Massachusetts: Healey-Driscoll Administration Awards $31.5 Million in Climate Resiliency Funding to Communities

Trending...
Stockbridge — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $31.5 million in grants for climate resilience implementation and planning throughout Massachusetts. For the first time in the history of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program, two Tribes are receiving funding since eligibility was expanded by the Legislature in 2022.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper made the announcement in Stockbridge, the original homeland of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. In the 1800s, the Tribe was pressured to leave their home, forcing them to eventually relocate to Wisconsin. The Tribe was awarded $2.26 million MVP Action Grant to reclaim 351 acres of their indigenous homelands and establish tribally driven conservation and forest management strategies.

"As we work to address the climate crisis, we have an opportunity to right historical wrongs," said Governor Maura Healey. "This investment to the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans demonstrates our administration's commitment to building strong relationships with Indigenous communities and supporting their efforts in mitigating the impacts of climate change. We are proud to be a part of this significant first step of welcoming the Tribe back to their homeland."

"The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans' stewardship of lands is profoundly interwoven into their culture and reclaiming it will not only restore their relationship with the natural environment but also ensure ancestral-significant areas are preserved," said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. "The MVP program is one of our critical tools to partner with communities and build resiliency. We're grateful to this year's recipients for their hard work to mitigate the impacts of climate change."

"Our mission is to continue to foster and create relationships centered around integrated capital solutions and capacity building with our Tribal Nation, alongside partners, changemakers, community developers and partners like the state of Massachusetts," said Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans President Shannon Holsey. "We are creating a paradigm shift in how society invests in tribal nations by grounding an investment strategy in Indigenous systems thinking, recognizing the interconnectedness of all things and our responsibilities to our homelands and each other. Our approach ensures a resilient and regenerative framework from start to finish, built around the origins of our homeland."

"Equity and environmental justice are fundamental in our approach to tackling climate change. This project is just one example of how our administration is taking historic action in undoing the systems that excluded the Indigenous, Black, and brown communities and ensuring they are centered in our work," said EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "We look forward to continuing our partnerships with Tribes to develop proactive strategies protecting and restoring Massachusetts' natural resources."

The MVP grant program provides communities with funding and technical assistance to support the climate resilience planning process and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change. In April, Governor Healey launched MVP Planning 2.0, which serves as the next phase of our flagship program. It supports communities in updating their climate change resiliency plans in a way that centers environmental justice and other priority populations most impacted by climate change and putting these plans into action. The awards announced today include $3 million in funding for MVP 2.0 to 28 individual municipalities, one regional group, and one Tribe. The following communities will receive funding to complete MVP 2.0 in 2023-2025:

Scroll left

Scroll right


Grantee



Total Award



Abington



$95,000



Acton



$95,000



Arlington



$95,000



Ashland



$95,000



Belchertown



$95,000



Charlton



$95,000



Chelmsford



$95,000



Chelsea



$95,000



Chesterfield



$95,000



Chicopee



$95,000



Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission on behalf of the Towns of Uxbridge, Sutton, Douglas, and Northbridge



$290,000



Cohasset



$95,000



Deerfield



$95,000



Easton



$95,000



Fairhaven



$95,000



Goshen



$95,000



Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band



$95,000



Leicester



$95,000



Lincoln



$95,000



Maynard



$95,000



Milford



$95,000



Montague



$95,000



Northampton



$95,000



Peabody



$95,000



Reading



$95,000



Somerville



$95,000



South Hadley



$95,000



Sudbury



$95,000



Westport



$95,000



Windsor



$95,000



Total (30)



Total: $3,045,000


Today's awards also include $28.5 million in MVP Action Grant funding for 79 local implementation projects. These 79 projects are led by 56 different individual municipalities, 16 regional groups, two water districts, and one Tribe. MVP Action Grant projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, nature-based solutions to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat and flooding, and climate resilience-focused regulatory updates.

