Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
A $911 million, five-year energy and environmental bond bill filed by the Patrick administration on March 15 would fund capital accounts for land and water conservation, water and wastewater infrastructure, and clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives.
The bill includes $124 million for land and park conservation, $120 million for coastal infrastructure projects, $85 million for seaports, and $57 million for the Water Pollution Abatement Trust to replenish the State Revolving Loan Fund for municipal water infrastructure projects.
The bill would also update the municipal Dam and Seawall Loan Fund (Ch. 448), passed last session with the endorsement of the MMA. Chapter 448 originally created a single $20 million fund to address critical inland and coastal infrastructure needs in the Commonwealth. This bill would restore the original $20 million fund for dams and invest an additional $120 million in critical coastal infrastructure projects.
The bond bill also attempts to address some of the MMA’s concerns about costs associated with implementing the proposed Sustainable Water Management Initiative. The SWMI proposes to change Water Management Act permitting to include a new methodology for calculating a river basin’s “safe yield.” It would also establish new biological categorizations and base water withdrawal thresholds on new streamflow criteria.
The MMA has argued that the costs of implementing the SWMI would be borne almost exclusively by ratepayers and taxpayers because it would limit water withdrawals, reducing revenue and imposing additional costs on water suppliers. The bond bill would provide $10 million in grants for cities and towns to meet mitigation goals in the SWMI.
Rep. Anne Gobi, House chair of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, praised the Patrick-Murray administration “for putting together a bond bill regarding environmental issues.”
“I look forward to hearing from stakeholders and municipal officials across the Commonwealth,” she added.
The bond bill has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.