Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Rebecca Tepper, Secretary
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
100 Cambridge St., 10th Floor
Boston, MA 02114
Delivered electronically
Dear Secretary Tepper,
On behalf of the cities and towns of Massachusetts, we are writing to express our strong enthusiasm for the upcoming environmental bond bill and offer insight into several municipal priorities for the legislation. As a member of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Committee (WIAC), we welcome the opportunity to provide preliminary feedback ahead of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s filing of the bill. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) and the Legislature in the months ahead to advance this important piece of legislation.
Municipalities across the Commonwealth deeply appreciate the ongoing work of the EOEEA to protect the environment and safeguard the public health and well-being of our communities, especially in the face of climate change. City and town governments share in this important mission and responsibility as environmental stewards for their respective communities. The impacts of climate change will include more frequent and severe storms, coastal and inland flooding, drought, sea level rise, and coastal erosion, among other issues. With these threats, the potential impact to municipal infrastructure, local land, and well-being of residents loom large.
In the upcoming environmental bond bill, we urge you to prioritize empowering municipalities to take action on projects ranging from essential water infrastructure repairs, replacements, and expansions to climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation initiatives. In addition, we recommend a number of policy provisions that would enable municipalities to better prepare for and respond to the changing regulatory landscape for water quality and water management systems.
Supporting Vital Water Infrastructure Needs
Amid growing regulatory requirements for municipalities and public water districts, cities and towns in Massachusetts continue to face challenges within a revenue-limited environment that restricts their ability to fund essential repairs and replacements. Additional state support will be necessary to meet the considerable need for these critical services.
The Commonwealth provides financial support for a slate of water infrastructure needs. Grant programs for water infrastructure investments like the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant, Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Grant Program, Drinking Water Supply Protection Grant Program, and the Cybersecurity Improvements Grant, are critical pieces in the financial fabric municipalities weave together to sustainably fund their necessary and often overdue projects. Loan opportunities through the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and Drinking Water SRF programs, as well as the 0% Interest PFAS Mitigation Loans, are incredibly important initiatives for cities and towns.
However, these existing supports — when funded at their current level — still do not resolve the underlying investment gap municipalities are experiencing. This funding crisis was well articulated in the Water Infrastructure Finance Commission’s 2012 report, and largely remains unaddressed, with need estimates of $10.2 billion for drinking water, $11.2 billion for clean water, and $18 billion for stormwater. Recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) surveys estimate a $15.2 billion investment needed to maintain compliance with existing Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations and $21.7 billion investment needed to maintain compliance with clean water regulations. These estimates do not include costs associated with PFAS regulations.
Local governments have dutifully managed this substantial gap for decades, while facing growing regulatory requirements and needed financial investments. Increasingly stringent stormwater regulations, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) standards, required lead service line replacements, new building requirements, and considerable construction cost inflation are just some of the increased responsibilities straining municipal budgets.
We strongly encourage new, increased investments in established, successful programs including the Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Grant Program and the Clean and Drinking Water SRFs. The Culvert Replacement Program is the Commonwealth’s sole grant program focused on municipal culverts. Thousands of culverts are under municipal care and many are in need of replacements and critical upgrades to adapt to changes in precipitation patterns. This program is a critical resource to communities as they fortify infrastructure to meet the demands of climate change. We strongly encourage increased investment to at least $35 million per year to support municipal culvert projects.
Regarding the Clean and Drinking Water SRFs, this funding is a lifeline for municipalities, and public drinking water and wastewater districts. However, distribution of this funding is through a competitive process and numerous projects are left without support year over year. We welcome increased funding to the SRF and advise full funding of the Clean Water Trust Contract Assistance line item up to $138 million per fiscal year. This investment allows the Clean Water Trust to provide more 0% loans and other support to encourage cities and towns to address their water infrastructure needs more affordably.
Drinking water professionals across the Commonwealth have a profound understanding and appreciation for the regulations and rules in place that ensure safe, clean drinking water is provided. Municipalities and their staff are dedicated to protecting public health in response to the environmental pollution that has gone widely unnoticed for decades. However, the pervasive prevalence of PFAS in Massachusetts poses a daunting challenge to maintaining a balanced budget for municipal water system investments and improvements.
Following the U.S. EPA announcement of finalized National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) in April of 2024, a Black & Veatch and Corona Environmental analysis revealed the new regulations for just a handful of PFAS chemicals will likely require up to $48.3 billion of capital investment in the next five years across the country. Municipalities are already preparing for multi-million dollar capital projects to remediate PFAS as well as the unknown ongoing costs to fund this work on a regular basis. Many have already undergone this process to comply with the Massachusetts PFAS6 regulatory framework, and all municipalities will now need to strengthen their approaches to comply with a much stricter rule.
