5 rules for unincorporated Hampshire County, Massachusetts.
Verified from official government sources
There is no Hampshire County government, so stormwater is regulated town by town. Northampton, Amherst, and Easthampton are EPA-regulated MS4 communities, and each town's Conservation Commission reviews work near the Connecticut and Mill Rivers under the state Wetlands Protection Act.
With no county government, erosion control falls to each town and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. Clearing or grading near a bank, wetland, or the 200-foot Riverfront Area needs the town Conservation Commission's approval before ground is broken.
MGL c.131 §40 (Riverfront Area definition)
that area of land situated between a river's mean annual high-water line and a parallel line located two hundred feet away, measured outward horizontally from the river's mean annual high-water line.
Hampshire County is landlocked, so there is no coastal zone. Instead the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act governs rivers and wetlands: a 200-foot Riverfront Area along the Connecticut and Mill Rivers and a 100-foot buffer around wetlands, enforced by each town's Conservation Commission.
MGL c.131 §40 (Wetlands Protection Act)
No person shall remove, fill, dredge or alter any bank, riverfront area, fresh water wetland, coastal wetland, beach, dune, flat, marsh, meadow or swamp bordering on the ocean or on any estuary, creek, river, stream, pond, or lake, or any land under said waters or any land subject to tidal action, coastal storm flowage, or flooding, other than in the course of maintaining, repairing or replacin...
Flood rules here follow FEMA and the NFIP, administered by each town, not a county. The Connecticut River floodplain through Hadley, Hatfield, and Northampton drives elevation standards, while the Conservation Commission also reviews floodplain work under state law.
Grading is permitted town by town, with no county role. Earthwork cannot redirect runoff onto a neighbor, and any grading near a wetland, bank, or the 200-foot Riverfront Area needs Conservation Commission review under state law.
See every category we cover for Hampshire County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Hampshire County Ordinance Hub →