Environmental Rules in Barnstable County, MA (2026)

Flood Zones

Barnstable County (Cape Cod) is a low-lying coastal peninsula with extensive Atlantic, Cape Cod Bay, and Nantucket/Vineyard Sound exposure to V/VE wave-action zones, AE riverine and tidal floodplains, and accelerating sea-level rise. FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for all 15 Cape Cod towns became effective July 16, 2014. Flood damage prevention is enforced at the town level under the 9th Edition Massachusetts State Building Code 780 CMR (R322 / Appendix G), which incorporates ASCE 24-14 and requires Design Flood Elevation = Base Flood Elevation + 3 feet of freeboard in V Zones and Coastal A Zones. The Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (M.G.L. c. 131 sec. 40) and 310 CMR 10.00 add a parallel layer of permitting through each town's Conservation Commission for any work in coastal banks, dunes, barrier beaches, salt marshes, or land subject to coastal storm flowage. The Cape Cod Commission's 2021 Model Coastal Resilience Bylaw and 2024 Model Floodplain Zoning Bylaw push higher standards using Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) projections for 2050 and 2070.