Financial Assistance for Nitrogen Mitigation Passes Massachusetts House
Residents around Buzzards Bay are poised to receive financial assistance for nitrogen runoff mitigation from the state, thanks to the efforts of State Representative Paul Schmid and the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
Mitigating nitrogen runoff into Buzzards Bay can be a costly investment for many homeowners. But help is in the offing. Residents around Buzzards Bay are poised to receive financial assistance for nitrogen runoff mitigation from the state, thanks to the efforts of State Representative Paul Schmid and the Buzzards Bay Coalition.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives Fiscal Year 23 (FY23) Budget, which passed in May, included important language to assist the homeowners financial commitment to mitigate nitrogen run off from septic systems. It enables residential owners to obtain assistance from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for repair, replacement, or upgrade of septic systems that do not confirm to nitrogen waste standards.
“The only way we protect our coastal waters is through improved wastewater treatment and we need to make those improvements as affordable as possible. The language passed in the House Budget makes nitrogen reducing septic systems significantly more affordable for homeowners by providing access to low interest loans.” Korrin Petersen, Vice President, Clean Water Advocacy, Buzzards Bay Coalition
The House and Senate will reconcile the differences between the two budgets in the “conference committee”. The conference committee is a committee made up of three members of the senate and three members of the house. In order for the bill to make it to the next step it needs to be included in the conference committee report which goes to both the Senate and House for approval. After that it goes to the governor. The Governor could line item veto the bill in the budget and the legislature would have to override the veto. At that point it becomes law.
Where homes still employ septic systems, towns around coastal Massachusetts face dangerous levels of nitrogen pollution throughout their waterways. This heavy concentration of nitrogen has environmental and public health repercussions. The single greatest barrier in combatting this pollution is the cost of wastewater infrastructure. This bill provides an affordable onsite solution which utilizes existing federal dollars already flowing to the state making this bill cost neutral to the Commonwealth.
“We've been working on this bill for a number of years with the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Westport River Watershed Alliance. We know how important filtering nitrogen out of septic systems is. We hope this will provide another tool in the community's toolkit to protect the health of Buzzards Bay." State Representative Paul Schmid
