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Massachusetts Signs $30M Tax Break for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

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Massachusetts Bets $30 Million on Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a supplemental budget bill on June 16, 2026, that includes the state’s first tax incentive for sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF. The credit is $10 million per year for three years, aimed at nudging airlines to adopt fuel made from cooking oil, plant and animal materials, or synthetic sources instead of conventional petroleum-based jet fuel.

$30 million Total value of Massachusetts’ new SAF tax credit over three years, signed June 16, 2026

The aviation sector is one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. Commercial aviation accounts for roughly 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions, but its total climate impact, factoring in contrails and other non-CO2 effects, may be two to four times higher. SAF is widely promoted as the near-term solution because existing aircraft engines can use it without modification.

Massport’s CEO Drove the Push for This Tax Break

The legislation would not have moved without Rich Davey, CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), who led a working group that recommended the credit. Davey previously served as Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and head of the MBTA. Massport operates Logan International Airport, which makes the authority a direct financial stakeholder in whether airlines adopt lower-emission fuels at scale.

Critics, including some environmental groups, argue that SAF is not the climate solution its backers claim. Concerns center on the carbon accounting for crop-based feedstocks, land-use competition, and the risk that SAF investment delays more major changes like direct electrification and demand reduction. Proponents counter that drop-in fuels are the only viable path for long-haul aviation in the near term.

The $10 million annual credit is structured to attract airlines operating at Logan to increase their SAF purchases. No production facilities are currently based in Massachusetts; the state is subsidizing demand, not supply.

What You Can Do Now

  1. Call the Massachusetts State House at (617) 722-2000 and ask your state representative and senator to require public reporting on which airlines claim the SAF tax credit and how much SAF they actually purchased. Without transparency requirements, the credit is unverifiable.

  2. Contact Massport’s board directly. Submit public comment through Massport’s website asking the authority to publish annual SAF adoption data at Logan Airport and specify which feedstocks qualify under the credit.

  3. Contact the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection at (617) 292-5500 and ask the agency to establish minimum lifecycle-emissions standards for SAF that qualifies for the credit. Not all SAF feedstocks deliver the same carbon reduction.

  4. Find your Massachusetts state legislator at malegislature.gov and urge them to add a sunset review clause before the 2029 renewal so the credit’s actual emissions impact can be evaluated before more public funds are committed.

Sources

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