MASSDEP EXTENDS SOUTH COAST RENEWABLES REVIEW TO FEB. 29

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has extended its review deadline to Feb. 29, 2024, for the site suitability application for South Coast Renewables, LLC (formerly known as Parallel Products of New England).

South Coast Renewables is seeking to expand its operations at 100 Duchaine Boulevard in New Bedford. MassDEP has been conducting an extensive review of the application since early 2023.

If the state issues a favorable ruling, the new timeline could lead to public hearings on the project starting in mid-March 2024, and a potential decision by the New Bedford Board of Health later in the spring.

The state’s review has seen multiple extensions.

Nov. 1, 2023, was the initial deadline for MassDEP to issue a ruling on the application. Amid conversations about sound monitoring and other components of the technical review, MassDEP announced an extension of the review to Dec. 18.

That extension was referenced in Oct. 30 technical comments, and a Nov. 2 letter, from MassDEP to South Coast Renewables Vice President Tim Cusson.

The MassDEP ruling could lead to two outcomes:

• If MassDEP determines that South Coast Renewables’ site suitability application does not meet all relevant criteria, it will issue a negative determination to the New Bedford Board of Health, which then would not proceed with the site assignment process.
• If Mass DEP determines that the application does meet all relevant criteria, MassDEP will issue a positive determination to the New Bedford Board of Health. The Board of Health would then issue a public notice, conduct its own review, and hold public hearings before voting on whether or not to allow the proposal to move forward.

View multilingual fact sheets on the proposed facility and the site application process here.

View all relevant documents through the state’s public access portal, by searching “New Bedford” as the city and then “renewables” as the keyword.

MassDEP accepted public comment until Aug. 24, 2023 on South Coast Renewables’ proposed solid waste management facility at its site in the New Bedford Business Park, in New Bedford’s far North End.