Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
On Aug. 31, the Baker-Polito administration announced $21 million in grants to cities and towns through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program, representing a doubling of the program budget since last year.
Of these funds, $20.6 million was awarded to 66 cities, towns or regional partnerships to implement projects that build local resilience to climate change in the Commonwealth’s fifth round of MVP Action Grant funding. Additionally, $400,000 was awarded to 16 towns to pursue a community-led planning process to identify vulnerabilities to climate change and priority actions. When complete, these municipalities will be eligible for the next round of implementation funding.
To date, this brings total awards through the MVP program to more than $65 million. The grant program, created in 2017 by Executive Order 569, provides funding and technical support to communities to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change.
“The MVP program is a vital tool in our efforts to prepare and strengthen our coastal and inland communities to address the impacts of climate change,” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “We are thrilled to welcome 16 new towns to the program as they take important steps in planning for the future, and to award funding to 66 priority implementation projects that range from upgrading or removing high-risk dams and culverts to investing in Environmental Justice communities.”
Ninety-three percent of Massachusetts cities and towns (328 municipalities) are now enrolled in the MVP program, which pairs local leadership and knowledge with a significant investment of resources and funding from the Commonwealth to address ongoing climate change impacts, such as inland flooding, storms, sea level rise, and extreme temperatures.
“The MVP program has been recognized as a national model for building climate resiliency through strong state and local partnerships,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “Every region in Massachusetts experienced extreme weather throughout the summer, including excessive heat, record precipitation, and flooding, and the MVP program offers vital technical and financial assistance to help municipalities address vulnerabilities and create stronger, more liveable climate resilient communities.”
MVP Planning Grants support communities in working with a state-certified technical assistance provider to lead a community-wide planning workshop to identify key climate-related hazards, vulnerabilities and strengths, develop adaptation actions, and prioritize next steps. Results of the workshops and planning efforts inform existing local plans, grant applications and policies. Communities are then eligible for competitive MVP Action Grant funding to implement priority on-the-ground projects.
Projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include retrofitting and adapting infrastructure, actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, detailed vulnerability assessments or design and engineering studies, stormwater upgrades, dam retrofits and removals, culvert upgrades, drought mitigation, energy resilience, and projects that focus on implementing nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration and floodplain protection.