Mass Ready Act would direct $3 billion to natural and working lands, speed permitting for restoration

Undersecretary Stephanie Cooper of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) said the governor’s Mass Ready Act would authorize about $3,000,000,000 in environmental bonds to “strengthen our environment” and to support projects ranging from inland and coastal flood mitigation to conservation and tree planting. Cooper listed line items the bill would fund: $600,000,000 for inland and coastal flooding, $340,000,000 for open space and land protection, $30,000,000 for tree planting, $40,000,000 for wetlands restoration, $20,000,000 for biodiversity, $93.5 million for dams and seawalls and $200,000,000 for coastal resilience and implementation of the Resilient Coasts plan.

The nut graf: The bond bill couples capital funding for conservation and restoration with policy changes intended to accelerate projects. EEA told the committee it added a permitting reform that creates a Chapter 91 general license for nature‑based restoration projects so proponents can use a checklist and qualified professional certification to obtain presumptive approval in 60 days, shortening current licensing timelines that can take many months.

EEA officials said the Mass Ready Act links those investments to other statutory changes to “future‑proof” projects — for example, adding climate risk expertise to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards. Cooper described the general license mechanism this way: a project that meets a DEP checklist and is certified by a qualified professional would be “presumptively approved in 60 days,” and DEP would have that same period to raise questions or request information.

Advocates who testified later in the hearing argued the general license would help but urged entirely removing the Chapter 91 license requirement for ecological restoration in tide‑line and salt‑marsh projects. Stephen Long, director of policy and partnerships at The Nature Conservancy, said Chapter 91 licensing “in particular” was adding cost and delay for coastal restoration projects and that his organization supports legislation removing the license requirement for ecological restoration projects altogether.

EEA officials said the general license is intended to strike a balance between statutory Chapter 91 duties (which include navigation and other public‑trust protections) and the urgent need to accelerate restoration work. They did not, during the hearing, provide text of the proposed general license; committee members asked follow‑up questions about the tradeoffs between a general license and full removal of the license requirement.

EEA described how the bond bill ties to several on‑going programs: a Resilient Lands initiative to increase the pace of conservation with a 30% by 2030 / 40% by 2050 conservation goal, healthy soils challenge grants, forest climate solutions and new grant programs for tree canopy expansion and riparian restoration. Cooper said the administration will seek to speed permitting so projects such as dam removals and salt‑marsh restoration can move faster.

Ending: The administration asked the committee for the opportunity to work with legislators as permitting language is finalized. Advocates and some legislators urged either deleting the Chapter 91 license for ecological restoration or making the general license as permissive as possible while retaining necessary public‑trust safeguards.