Amendment ID: S2250-154

Amendment 154

Coastal Buy Back Programs

Mr. Tarr moves to amend the amendment by inserting, after section __, the following new section:-

"Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, there is hereby created a Coastal Endangered Property Acquisition Program, to be administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, pursuant to regulations regulated by said office, for the purpose of acquiring properties in the Commonwealth which have experienced or are likely to experience significant damage due to Coastal erosion and flooding, and which are not otherwise eligible for the pre-disaster mitigation and flood mitigation assistance program.

Said program shall have as its principal purposes the mitigation of hazards and losses resulting from erosion and flood, and the implementation of coastal defense and resilience strategies to prevent, mitigate and otherwise address the destructive effects  of coastal erosion, flooding and sea level rise. In achieving these purposes, the program shall provide for the utilization of coastal defense mechanisms and strategies on any property so purchased, provided that such mechanisms and strategies are reasonably calculated to produce benefits and minimize environmental harm.

In order to finance said program the Commonwealth shall issue bonds in an amount not to exceed $10 million, provided that no expenditure of funds shall exceed $3 million in any calendar year.

The secretary of said office shall develop a report on the activities of said program which shall include, but not limited to, an itemization and description of any properties and their cost purchased and any defense mechanisms or strategies undertaken on them and their cost, any cost estimates of losses prevented or avoided by the operation of the program, and any other realized or projected benefits or advance consequences of the program.  Said report shall be filed not later than December 31 of each year with the clerks if the House and Senate, the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural resources and Agriculture, and the Secretary of Administration and Finance, and shall also be posted electronically for public review and inspection."