NORTHAMPTON — Possible rapid loss of both forests and farms in the Connecticut River Valley, as Massachusetts expedites the process for getting renewable energy projects online, is among concerns being addressed for the region’s rural communities in the new climate and energy state law, according to the local legislators who helped craft the legislation.

“We are all partners in the commonwealth’s efforts to meet our climate goals,” says Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, whose 1st Franklin District encompasses 18 towns and 450 square miles.

But mindful of protecting natural resources, and the impact of large-scale solar arrays on small towns, the legislation signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey in November takes into consideration when there is too much solar development in a town and the burden small towns may face, Blais said. The law includes a methodology for determining when a town may be saturated with projects.

“This new law enshrines in the Office of Environmental Justice and Equity standards to look at if a site is suitable,” Blais said.

For Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, the new law avoids and minimizes impacts on the environment by prioritizing solar on built environments, rather than on working lands, as well as incentivizing solar canopies for green energy and better storing of carbon in buildings through the Embodied Carbon Coordinating Council.

“Constituents want us to do more to address carbon emissions before we site ground-mounted solar,” Comerford said.

Comerford and Blais were the legislative panelists presenting and responding to questions from more than 250 people attending Thursday’s hourlong virtual event, “Accelerating Renewable Energy with Better Outcomes for People and Nature.” The forum was put together by the Massachusetts chapter of The Nature Conservancy, an organization that played a key role advocating for the new policies and reforms included in the law.

The idea of the law is for a more efficient and equitable process for land-based development, stronger environmental standards and enhanced community engagement, said Steve Long, director of policy and partnerships at The Nature Conservancy and moderator for the forum. There is a focus, Long said, on biodiversity, community resilience and environmental justice, pointing to the pre-application process in which developers will need to understand the lived experience of people in a city or town.

Undersecretary of Energy Michael Judge, who is overseeing implementation of the new law, said the law’s changes to siting authority and required approval timelines coincide with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions targets and the estimated capacity needs, such as doubling the amount of solar deployed by 2030 and making a significant build-out of energy storage and mostly offshore wind power.

The new law is about overhauling the existing entirely local permitting process, which has been identified as a barrier to development, due to lengthy, unpredictable and sometimes duplicative processes that, for some projects, has meant up to a decade before a decision is reached, Judge said.

“It’s not working well for developers, but it’s also not working well for communities,” Judge said.

But Judge also added that the process has not worked well for protecting natural resources. “There’s definitely suboptimal outcomes we’ve seen from an environmental standpoint, as well,” Judge said.

The Commission on Energy Infrastructure and Siting made recommendations for the law that includes consolidated state-level permitting, a model used in other states, and creation of the Energy Facilities Siting Board for generation facilities over 25 megawatts and storage facilities with more than 100 megawatt hours.

There is also consolidated local permitting required for generation facilities under 25 megawatts and storage facilities under 100 megawatt hours, with a requirement for bundling municipal reviews together and issuing consolidated decisions on projects within a year.

“We have these very large emission reductions and we need to deploy a lot of green energy infrastructure in an accelerated period of time,” Judge said.

Meaningful to Comerford is the just community engagement provisions in the law and the Division of Public Participation. Comerford said her constituents want an energy infrastructure that will power the state forward, dive into the immediate climate crisis, and protect people from impacts of changing weather, such as the severe flooding that took place in the state in 2023.

Regarding siting, Comerford said the state needs to avoid what she called false binary choices, understanding that there is no need to sacrifice forests and have too many trees cut down to increase green energy.

Blais, too, said her constituents want more renewable energy, but municipal staff are stretched thin and are often part time. The Division of Clean Energy Siting embedded in the law will provide technical assistance for moving forward with clean energy goals.

While Judge said there has to be responsible land-use policy, which is in the state legislation, using only rooftops and developed areas, will be insufficient. “We cannot get there just by putting it in the built environment alone,” Judge said.

Judge said reducing demand, energy efficiency, and grid-enhancing technology alternatives, along with specialized building energy codes, are part of the solution. “Demand reduction is central to what we’re doing,” Judge said, adding that electric vehicles and heat pumps will necessitate expanded production.

One of the questions from a participant was if a community wants to push back on the new consolidated application and deny a developer the right to do a project. Judge said existing state law doesn’t allow cities and towns to unreasonably regulate solar projects, which he acknowledges has led to a lot of consternation at the local level, and many points of friction, including when solar and energy storage siting bylaws are rejected.

The new law allows the state’s Department of Energy Resources to establish standards that are environmental in nature. This could give communities more ability to reject projects without a court deciding the outcome. “The opportunity that this creates for municipalities to impose new types of environmental standards is something on the table here,” Judge said.

Judge said Massachusetts is already a national leader in renewable energy, cited by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for the development of solar on landfills and brownfields. In fact, more than one third of all solar facilities sited on landfills across the country are located in Massachusetts, he said.

Regulations associated with the new law are to be in place by 2026, and Judge said voices need to be heard in the coming months. “There’s definitely a lot more to come on this project,” Judge said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.