An Act providing relief of 40B regulations for municipalities sheltering individuals on behalf of DHCD

This bill amends Massachusetts law to exempt municipalities from specific affordable housing requirements when they are ordered by state or federal agencies to provide emergency shelter for homeless populations. The legislation applies to cities and towns that must host more than ten individuals in emergency shelters on behalf of agencies like the Department of Housing and Economic Development. Under the new rules, these municipalities would be granted a five-year "safe harbor" period, allowing them to temporarily skip the requirement to maintain a 10% inventory of subsidized housing units. The primary goal is to relieve local governments of certain regulatory burdens during times when they are managing large-scale emergency sheltering efforts.