Judge Dismisses Case Against MBTA Communities Act; Draft BERDO Amendments Released; NAIOP Comments on Article 80 Proposal; Regulatory Deadlines Impacting New and Existing Buildings Approaching
NAIOP’s 2025 Advocacy Alerts are generously sponsored by Issues Management Group and Pierce Atwood, LLP.
Judge Dismisses Suits Alleging that MBTA Communities Act is an Unfunded Mandate
On Friday, June 6, Plymouth Superior Court Justice Mark Gildea found that the MBTA Communities Law does not impose an unfunded mandate on cities and towns, and granted the Attorney General's motion to dismiss nine lawsuits. The judge also denied the towns’ and residents’ motions for a preliminary injunction that sought to exempt them from their obligation to comply with the law.
The MBTA Communities Law requires 177 communities in Massachusetts to update their local zoning to allow multifamily housing by-right in at least one district of reasonable size. Currently, 137 MBTA Communities have submitted and/or adopted zoning to comply with the law, and 97 have been determined fully or conditionally compliant by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. More information about communities' compliance status can be found by clicking here.
NAIOP was pleased with the Justice's decision, and continues to support the implementation of the law.
Building Code Concurrency Period Ends June 30
Beginning July 1, 2025, the 9th Edition of the Building Code will no longer apply concurrently with the 10th Edition of the Building Code. Building permit applications for projects utilizing the 9th Edition need to be filed on or before June 30, 2025. Applications received on or after July 1, 2025, that are based on the 9th Edition will not be accepted and will not be granted a building permit.
Statewide Large Building Energy Reporting Begins June 30
On June 30, 2025 reports of energy usage for buildings over 20,000 SF statewide will be due from utility companies, Municipal Utilities, and, in some cases, Building Owners. NAIOP urges members to review 225 CMR 27.00: Building Energy Reporting and the final Covered Buildings List.
Boston Releases Draft Amendments to BERDO - NAIOP Seeking Feedback
On June 11, the Air Pollution Control Commission opened a comment period on proposed updates to the Building Energy Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) regulations, focused on third-party verification, flexibility measure application processes, and clarifying language related to already existing requirements, such as campus reporting and emissions calculation formulas. The slide deck presented at the meeting can be found by clicking here.
NAIOP encourages members to review the draft regulations and send all feedback to NAIOP's Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs, Anastasia Daou, no later than Wednesday, July 9.
NAIOP Submits Comments on Draft Article 80 Zoning
On May 2, the Boston Planning Department released materials regarding the Article 80 Modernization process. Included in these materials were proposed amendments to Article 80 and Article 28, which the City stated were designed to be a first step focused on cleanup and minor amendments.
As a stakeholder for over two years in this process, NAIOP submitted extensive comments on the proposed amendments. While the majority of the comments focused on the proposed zoning changes released in May, NAIOP is concerned that the final Action Plan and supplementary materials have not addressed issues such as timelines, city staff accountability, city department coordination and authority, and community benefits standardization.
Broadly, NAIOP urges the city to quickly advance the remaining priorities in order to create a comprehensive process that addresses the outstanding concerns of the development community and Boston residents.
NAIOP continues to work with the City's Planning Department as a stakeholder in these discussions.
The NAIOP Advocacy Team is working on numerous initiatives at the state and local level. If you have questions regarding these, or other topics, please feel free to reach out to NAIOP's CEO Tamara Small or NAIOP's Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs, Anastasia Daou.