🚨 Action Alert: Oppose “anti-wetland” and “anti-clean water” measures!

Last-minute additions to the “Mass Ready Act” threaten to eliminate local control over wetland protections, wastewater management, and derail funding for municipalities that have already taken steps towards watershed restoration and community resilience. We need your help to correct this ill-conceived and dangerous misstep by the MA legislature. 

Adequate housing and Clean water are interdependent, mutually reinforcing rights. 

These problematic amendments were added under the guise of “pro-housing.” The state has made it clear that it seeks to prioritize affordable and transit-oriented housing. But at Mass Rivers Alliance, we reject the notion that access to adequate housing and access to clean water are diametrically opposed interests. Rather, we believe that the state owes potable water for consumption, recreation, and enjoyment to all residents. 

The state ultimately relies on local authorities to fulfil this obligation via the responsible siting of housing and other projects. This means prohibiting development in riparian zones, like wetlands, which are more likely to flood during storm events, and which serve as natural filtration systems, keeping our rivers and streams free from harmful pollutants. Such safeguards are widely formalized in non-zoning wetland bylaws and ordinances (see map below) – and are critical for closing regulatory gaps that exist at the state level. For example: 

• “No-build zones” - Many local bylaws establish a no-build buffer zone within 100 feet from a riverbank or wetland. This directly protects sensitive resource areas, while mitigating flood risk and supporting stormwater management. 

• Vernal pools - Many local bylaws extend conservation protections to vernal pools and upland habitats that may not have been “certified” for protection by the state. 

Section 68 (lines 2630-2640) and Section 69 (lines 2684-2692) of the latest version of the Mass Ready Act threaten to eliminate these responsible siting safeguards. These provisions purport to exempt “priority housing” from local wetlands bylaws that are more strict than the Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) and regulations. By longstanding law, all local wetlands bylaws must be more stringent than the WPA; therefore, this exemption would render all local wetland bylaws and ordinances inapplicable when siting priority housing projects. All homes should be built safely away from flood zones and essential wetland ecosystems.  

Unfortunately, other 11th-hour amendments to the Mass Safety Act pose similar threats to our access to clean waters:

Section 60 (lines 2298-2303) of the latest version of the Mass Ready Act undermines local wastewater disposal rules. This provision ignores one of the leading causes of water pollution in the state, and instead allows priority housing projects to sidestep local wastewater management rules that are stricter than those imposed by the state. Here again, municipalities have only imposed more stringent rules, as the state is failing to address pervasive combined sewage overflows, and other wastewater management challenges. 

Section 108 of the latest version of the Mass Ready Act deprioritizes funding for municipalities that are already making progress on watershed restoration and climate resilience. This provision applies a “preference modifier” for grants to municipalities or groups of municipalities that adopt a non-restrictive zoning and other land use rules, including wastewater and wetland rules that do not exceed state standards. This means that municipalities that have already taken steps to protect waters and watersheds are less likely to receive funding to continue and expand these efforts.  

Please take 2 minutes to ask your MA representative to remove these “anti” measures.  

1. Find your local representative

Find your legislators >> 

2. Send them an email expressing your opposition to these provisions.

Recommended message (copy, paste). 

Subject Line: Oppose “Anti-wetland” and “Anti-clean water” provisions in the Mass Ready Act

Dear Representative [Name]

My name is [Insert Name] and I am your constituent from [town] (Add any affiliations here too). I am writing to urge you to oppose the inclusion of the below-referenced sections of the Mass Ready Act, which threaten to undermine access to clean water. These concerning  provisions were added as amendments during the Senate vote on the bill as a means to help streamline affordable and transit-oriented housing projects; as written, however, these provisions will effectively endanger residents of those homes and the greater community–creating new and avoidable risks of flooding, pollution, and contaminated waterways by eliminating existing local protections. 

Section 68 (lines 2630-2640) and Section 69 (lines 2684-2692) of S.3064  threaten to eliminate responsible siting safeguards. These provisions will eliminate existing safeguards that ensure homes are built safely away from flood zones and fragile wetland ecosystems. These safeguards are not intended to prevent housing projects, but to prevent the construction of homes in dangerous and environmentally-vulnerable locations.  

Section 60 (lines 2298-2303) of S.3064 undermines local wastewater disposal rules. This provision ignores one of the leading causes of water pollution in the state, and undermines the efforts that municipalities are making to address pervasive combined sewage overflows and other wastewater management challenges. 

Section 108 of S.3064 deprioritizes funding for municipalities that are already making progress on watershed restoration and climate resilience. This provision applies a punitive “preference modifier” that makes it more difficult for municipalities that are actively working towards watershed restoration and climate resilience to receive funding for these efforts. 

These provisions are antithetical to the resilience goals of Mass Ready and to the efforts of the Commonwealth to guarantee safe and adequate housing and clean water for all residents. 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and for your continued efforts to champion clean water for our community. 

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[Your Organization, if applicable]

THANK YOU FOR BEING A RIVER ADVOCATE

Questions?

Contact Mass Rivers' Policy Director, Melissa Shapiro (mshapiro@massriversalliance.org)