Amendment ID: S3050-160-R1

Redraft Amendment 160

Special Commission to Enable Resilient Urban Coasts in the Commonwealth

Mr. Collins moves that the proposed new draft be amended by inserting after section X the following section:-

“SECTION X. There shall be established a special commission to enable resilient urban coasts in the Commonwealth. The commission shall create a report recommending statewide permitting reforms necessary to enable climate resilience projects on urban coastal properties, including district scale projects that create continuous lines of protection and regional projects that cross municipal boundaries.

The commission shall examine existing statutory and regulatory requirements that slow or prohibit the permitting and construction of climate resilient projects on public and private urban coastal properties in the commonwealth, including neighborhoods impacted by flood pathways. Factors to consider shall include, but not be limited to, cost and time constraints associated with securing the required permits to protect coastal communities, properties, and infrastructure from flooding and sea level rise. The commission will review and reconcile these needs in the context of economic viability, human health, and protection of infrastructure, homes, businesses, and designated port areas as well as coastal wetlands and marine ecosystems along with the costs and benefits associated with proposed changes to streamline permitting, including Municipal Harbor Plans; and will create proposals to expedite and streamline permitting for coastal resilience projects in districts that span across public and private properties.

The commission shall consist of 15 total members: the secretary of economic development or their designee and the secretary of energy and environmental affairs or their designee, who shall serve as co-chairs; the commissioner of the department of environmental protection or their designee; the chief executive officer of the massachusetts port authority or their designee; the director of the seaport economic council or their designee; the director of the commercial real estate development association (formerly known as the national association of office and industrial properties) or their designee; the director of boston harbor now or their designee; the director of the trustees of reservations or their designee; the director of the massachusetts marine trades association or their designee; the director of a better city or their designee; and 5 members who shall be appointed by the governor, 2 of whom shall be coastal developers; 1 of whom shall be a watershed organization; and 2 of whom shall be advocates who represent environmental justice communities.

The commission will also have, in its authority, the ability to invite experts from local, state and federal agencies, including but not limited to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and representatives of the private sector to advise on specific topics identified by the commission.

Not later than 12 months after the effective date of this act, the commission shall make recommendations to the Governor concerning the adoption and alignment of state and local permitting processes necessary to enable climate resilience projects on urban coastal properties, including statutory and regulatory provisions to promote and allow district scale projects that create continuous lines of defense and regional projects that cross municipal boundaries. Further, the commission shall file its recommendations with the clerks of the house and senate, the chairs of the joint committee on economic development, the chairs of the joint committee on environment and natural resources, and the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means within 12 months of the effective date of this act."