An Act Relative to the Protection of Wetlands and Water Resources in Chapter 40B Applications
About H.2198
The statute intended to encourage the construction of affordable housing, commonly referred to as “Chapter 40B”, has unintentionally steered mixed-income housing projects towards environmentally-sensitive sites near wetlands and water resource areas. H.2198 would resolve the tension between environmental protection and affordable housing by restoring local discretion to enforce wetlands and water resource protection bylaws. Read more here.
why h.2198 matters
Residential development is the primary source of surface water and groundwater pollution in the Commonwealth. Construction within upland buffer zones to wetlands impacts water quality and quantity, flood storage capacity, storm damage resilience, wildlife habitat and diversity, the wetland capacity to sequester and store carbon, and climate change resilience. Pollution from stormwater and wastewater systems associated with residential and commercial development contaminates drinking water and causes algae blooms that choke out pond, stream and estuary ecosystems. Wetlands provide vital filtration to attenuate these pollutants.
Chapter 40B was designed to break down barriers to affordable housing production, such as exclusionary zoning practices, but it was never intended to weaken environmental laws. There is a material difference between blanket zoning restrictions prohibiting multi-family housing, and regulations that prevent septic systems and other pollution sources (including PFAS) from contaminating surface and ground waters.
H.2198 would remove the current financial incentive to locate Chapter 40B projects near environmentally sensitive areas, and would preserve the wetland and water resource protection regulations that local officials have adopted for sound reasons. The amendment would have no effect on the Chapter 40B program; projects would simply be steered towards more appropriate sites.
Support for H.2198
Mystic River Watershed Association
Nantucket Land Council
Nashua River Watershed Alliance
Neponset River Watershed Association
North & South Rivers Watershed Association
OARS (representing the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers)