Healey-Driscoll Administration Releases Comprehensive Strategy for Coastal Protectio

 Healey-Driscoll Administration Releases Comprehensive Strategy for Coastal Protection

The ResilientCoasts Plan will guide communities in protecting people, infrastructure, and coastal environments from worsening flooding and erosion over the next 50 years

CHELSEA—Today, the Healey-Driscoll Administration released the final ResilientCoasts Plan – a comprehensive statewide strategy designed to help coastal communities protect residents, strengthen local infrastructure, and safeguard Massachusetts’ natural resources.

Developed with direct input from local officials, residents, and regional partners, the plan provides practical, community-driven steps to prepare for future storms, flooding, sea level rise, and erosion – while saving taxpayers billions through smart investments made now.

“This plan is about helping people and local businesses stay safe and save money,” said Governor Maura Healey. “When we invest in stronger roads, flood protections, and coastal restoration, we’re not just preventing damage – we’re protecting livelihoods.”

“How to protect our homes, businesses, and working waterfronts was always top of mind during my time as mayor,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “This plan takes that local perspective and turns it into real, actionable steps for every coastal community. It gives municipalities the support and guidance they need to strengthen their future.”

Research shows that every $1 invested in resilience can yield about $13 in benefits and avoided recovery costs, and communities that delay action risk losing up to $33 in future economic activity for every dollar not invested. The ResilientCoasts Plan supports cities and towns in planning and prioritizing the projects that matter most – stronger shorelines, better storm protection, and safer roads.

The plan is designed to support local decision-making and make it easier for towns and regions to access funding, share data, and coordinate projects. It lays out the steps to protect people and property, strengthen infrastructure, and preserve natural buffers like dunes, wetlands, and salt marshes that reduce flood risks.

Over the past two decades, Massachusetts has invested nearly $200 million in local resilience projects across 98 coastal communities. Governor Healey’s Mass Ready Act advances many ResilientCoasts recommendations, including authorizing $200 million for near-term coastal resilience projects. In addition, Mass Ready moves forward several of the plan’s policy recommendations that will also advance resilience statewide, including requiring flood disclosure to ensure residents are aware of flood risks before they purchase or lease a home, adding resilience expertise to the board that oversees updates to the state building code, streamlining permitting for nature-based solutions, and creating a new Resilience Revolving Fund to provide low-interest loans for municipal projects that protect communities and prevent future damage, such as floodplain protection and nature-based solutions.

“Our coastal communities can’t wait for the next big storm to act,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “This plan gives us the tools to be ready – to protect lives, homes, and local economies and to build the kind of resilience that will carry us through the next 50 years.”

“We heard directly from residents, scientists, and local officials across our coast, and their input shaped every part of this plan,” said Coastal Zone Management Director Alison Brizius. “People see what’s happening – the flooding, the erosion, the stronger storms – and they want action. ResilientCoasts reflects that urgency and provides a framework for protecting our coastlines and fighting climate impacts head-on.”

Regional Collaboration

The plan identifies 15 Coastal Resilience Districts, grouping nearby cities and towns that share common characteristics like landform type, natural environment, built infrastructure, population and development character, and coastal risks. The purpose of these districts is to promote regional collaboration, inform prioritization of district-scale coastal resilience projects, and help prevent redundant efforts. In addition, data sharing, collaborative risk assessment, and tracking of progress on coastal resilience will be improved across communities.

Near-Term Adaptation Areas

Within the Coastal Resilience Districts, the plan identifies Near-Term Adaptation Areas with high concentrations of people and housing, development and infrastructure, and/or economic resources expected to be exposed to coastal flooding by the 2030s. Identification of these areas helps direct limited resources where they will make the biggest difference for residents and local economies – for example, in areas with high concentrations of critical local and regional infrastructure at risk.

 

Targeted Solutions

The plan provides guidance on a suite of resilience measures that can be applied across different coastal landscapes with a focus on areas along the immediate shoreline or within the coastal floodplain where the highest risks coincide with vulnerable development. Examples include:

• Elevating roads and homes above expected flood levels
• Relocating people and housing to safer locations
• Floodproofing critical infrastructure
• Implementing nature-based solutions like salt marsh restoration, beach nourishment, and cobble berms to absorb flooding
• Retrofitting and redesigning seawalls