“The Mass Ready Act is a practical investment in the things that matter most to our daily lives – safe homes, reliable roads, clean water and strong neighborhoods. By cutting down the wait time for permits, we can start building housing, repairing infrastructure, and lowering costs sooner. This legislation will help our communities get ready for the challenges ahead and make sure our families and neighborhoods stay safe.”
Strengthening Our Infrastructure
The Mass Ready Act strengthens our infrastructure to protect our homes, businesses, and communities, with a focus on increasing flood risk. Due to increasing rainfall and rising sea levels, floods have become more likely. This bill aims to address these challenges by allocating funding to enhance our flood protection efforts, including:
- $308 million to address high-risk dams, inland flood control systems, and coastal and marine infrastructure;
- $200 million to implement ResilientCoasts recommendations;
- $587 million to invest in parks, trails, beaches, and historic sites;
- $177 million to improve transportation infrastructure, including bike lanes, greenways, and pedestrian bridges; and,
- $28 million to manage solid waste and decrease pollution
The bill simplifies the environmental permitting process for priority housing and urgent infrastructure needs, including municipal culvert replacements and other natural restoration projects intended to restore ecosystems and support climate resiliency. The bill includes key actions to respond to recommendations from the Governor’s Unlocking Housing Production Commission.
Investing in Farms and Local Economies
The Mass Ready Act supports targeted investments in food security, climate-smart agriculture, land and water conservation, and resilience projects.
- The Mass Ready Act authorizes $125 million for the Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) program, which offers funding to ensure that farmers, fishermen, and other local food producers are better connected to a strong food system.
- $315 million for EEA’s flagship grant program, the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grant Program (MVP) that supports communities in identifying climate hazards, assessing vulnerabilities, and implementing action plans to improve resilience to extreme weather events.
- These investments ensure residents have access to healthy, local food. Additionally, the Food Policy Council will evolve to expand its membership to include the Division of Marine Fisheries, representing the interests of the fishing industry, and the UMass Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment.
- The Act also includes $68 million for the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MDAR) to protect farmland and foster food security, and sustain agricultural economic viability.
- The legislation proposes creating a new Resilience Revolving Fund at the Clean Water Trust to provide low-interest loans for resilience projects that protect communities and prevent future damage. Eligible recipients include municipalities, water and wastewater utilities, and tribal governments; and eligible projects include stormwater management, floodplain protection, and nature-based solutions, among others.
Protecting Water and Nature
The Mass Ready Act strategically invests in environmental protection and resource management. With significant funding dedicated to clean water, land conservation efforts, recreational investments, and more, this legislation will safeguard open space, and expand everyone’s access to nature and the outdoors.
- The Mass Ready Act aligns with Massachusetts’ Biodiversity Goals, supporting large-scale, connected, and healthy natural areas that benefit both people and the variety of plants and animals upon which we survive.
- The Historic Connecticut River Water Trail Fund would address urgent safety needs for navigational markers for recreational boaters along a heavily used stretch of the river.
- The Act updates the DCR Historic Curatorship Program by expanding the agency's ability to partner with private curators to rehabilitate and maintain historic properties.
- The Act authorizes $9 million to support environmental law enforcement facilities and equipment.
- For Chapter 91 Waterways, the General License provision will expedite projects like marsh restoration and dredging for activities like dam removal.
- For Wetlands, the appeals streamlining will apply to nature-based resilience projects. The Wetlands Protection Act will now include “promote wetlands restoration, preservation, and resilience to changing climate conditions.” And, we will create a pathway for expedited approval for projects that offer substantial ecological and resilience benefits.
Housing & Environment Permitting Reform
The Mass Ready Act will provide pathways to build the housing we need, while ensuring these buildings can withstand future conditions, are energy efficient, support access to transit, and minimize impact to the environment.
- Mass Ready ensures residents are aware of past flooding and future flood risk before they purchase or lease a home.
- The bill introduces a new general license and permit system that will streamline the approval process for projects that previously required individual licenses, while still maintaining departmental oversight through compliance requirements, public notification,
- Governor Healey will authorize the EEA secretary to exempt specific housing and natural restoration projects from requiring an environmental impact report.
- The legislation gives the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) the ability to enhance the Massachusetts State Building Code to enable housing production and ensure new developments can withstand current and future extreme weather conditions.
Supporting Western and Central Mass
The Mass Ready Act will deliver critical investments to communities across the state, with a strong focus on supporting those in Western and Central Massachusetts, where the need is great.
- The Act helps communities prepare for extreme weather events with $308 million allocated to manage high-risk state-owned or abandoned dams and inland flood control systems.
- $93.5 million is allocated to manage municipal and publicly owned dams, as well as inland flood control infrastructure and nature-based solutions to enhance climate resilience.
- Additionally, the legislation supports the creation of a Connecticut River Valley Resilience Commission, which enables the development of a regional strategy to mitigate flood risk and address aging infrastructure along the Connecticut River.
For Western and Central Mass farms, forests, outdoor recreation, and rural character are the way of life. The Mass Ready Act invests in these priorities.
- $30 million for forestry and tree planting programs.
- The legislation also invests in the development and upgrading of bike paths, accessible trails, woodland trails, and multi-use routes.
Protecting water and nature is an essential pillar of the Mass Ready Act.
- Governor Healey supports direct investments to ensure all residents have access to clean water and air, including developing tools to better strategically manage public water supply for drinking water and rural firefighting; and to plan for stormwater infrastructure and monitor cumulative environmental impacts.
- The Mass Ready Act makes a historic investment in state land acquisition by authorizing $340.5 million for restoration and stewardship. Further, $20 million is dedicated to the planning and implementation of projects and programs borne from Executive Order 618, Biodiversity Conservation in Massachusetts.