Gov. Healey files $2.9B, 5-year environmental bond bill

The Healey-Driscoll administration joined partners, advocates and municipal officials in Braintree yesterday to announce the filing of a $2.9 billion, five-year environmental bond bill, called the Mass Ready Act.

The proposal includes authorizations for key climate, resilience and environmental priorities. Themes include strengthening infrastructure, investing in farms and local economies, protecting water and the environment, reforming permitting for housing and environmental initiatives, and supporting the western and central regions of the state.

The bill includes the following authorizations of interest to cities and towns:
• $315 million for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, along with programmatic changes that would expand the list of eligible applicants, allow nonprofit organizations to apply for and hold grant funds, and expand the scope of funds to allow municipalities and others to appoint and retain sustainability and climate coordinators
• $308 million to tackle high-risk dams, address inland flood control systems, and improve coastal and marine infrastructure to advance the state’s hazard mitigation and climate change adaptation plans
• $120 million to address contamination of public water supplies, private wells, and disposal sites by a group of chemicals known as PFAS
• $93.5 million to help manage municipal and publicly owned dams, and to further support inland flood control infrastructure and nature-based solutions
• $28.1 million to assess solid waste facilities and to support composting, recycling and waste reduction programs
• $30 million for forestry and tree planting programs

The bill would create a new Resilience Revolving Fund, within the Clean Water Trust, to provide low-interest loans to cities and towns, as well as water and wastewater utilities, for climate-resilient infrastructure projects. Eligible projects could include stormwater management, floodplain protection, and nature-based solutions.

The administration estimates that every dollar invested as a result of the bill will save Massachusetts $13 in future costs.

The most recent environmental bond law, signed in 2018, came in at $2.4 billion, including $75 million for the MVP program.

In a letter to the administration in January, the MMA outlined initial environmental bond bill priorities for cities and towns. In a press release about the filing of the governor’s bill, MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine said the bill will “enable and empower municipalities to take action, prepare their communities, and respond to climate change impacts that most directly threaten their local environments and infrastructure.”

A legislative hearing on the bond bill is expected in the near future.

For more information, visit the Mass Ready Act website.