Baker-Polito Administration Awards $21 Million in Climate Change Funding to Cities and Towns

Baker-Polito Administration Awards $21 Million in Climate Change Funding to Cities and Towns

93% of Communities Participating in Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program 

EASTHAMPTON – Building on its commitment to creating a more climate change resilient Commonwealth, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced $21 million in grants to cities and towns through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program, representing a doubling of the program budget since last year. To date, this brings total awards through the MVP program to over $65 million. The grant program, which was created in 2017 as part of Governor Charlie Baker’s Executive Order 569, provides communities with funding and technical support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change. The grants are in addition to the Administration’s proposal to invest $900 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into key energy and environmental initiatives, including $300 million to support climate resilient infrastructure.

“With the ongoing success of the MVP program, we are pleased to double the program’s funding this year to support local climate change resilience projects throughout the Commonwealth,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Massachusetts communities are implementing important, nation-leading efforts to adapt to climate change. Our Administration is committed to working with municipalities across the Commonwealth to tackle these urgent challenges, which is why we have proposed a significant increase in funding for climate adaptation projects through our federal ARPA spending plan.”

“The MVP program is a vital tool in our efforts to prepare and strengthen our coastal and inland communities to address the impacts of climate change,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “We are thrilled to welcome 16 new towns to the program as they take important steps in planning for the future, and to award funding to 66 priority implementation projects that range from upgrading or removing high-risk dams and culverts to investing in Environmental Justice communities.”

Through this latest round of funding, 93% of Massachusetts cities and towns, or 328 municipalities, are now enrolled in the MVP program. The program pairs local leadership and knowledge with a significant investment of resources and funding from the Commonwealth to address ongoing climate change impacts, such as inland flooding, storms, sea level rise, and extreme temperatures. Of these funds, $20.6 million was awarded to 66 cities, towns, or regional partnerships to implement projects that build local resilience to climate change in the Commonwealth’s fifth round of MVP Action Grant funding. Additionally, $400,000 was awarded to 16 towns to pursue a community led planning process to identify vulnerabilities to climate change and priority actions. When complete, these municipalities will be eligible for the next round of implementation funding.

“The MVP program has been recognized as a national model for building climate resiliency through strong state and local partnerships, and we are proud to have enrolled 93% of the municipalities in Massachusetts in this critical effort,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides. “Every region in Massachusetts experienced extreme weather throughout the summer, including excessive heat, record precipitation, and flooding, and the MVP program offers vital technical and financial assistance to help municipalities address vulnerabilities and create stronger, more liveable climate resilient communities.”

The $21 million announced today will go towards MVP Planning Grants and Action Grants. Planning Grants support communities in working with a state-certified technical assistance provider to lead a community-wide planning workshop to identify key climate-related hazards, vulnerabilities and strengths, develop adaptation actions, and prioritize next steps. Results of the workshops and planning efforts inform existing local plans, grant applications, and policies. Communities are then eligible for competitive MVP Action Grant funding to implement priority on-the-ground projects. Projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include retrofitting and adapting infrastructure, actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, detailed vulnerability assessments or design and engineering studies, stormwater upgrades, dam retrofits and removals, culvert upgrades, drought mitigation, energy resilience, and projects that focus on implementing nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration and floodplain protection.

“The grant allows Easthampton to act on our deep commitment to a resilient, environmentally aware ecosystem,” said Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle. “The Cherry Street project serves as a model for future grants.”

"These grants provide critical funding to Easthampton, Southwick, and communities throughout our region for initiatives that focus on the consequential impacts of climate change,” said State Senator John Velis (D - Westfield). “Projects funded by the MVP program, like the Cherry Street restoration in Easthampton, allow our municipalities to address local climate hazards and build a more resilient and environmentally friendly infrastructure."

“I am very excited that Easthampton is receiving this MVP Action Grant,” said State Representative Dan Carey (D - Easthampton). “This grant for Cherry Street’s green infrastructure and slope restoration construction is a perfect example of the partnership between state and municipal government.  The state funding from this grant will help to make necessary improvements in our community.  It is crucial that we address climate change on the local level and this project will make the area more resilient to ongoing and future climate change impacts.”

