Section 19: Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund
Section 19. There shall be a separate fund to be known as the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund. The fund shall be subject to this chapter, except as otherwise provided in this section. There shall be credited to the fund revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund including, but not limited to, revenues received under the excise imposed under section 3C of chapter 64G, 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 separate from other funds of the trust. Proceeds of the fund shall not be used to offset or otherwise replace contract assistance funds or reserve funds used for pool financing. The trust shall apply and disburse amounts credited to the fund, without further appropriation, to provide 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 municipalities that are members of the fund. Each municipality within Barnstable or Nantucket counties or within the county of Dukes County shall be a member of the fund if it is subject to: (i) an area wide wastewater management plan under section 208 of the federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1288; or (ii) a suitable equivalent plan determined by the department of environmental protection as submitted to the department of environmental protection by a majority vote of the chief executive officers of the municipality. Water pollution abatement projects eligible for subsidies and other assistance under this section may include the utilization of innovative strategies and alternative septic system technologies that result in nutrient reduction for marine and fresh waters.
The fund may provide subsidies and other assistance as provided in this section with respect to debt incurred prior to the establishment of the fund in the towns of Nantucket, Edgartown, Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, Falmouth, Chatham and Provincetown and the city of Barnstable for water pollution abatement projects apart from the trust.
Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended or applied only with the approval of the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board established under section 20 and in a manner determined by the management board, in addition to any approvals required under this chapter. The management board, subject to a memorandum of understanding with the department of environmental protection, may direct the comptroller to transfer a specified amount not to exceed 10 per cent of the annual revenue deposited into the fund to the department for the department to contract with a regional planning agency, institution of higher education 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 an area wide wastewater management plan or a suitable equivalent plan, to monitor the water quality and watersheds of areas subject to the study and to support further assessment and water quality modeling to further refine area wide wastewater management plans or suitable equivalent plans in Barnstable and Nantucket counties and the county of Dukes County. 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.
A municipality that is a member of the fund under this section may withdraw from the fund by a 2/3 vote of its legislative body; provided, however, that a municipality shall not withdraw from the fund during the term of any financial assistance award from the fund to the municipality. A municipality that has withdrawn from the fund shall not have representation on the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board established under section 20. A 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 not less than 2 years from the date of its vote to return.