Scroll left

Scroll right


Grantee



Project Title



Total Award



Amherst



Fort River Watershed Improvements for Flood & Water Quality Resiliency



$          169,250



Andover



Climate Ready Shawsheen - Preparing for Flood Resilience



$          81,900



Attleboro



Green Stormwater Infrastructure Feasibility Study



$          101,250



Avon



Urban Park for People: Resilient D.W. Field Park



$          1,455,350



Barnstable



Hyannis Harbor Master Plan



$          199,000

More on Boston Chron


Bolton



Future Resilient Field at Derby



$          22,300



Boston (& Revere)



Regional Climate Resilience and Recreation in Boston, Revere, and Belle Isle Marsh



$          330,500



Briggsville Water District (& Town of Clarksburg)



Briggsville Water District Land Acquisition and Tank Engineering for Flood and Drought Resilience



$          48,150



Brookline



Brookline Town-Wide Drainage Model, System Evaluation & Vulnerability Assessment



$          145,226



Buckland



Design of Clesson Brook Watershed Resiliency Projects



$          160,000



Burlington (& Upper Mystic Communities)



Retrofits to Facilities that Host or Serve Priority Populations



$          90,600



Carlisle



Climate Resilience Land Use Best Practices in Carlisle



$          93,740



Chelsea



Heat Mitigation at Chelsea's Elementary Schools



$          315,690



Chelsea



Advancing the Vision for a Resilient & Community Focused Eastern Avenue



$          339,000



Chesterfield



Chesterfield MVP Planning



$          76,000



Clarksburg



Four Corners Floodplain Restoration and Flood Resiliency Project



$          215,143



Conway



Conway Center Flood Mitigation Project



$          279,000



Dartmouth



Nature-Based Solutions Retrofit of Critical Infrastructure within Coastal Flood-Prone Areas



$          84,375



Dedham



Short and Long-Term Flood Resilience Strategies for Dedham's Manor Neighborhood



$          93,750



Dedham (& Boston, Canton, Foxborough, Milton, Norwood, Sharon, Stoughton, Westwood)



Neponset River Watershed Regional Climate Resilience Collaborative and Flood Model Phase 2



$          608,134



Deerfield



Deerfield Green Infrastructure



$          237,823



Devens (& Ayer)



Taking Root:  Expanding the Ayer-Devens Pocket Forest Project



$          109,004



Easthampton



Emerald Place Resiliency Improvements



$          304,800



Egremont (& Great Barrington)



Bringing Climate Action Home to Egremont



$          81,500



Everett



The Resilient and Accessible Habitat at Rivergreen on the Malden River Project



$          97,795



Everett (& Melrose, Chelsea)



Creating Oases in our Hottest Neighborhoods: Increasing Urban Forest Health through Green-Grey Solutions in the Mystic Watershed



$          390,725



Fall River (& Swansea, Somerset, Dighton, Freetown, Westport, Dartmouth)



Regional Water Supply Firm Yield Analysis and Systems Assessment Under Climate Change



$          111,170



Fitchburg



Blue/Green Downtown Fitchburg - Climate Adaptation Action Plan



$          365,000



Fitchburg



Generating & Measuring Resiliency in Downtown Fitchburg with Nature-Based Solutions



$          293,800



Fitchburg (& Leominster, Groton, Pepperell, Ashburnham)



Nashua River Watershed Natural Solutions Action Project



$          403,985



Framingham



Walnut Street Neighborhood Flood Mitigation - Construction



$          1,987,968



Framingham (& Ashland, Sherborn)



Protection of a Climate Resilient Tri-City Open Space Cluster in MetroWest



$          215,000



Gloucester



City of Gloucester Low-Lying Roads Project



$          58,506



Great Barrington



Lake Mansfield Improvements Phase 2



$          709,720



Groveland



Town of Groveland Continuation of Johnson Creek Watershed Flood Resiliency Project



$          143,666



Hadley



Town of Hadley Watershed-Wide Flood Resilience Improvements



$          157,641



Hampden



Town of Hampden Main Street Bridge Replacement and Green Solutions Project



$          247,740



Harvard



Harvard Littleton County Road Land Protection



$          401,250



Harvard



Harvard Climate Implementation Plan - Phase One: Protective Bylaws and Community Outreach



$          47,390



Harwich (& Brewster)



