Recommendations of the Climate Chief

Agencies have already refocused their CIP process in response to A&F’s and the Climate Office’s emphasis on climate during the 2023 CIP process. For example, EEA is more concertedly identifying whether individual line items advance climate mitigation and/or adaptation goals. This effort allows EEA not only to articulate how much budget goes toward these initiatives, but also to identify ways that non-climate-related EEA programs may better overlay this priority. A&F has worked closely with the Governor’s Office and Secretariat agencies to appropriately prioritize climate and environmental justice considerations in the capital and operating budget development process. The Commonwealth should now formalize a CIP protocol for evaluating proposed capital projects in terms of CECP and climate resilience mandates and goals.

Climate Office and A&F will lead a working group of technical experts to develop a standard, user-friendly “mitigation tool” or set of metrics to evaluate all proposed capital projects in terms of climate mandates. The mitigation tool developed by the working group will be used in assessing and prioritizing proposed capital projects. The working group will consist of EEA, including DOER’s Leading By Example LBE program, EOED, EOHLC, and other relevant agencies as appropriate, and will report on its preliminary design of the tool by January 15, 2024, setting forth
a plan to integrate the tool in the FY2025 CIP process. The mitigation tool will allow A&F to evaluate proposed CIPs in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The standard will be built to correlate with the modeled projections of the necessary rates of emissions reductions in relevant sectors (e.g., buildings, transportation) through 2050.

MassCEC’s Clean Energy Internship Program and its Empower program, which supports community-based organizations serving EJ communities, provide a solid network of initial stakeholders, and there is strong interest among community colleges. The Climate Service Corps will provide longer-duration opportunities for a broad range of young adults by introducing them to career paths, to potential training or educational opportunities, and to prospective employers. The Corps will include pre-apprenticeship opportunities for climate-critical trades.

As well, on September 20, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration launched an analogous American Climate Corps to train young people in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience skills. Climate Office will convene MassCEC, EEA EJ Office, and other stakeholders, in consultation with EOLWD and EOE, to develop preliminary recommendations for the Climate Service Corps by January 15, 2024.

EO 594 establishes goals for transitioning the state-owned and -operated vehicle fleet to zero emissions vehicles, with specific goals for 2025, 2030, 2040, and 2050. Despite these targets, the Commonwealth is facing significant challenges in its efforts to electrify its vehicle fleet.

There are varying reasons for the challenges in electrifying the fleet, including the lack of sufficient charging infrastructure at state-owned facilities and of well-resourced operations and maintenance plans for the charging infrastructure. A reliable network of fleet charging is crucial when transitioning fuel types and limiting employee downtime at public charging stations. To ensure the Commonwealth complies with EO 594 and truly leads by example, Climate Office will convene a working group consisting of the Operational Service Division (OSD), the LBE program, DCAMM, MassDOT, EEA, and the Executive office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to develop preliminary recommendations by February 1, 2024, for the Climate Office outlining a process for electrifying the state-owned vehicle and equipment fleet and the effective deployment of EV charging stations for state fleet vehicles.

To ensure the availability of reliable fleet charging, the working group should offer preliminary recommendations concerning the creation or designation of a single entity or other centralized body with the authority, information, funding, and coordinating function necessary to direct electric vehicle supply equipment installations, coordinate ongoing operation and maintenance, coordinate with utilities, and implement the working group’s plan.

Housing plays a key role in meeting the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction mandates, with buildings contributing 37 percent of the Commonwealth’s GHG emissions in 2018 and 35 percent in 2020. The Commonwealth deploys significant state resources to increase the production of much-needed market-rate and affordable housing. EOHLC and the quasi-public agencies that provide state financial assistance for new housing production should ensure that new housing production is consistent with CECP mandates for building, natural and working lands, and transportation sector emissions reductions. EOHLC should identify additional resources to cover any marginal increased cost of building more fossil-fuel-free housing in harmony with its core mission of promoting housing production and improving access to affordable housing. EOHLC and EOHHS should document the health co-benefits of, for example, heat pump installation and building insulation and seek funding for these measures through state programs that subsidize healthcare, as has been done in other jurisdictions.

Consistent with these recommendations, on October 18, Governor Healey filed the largest housing bond bill in state history which will spur housing production and preservation in a manner consistent with the state’s emission reduction mandates. Specifically, the bill seeks $150 million to decarbonize public housing units, and will prioritize new housing construction projects that conform to the state’s specialized energy code and retrofits that include energy efficiency measures, electrification, and decarbonization.

The Commonwealth should develop, by May 2024, a comprehensive, cross-agency plan to build the clean energy, climate, and resilience workforce that includes measurable targets and goals. The plan should be developed by MassCEC and the Workforce Skills Cabinet, with input from EEA, MassDOT, EOHHS, EOVS, and EOPSS. The plan should be reviewed and approved by Climate Office and the Director of Federal Funding and Infrastructure.

