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Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Gov. Maura Healey announces $52.4 million in grants to advance climate resilience across Massachusetts, the largest investment in the history of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program. (Photo courtesy Joshua Qualls/Governor’s Press Office)
The Healey-Driscoll administration today announced a commitment of $52.4 million in grants to advance climate resilience across Massachusetts, the largest investment in the history of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program.
This year, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is providing an additional $7 million to help communities impacted by devastating inland flooding in 2023. Gov. Maura Healey and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper made the announcement in Leominster, a community impacted by catastrophic flooding last September.
“Today, we are continuing our promise to help communities in addressing last year’s challenges and taking proactive steps to reduce future climate risks,” Healey said. “These grants … are a strong statement of our commitment to resilience. Our goal is to empower every community to adapt, thrive, and lead in the face of climate challenges.”
The MVP Program combines local leadership and expertise with a significant investment of resources from the state to tackle the ongoing impacts of climate change, such as inland flooding, more frequent and severe storms, rising sea levels, drought, and extreme temperatures.
MVP Action Grants are used to carry out priority climate change adaptation measures identified through the MVP Planning process, or a similar climate change vulnerability assessment and action planning.
A total of 71 projects have been awarded grants, including 62 for municipalities, seven for regional planning agencies, and two for tribes.
“We are committed to making serious investments in local projects, like enhancing stormwater systems and culverts,” Tepper said. “These upgrades are critical for bringing down flood risks and protecting the health and safety of Massachusetts residents.”
In April 2023, Healey launched the pilot round of MVP Planning 2.0, which marks the next phase of the administration’s flagship program. MVP 2.0 supports communities in updating their climate change resiliency plans with a focus on environmental justice and other priority populations most impacted by climate change, and helps in putting these plans into action. The next application period for this program is expected to be announced later this year.
MVP is a priority program of ResilientMass, the state’s initiative to reduce risk and build local resilience to climate change impacts.
Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said his city was among the first to create a Climate Action Plan with assistance from the MVP Program. Since then, he said, the city has “partnered with the MVP program on several occasions to allow us to bring our most critical environmental projects to reality.”
Leominster is receiving $487,483 to enhance flood resilience in the high-risk Burrage and Mascoma neighborhood. The funding will support collaborative efforts with private property owners to develop solutions considering current and future impacts of increased precipitation and stormwater runoff. Leominster will also benefit from a $458,400 grant awarded to the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission to facilitate the development of interactive map-based tools to illustrate the impacts of the September 2023 flood emergency.