Comments due in June on draft plan for vulnerable stretches of coastline
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 19, 2025…..The Healey administration is proposing a strategy to protect the Massachusetts coastline from rising seas and intensifying storms, with a new draft plan that calls for a study of evacuation infrastructure and lays the groundwork for a voluntary property buyout program in flood-prone areas.
The draft plan, released by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) on Thursday, outlines a 50-year coastal resilience strategy to safeguard vulnerable coastal communities — home to more than 3 million residents — from the escalating impacts of climate change. The final version of the plan is anticipated in late summer or early fall, following a public comment period that ends June 12.
The efforts come as Massachusetts confronts sobering projections about its coastal future. A 2022 statewide climate change assessment warns that by the 2070s, annual coastal property damage could exceed $1 billion, with more than 70% of that expected in the Boston Harbor region.
One of the draft’s proposed initiatives is a near-term study to assess the feasibility of a state-funded voluntary buyout program that would help acquire residential properties in areas facing chronic tidal flooding.
EEA envisions using the next three to five years to look into setting up such a program, which would be focused on supporting homeowners who choose to relocate from high-risk areas. Buyouts would be voluntary and targeted in communities expected to experience daily high tide flooding or severe storm surge.
“Buyout programs offer willing residential property owners an opportunity to sell their property to the government and relocate to less risky areas,” the plan says. “Those properties are then transferred to public ownership, either by a local or state government, and are permanently conserved, protected, and returned to a natural state to provide flood buffers and protection for adjacent and inland neighborhoods. These programs may be most cost-effective in areas with low density and/or low market values.”
Another proposal in the 271-page plan is a coastwide evacuation pilot study aimed at identifying vulnerable transportation routes and critical infrastructure.
The study would inform state decisions on how to strengthen evacuation corridors, improve public transit resilience and prioritize investments in emergency access — particularly for so-called environmental justice communities and isolated areas. The state defines environmental justice communities as areas that disproportionately face environmental burdens due to factors like poverty, high levels of pollution and limited access to resources.
“The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is undertaking a criticality assessment that will help identify key evacuation routes statewide. ResilientCoasts proposes to build off these initiatives by undertaking a coastwide evacuation pilot study to evaluate and prioritize resources to increase resilience of road infrastructure,” the plan says.
Gloucester, Rockport, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and most of Cape Cod are identified as “evacuation and isolation risk areas” in the draft report, as well as smaller areas in the towns along Ipswich Bay and Buzzards Bay and areas of Salem, Revere, Chelsea, Boston, Quincy, Hull and Marshfield.
The plan supports the creation of so-called resilience hubs in “community-serving” facilities that can provide shelter, power, communication and supplies during and after emergency events, like storms.
EEA is slated to launch a “one-stop” grant portal to streamline the process for municipalities and organizations to apply for climate, conservation and biodiversity funding. This centralized system is intended to make it easier for communities to navigate complex funding streams and coordinate large-scale projects.
To further support local planning, the plan calls for prioritizing district- and regional-scale resilience projects within existing grant programs, which it says better “leverage the collective capacity and resources of neighborhoods and communities to address shared coastal vulnerabilities often across municipal boundaries.”
It also proposes establishing new and multi-year funding opportunities that allow for longer planning timelines. In addition, the state would incentivize public-private partnerships, encouraging private investment in resilience infrastructure through technical and financial support.
Building codes are also a focus. The plan proposes making the new Resilience Technical Subcommittee a permanent advisory group to guide updates to the state building code.
A recent state study cited in the plan found that 2024 changes to freeboard requirements — raising building elevation by one additional foot in flood zones — could prevent $1.5 to $2.3 billion in future losses. Further code updates could avoid an additional $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in damages, the same study found.
The plan also recommends expanding the mission of the Climate Ready Housing Program, a state initiative originally aimed at deep energy retrofits in affordable housing.
Under the proposed framework, the program would also fund resilience retrofits — such as floodproofing basements and installing backflow valves to prevent sewer backups — to make low-income and vulnerable housing more climate-resilient.
To protect the state’s beaches and shorelines, the draft seeks to modernize existing shoreline defenses, with investments to repair and update seawalls, revetments, jetties and other structures that currently protect homes and infrastructure from storm surge.
Several regulatory changes are also proposed. EEA would expedite permitting for coastal resilience projects and streamline or create new approval pathways for restoration strategies such as dam removals or tidal barrier modifications.
Additionally, the draft proposes requiring real estate agents and landlords to disclose flood risks — a move aimed at increasing transparency for homebuyers and renters — and creating a grant or loan program to help low-income property owners elevate homes located in high-hazard flood areas.
“This plan provides a pathway for the state to make prudent, cost-saving investments in our communities and coastal ecosystems,” EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper wrote in a letter at the beginning of the document. “These investments will reduce our physical and financial exposure to climate change impacts and position Massachusetts as a coastal state that not only adapts but thrives in the face of changing climate conditions.”
