Baker-Polito: $12.6M for coastal community resilience

As part of the Commonwealth’s celebration of Climate Week – from September 19, to September 25 – the Baker-Polito Administration has announced the awarding of $12.6 million in grants to support 27 local planning and shoreline management projects.

The main goal of these programs is to aid Massachusetts’ coastal communities in preparing for severe coastal storms and the impacts of climate change, including storm surge, flooding, erosion and sea level rise.

The funding, provided through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), has been awarded to Barnstable, Boston, Brewster, Chatham, Chilmark, Cohasset, Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc., Gosnold, House of Seven Gables Settlement Association, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Marshfield, Mass Audubon, Mattapoisett, Nahant, New Bedford, Orleans, Plymouth, Provincetown, Salem, Scituate, Wareham, Wellfleet, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Additional municipal partners of these projects include Braintree, Chilmark, Dennis, Duxbury, Eastham, Falmouth, Truro, and Winthrop.

“Coastal communities in Massachusetts face increasing risks to infrastructure, buildings, and natural resources due to coastal storms and climate change,” said Governor Charlie Baker. 

“We have been focused on investing in climate change solutions since taking office, and we commend local leaders for their forward-thinking planning and action with these Coastal Resilience Grant projects.”