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NEWBURYPORT — Support for new projects addressing combined sewage overflows and updates on ongoing ones were discussed by dozens of local and state officials during Thursday’s meeting at the Newburyport Senior/Community Center.
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By Matt Petry | mpetry@northofboston.com
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BOSTON — Massachusetts wants to rope in billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funds to fix crumbling roads and bridges and transition to clean energy, but the state needs to pony up some of its own money to get it.
That will happen under a proposal, approved by the state Legislature on Thursday, that calls for leveraging state funds to go after billions of dollars in competitive federal grants that will be made available through President Joe Biden’s jobs and infrastructure law and other programs.
The plan, filed last year by Gov. Maura Healey, will divert interest from the state’s reserve funds to create a “pay-as-you-go” capital fund to pursue a much larger pool of federal funds for infrastructure projects.
Healey officials say the so-called rainy day fund, which is approaching $9 billion, generates an estimated $250 million in interest a year.
“Remaining competitive, equitable, and affordable as a commonwealth means thinking creatively about our state’s finances and seizing opportunities,” Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a prepared statement.
“We have been fiscally prudent in building up the largest rainy day fund in Massachusetts’ history, which allows us to leverage our robust interest earnings to compete for federal dollars that will help us strengthen our infrastructure,” she said.
If Healey signs the bill, as expected, it will require the state Comptroller to transfer interest from state reserves to the Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund when amounts exceed 10% of budgeted revenues of the previous fiscal year, provided that the balance of the fund hasn’t decreased in the previous year.
Backers of the plan said it will pump up to $800 million into the capital fund over the next three years.
Healey’s federal infrastructure czar, Quentin Palfrey, has pointed to more than $17.5 billion available from federal grant programs which he says provides an “unprecedented opportunity” to tap into federal funds to address some of the state’s most pressing infrastructure needs.
The money would come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2-trillion spending bill signed by Biden in 2021. Federal infrastructure money is also available through the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Overall, Massachusetts stands to get $9.3 billion from the infrastructure law over the next five years, including at least $4.2 billion for roadway upgrades and $1.1 billion for bridge repairs, according to the Biden administration.
At least $1.1 billion will be directed to improving water and sewer infrastructure and address outfalls that spew sewage into the Merrimack River, while at least $100 million will provide broadband internet coverage to rural communities.
The state will also get $2.5 billion for upgrades on its public transit system. Other funding would be devoted to airport upgrades and incentives for drivers to switch to electric vehicles.
It’s also slated to get $147 million to help expand high-speed broadband internet service to underserved regions of the state.
But the state is also chasing after more than $17.5 billion in competitive grants made available through the infrastructure law for local governments to fix potholes and crumbling bridges, upgrade water and sewer systems and other needs.
Healey officials say they will need to ante up at least $3 billion in state matching funds to be competitive in that process. The state has already earmarked $2 billion, they say.
Money from the federal laws is already flowing into the state, including $108 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve rail service in western and central Massachusetts.
The state is also getting $1 billion in federal funding from the infrastructure law to help cover the cost of replacing two Cape Cod bridges.
Republicans have expressed concerns about the Democratic governor controlling billions of dollars in federal funding and have sought to put guardrails on use of the money.
Data provided by the Biden administration shows only about 25% of Massachusetts’ 5,229 bridges are in good condition. About 9% are considered structurally deficient.
Besides structurally deficient bridges, many of the state’s roadways are in major disrepair, according to the White House.
The Biden administration’s Infrastructure Report Card gave the state a grade of C-, saying there are at least 1,194 miles of highway in poor condition.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.
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By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter
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HAVERHILL — The city will borrow $12.4 million for a project aimed at reducing the amount of combined sewer overflows reaching the Merrimack River.
The City Council this week unanimously approved borrowing $12.4 million for a project intended to reduce CSOs pouring into the Little River and into the Merrimack River while also improving the water distribution system in the Locke Street area.
In his request for the funding, DPW Director Robert Ward told the council the amount of the loan order increased by about $2 million since the original request passed about a year ago.
He said the project was deferred a year due to permitting issues hit by cost increases.
He said a number of things, including the need for additional quantities of items such as 18-inch diameter pipes, the creation of additional stormwater outfalls not in the original cost estimates, the need to rehabilitate some stormwater drain pipes, additional roadway restoration costs and other items.
The council was provided with documents explaining the project, which will play out in three phases over the next 10 years.
In his letter to the council, Ward noted that in 2016 the city entered into a consent decree with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) requiring the city to reduce CSOs.
Ward said that before the 1960s, sewage and stormwater were commonly collected in the same pipe. These combined sewers were designed and built to overflow into nearby waterways to prevent excessive flooding during rain storms from backing up into basements, streets, parking lots and other areas.
Ward said the Locke Street area is the city’s biggest contributor to CSO overflows into the Merrimack River.
This Locke Street Phase 1 combined sewer overflow (CSO) separation and water system improvements project will involve separating the combined sewer system in that area into separate wastewater and stormwater systems, thereby reducing excessive stormwater entering the sewer system during rain events.
Ward noted that Phase 1 separates about 3,500 feet of combined sewers in the Locke Street area by installing new stormwater pipes, disconnecting catch basins from them, and connecting them to the separate stormwater lines. The project also involves upsizing existing storm drains, installing new outfalls to increase capacity of the existing storm drain system, and rehabilitating existing sewers and manholes.
In conjunction with the sewer and drain work, old, undersized water mains in the Phase 1 area will be replaced and upsized. Ward said it makes sense to upgrade water lines in that area rather than return at a future date and having to dig up the streets again.
The average household’s sewer rate impact from this project will be less than $21 annually, Ward stated in his letter. The water rate impact will add about $8 to the annual bill for an average size household, he said.
The loan order funds Phase 1 of three phases over the next 10 years or so. Phases 2 and 3 will be in other areas, including Primrose, Main Street and Lawrence Street, which also discharge into Little River and to the CSO outlet behind the downtown bus station.
“We’re paying for the sins of the past,” Ward said.
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By Mike LaBella | mlabella@eagletribune.com
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