Harwich Route 124 Culvert Restoration



$          89,913



Holyoke



Green Infrastructure Design and Land Protection in the Day Brook Watershed



$          192,900



Holyoke



Recipes for a Resilient Holyoke: A Community Cookbook



$          141,680



Hull



Hampton Circle Area Adaptation Roadmap Phase 2



$          200,000



Ipswich



Ipswich Town Wharf Pump Station Relocation and Coastal Resiliency Improvement Project



$          235,000



Ipswich (& Essex)



Upper Castle Neck Salt Marsh Restoration



$          104,848



Leyden (& Bernardston)



The Identification, Assessment, and Mitigation of Multi-Town Wildfire Hazards



$          179,200



Longmeadow



Cooley Brook Watershed Improvements Phase 2: Conceptual & Permitting Design



$          424,375



Ludlow



Resilient Stormwater and Urban Heat Island Assessment

More on Boston Chron


$          135,000



Lynn



G.E.A.A. Field - Flooding Now, Floodable in the Future



$          190,000



Malden



Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience



$          2,998,049



Martha's Vineyard Commission (& Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury)



Fostering Ecosystem Resilience through Mapping, Prioritization, and Community Engagement



$          163,540



Mashpee



Town of Mashpee, Increasing Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond - Town Landing Stormwater Design and Permitting



$          228,000



Medford



Medford Urban Forest Vulnerability Assessment



$          106,500



Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (& Metro Mayors Coalition Communities)



Metro Mayors Cool Roof Project



$          88,500



Monson



Bunyan Road Relocation and Floodplain Restoration



$          291,500



Natick



Climate Resilient Park Network Along the Charles River in South Natick



$          290,000



New Bedford



Kempton Street Green Infrastructure



$          350,750



Newburyport



Climate Resilient Newburyport: Community Collaboration & Capacity Building Project



$          191,377



Northbridge



Flood Resilience and Water Quality Protection Through Better Causeway and Green Infrastructure Design



$          402,627



Norwood



Hennessey Field Stormwater Detention Basin Concept Design



$          432,000



Oak Bluffs



Oak Bluffs Design of the Coastal Resilience Improvements for the Dukes County Ave Pump Station



$          146,658



Pittsfield



Francis Avenue Parklet, Stormwater Designs, and Routing Study to West Street



$          322,435



Plymouth



Bartlett Road Dam Removal, Culvert Resiliency, and Stormwater Improvements



$          1,975,959



Revere



Diamond Creek Catchment Climate Resilience Improvements - Design and Permitting



$          386,911



Revere (& Saugus, Lynn, Malden, Everett)



SPRARR-Regional Prioritization and Design Project



$          154,717



Rockport



Rockport Coastal Resilience Planning Project



$          242,067



Sharon



Climate Resiliency Watershed Plan: Lake Massapoag 2025-2050



$          75,000



Southwick



Kline Road/Shurtleff Brook Culvert Replacement Project



$          526,800



Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans



Fenn Farm- Monument Mountain Acquisition Project



$          2,257,990



Water Supply District of Acton (& Town of Acton)



549 Main Street Water Supply & Open Space Preservation Acquisition



$          1,501,610



West Boylston



Resilient Streams of the Wachusett Reservoir



$          105,000



West Newbury



Evaluating Vulnerabilities and Options to Promote Resiliency: River Road and Environs



$          150,000



West Springfield



Establishment of a Tree Nursery and Development of Tree Planting Program



$          59,000



Westborough



Aquifer Recharge for Water Resiliency



$          271,950



Wilbraham



Wilbraham Culvert Assessment



$          60,000



Williamsburg



Williamsburg Mill River Watershed Planning



$          682,085



Winthrop (& Revere, Boston)



Belle Isle Marsh as a Nature Based Solution to Coastal Flooding: Regional Collaboration and Morton Street Neighborhood Design and Permitting



$          291,076



Woburn



Hurld Park - Heat Resilient Park CDs



$          180,500



Worcester



Resilient Community Place-Making and Miyawaki Forests



$          409,461



Total (79)





$          28,507,819


Filed Under: Government, State

Show All News | Report Violation

0 Comments

Latest on Boston Chron