The following communities will receive funding to complete the MVP planning process in 2021-2022: 

Applicant	MVP Program Region	Total Award
Boylston	Central	$20,000
Clarksburg	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$15,000
Egremont	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$40,000
Hawley	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$27,000
Huntington	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$38,000
Ludlow	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$31,000
Millville	Central	$27,000
Oxford	Central	$26,900
Raynham	Southeast	$15,000
Savoy	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$15,000
Southbridge	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$22,000
Tolland	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$27,000
Tyringham	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$20,000
Warren	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$26,895
Webster	Central	$25,000
West Bridgewater	Southeast	$22,000
Total (16)		Total: $397,795

 

The following communities were awarded Action Grants: 

Applicant	Project Title	Grant Award
Acton & Acton-Boxborough Regional School District	Climate Action Plan and Electrification Roadmap	$157,940
Andover	Shawsheen River Watershed Land Conservation Planning and Prioritization for Climate Resilience and Environmental Justice	$131,700
Ashfield	Baptist Corner Road Stream Crossing Ecological Improvements	$448,600
Athol	Greening Lord Pond Plaza Phase 2	$213,630
Belchertown	Land Conservation and Restoration of the Scarborough Brook Headwaters for Climate Resilience	$480,025
Belmont	Stormwater Flood Reduction and Climate Resilience Capital Improvement Plan	$195,000
Bolton & Clinton	Nashua River Communities Resilient Lands Management Project	$302,691
Braintree	Smith Beach Green Infrastructure Project	$47,500
Bridgewater	High Street Dam Removal	$750,000
Buckland, Ashfield, & Hawley	Watershed-Based Assessment and Climate Resiliency Plan for Clesson Brook	$100,117
Burlington	Vine Brook Watershed and Urban Heat Island Assessment	$108,500
Chelsea	Battery Storage System and Solar at Chelsea City Hall	$624,000
Conway	South River Flood Resiliency Project	$191,200
Deerfield	Healthy Soils, Green Infrastructure Policy and Climate Resiliency Public Engagement in Deerfield	$40,951
Dennis	Pound Pond, Dennis- Flood Mitigation and Storm Drainage Improvements	$120,010
Easthampton	Cherry Street Green Infrastructure and Slope Restoration Construction	$2,000,000
Everett & Chelsea	Island End River Flood Resilience Project	$716,500
Falmouth	Conceptual Design of Flood-Resiliency Improvements for Sewer Infrastructure	$104,040
Fitchburg	Bolstering Public and Private Action to Improve Flood Resilience in Baker Brook	$173,350
Foxborough	Advancing Green Infrastructure in Foxborough for Enhancing Climate Resilience through Planning and Design	$166,543
Framingham	Walnut Street Neighborhood Flood Mitigation - Design & Permitting	$269,030
Gloucester	Gloucester Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP)	$69,890
Groveland	Johnson Creek Watershed Flood Resiliency Project	$82,186
Hampden & East Longmeadow	Hampden/East Longmeadow Infrastructure Assessment and Prioritization of Nature-Based Solutions and Public Outreach and Participation	$389,092
Haverhill	Little River Dam Removal and River Restoration	$475,000
Ipswich	Ipswich River Sewer Interceptor Bank Biostabilization Project	$117,803
Lenox, Pittsfield, Stockbridge, & New Marlborough	Housatonic Stream Restoration for Regional Flood Resilience Project	$295,190
Leominster	Monoosnoc Brook Bank Stabilization Project	$167,625
Leverett	Shutesbury Road Culvert Enhancement	$258,750
Lynn	Barry Park Green Infrastructure Project	$147,367
Lynnfield	Richardson Green Conservation Acquisition	$1,638,750
Malden	Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience	$354,600
Marlborough	Regulatory Updates to Support Climate Resiliency	$56,250
Marshfield	Marshfield Long-term Coastal Resiliency Plan	$78,030
Mashpee	Watershed-based Solutions to Increase Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond in a Warmer and Wetter Climate	$131,691
