Comerford backs environmental bond, urges careful siting rules for batteries and solar
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Summary
Sen. Comerford said the environmental (Mass Ready) bond is moving forward and emphasized built-environment-first siting, community engagement and technical assistance for battery energy storage systems and solar projects; he also noted continued action on PFAS and the bottle bill.
Sen. Joe Comerford told constituents the environmental bond (referred to as the 'Mass Ready Act') and related energy-siting rules are central priorities for the coming legislative session and for district infrastructure.
Comerford said the environmental bond had moved out of the Environment & Natural Resources Committee and would proceed through bonding and then the senate. "This will be a game changer for our public higher education infrastructure," he said when describing related higher-education bond work and emphasized environmental and infrastructure investments for the region.
On siting of renewable energy and battery storage, Comerford said the legislature negotiated amendments and is now working on regulations intended to protect natural and working lands while enabling green energy. He described built-environment-first guidance, an ongoing commission to map pathways for siting, and promised funding for technical and legal assistance so small communities could "engage by right." He acknowledged constituent concern about batteries and said state agencies are developing rules and assistance to enable informed local engagement.
Comerford also described other environment-related priorities: a senate bottle-bill effort previously passed in the senate but not enacted, and PFAS-related legislation to 'turn off the tap' on new PFAS contamination sources, with targeted farm-related provisions.
