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MassDEP outlines FY25 priorities, emphasizing hiring, IT upgrades and emergency contracting
Summary
MassDEP staff told its advisory group that fiscal 2025 priorities include hiring and retention, an IT system redesign, completing a seven-year emergency response contracting process and continued emphasis on environmental justice and community outreach.
Millie, a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection representative, told the agency’s senior advisory group that the department’s north-star for fiscal 2025 is hiring, retention and cultivating a workplace that supports environmental‑justice and community engagement. "Extremely busy fall ahead of us," Millie said, summarizing the department’s near-term agenda.
The department plans to continue implementing an IT system redesign launched after 2023 testing with the goal of improved security and data storage; Millie said the new system was launched in 2024 and remains in testing. She said the full presentation and supporting links would be posted publicly. "We will make sure that we send, we post it on our web page," she said.
Ken Mara, who summarized the guidance-document workload, said the agency is prioritizing an AUL guidance document with a target to finalize it by the end of the calendar year. He described a multi-document risk-assessment guidance update that includes ecological risk chapters and several appendices now in internal review.
Millie said MassDEP is finishing a major procurement that will select contractors for emergency response for the next seven years to better prepare the Commonwealth for incidents. "We are just closing out on a huge contract that will lead, our next 7 years of contractors across the Commonwealth to to get in front of emergencies," she said.
Grant programs and outreach also featured in the briefing. Millie said the fourth round of technical assistance grants closed Sept. 6 and applicants are under evaluation for awards of up to $20,000. She highlighted cross-program partnership work that brings permitting, wetlands, stormwater and hazardous-waste considerations together to accelerate brownfields redevelopment.
The meeting concluded with scheduling and engagement details: the department will hold office hours on the third Thursday of October and a senior scientific advisory board meeting on Nov. 21. Millie encouraged continued dialogue with stakeholders and said staff will follow up on procedural questions raised in the chat.
Next steps: MassDEP will post the presentation and Q&A materials online, announce TA-grant awardees when selections are complete, and finalize the AUL guidance by year-end.
