The Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a couple of weeks ago a comprehensive bond bill containing nearly $3 billion in capital authorizations for a variety of local and statewide environmental initiatives. The House Bill 4599, entitled An Act promoting climate change adaptation, environmental and natural resource protection, and investment in recreational assets and opportunity, provides a 5-year blueprint for environmental spending by the state, including $420 million in funding for preservation of state-owned forests, parks, campgrounds and reservations around the Commonwealth, as well as a $55 million provision for the Department of Transportation’s Complete Streets Program, offering technical assistance and construction funding to help municipalities reduce traffic congestion and make local roadways safer for pedestrians bicyclists and motorists.
“This bill provides substantial long-term investments in our Commonwealth’s precious natural resources and environment, to the benefit of our residents across the Commonwealth. I am proud to join my colleagues in supporting this legislation, which affords municipalities’ valuable opportunities towards local conservation and emphasizes a sustained approach towards natural resource protection and environmental stewardship.”
—State Representative Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury).
The House Bill 4599 will provide funding to help protect and maintain environmental resources across the state, including rivers and wetlands, as well as critical infrastructure such as dams, seawalls, jetties, and retaining walls. The bill will require the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to publish an integrated state climate adaptation and hazard mitigation plan every five years, as an attempt to address climate change. It also creates a new Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program within the EEA that will help cities and towns protect local resources by allowing communities to purchase a conservation restriction on one parcel of land and then sell the development rights to the developer of a second parcel.
This bill must be worked under the state’s bond cap and ultimately approved by Governor Baker, once it passes to the Senate for further action.
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