Massachusetts State House in Boston

This coming Tuesday, April 5th, the Joint Committee on Environmental, Natural Resources and Agriculture will hold a public hearing (described as “Invasives and Waterways”) on over 20 bills that hope to improve and update Massachusetts environmental laws. The bills range from explicit to quite broad, the latter likely subject to more scrutiny at the hearing because of the lack of specific details within the bill.

A number of the bills are intended to provide funding for the rebuilding and restoration of beaches, shores, and seawalls, in coastal towns from Marshfield to Scituate. A majority of the bills to be heard are of this nature, but there are others for the purpose of setting up grants to help with this type of restoration in all coastal towns that need it, without naming any specific towns.

Other bills look to provide grants to protect waterways from invasive plant species that damage the ecosystem of the lake or pond they end up in. Another bill likely to gain support from environmental groups is one that calls for the restoration of the public trust in tidelands. This is important because public trust provides citizen standing should there be a reason to bring a law suit to court to protect the tidelands.

With over twenty bills to discuss, many look like they will overlap, but its clear that many legislators are interested in protecting the state’s freshwater bodies, as well as restoring coastal property and protecting ocean sanctuaries.

Complete details on the hearing can be found here, as well as the full list of bills to be heard.