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Public Lands Preservation Act – signed into law November 17, 2022

New law codifies a policy of “no net loss” of public land
Posted on: February 9, 2023 - 7:32am
Boardwalk - Partridge Island - Jane Bandini

On November 17, 2022, Governor Baker signed into law the PUBLIC LANDS PRESERVATION ACT (PLPA), ending a 24-year effort to codify a policy of “no net loss” of public land. The new law aims to guarantee that the total area of public parks and conservation land doesn’t decrease.

Massachusetts already protects conservation land designated under Article 97 of the state constitution through a policy called “No Net Loss.” Under the policy, if those public lands are developed, other land of equal natural resource value must be set aside to be protected.

Article 97 also declares the conservation of natural resources is a public purpose and provides that land subject to Article 97 shall not be used for other purposes or disposed of without a two-thirds roll call vote of the Legislature. The new PLPA law will provide clarity and transparency to ensure No Net Loss of conservation land by:

  • Codifying into law an existing administrative process that requires replacement of public parks and conservation land that are converted to a different use.
  • Providing transparency and accountability in the limited cases when cash payments are allowed in lieu of contemporaneously designating replacement land to be conserved.
  • Requiring that any cash payments be expended on comparable replacement land within 3 years.
  • With the new law, the process becomes obligatory and includes more requirements to evaluate whether developing that land is really the best option.

Representative Ruth Balser, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that the law requires notifying the public and the Environment Affairs Office before a town, a city or the state wants to change the status of protected land. 

“What's good about that is that it would give the Environmental Affairs Office the opportunity to work with communities to help them find alternatives,” she said. The law requires an analysis of alternatives mapping out construction of the same project without compromising conservation land.

Excerpted from: “State law now requires development of conservation land be replaced with newly protected land”, November 18, 2022, by reporter Paula Moura, WBUR. (Photo: courtesy "Partridge Island Boardwalk", Jane Bandini)