Governor Maura Healey and Lt Governor Kim Driscoll deserve credit for working with key legislators to include a far-sighted proposal in the new Clean Energy Siting Law that will enlist major utilities as a partners in building future shared use paths, recreational trails, and access natural resources. 

 

In the next two decades, Eversource and National Grid have pledged to invest tens of billions of dollars to build out the modern infrastructure to electrify many aspects of our lives, including adding transmission capacity along or underneath the hundreds of miles of abandoned railways owned by the Commonwealth. 

 

The new law requires that new clean energy projects explicitly analyze the environmental benefits and burdens of clean energy infrastructure projects, and specifically calls out shared use and recreational paths and access to nature as appropriate mitigation for utility and other clean energy projects. 

 

There is a long, informal relationship with utilities as partners on shared use paths, such as the current Eversource project to upgrade the transmission line from Weston, Wayland, Sudbury and to Hudson that includes the build out the Mass Central Rail Trail in partnership with DCR. 

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In addition, National Grid --the 2nd largest owner of former railroad corridor in the Commonwealth was deeply involved in efforts several years ago which expanded the recreational use liability protections to include utilities and railroad companies. See that legislation. With the new siting law, consideration of shared use paths and recreational trails should become a standard way to mitigate projects where it makes sense.

 

With the expected investment of more than $20B by Massachusetts utilities, this provision can play an important role in building future shared use paths and trails. 

 

The Healey-Driscoll Administration worked with a willing legislative leadership team interested in promoting trails as part of this historic legislation. In the Senate, Senate President Karen Spilka, President Pro Tempore Will Brownsberger, and Chairman Michael Barrett played significant roles in supporting this provision. In the House, Chairman Jeffrey Roy and Representative Michelle Ciccollo helped lead the charge.

 

A broad coalition of organizations led by the Appalachian Mountain Club, MassBike, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council helped prompt the legislation into law.