A comprehensive, cross-agency plan should:
• Identify clear, actionable goals, metrics, responsibilities, and timelines for implementation, including quarterly progress reports to the Governor.
• Consider the feasibility of using a project management tool to ensure communication, clarity of goals and objectives, direct involvement of agency leadership, early intervention to course correct as necessary, and accountability.
• Reflect engagement with relevant stakeholders, including, in part, through the Climate Office via its Climate Pollution Reduction Grant convening, and through MassCEC in collaboration with the Workforce Skills Cabinet.
• Establish a centralized hub to coordinate and expand clean energy and climate workforce pathways, building on MassCEC’s existing program.
• Integrate efforts by EOVS and DOC to expand workforce development opportunities for veterans and persons transitioning from incarceration.

EOED is currently leading a statewide economic development planning process that is in part focused on establishing and growing Massachusetts climate tech companies. The planning process has engaged leading companies and investors in the climate tech sector, and EOED is coordinating and collaborating closely with the Climate Chief, the Secretary of EEA, and the leadership of MassCEC to develop specific policy recommendations to foster climate tech innovation in Massachusetts.

The recommendations in the economic development plan should build upon and propose strategic expansion of the existing programs and investments that foster climate tech innovation in Massachusetts. MassCEC, in consultation with EOED, should develop a comprehensive strategy and investment plan that is well coordinated with academic institutions, private sector, municipalities, and existing climate tech incubators. That plan should have a clear vision, goals, metrics, and timelines. Additional capital authorizations required to fund this plan should be included in any bill filed to implement the statewide economic development plan. MassCEC and EOED should complete this work by spring of 2024, and include a strategy to implement the Governor’s vision for a Commonwealth Climate Corridor.

Massachusetts municipal grant-making and incentives should be consistent with the CECP emissions reduction, carbon sequestration, and resilience mandates. Grant-making and other incentives should be used as a tool to drive and amplify the decarbonization and resilience efforts underway. Such use of grant-making will offer more comprehensive assistance to municipalities to transition to clean energy, build resilience, and secure federal climate funding. Among the many ways in which Massachusetts incentivizes municipalities are the following:

• DOER’s Green Communities Division has awarded over $160 million in grants to Massachusetts municipalities since 2010, funding energy efficiency and electrification projects at municipal facilities and fleets. The Division intends to launch a higher tier of Green Communities, called “Climate Leaders” that will focus specifically on decarbonization projects and include community engagements.
• EEA’s MVP Program has provided $100M in grant funding to municipalities for resilience planning and implementation since the program was launched in 2017. Three hundred forty-nine municipalities are engaged in the program, and MVP 2.0 was launched in spring 2023 to support communities in centering environmental justice and community engagement and move from planning toward action.
• CZM’s Coastal Resilience grant program provides financial and technical assistance to Massachusetts coastal communities and nonprofits to advance a broad range of coastal resilience and climate adaptation efforts, including vulnerability assessments, public outreach, proactive planning, infrastructure retrofits, and shoreline restoration techniques.
Since the grant program launched in 2014, over $37 million in grant funding has supported over two hundred resilience projects to reduce the impacts of flooding, erosion, and sea level rise.
• Through the Massachusetts Housing Choice Initiative and the new multifamily zoning requirements for MBTA Communities, the Commonwealth is working with local governments to promote housing near transit to maximize the benefits of public transit,
including climate benefits.
• DPH provides Center for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Emergency Preparedness funds to local boards of health to, among other goals, increase capacity to build community resilience, use data appropriately for emergency and climate change planning, and respond to health impacts.

The Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment, SHMCAP, and other analyses identify a number of vital resilience needs and recommend actions. To ensure these measures are funded and implemented on an expedited and cost-effective basis, however, greater coordination and accountability is vital. The Commonwealth should prioritize resilience needs, develop metrics for measuring progress toward meeting those needs, estimate the total cost of resilience measures, and identify funding to support agencies, municipalities, regions, Tribes, and NGOs in planning and implementing actions to prepare for: extreme heat events; storms, flooding, and other climate driven weather extremes; sea level rise; wildfires; migration to the Northeast from other regions in the U.S. and other countries; food and water security; and, public health, including mental health, impacts.

A&F should, in conjunction with other agencies and Climate Office, provide recommendations for resilience funding strategies. Preliminary recommendations should be provided by December 2024.

The Commonwealth currently lacks a comprehensive plan for financing the investment needed to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reductions required by the CECP, including its 2050 Net Zero mandate. By December 2024, A&F and Climate Office, with input from MassDOT/MBTA, EEA, EOHLC, MassHousing, and MassCEC, should conduct an economic analysis of the investment needed to achieve our CECP mandates, including Net Zero by 2050, and develop a funding strategy. The Climate Office, in consultation with EEA, is presently developing a Priority Climate Action Plan as a deliverable under EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) that could directly support this effort.

The analysis developed by A&F and Climate Office should estimate costs of priority measures to ensure they can be resourced with appropriate lead time. Policy development should be conducted independently and precede cost analyses, based on the Commonwealth’s decarbonization needs.

As part of the development of a funding strategy, EEA and other agencies as applicable should analyze feasible policies that both reduce emissions and generate additional revenue streams to invest in further decarbonization. These policy options should be evaluated on a continuing basis by agency leadership in collaboration with the Climate Office and A&F and all feasible options should be pursued.

