On November 20, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy signed a $3.9 billon economic development bill, known as the Mass Leads Act (H 5100), and also signed the Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law (S 2967). These laws are aimed at stimulating economic growth, promoting real estate development, advancing clean energy infrastructure, and accelerating the permitting process for energy projects in Massachusetts.
The Mass Leads Act includes several provisions designed to improve the permitting process such as the Permit Extension Act, the creation of a State Permitting Regulatory Office, and protections for municipal zoning permits. Alongside the Mass Leads Act, the Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law introduces comprehensive reform to fast-track Massachusetts’ transition to clean energy. A key component of the Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law is streamlining the permitting process by having the Energy Facilities Siting Board grant permits for large energy projects while municipalities grant permits for smaller ones. This law also includes initiatives to promote energy storage, renewable energy, and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Key Provisions of The Mass Leads Act
The Mass Leads Act has key provisions to advance economic growth, make the permitting process more efficient, and drive investment in essential industries such as data centers, life sciences, and clean energy.
Included in the Mass Leads Act is the Permit Extension Act, which extends any permit, certificate, order (however, excluding enforcement orders), and license, determination, variance, waiver, building permit, or other such approval granted by a municipal, regional, or state governmental entity, for the use or development of real property, as well as any environmental approval in effect or in existence between January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2025, for a two-year period after the lawful term of the approval. The extension, however, does not apply to permits issued by federal agencies or subject to federal law. Nor does it apply to certain specified approvals by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Energy Resources, the Department of Transportation or the MBTA.
Additionally, the Mass Leads Act includes an Act to Safeguard Municipal Permitting, which protects an owner or developer from needing to comply with subsequent zoning changes if the use or construction commences under a special permit or site plan approval within three (3) years after issuance of the special permit or site plan approval. Under prior law, there was only a one (1) year protection from subsequent zoning changes for special permits, and no protection for site plan approvals.
The Mass Leads Act also creates a State Permit Regulatory Office under the Executive Office of Economic Development. The director of the Permit Regulatory Office will, among other things, work with other state agencies to expedite the process of obtaining state licenses, permits, and other approvals, establish a State Permit Ombudsman to assist new and expanding businesses, and review or deny municipal priority development site proposals made pursuant to M.G.L. c. 43D. The Act also establishes a separate Regulatory Ombudsman within the Permit Regulatory Office who will help businesses navigate compliance with state regulations and train state agencies on how to identify and lessen the impacts of regulation on small businesses.
Key Provisions of the Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law
The Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law introduces significant updates designed to streamline permitting processes and establish new statewide policies for clean energy projects.
This law focuses on streamlining the permitting review process for clean energy projects, including energy storage projects, by consolidating all state, local, and regional, permits into a single master permit. Under this new system, the State Energy Facilities Siting Board will review all large clean energy projects (more than 25 megawatts of power or 100 megawatts of storage) with a decision required within 15 months from submission of an application. Municipalities will continue to oversee smaller projects, with permits to be issued or rejected within 12 months. If these deadlines are not met the application will be automatically approved, but the legislature may reassess the process if too many applications receive automatic approval. Besides streamlining the process, the law creates a new division of Clean Energy Siting and Permitting within the Department of Energy Resources. The new division is tasked with developing requirements for siting and permitting of small energy projects by local governments. These requirements will standardize the review and approval processes used by municipalities across the Commonwealth.
This law lays the groundwork for important statewide policies focused on clean energy procurement and renewable energy sources. It broadens the scope of “clean energy” technologies to include nuclear fission and carbon reducing technologies, while coordinating with neighboring New England states to secure long term contracts with nuclear plants. The new law mandates a significant increase of energy storage capacity targeting 5,000 megawatt hours by 2030 to support renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The law also simplifies and removes a number of barriers to the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including providing for broader use of pole-mounted electric vehicle chargers, removal of barriers to use of EV charging infrastructure that may otherwise be imposed by historic district commissions or neighborhood or homeowner associations.
The law also codifies a definition of “public service corporations” as it relates to zoning exemptions that may be granted by the Department of Public Utilities or the Energy Facilities Siting Board. Under the legislation, a “public service corporation” refers to any corporation or entity qualified to do business in the Commonwealth that owns, operates, or plans to operate assets or facilities providing essential services such as gas, telecommunication, cable, water, or other similar services to the public. Under prior law, “public service corporations” were not defined by statute, and an unnecessary amount of documentation and analysis needed to be provided in administrative proceedings to establish what, in most cases, was an obvious determination. Lastly, the new climate legislation temporarily expands the jurisdiction of the Land Court’s specialized permit session to include renewable energy and energy storage projects. Given the Court’s expertise with land use permitting, this change should expedite the permitting process and ensure more efficient resolution for these projects in advance of the broader changes to the permitting processes.
The approval of the Mass Leads Act and the Climate and Clean Energy Siting Law represents a pivotal step in boosting the Massachusetts economy, supporting continued real estate development, and advancing its climate and clean energy goals.
