Governor Baker recently announced that, on June 15, 2021, he will lift the State of Emergency he declared on March 10, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This State of Emergency is the basis for and the reference point for many orders, laws, policies, and provisions which gave local boards and commissions great flexibility in how they conducted business over the last year or so. A list of the Governor’s orders is available here.

Pulls Back Some COVID-19 Pandemic Relief for Local and Regional Permit Granting Authorities

With the enactment of Chapter 201 by the Massachusetts Legislature on November 10, 2020, municipal, district, county and regional permitting authorities (collectively, “permitting authorities”) now will have to take action sooner than they may have expected.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the usual procedures, rules, and regulations for land use permitting. Since March 2020, Massachusetts lawyers and their clients have seen new legislation that says how municipalities can accept, review, grant, deny, and enforce their permits.

UPDATE (July 27, 2020): On July 1, 2020, the Governor issued COVID-19 Order No. 42, “Order Resuming State Permitting Deadlines and Continuing to Extend the Validity of Certain State Permits” which changes some of the deadlines discussed above. A summary of Order No. 42 can be found here. Order No. 42 replaces Order No. 19.

(Revised July 27, 2020)

UPDATE: On July 1, 2020, the Governor issued COVID-19 Order No. 42, “Order Resuming State Permitting Deadlines and Continuing to Extend the Validity of Certain State Permits” which changes some of the deadlines discussed above. A summary of Order No. 42 can be found here. In essence, Order No. 42 replaces Order No. 19 which was the underpinning of several of the answers provided by DEP in its FAQ. Most notably, MassDEP’s deadline to appeal to itself an Order or Determination will now end on August 10, 2020.

The Massachusetts Legislature has enacted a legal framework for municipal boards, including conservation commissions, to receive and process applications, conduct meetings and hearings, make and issue decisions, take enforcement actions, and otherwise function during the state of emergency declared by Governor Baker on March 10, 2020.¹