Barnstable County delegates adopt resolution opposing DEP changes to Clean Water SRF intended-use plan

The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates voted unanimously Feb. 26 to adopt Resolution 2025-05 opposing changes in the draft 2025 Clean Water State Revolving Fund intended-use plan that, delegates said, would impede large-scale wastewater projects on Cape Cod.

The resolution asks the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to remove two changes from the IUP—a per-project cap and a requirement that towns reapply each year—and to work with regional leaders on a financial plan that preserves access to low-cost financing for Cape projects. "These two changes are going to make it very, very difficult for us to get wastewater projects through town meeting," said Mikaela Wyman Colombo, delegate from Mashpee and sponsor of the resolution.

Why it matters: Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans have been a primary financing vehicle for multiyear wastewater projects, and being on the SRF list has also been tied to additional Cape-specific forgiveness through the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund. Delegates and local advocates said the DEP changes—introduced without comprehensive Cape Cod stakeholder input—could halt momentum on projects already planned or under way.

At the meeting, Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, thanked the assembly for earlier action and told delegates that two specific IUP changes would chill towns' ability to advance wastewater work. "The changes proposed to limit the ability of towns to single year financing and for projects that have multi years associated with them, the towns would have to reapply," Gottlieb said, adding that the changes combined with borrower limits could "really put a chill in the ability of towns to move forward with wastewater on The Cape." He also described a proposal the Association submitted to the governor—part of a potential environmental bond bill—to authorize additional capital to augment SRF capitalization.

The sponsor, Mikaela Wyman Colombo, told the assembly the purpose of the resolution and letter is to ask DEP to remove the draft changes and to engage with local leaders to craft an alternative approach. "A primary driver in moving forward with large scale wastewater projects is 0% financing through the Clean Water State Revolving Plan," she said. "Each project now is capped at $50,000,000 and their carryover isn't guaranteed. So towns have to reapply each year, and these two changes are going to make it very, very difficult for us to get wastewater projects through town meeting."

The Department of Environmental Protection scheduled a public hearing on the draft IUP for Monday, March 3; delegates said they would forward hearing details to assembly members and that Delegate Wyman Colombo planned to attend.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 2025-05 opposing the draft 2025 Clean Water SRF IUP—moved by Mikaela Wyman Colombo; second (not specified in record); roll-call vote recorded as 14 yes, 0 no, 1 absent (Delegate Frizzell absent); outcome: approved.

Delegates approved the resolution after brief discussion and a roll-call vote. The assembly’s letter to DEP was also approved by the Board of Regional Commissioners and will be submitted before the agency hearing.

The resolution and accompanying letter are intended as a regional advocacy step; delegates said further work in the state legislature and with the governor’s office would be necessary if DEP does not revise the proposed IUP changes.