Melrose & Upper Mystic Communities	Working Across Boundaries to Minimize Stormwater Flood Damage in the Upper Mystic Watershed	$108,655
Melrose, Malden, & Medford	Melrose, Malden, and Medford Building Resilience, Efficiency, and Affordability Project	$101,108
Mendon	Mendon Town Hall Campus Green Stormwater Infrastructure: Design through Contractor Mobilization	$169,905
Methuen & Lawrence	Searles Pond/Bloody Brook Corridor Resilience Planning	$80,250
Millbury	Armory Village Green Infrastructure Project- Phase II	$366,000
Millis	Flood Resiliency Plan	$170,000
Natick, Framingham, & Ashland	Building Relationships and Resilience with MetroWest Environmental Justice Neighborhoods	$127,150
Natick & Charles River Watershed Communities	Building Resilience Across the Charles River Watershed Phase II	$233,085
New Bedford	New Bedford Green Infrastructure Master Strategy and Implementation Roadmap	$432,440
Northbridge	Carpenter Road Causeway Alternatives Analysis and Source Water Green Infrastructure Protection Plan	$146,100
Norwood	Traphole Brook Flood Prevention and Stream Restoration Project	$682,421
Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury, Edgartown, Chilmark, Aquinnah, & Gosnold	Martha's Vineyard and Gosnold Climate Action Plan, Phase II	$173,843
Peabody & Salem	Peabody-Salem Resilient North River Corridor & Riverwalk Project	$150,000
Pepperell	Sucker Brook Continuity Restoration	$492,030
Plymouth	Subterranean Resiliency: Predicting, Assessing and Mitigating Saltwater Intrusion	$304,915
Revere	Gibson Park Resiliency Design and Permitting	$161,516
Sandwich	Dynamic Adaptation Pathways and Prioritized Resilient Design Solutions for Historic Sandwich Village	$79,789
Saugus	Saugus Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan	$74,500
South Hadley	Queensville Dam Removal Feasibility Study and Buttery Brook Watershed Enhancement	$125,000
Southborough	Planimetric Impervious Surface Mapping Project	$22,875
Southwick	Klaus Anderson Road/Johnson Brook Replacement Culvert and Green Infrastructure	$728,300
Springfield	Trees, Homes, and People/ Creating a More Resilient Living Environment	$2,000,000
Tewksbury	Stormwater Analysis for Nature-Based Solutions and Community Co-Benefits	$193,935
Waltham	Bringing Climate Resilience to Beaver Brook	$362,000
Watertown	Equity-Based Community Greening Program	$94,240
Wellfleet	Herring River Restoration Project Phase 1 Final Construction Plans and Bid Specifications	$589,960
Wellfleet, Truro, Eastham, Brewster, Barnstable, & Bourne	Regional Low Lying Road Assessment and Feasibility	$236,258
Westford	Westford Tree and Invasive Species Inventory and Management Plan with Tree Planting Plan	$79,200
Westhampton	Resilience Building through Community Visioning and Planning	$237,516
Winthrop, Boston, & Revere	Belle Isle Marsh: Evaluating Nature Based Solutions to Protect Abutting Communities and Critical Shorebird Habitat from Coastal Inundation	$145,307
Wrentham	Climate Resilience and Low Impact Development Regulatory Integration and Green Infrastructure Master Plan	$113,344
Total (66)		$20,585,193

In June 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration re-filed its plan to immediately put to use part of Commonwealth’s direct federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act to support key priorities including housing and homeownership, economic development and local downtowns, job training and workforce development, health care, and infrastructure. As part of the Administration’s proposal to jump-start the Commonwealth’s economic recovery and support residents hardest-hit by COVID-19, such as lower-wage workers and communities of color, Governor Baker would direct $900 million to key energy and environmental initiatives, including $300 million to support climate resilient infrastructure. The funding would be distributed through programs like EEA’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program and would fund priority climate adaptation projects and investments aligned with the priorities identified in the state hazard mitigation and climate adaptation plan. Investments that would be supported through the funding include the acquisition of land specifically targeted at reducing flooding and the Urban Heat Island Effect.