MA Climate Bill is Now Law
On November 20, 2024, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a new climate law primarily aimed at streamlining the construction of renewable energy infrastructure, a critical step in addressing the urgent threat of climate change.
Climate change represents a significant threat to our environment, public health, safety, and welfare.
It’s vital that our state and local officials prioritize efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also adapting to the changes already affecting our communities.
To this end, the Massachusetts Legislature enacted a new climate law last week. The main goal of the bill was to reduce barriers to renewable energy projects, such as ground-based solar arrays, which have become contentious in some communities.
Streamlining the permitting process for such projects is critical to advancing the Commonwealth’s ambitious goals to reduce emissions and reduce the impact of climate change on our watershed, wildlife, and communities.
The new law also includes incentives and regulations to better engage communities in project planning, enlarge capacity for electric vehicles, and improve climate justice.
NepRWA is particularly pleased to see the following included in the new law:
- Establishment of the Office of Environmental Justice and Equity to support individuals and communities participating in the permitting process for proposed energy projects.
- Creation of an “Intervenor Trust Fund” to help community groups hire lawyers and independent experts to support their participation in the permitting and planning processes
- Requirement of a “cumulative impact analysis” for larger clean energy projects. This provision will consider the cumulative burden, over time, that construction projects have had on a community. (Currently, projects must only analyze the burden an individual proposal would have on a community).
- A requirement that developers engage a community BEFORE they finalize plans and apply for permits, enhancing engagement of the impacted neighborhoods
- Requirement that the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs review existing flood mapping resources and prepare recommendations for the creation of updated resources, and
- Removal of significant permitting barriers to ecological restoration projects in coastal and inland wetlands
The law also:
- Directs state energy officials to develop a “site suitability” framework to help communities evaluate proposed projects
- Creates a master permit that consolidates state, regional, and local permits for green energy infrastructure projects
- Enhances the creation of energy storage capacity—in other words, batteries that can store solar or wind energy for use when the sun isn’t shining or there is no wind
- Eases restrictions on residential solar installation on historic homes
- Increases public electric car charging stations, including for car owners who live in multi-unit buildings or park on the street
- Extends funding for the state’s electric vehicle incentive program through 2027
- Restricts expansion of natural gas infrastructure and incentivizes expansion of greener alternatives
- Requires the Department of Public Utilities to reduce electric rates for moderate-income residents (it already does so for low-income residents)
NepRWA is disappointed that the Drought Management Bill did not make it into the final version of the law, and that those sections of the law addressing the significant climate-driven flood risks our communities face are incredibly limited.
However, we are pleased to see strategies to advance climate equity and reduce barriers to wetland restoration. We look forward to more progress on climate adaptation, flood mitigation, and the drought bill next session.
For more information and to find out what you can do to improve community climate resilience, visit neponset.org/climate or contact NepRWA Managing Director for Community Resilience, Kerry Snyder, at snyder@neponset.org or 781-575-0354 x300
