Protecting Natural Resources

Massachusetts has developed ambitious plans to conserve land and protect vulnerable natural resources, but our state agencies are not adequately resourced to implement these goals. Our natural land, air, and water play a crucial role in reducing emissions, making our communities more resilient, and improving public health. Protecting these natural resources is a smart investment that both reduces the risk of costly climate change-related damage and supports the tourism, agriculture, outdoor recreation, fishing, and clean energy industries that are creating jobs and economic growth.  

We at ELM advocate for: 

  • Increasing state funding to protect natural resources and support healthy communities, through our leadership of the Green Budget Coalition. 
  • Ambitious capital authorizations to support climate adaptation, preparedness, and environmental justice through a robust environmental bond package. 
  • Increasing support for local climate preparedness and resiliency by increasing funding and incentivizing regional collaboration among municipalities. 
  • Sustainably finance land protection for people and nature by advocating for dedicating state revenue for conservation funding and prioritizing building renewable energy infrastructure on previously-disturbed land. 
  • Reducing waste by modernizing the state’s bottle deposit law and developing systems for producer-funded waste management and recycling. 
  • Reform our management of water resources and pesticide use by empowering state agencies to prioritize environmental protection and public health. 
2025-2026 Legislative Priorities

HD2707/SD2276, An Act providing nature for all

Sponsors: Rep. Blais, Rep. Montano, & Sen. Feeney

Massachusetts does not currently have a funding strategy in place to meet the natural and working lands goals in our Clean Energy and Climate Plan, which include permanently conserving 30% of land by 2030. This bill would dedicate funding from the existing tax on sales of sporting goods toward conservation and restoration of land for natural resource protection, carbon sequestration, and equitable access to the outdoors.


 

Additional Priorities

HD4087/SD2403, An Act to protect Massachusetts public health from PFAS (Rep. Hogan, Sen. Cyr)

HD1423/SD171/SD1668, An Act relative to maintaining adequate water supplies through effective
drought management (Rep. Meschino, Rep. Rogers, Sen. Eldridge, Sen. Tarr)

HD2787/SD2074, An Act to improve indoor air quality for highly-impacted communities (Rep. Garcia, Rep. Montano, Sen. Gomez)

HD2200/SD549, An Act relative to the pesticide board (Rep. Domb, Sen. Lewis)

HD3349/SD1774, An Act to save recycling costs in the commonwealth (Rep. Day, Sen. DiDomenico)

HD3764, An Act to Update the Bottle Bill (Rep. Ciccolo)