BEACON HILL BEAT
August 2007
LAURIE BURT APPOINTED DEP COMMISSIONER
Governor Deval Patrick appointed Laurie Burt Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Burt is the founder and senior partner of the Environmental Law division of Foley Hoag LLP, and was the first woman to serve on the firm’s elected Executive Committee. Her legal case history includes expertise in state and federal Hazardous Waste and Superfund laws, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, as well as wetlands, endangered species, and environmental impact regulations.
Burt has focused her practice on environmental compliance and land use redevelopment projects, and has worked with corporate and real estate clients to find creative solutions to environmental challenges to property transactions and redevelopment, including new wastewater strategies and renewable energy use and other means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She has represented national and international corporations, real estate developers, educational institutions, and public authorities in environmental litigation, enforcement actions, voluntary cleanups, and permit activities.
Prior to joining Foley Hoag in 1980, Burt was an Assistant Attorney General in environmental law enforcement. She is currently Vice President of the Boston Bar Association, and was scheduled to become President-Elect in September. She is also co-chair of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Board of Advisors, having served as President of the Board of Directors from 2000 to 2004.
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UCANE MEMBERS MEET WITH BOSTON PUBLIC WORKS & TRANSPORTATION CHIEF DENNIS ROYER
A delegation of UCANE members met with Boston’s Public Works and Transportation Chief Dennis Royer to discuss a variety of industry issues and to request that UCANE members’ have a voice in developing future policies for the city. Chief Royer, who previously served as Deputy Manager of Operations for Denver, Colorado’s Public Works Department, is in charge of developing, implementing, and managing all projects and policies associated with Boston’s aging infrastructure, along with the mobility of vehicular and pedestrian traffic throughout the city. Among the items discussed were permits, the Construction Inspection Unit (CIU), paving throughout the city, and the difficulties addressing pipe breaks in a city with an infrastructure over 100 years old. Chief Royer welcomed UCANE’s insight and agreed to hold frequent meetings with UCANE members.
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GOVERNOR PATRICK RAISES STATE BOND CAP TO $1.5 BILLION
Governor Patrick announced that he will raise the state’s borrowing limit for infrastructure improvements from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion this year, and cap subsequent growth at an additional $125 million a year. The Patrick Administration’s 5-year capital financing plan is based on a fiscally responsible and rigorous debt affordability analysis. While the annual borrowing limit is expected to increase by $125 million per year over the next five years, the debt service, as a percentage of total budgeted revenues, is projected to be less than FY 2007 by 2012. The Patrick Administration asserts that the new Bond Cap will ensure that annual debt service payments on all of the Commonwealth’s bonds and other debt payment obligations will decrease over time as a percentage of total budgeted revenues.
In its 2006 report, the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets recommended an increase in the bond cap, as well as other recommendations the Administration intends to address in their Capital Plan. Each of the rating agencies that evaluate the credit worthiness of the Commonwealth’s debt, have indicated that the Administration’s policy for determining the Bond Cap is a positive step forward in debt management.
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ATTORNEY GENERAL COAKLEY CREATES "BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIVISION" TO PROMOTE BUSINESS GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
Attorney General Martha Coakley has appointed James Scafide to head the new Business Development Division within the AG’s office. The objective of the division is to help promote economic development and attract new business opportunities to the state by helping to eliminate unnecessary regulations that are burdensome to companies. There are many old laws and regulations that either are no longer pertinent in today’s world or do not benefit the general good of the state. Scafide will be in charge of reviewing these laws and recommending appropriate changes. Before joining the AG’s office, Scafide served as corporate council for Presstek, Inc, based in NH.
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STATE REVENUES EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue predicted that 2007 revenues will exceed that of the previous year’s collection by 6.8%. Preliminary collections indicate that the state took in $19.7 Billion in FY 2007, an increase of over $1.2 Billion compared to FY 2006. The revenues even exceeded the $19.3 Billion that the state estimated for this fiscal year. Revenue collection for the month of June was up 12.6% compared to the previous year.
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MA TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES SIGN MOBILITY COMPACTTO COORDINATE PLANNING
In an effort to coordinate the planning efforts of the nine transportation agencies overseeing Massachusetts’ highways, rails, and airports, Governor Deval Patrick signed an agreement to foster more cooperation. The MA Mobility Compact is an executive order that enhances communication and cooperation among the various transportation agencies, and is designed to coordinate construction projects, collaborate on bulk purchasing of fuel and other supplies, and utilize any other efforts that would benefit all nine agencies.
The agencies that signed the Compact include the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOTPW), Massachusetts Highway Department (MassHighway), Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (Masspike), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission (MAC), Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) and Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities (MARTA).
The agencies have begun meeting on a monthly basis and established working groups to find ways to improve infrastructure needs. The Compact will issue a summary of its progress twice a year. Thus far, the group has established three working groups: an IT Work Group, which seeks to find ways to share resources in information technology; the Leading-By-Example Work Group, which seeks cooperation between agencies to use green technologies and find energy efficiencies, and the Asset-Management Work Group, which will facilitate information sharing on the management of agency assets. In addition, the members of the Compact have established a Transportation Security Roundtable, which will review coordination of security issues among the agencies. Future initiatives will review issues concerning safety and regional congestion.
Download a copy of the Governor Patrick’s Executive Order on MA Mobility Compact here.
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