Amendment #5 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 in section 2, in line 53, by inserting after “host” the following: “provided further, that an additional excise of 2.75 percent for the total amount of each rental by any host as defined in this act, or on any hotel, lodging house or motel as defined in section 1 of chapter 64G, shall be assessed on rentals within municipalities who are members of the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund as established by section 10 of this act.  The hosting platform or host, as defined in section 1 of chapters 64G and 64O, shall pay the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund excise tax imposed under the provisions of this section to the commissioner of the department of revenue at the same time and in the same manner as the excise tax due to the commonwealth.  All sums received by the commissioner under this section as excise shall at least quarterly be distributed, credited and paid by the state treasurer upon certification to the commissioner to the Cape and Islands Water Protection Trust Fund.”

and further by inserting after SECTION 8 the following three sections:

“SECTION 9. For the purposes of sections 10 and 11 of this act, ''208 plan'' shall mean an area wide water quality management plan, or a suitable equivalent as established by the department of environmental protection, in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties that is certified, on or after June 1, 2015, by the governor or the governor’s designee.

SECTION 10. There shall be established and set up on the books of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, referred to in this section as 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 chapter 29C shall be applicable to the fund and terms defined in said chapter 29C are used in this section as so defined.  There shall be credited to the fund revenue from appropriations or other moneys 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 a 208 plan as defined in section 9 above, respectively, for each county.  Any such projects shall be consistent with an approved 208 plan, as defined in section 9 above, as determined pursuant to paragraph (d) of section 6 of said chapter 29C and may include as eligible 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 defined in section 9 of this act and the towns of Barnstable, Falmouth, Chatham and Provincetown, the trust shall also provide subsidies and assistance as aforesaid with respect to debt incurred by such towns apart from the trust prior to the enactment of this act.  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 11 of this act, in addition to any approvals required under said chapter 29C.  From amounts deposited in the fund, the trust shall transfer to the Department of Environmental Protection ten percent 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 the 208 plan, as defined in section 9 above, 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.  Municipalities included in the trust may opt to withdraw from the trust no sooner than two years 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 trust during the term of any financial assistance award from the trust to said municipality.  Any municipality that has withdrawn from the trust and votes, by majority vote of its legislative body, to return to the trust shall not receive money from the fund until at least two years from the date of its vote to do so.

SECTION 11. 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 the area covered by a 208 plan, as defined in section 9 above; 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 and the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission shall serve as an ex-officio member and 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, as defined in section 9 above.  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 board shall be eligible for reappointment.  Each member of the management board appointed to fill a vacancy on the 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 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 ensure that monies from the fund are spent only for the purposes listed in the section above.”

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

Cape & Islands Water Protection Trust