2023 update

BB Stormwater facility 2021 data reports

Lessons learned in the implementation of the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative

Buzzards Bay Shellfish Bed Closure History analysis for 2022 BB Coalition State of Buzzards Bay report

Quality Assurance Program Plans

The NEP has a significant role in each of these QAPPs:

• Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative Quality Assurance Project Plan Illicit Connection Detection and Stormwater Quality Monitoring in the Buzzards Bay Watershed (January 2023, update of the 2018 plan)
• Quality Assurance Project Plan for Long-term salt marsh vegetation and elevation monitoring in Buzzards Bay Pursuant to Buzzards Bay NEP Workplan Task 12, EPA Cooperative Agreement CE-00A00456-0 (August 2019)
• Quality Assurance Project Plan for Evaluating Management Actions to Promote Salt Marsh Resilience (August 2020)
• Quality Assurance Project Plan for Salt Marsh Unmanned Aircraft System Surveys Pursuant to Buzzards Bay NEP Workplan Task 12, EPA Cooperative Agreements CE-00A00860-0 and CE-00A00887-0 (April 2023)
• Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for Use of Secondary Data and Modeling in Red Brook Harbor to Support TMDL Development (May 2023)
• Quality Assurance Project Plan for Use of Secondary Data and Modeling in Apponagansett Bay to Support TMDL Development (approved February 2024, but includes development through the summer of 2023)

Buzzards Bay NEP Work Plan Partners

The Buzzards Bay NEP began as the Buzzards Bay Project in 1985.  In 1987 the Buzzards Bay Project became a National Estuary Program, and its Citizens Advisory Committee broke into two entities, the citizens group non-profit, the Coalition for Buzzards Bay (now called The Buzzards Bay Coalition) and the municipal official subcommittee, the Buzzards Bay Advisory Committee. When the Buzzards Bay NEP completed its Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan in 1991, the Buzzards Bay Advisory Committee formed the non-profit Buzzards Bay Action Committee consisting of municipal representatives of Buzzards Bay watershed municipalities. Since that time, both organizations have remained partners to the NEP, are members of the NEP’s Steering Committee, and support NEP’s annual work plan and Cooperative Agreements with the EPA.  The collaboration between the three organizations is outlined in this 2005 Buzzards Bay Memorandum of Understanding.

Buzzards Bay Coalition

The work of the Buzzards Bay Coalition during the past five years are highlighted in these documents:

Buzzards Bay Action Committee

The mission of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee is to improve collaboration among watershed municipalities and to expedite the exchange of information and ideas that will enhance the region’s ability to implement sound environmental regulations and by-laws to protect and enhance our mutual resource, Buzzards Bay. The tagline of the organization is “communities united to preserve and protect Buzzards Bay”. Visit the BBAC’s website for more information about the group.

Previous Performance Evaluation Information

Read the NEP’s last program review (in 2019) of the NEP:  NEP-Buzzards-Bay-PE-letter-FINAL-5-8-20.