Price signals influence decision making and behavior at each stage in the path that discarded material takes to reuse, recycling, composting, or disposal.  Current signals often incentivize disposal, or fail to differentiate between disposal and diversion even when there is a significant fiscal benefit from diversion.  Changing these price signals for those who do not otherwise experience them would yield significant additional diversion.

Currently, water supplier data required by the Water Management Act and reported to the MA DEP through Annual Statistical Reports is available only by visiting a DEP office and photocopying the paper reports.  While DEP maintains some usage data in electronic format, these data are not available online, and DEP staff do not maintain historical data. 

32.a    DEP should be provided with funding to make all non-restricted statistical data available on line

Even if water users understand the need for water conservation and know that they should be using more efficient technology inside, more water-conserving landscaping, and fewer, more efficient irrigation systems, the cost and/or the effort associated with obtaining replacements for their existing materials may be enough to prevent or delay them from doing so.  To reduce the burden on the consumer, municipalities or water utilities can offer rebates, vouchers, or can provide the materials themselves.  This reduces the customer’s investment by paying all or some of the costs o

Water audits offer detailed information to targeted classes of users.   An audit includes a customer-specific on-site survey of water usage patterns and specific recommendations for increasing water efficiency.  It may also involved distributing and/or installing water-saving devices.  Audits can be conducted for both indoor and outdoor use for residential and nonresidential customers.

Municipalities can help to reduce water demand for irrigation by integrating landscaping best practices into existing site plan guidelines, zoning bylaws, and subdivision rules and regulations.

All water utilities should establish a water pricing structure that includes the full cost of operating, maintaining, and protecting the water supply system. Water revenues should be kept separate from the municipality’s general fund, in order to prevent cross-subsidies.  

A full cost water pricing structure includes, but is not limited to the following:

Water is both a necessity and a scarce commodity.  This makes it important that water pricing discourages unnecessary and wasteful use while maintaining affordability for essential uses.  Because a significant portion of water use is non-essential, there is  considerable elasticity in demand with respect to price, meaning that if the price of a given quantity of water increases, consumers are encouraged to reduce their costs through reduced discretionary use and more efficient technology.  In the short term, a 10% increase in the cost of water for single family residenti

In order to minimize the need for long term maintenance investments, improve user satisfaction, and maximize system performance, the Commonwealth should create a comprehensive asset management system for its current transportation inventory.  This plan would be a data driven monitoring system that would evaluate current conditions and performance and identify capital investment needed to maintain a satisfactory performance level.  Management systems have already been partially implemented for some of the Commonwealth’s building (CAMIS by DCAM and FAMIS by DCR) and bridge (PO

In order to use limited funds wisely, the MPO and the state must develop Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) priorities that accurately reflect the availability of funds.  A realistic transportation program will ensure that state and federal funds can be fully accessed, fewer projects will be delayed, and cost overruns will have a minimal ripple effect on other projects.  

Transit provision is a vital function of the region’s economic and social health. Some populations are dependent on transit as their primary means to access to jobs, healthcare, and services. The MBTA and regional transit authorities should not be expected to fund themselves independently. Subsidy from the Commonwealth is reasonable and necessary, but it is also important that transit passengers pay a meaningful share of the service operating cost.