BOSTON — The Senate plans to vote on a policy-heavy $3.64 billion environmental borrowing bill that looks to pump state money into climate resilience improvements, land conservation efforts, clean water and more.
The bill that emerged last week from the Senate Ways and Means Committee (S.3050) would also ban single-use plastic carryout bags at all retailers and impose a 10-cent fee for recyclable paper bags. It is set to be debated and passed on Wednesday, April 15.
“Massachusetts residents likely use more than 2 billion plastic bags every year, according to one estimate,” Senate President Karen Spilka’s office said in a statement, citing the Sierra Club of Massachusetts. “A plastic bag tossed to the side of a road can pose immediate risks, such as the suffocation or starvation of wildlife, while also fragmenting over time into microplastics that pollute.”
The Senate Ways and Means Committee bill would only allow retailers to give customers reusable bags (ones that are made of machine-washable cloth, fabric, hemp or other non-plastic fibers, and have thread-stitched handles) or recycled paper carryout bags. The bill makes mention of providing no-cost reusable bags to low-income communities and people receiving state benefits. Recycled paper bags would carry a 10-cent fee (with proceeds split evenly between a new state Plastics Environmental Protection Fund and the retailer).
Exemptions are authorized for certain small businesses with a single location and 10 or fewer employees, and for nonprofits and organizations like food pantries that distribute food or clothes for free or at reduced prices.
The bill’s single-use plastics provisions would extend beyond bags and into disposable utensils and other food service products. Retailers would be prohibited from providing things like plastic forks, straws, coffee stirrers, cup sleeves, hinged to-go containers and more unless they are requested by the consumer.
The Senate approved similar single-use plastics restrictions, including a bag ban in 2019 that never emerged for a vote in the House and another one in 2024 that met the same fate. Many cities and towns — 163 as of October 2024, according to the Sierra Club — already regulate single-use plastic shopping bags at the local level.
“We’ve always sort of stayed away from a statewide mandate because we felt that there was a bit of a burden on small businesses and the mom-and-pop stores that populate some of our big cities. We wanted to give each city and town the opportunity to decide for themselves,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said Wednesday. “So we’ll take a look at what they send over and what the standards are for implementing the ban.”
The bond authorizations in the bill serve as a wish list of sorts since the state is limited in how much it can borrow each year. Under the current five-year capital plan, a total of $1.18 billion is allocated for energy and environment borrowing.
On the bonding side of the bill, the Senate is eyeing $500 million for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which provides money for cities and towns to build climate resilience into public works projects. That’s up from the $315 million proposed when Gov. Maura Healey got the bond bill ball rolling last June.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee again seeks to chip away at the issue, this time with $450 million for the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust to protect access to clean water across the state and another $120 million specifically for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation in public and private wells.
“I think this chamber really led the way also in appropriating significant dollars to [the Department of Environmental Protection] and the Clean Water Trust to address this issue. So, mister president, I hope we can continue that proud tradition of addressing PFAS. I’m eager and hungry for us to keep working on this thorny issue. It has many, many broad areas,” Sen. Julian Cyr, the chief sponsor of a long-discussed PFAS response omnibus bill, said while pitching an amendment related to PFAS and agricultural land.
The Senate also slightly upped the governor’s recommended amount of borrowing to fund upgrades at Department of Conservation and Recreation properties, erasing her $764 million in favor of $789 million for DCR. Senators are also looking to be more generous when it comes to money for state- and municipally-owned dams: authorizing $521.6 million compared to Healey’s ask for $401 million.
The legislation also approves borrowing $130 million for the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, including $5 million for the Massachusetts Food Trust Program that ensures access to healthy, affordable food. There’s a $200 million authorization for coastal infrastructure and resilience; $125.5 million to support resource conservation and preservation initiatives like the Healthy Soils Grant Program; $50 million for MassTrails grants, with $10 million set aside for accessibility upgrades to trails; $30 million for tree-planting initiatives across the state; $20 million for capital investments to support the growth and economic competitiveness of Massachusetts’ agricultural, commercial fishing and cranberry-growing sectors; and $15 million for a pilot program to advance the deployment of geothermal energy technology.
It also stretches into housing, with $50 million to capitalize a revolving residential production fund through MassHousing for mixed-income or workforce multi-family housing.
The Senate bill would create a number of new commissions and funds, too: the Quabbin Host Community Trust Fund would support the services, public safety and development of municipalities within the Quabbin Reservoir watershed; there would be a commission on flood risk mitigation and resilience in the Connecticut River Valley; a Resilience Revolving Fund would function as a low-interest loan program for municipalities; and there would be a special legislative commission to study and recommend solutions for wastewater infrastructure improvements in response to nitrogen pollution in southeastern Massachusetts.