Section 37: Green School Works grant program; eligibility and selection; annual report; regulations

309 words·~1 min read·/ma/part-i/title-xii/chapter-69/37

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Section 37. (a)(1) There shall be a competitive grant program, known as Green School Works, to provide financial support to eligible K–12 public schools or districts for projects to install or maintain clean energy infrastructure. The program shall be administered by the department, in consultation with the Massachusetts clean energy technology center, established by section 2 of chapter 23J. Grants shall be made available to address the costs of installation, operation or upgrades of clean energy infrastructure that improves energy efficiency, reduces carbon emissions or mitigates impacts of climate change, including school rooftop construction or repair costs necessary for a clean energy infrastructure project to be safely installed; provided, that such installation, operation or upgrades shall be conducted in compliance with any relevant procurement laws, including, but not limited to, chapter 149 and all state and local building codes.

(2)Grants awarded by the department shall maximize the total number of projects that shall be undertaken by public schools or districts.

(b)The department, in consultation with the Massachusetts clean energy technology center, shall establish eligibility and selection criteria for the program. The department may give preference to grant applications from schools serving low-income and environmental justice populations.

(c)Annually, not later than July 15, the commissioner shall report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on education, the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the grants awarded during the previous fiscal year, including the grant amount, grant recipient, a description of the project for which the grant was awarded and any progress on completion of the project.

(d)The department, in consultation with the Massachusetts clean energy technology center and the Massachusetts School Building Authority, established by section 1A of chapter 70B, shall promulgate regulations to implement this section.