Without further support, the burden of this monumental and ongoing remediation falls on ratepayers, threatening cost of living affordability throughout the Commonwealth. We urge you to consider any opportunities for additional funding through the environmental bond bill to help offset and address these new costs, protect public safety and health, and mitigate financial impacts to taxpayers.
Enhancing Municipal Climate Change Resiliency Programs
Whether through a planning or action grant, local governments have welcomed the investments in resiliency and adaptation made possible by the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program. Given the quantity of applications submitted to the MVP program each year, and the pace at which climate-related damages threaten municipal infrastructure and natural resources statewide, we overwhelmingly support all opportunities to increase the appropriation for this program through the environmental bond bill.
We respectfully request the Administration to authorize the MVP Grant and Designation Program at $500 million in the environmental bond bill, allowing $100 million to be appropriated each year for the next five years. An overwhelming majority of our cities and towns have participated in the MVP Program to date, yet numerous additional projects remain unfunded. Our membership has identified this need as a priority for the success of local resilience efforts and unanimously endorsed elevating the MVP program through the Resolution Supporting a Local-State-Federal Partnership to Address Climate Change, Enhance Resilience, and Bolster Adaptation Initiatives, approved in January of 2024. We are fully committed to working with the EOEEA and MVP teams to provide any resources or support necessary to expand the program’s capacity and reach.
We further support additional investments in coastal infrastructure and resilience projects. 78 municipalities along the Massachusetts coastline benefit greatly from the Coastal Resilience Grant Program and deeply appreciate the focused funding for critical projects. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and the Office of Coastal Zone Management on how to best support particularly vulnerable coastal communities through the upcoming bond bill.
Additional Policy Provisions
In addition to increasing funding support to cities and towns, we encourage use of the environmental bond bill to carry various municipal policy priorities. These items are common-sense adjustments with long-lasting positive impacts.
First, we support the addition of the sustainable water resource funds legislation filed in the 2023-2024 legislative session by Representative Ted Philips (H. 2099) and Senator Jamie Eldridge (S. 1293). This language would permit water banking for municipalities and their water districts. This policy fix would clarify and strengthen the authority of cities and towns to establish water, stormwater and wastewater utility fees, a process that has been inaccessible to several municipalities without costly legal support. These funds would be a major source of assistance to support the cost of expanded or upgraded water infrastructure, protect public health, and meet federal Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act requirements and other state and federal environmental requirements. With significant costs ahead to comply with the U.S. EPA’s NPDWR on PFAS chemicals, this tool would be incredibly valuable for communities to consider implementing.
Second, we strongly recommend instituting a labeling requirement for non-flushable wipes that clog municipal and residential drains and pipes, causing costly backups and overflows. The legislation filed in 2023 by Representatives Garballey and Owens (H. 805) and Senator Eldridge (S. 480) would require manufacturers of disposable products such as diaper wipes, toilet wipes, household cleaning wipes, personal care wipes and facial wipes to label wipes that do not meet performance standards for flushing as non-flushable. This policy would also require manufacturers to test products and verify that they meet performance standards, set penalties for violations, and allow the attorney general to enforce the law. As you know well, wastewater treatment is an incredibly essential form of pollution control; it is imperative that wastewater travels the whole distance to treatment plants to prevent environmentally harmful discharges into the Commonwealth’s streams, rivers and waters. This labeling requirement would not only result in cost savings for municipalities and their water treatment facilities, but also would work to protect public health and our environment by reducing the prevalence of wipes across sewerage systems.
Summary
Thank you for your attention to the needs of municipalities, we greatly appreciate the opportunity to work in partnership with you to ensure communities from the Islands to the Berkshires are supported in their efforts to ensure the well-being of residents and the environment. We are available to participate in any convenings that support this vision, including regular meetings of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Committee. In line with other advocacy partners, we strongly support a quarterly convening of WIAC members to facilitate communication and information sharing over the five-year implementation of the environmental bond bill. This will be essential as other water-related regulatory and policy changes advance, which require time, attention and investment from our members.
The Massachusetts Municipal Association and our members look forward to this important work ahead as the bond bill is developed. If you have any questions or desire further information, please do not hesitate to have your office contact me or MMA Legislative Analyst Josie Ahlberg at jahlberg@mma.org at any time.
Sincerely,
Adam Chapdelaine
MMA Executive Director and CEO