Town Administrator Tom Mayo is pleased to announce that the Town of Hingham was one of several Massachusetts communities to be awarded a coastal resiliency grant from the Healey-Driscoll Administration.
Hingham will receive $268,771 to support its Hingham Harbor Resiliency Design and Permitting. Through the grant, the town will assess coastal flooding and develop preliminary designs and alternatives for Hingham’s shoreline resilience project. The grant funding leverages funds approved at Town Meeting in April 2023 to provide a match required for the grant, while reducing the Town’s total expenditure.
The scope of the grant funding includes the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) submission and certification, which is a necessary step in permitting the project.. Hingham will not be able to make necessary repairs and improvements to the Town wharves and seawalls without completing the MEPA process.
The Town of Hingham is one of 19 communities to receive support through this round of funding from the state Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), which facilitates local planning and shoreline management efforts to address climate change impacts like storms, storm surges, flooding, erosion and sea level rise.
CZM’s Coastal Resilience Grant Program provides funding and technical assistance for local efforts to evaluate vulnerabilities to climate impacts, increase community awareness and understanding of these issues, plan for changing conditions, redesign vulnerable community facilities and infrastructure, and restore shoreline systems through non-structural approaches. Grants may fund feasibility assessments, public outreach, design, permitting, construction, and monitoring of projects that enhance or create natural buffers to erosion and flooding.
“As a coastal community, Hingham is at outsize risk for experiencing the impacts of climate change and so we are grateful for this opportunity to explore ways to mitigate those impacts,” Mayo said. “We are working hard to identify the steps we can take to proactively combat climate change, and coastal protection is an integral part of our efforts.”
The project will work in conjunction with planned Massachusetts Department of Transportation improvements along Route 3A to reduce vulnerabilities to flooding.
“In the past year, we’ve seen extreme storms bring catastrophic damage across the state. We need urgent action to address these escalating impacts of climate change,” said Gov. Maura Healey. “Building resilience along our coastal communities is a matter of public health, safety, and a strong economy. This grant program demonstrates our administration’s commitment to working with our local partners to expand and improve climate change solutions.”