Amendment #5, as changed to H4314

Cape & Islands Water Protection Trust

Representatives Peake of Provincetown, Hunt of Sandwich, Vieira of Falmouth, Fernandes of Falmouth, Whelan of Brewster and Crocker of Barnstable moves to amend the bill by inserting, after section 1, the following new section:-

SECTION 1A. Chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 18 the following new sections:-

Section 19. There shall be established and set up on the books of the trust a separate fund to be known as the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund, referred to in this section as the fund. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this section, the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to the fund. There shall be credited to the fund revenue from appropriations or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund, including but not limited to any investment income earned on the fund’s assets and all other sources, each source being tracked separately for accounting purposes as of June 30 of each year. The trust shall hold the fund in an account or accounts separate from other funds of the trust. Proceeds of the fund shall not be used to offset or otherwise replace contract assistance funds nor shall they be used to offset or otherwise replace reserve funds used for pool financing.  The trust shall apply and disburse amounts credited to the fund, without further appropriation, to provide additional subsidies and other assistance, which may include principal forgiveness, to local governmental units and other eligible borrowers in the payment of debt service costs on loans and other forms of financial assistance made by the trust for water pollution abatement projects in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties upon approval of an areawide waste management plan under section 208 of the federal Clean Water Act in said counties that is certified, on or after June 1, 2015, by the governor or the governor’s designee, referred to in this section as a 208 plan, or a suitable equivalent as established by the department of environmental protection, respectively, for each county.  Any such projects shall be consistent with an approved 208 plan, as determined pursuant to paragraph (d) of section 6 of this chapter and may include projects utilizing innovative and alternative Title V technologies that result in nutrient reduction for marine and fresh waters.  In the case of projects in the towns of Nantucket, Edgartown, Tisbury and Oak Bluffs subject to the approval of a 208 plan, or suitable equivalent as established by the department of environmental protection, and the towns of Barnstable, Falmouth, Chatham and Provincetown, the fund shall also provide subsidies and assistance as aforesaid with respect to debt incurred by such towns apart from the trust prior to the establishment of the fund. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended or applied, in a manner determined by, and only with the approval of the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board established under section 20 of this chapter, in addition to any approvals required under this chapter. From amounts deposited in the fund, the trust shall transfer to the department of environmental protection ten per cent of the annual revenue deposited into the fund, for the purposes of contracting with a single regional planning agency or non-profit corporation to evaluate and report on the efficacy of adaptive management measures to reduce nitrogen pollution of coastal waterways undertaken pursuant to a 208 plan, to monitor the water quality of areas subject to said study and to support further assessment and water quality modeling to further refine said study. Any amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried forward into the following fiscal year and shall remain available for application and disbursement without further appropriation. Any municipality included in the fund under this section may opt to withdraw from the fund no sooner than one year after the effective date of this act by a majority vote of its legislative body; provided, however, that a municipality may not withdraw from the fund during the term of any financial assistance award from the fund to said municipality. Any municipality that has withdrawn from the fund and votes, by majority vote of its legislative body, to return to the fund shall not receive money from the fund until at least two years from the date of its vote to do so.

Section 20. There is hereby established a Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board, referred to in this section as the management board, consisting of 1 person to be appointed by each board of selectmen or town council in each of the municipalities within an areawide waste management plan approved under section 208 of the federal Clean Water Act in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties, that is certified, on or after June 1, 2015, by the governor  or the governor’s designee, referred to in this section as a 208 plan; provided, however, that the appointees by the boards of selectmen or town councils shall be either members of their respective appointing authority, its town manager or administrator or other municipally employed professional staff. Each municipality within Barnstable County shall have representation on the management board, and the executive director of the Cape Cod Commission shall serve as an ex-officio member. Each municipality in Dukes County shall have a representative, the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission shall serve as an ex-officio member, the town manager of Nantucket shall be a member and the Chair of the Nantucket County Commissioners shall serve as an ex-officio member on the management board, upon approval of a 208 plan. Each member of the management board shall serve for a term of 3 years and until a successor is appointed and qualified, and each member of the management board shall be eligible for reappointment. Each member of the management board appointed to fill a vacancy on the management board shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the vacant position. The members of the management board shall select a member to serve as chairperson and vice-chairperson for a term established by vote of the management board. The Cape Cod Commission, in consultation with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, shall provide administrative and technical support to said management board and may be compensated for its associated costs by vote of the management board. The management board duties are limited to determining the method for subsidy allocation and to ensuring that monies from the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund are spent only for the purposes listed in section 19 of this chapter.

And moves to further amend the bill in section 4, by inserting, after the word “host”, in line 53, the following:-

; provided further, that an additional excise at the rate of 2.75 percent shall be imposed on an occupant of a residential unit offered for short-term rental within a municipality that is a member of the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund as established by section 19 of chapter 29C.

And moves to further amend the bill in said section 4, by inserting, after the words “town.”, in line 107, the following:-

Hosts, or by agreement, hosting platforms shall pay any additional excise tax imposed under section 2 for short-term rentals within a municipality that is a member of the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund to the commissioner at the same time and in the same manner as the state excise tax. All such sums received by the commissioner shall be distributed, credited and paid at least quarterly by the state treasurer upon certification of the commissioner to the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #5, as changed to H4314

Cape & Islands Water Protection Trust