1) Ask your representative to co-sponsor HD4152.  This bill updates solar zoning language to the following: 

 

Section 3 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the following language:

"No zoning ordinance or bylaw shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare."

 

WHO TO CONTACT

 

Thank Rep. Paul McMurtry – for filing HD4152 to remove the solar exemption

Paul.McMurtry@mahouse.gov

(617) 722-2080

 

Find your Represenative HERE

 

WHAT TO SAY

 

The Honorable (first name)(last name)

Address

City, State, Zip

 

Dear (Representative x),

 

I am writing to urge you to co-sign the bill HD4152, An Act Regarding Municipal Zoning Powers.

 

This bill would finally remove the extremely outdated "solar exemption" from the Dover Amendment. Specifically, it will rescind Chapter 40A Section 3, paragraph 9, the 40-year-old law that limits municipalities' regulation of solar and lithium-ion batteries. 

 

Until and unless this happens, municipalities will face practical constraints and continue to face legal action when the try to protect our communities with reasonable regulation relating to industrial solar.

 

This is extremely important to our communities for several reasons:

[include one or more of these, or personalize this to your liking]

• Natural Working Lands are needed for a resilient future. The 2022 Massachusetts Clean Energy and  Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030 states “Massachusetts’ natural and working lands provide many benefits  to the residents of the Commonwealth, including clean air and water, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration,  recreational opportunities, food and wood production, and many other functions on which society and life  depend. These benefits, often called ecosystem services, continually serve our society as long as Natural  Working Lands can remain functioning. 

• Mass., U.S., and international climate experts recognize that carbon storage and sequestration is essential as part of the solution to mitigating climate change. Only forests are able to remove carbon  from the atmosphere at a large scale – there is no other mechanism that exists. Currently 0.6 gigatons of  carbon are stored in Mass. forests. The Clean Energy and Climate Plan commits the Commonwealth to  reduce greenhouse gases through enhanced carbon sequestration capacity and adoption of climate  smart management practices.  

• According to Mass Audubon and Clark Univ. since 2012, an estimated 6,000 acres or more of  previously undeveloped land have been converted to large scale, ground-mounted solar arrays.  According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, existing rooftops in Mass. have the potential to support up to 47% of the state’s total electrical demand; these should be the first places to build. 

• In a changing climate, food and water will be threatened; local protection of agricultural and  water is essential for state and community resiliency. Reasonable regulation of large scale,  industrial solar can ensure that safe and adequate drinking water remains available for residents, and  that prime growing lands remain available for food production. 

 

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME and ADDRESS]

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2) Write to urge improvements of DOER's SMART regs (January, 2025)

 

The Department of Energy Resources is in the process of updating Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target regulations, known as SMART regulations. Currently these regulations offer financial incentives that make it profitable to for developers to build industrial-scale solar in inappropriate locations, such as Shutesbury’s forests. To acquaint yourself with the current regulations, visit the state web site.

The new draft regulations are coming out in early 2025 so immediate community feedback is time sensitive. 

So far, the developers/profiteers are the only ones who have made their preferences heard. We need to change that, and DOER is quite receptive to community feedback.

The following is a sample email (customize it as you wish) that will take you less than a minute to cut, paste, personalize and send.

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To: DOER....@mass.gov
Subject line: Comments on the SMART Program

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Dear Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources,

Thank you for your work to revise the SMART regulations for solar installation subsidies and for your commitment to ensuring that these regulations correct unintended harmful consequences of earlier versions of the SMART regs.

I urge you to consider the following requests for important improvements to these regulations. Only with these factors incorporated into the updated version can we be assured that appropriate solar projects will be developed and inappropriate projects will be prevented. I ask that you:

1)  Not exempt all agriculture from the mitigation fee. Prime farmland is different than marginal farmland and should not be exempt.

2)  Eliminate subsidies for all biomap land (both Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscapes).

3) Ensure that state-assigned environmental monitors prioritize environmental concerns over industry concerns.

4) Include all land that is impacted and disturbed by projects as part for the project, not just the footprint of the solar arrays.

5) Pay mitigation fees at the beginning of the process, not after construction is underway. 

6) Pay mitigation funds to the municipality/community where the development is occurring.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration of this important matter. Our municipalities and our forests are counting on you to uphold the possibility of a true clean energy future.

 Sincerely,
Your name and address

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