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Healey-Driscoll Administration Files Mass Ready Act

NAIOP’s 2025 Advocacy Alerts are generously sponsored by Issues Management Group and Pierce Atwood, LLP.

Yesterday, Governor Healey announced the filing of the Mass Ready Act, an environmental bond bill that proposes nearly $3 billion in bonding authorizations to strengthen infrastructure and protect Massachusetts communities against increasing extreme weather events.

The bill's language also proposes simplifications to the environmental permitting process for priority housing and urgent infrastructure needs. It also includes $50 million in reauthorization for the Momentum Fund to continue accelerating the development of mixed-income and multifamily housing.

"For too long, desperately needed housing projects have been bogged down in seemingly never-ending permitting delays, often preventing new housing from ever being built," said Tamara Small, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association. "The Healey-Driscoll Administration has prioritized addressing the housing crisis, from creating the Unlocking Housing Production Commission, to passing the Affordable Homes Act, and setting a production goal of 222,000 new units of housing by 2035. Furthering this commitment, the Mass Ready Act proposes expedited pathways to build the housing we need while protecting our environment and advancing resiliency."

The legislation's permitting reforms include:

  • Changes to Chapter 91 (Sections 21-31), including allowing priority housing and restoration projects to receive a Chapter 91 license in just 60 days without triggering review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) (Section 31);
  • Changes to the administration of the Wetlands Protection Act (Sections 48-51), including cutting duplicative administrative appeals for wetlands regulations, allowing local appeals for these project categories to go straight to the superior court, as well as adding climate resilience as a goal of the Wetlands Protection Act, and simplifying permitting for natural restoration projects; and,
  • Removing the MEPA Environmental Impact Report (EIR) requirement for priority housing and natural restoration projects, allowing for completion of MEPA review within 30 days rather than up to one year (Sections 12 and 73).

The legislation also requires disclosures of flood risk and past damages during home sales and residential lease signings (Section 70). Finally, it equips the Board of Building Regulations and Standards to advance climate resilience and housing production through the state building code (Sections 57-60).

The NAIOP Advocacy Team is currently in the process of reviewing all language and strongly encourages NAIOP members to review the bill and send feedback to NAIOP's Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs Anastasia Daou.

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.

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