Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency at Massport

re-sil-ien-cy
[noun]
the ability of a system to prepare for disruptive events, recover within a reasonable timeframe with minimal damage, and sometimes emerge even stronger.

Climate change is a real and urgent issue, causing a wide range of increasingly significant impacts such as rising sea levels, extreme storms, heavy precipitation, coastal flooding, and more. Massport recognizes the importance of taking bold action to mitigate and prepare for the impacts of climate change to protect critical infrastructure, operations, and surrounding communities. Massport embraces an integrated, comprehensive approach to climate change through mitigation and adaptation.

Climate Resiliency Goals

In 2013, Massport launched a comprehensive resiliency initiative to maximize business

continuity in the midst of various human and natural threats. Massport’s efforts are guided by the following goals:

Improve resiliency for overall infrastructure and operations;
Restore operations during and after disruptive events in a safe and economically viable time frame;
Create robust feed-back loops that allow new solutions as conditions change;
Inform operations and policy, and implement design/build decisions, through the application of sound scientific research and principles that consider threats, vulnerabilities, and cost-benefit calculations;
Become a knowledge-sharing exemplar of a forward-thinking, resilient port authority; and
Work with key influencers and decision makers to strengthen understanding of the human, national, and economic security implications of extreme weather, changing climate, and anthropogenic threats to Massport's facilities and the region.

Key Strategies and Initiatives

Using the combined strategies of decisive convening, robust research, capital improvements and planning, training exercises, and operational preparedness, we are poised to reach our goals of improving resiliency for overall infrastructure and operations and restoring operations during and after disruptive events in a safe and economically viable time frame. Examples of Massport’s ongoing efforts include:

Conduct long-term strategic assessments of Massport’s resilience capability to identify risks and relevant climate impacts, assess and address vulnerabilities, and appropriately adjust adaptation plans.
Plan for the longevity of capital investments and critical infrastructure through sustainable design and climate preparedness. This includes executing infrastructure-specific designs and specifications and ensuring projects comply with standards outlined in Massport’s Floodproofing Design Guide and Sustainability and Resiliency Design Guidelines (SRDGs).
Provide tools and educational opportunities to staff, tenants, and other key stakeholders to enhance understanding of climate change and to facilitate management oversight and response to storm events impacting Massport infrastructure.
Conduct strategic workshops with key stakeholders to review and continuously improve its Flood Operations Plans.
Conduct training exercises and test deployment of temporary flood barriers at critical facilities to support climate readiness.
Incorporate resiliency into Massport’s Stormwater Pollution & Prevention Program (SWPPP) for Boston Logan tenants as well as its Environmental Management Systems.
Collaborate with internal and external partners to prepare for the effects of climate change; this includes involvement with regional and local resiliency planning efforts, collaboration on research projects, sharing best practices, and more.

More in this Section