Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H119 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1796 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 119
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Mindy Domb
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to address the impact of climate change on farms and fisheries.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/15/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1796 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 119
18	18	By Representative Domb of Amherst, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 119) of Mindy
19	19	Domb for legislation to establish a separate fund to be known as the agriculture and fishery
20	20	vulnerability preparedness grant fund to address the impact of climate change on farms and
21	21	fisheries. Agriculture.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act to address the impact of climate change on farms and fisheries.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following
31	31	2section:-
32	32	3 Section 2RRRRR. Agriculture and Fishery Vulnerability Preparedness Grant Fund
33	33	4 (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate
34	34	5fund to be known as the Agriculture and Fishery Vulnerability Preparedness Grant Fund. The
35	35	6fund shall be administered by the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, in consultation
36	36	7with the commissioner of the department of agricultural resources and the commissioner of the
37	37	8department of fish and game. The fund shall be credited with: (i) revenue from appropriations or
38	38	9other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the
39	39	10fund; (ii) interest earned on such revenues; and (iii) funds from public and private sources such
40	40	11as gifts, grants and donations. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further 2 of 3
41	41	12appropriation and any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to
42	42	13the General Fund; provided, however, that such contributions shall not be further restricted by the
43	43	14donor or used by the commonwealth for any other purpose. Any bond proceeds deposited into
44	44	15the fund shall be kept separate from any and all other funds deposited into the fund.
45	45	16 (b) The public purpose of this fund shall be to administer the agriculture and fishery
46	46	17vulnerability preparedness grant program to support farms and fisheries in Massachusetts to
47	47	18engage in the process of (i) planning climate change adaptation and resiliency initiatives, (ii)
48	48	19seeking resources to support implementation, and (iii) implementing priority projects. In
49	49	20furtherance of this public purpose, the secretary, in consultation with the departments, shall
50	50	21administer the fund as grants to farms and fisheries to support controlled climate growing,
51	51	22energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate resilient management practices, nature-based
52	52	23solutions to climate impacts, infrastructure needs to support climate resilience, development and
53	53	24implementation of data collection and monitoring to measure the impact of these investments,
54	54	25and other eligible purposes as determined by the secretary and the commissioners.
55	55	26 (c) Program funds may also be used to establish and provide technical assistance to
56	56	27support farms and fisheries to prioritize and submit applications, plan climate change adaptation
57	57	28and resiliency initiatives, and identify and seek funding sources to support project
58	58	29implementation.
59	59	30 (d) Program funds shall be awarded to applicants from each eligible sector as categorized
60	60	31by farm or fishery proportionate to the amount of funds requested by applicants in each eligible
61	61	32sector. 3 of 3
62	62	33 (e) The secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations for the administration and
63	63	34implementation of subsections (a) and (b). The secretary shall file any policies, rules and
64	64	35regulations with the joint committee on agriculture for review and comment at least 30 days
65	65	36before the effective date of the policies, rules or regulations.
66	66	37 (f) The secretary shall file a quarterly report with the house and senate committees on
67	67	38ways and means, the joint committee on agriculture, and the clerks of the house and the senate
68	68	39on the following: (i) a list of grant applicants and the counties in which they are located, (ii) list
69	69	40of grant recipients and the counties in which they are located, (iii) the amount of funds requested
70	70	41by applicants, (iv) the associated grant amounts, (v) the applicant’s sector as categorized by farm
71	71	42or fishery, (vi) an annual statement detailing the sources and uses of funds, (vii) a forecast of
72	72	43future payments based on current binding obligations, and (viii) a detailed breakdown of the
73	73	44purposes and amounts of administrative costs charged to the fund. The report shall include a
74	74	45description of technical assistance services provided as part of this program.
75	75	46 SECTION 2. Section 1 shall take effect immediately upon the passage of this act.