Simple Actions You Can Take This Week for Responsible Solar Siting

Dear Friends and Allies,

This is week, we have an opportunity take action on Responsible Solar Siting. The state is wrting renewable energy siting and permitting procedures and guidelines across several state agencies, including the DOER, the EFSB, the EEA and the OEJE. If this seems complicated to you, it’s because it is!

These new regulations and guidelines will apply to all towns and will go into effect March 1, 2026.

There will be more meetings, hearings comment periods for more parts of the Administration’s solar intiatives, and we will keep you posted.

For this week, we have two draft letters for comments, due this Friday at 5:00 PM, that you can use, change, or come up with your own comments altogether.

LETTER # 1-

E-mail to: EnergyPermitting@mass.gov

Subject: Comments on Site Suitability Guidance

Body of the email:

Dear EEA and DOER,

Please consider my comments:

1 – Section B- For site suitability scoring, please ensure that any individual or group who feels impacted or harmed can request a score review, under sections iv and v.

2 – For Section C Criteria, I. Climate Change Resilience: The criteria should include encouraging the maintenance of intact forests, protecting all water, minimizing storm water run-off, and retaining soil integrity, in order to achieve greater resiliency ina changing climate. The Resilient Design Standards Tool should also be used to determine if the project will contribute or add to local conditions of Extreme Heat in the community.

3 – For Section C. Criteria, II. Carbon Storage and Sequestration: The National Forest Carbon Monitoring System and the Annual NLCD land cover data web sites are not user friendly, making it difficult for to review by local government or stakeholders.

4 – For Section C. Criteria, III. Biodiversity – There should be a process to ensure that a robust inventory of of wildlife and rare species be applied in the Biodiversity index, plus a clear mechanism for inclusive local appeal of the biodiversity criteria.

5 – For Section E. Other Considerations of Note, I. Drinking Water Supply – Ensure that communities maintain authority to protect all drinking water supplies, including for private wells and aquifers. Provide assurance that communities can use land use or public health bylaws to create regulations for drinking water supply protection.

Sincerely yours,

Name

Address

LETTER # 2

Email to: ej.inquiries@mass.gov

Subject: Comments on Standards and Guidelines for Community Benefits Plans and Agreements

Body of the e-mail:

Dear Office of Environmental Justice and Equity,

Please consider my comments on the draft Standards and Guidelines for Community Benefits Plans and Agreements.

The draft lays out a  clear set of instructions for how  for the communities when making plans and agreements for Community Benefits. But the  burden of enforcement lies with the towns. There should be a fund for towns who are having trouble  enforcing their agreements.

Regarding  “key stakeholders”, the definitions provided are too restrictive. They include that key stakeholders would not be further than one mile from a project. Any resident who feels that their health, residence or property, or their community in general is affected by a project, should be deemed a key stakeholder.

Sincerely yours,

Name

Address