Mass Save goals are not aligned with state building decarbonization goals, and the program administrators are not directly subject to those goals. Mass Save’s planning and operations horizon is short term and structured primarily to support cost savings from energy efficiency and not to achieve building decarbonization/electrification; as a result, Mass Save continues to support fossil-fuel heating systems and typically does not support deep enough retrofits or related technologies). As well, there are inefficiencies in the collaborative decision making, staffing, and leadership structure.

As part of its effort to consider options for the future of Mass Save and stand up a Building Decarbonization Clearinghouse, EEA is procuring a consultant with knowledge of regional and national energy efficiency and decarbonization program design to assist in development of a set of
short, medium, and long-term program design recommendations for decarbonizing buildings. The Decarbonization Clearinghouse should be structured to ensure that funding, consumer information, and technical assistance are coordinated to lower barriers that customers face in making energy improvements.

As the Commonwealth accelerates building electrification, DPU should prioritize any rate reform necessary to ensure that electric bills will be affordable for all households, particularly those with low and moderate incomes.

DEP, in coordination with EEA, DOER’s Leading by Example team, EOHHS, DCAMM, and other agencies as necessary, should lead an effort to coordinate with businesses and institutions to implement a plan in 2024 to ensure all hospitals, colleges, universities, schools, supermarkets, prisons, Commonwealth owned properties, and others generating more than half a ton of commercial organic waste per week divert that waste from disposal and ensure its availability for beneficial use in composting, biogas generation, and reuse as appropriate.

In October 2014, MassDEP banned the disposal of commercial organic wastes by businesses and institutions that generate one ton or more of these materials per week. Effective November 1, 2022, the threshold was reduced to a half-ton or more weekly. As a result, businesses and institutions generating more than a half ton of commercial organic waste per week are banned from disposing of it. The ban is an important tool for reducing emissions of methane. Diverting food wastes from disposal to composting, conversion, recycling or reuse cuts waste management costs and reduces the volume of landfill waste, an important benefit as availability of landfills in our region has become more constrained.

Recognizing the economic risks posed by climate change to supply-chains, infrastructure, investments, and businesses, the federal government has proposed a procurement rule that would require major federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk. This proposed rule leverages widely-adopted third party standards and systems that many federal contractors already use when disclosing their emissions and setting emissions reduction targets, including the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI).

Public procurement informed by climate goals will drive further emissions reductions and create markets for lower-carbon and fossil-fuel-free goods and services. Requiring disclosure should be the initial step with the goal, by 2026, of considering such information as a material factor in procurement decisions.

EEA and DOER are working with state and regional partners to develop a multi-state invitation for innovative design concepts for issuance later this year for additional transmission infrastructure to position our region to compete in a subsequent round of U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) funding. In addition, efforts are underway to establish a new regional, policy-focused transmission planning process as soon as next year that would allow the New England states to request that the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England issue a transmission procurement to integrate clean energy. DOER will further manage a solicitation for up to 3.6 GW of offshore wind generation and related transmission and is charged with selecting winning proposals. DOER is additionally coordinating its transmission agenda with other states including through a shared transmission buildout in the waters off the New England coast.

EEA is also exploring with its state, regional and federal partners how to increase the amount of renewables/clean energy that can be imported into and exported out of New England by expanding interconnections with other regions and developing infrastructure to integrate offshore wind.

A large-scale, multi-media public education campaign is urgently needed to help the public understand the nature of the climate emergency and the likely impacts to our region, as well as the climate and other co-benefits of the clean energy transition. Such a campaign should also clearly communicate incentives available to support consumers in making clean energy investments and
underscore the public health and cost savings benefits. EEA has budgeted funds to create a “Climate Campaign” in Fiscal Years (FY) 2023-2024. EEA, HHS, MassDOT/MBTA, MassHousing, EOHLC, and MassCEC should together engage a skilled marketing consultant to develop and launch the campaign, expanding on initial concepts developed by EEA.

MassDOT has released a request for qualification (RFQ) to fully operationalize climate work into the structure of MassDOT; the RFQ will create a MassDOT wide PMO to monitor MassDOT’s progress on MassDOT’s climate responsibilities. The primary function of this PMO is to support MassDOT’s Divisional Staff.

Climate Office strongly recommends that the MBTA develop a corresponding Climate Program Management Office for the purpose of ensuring that MBTA’s projects and capital investments reflect the mandates of the CECP and advance climate resilience through integrating climate change data in project identification and design. EEA, MassDOT, and other relevant agencies will develop guidance for advancing climate resilience. The CECP mandates applicable to the MBTA include those associated with:

• Developing a 2050 statewide long-term transportation plan to increase the use of public transportation, reducing reliance on personal vehicles, investing in multimodal transportation infrastructure, and improving the safety and reliability of our transportation system.
• The MBTA achieving an exclusively zero-emission passenger bus fleet not later than December 31, 2040, including purchasing and leasing exclusively zero emission buses not later than December 31, 2030.
• The MBTA exploring the electrification of the commuter rail as described in the MBTA Rail Vision report.