Section 4. Any coastal city or town, acting by and through its mayor in the case of a city, the town manager in a town having a town council form of government and the board of selectmen in any other town, may apply to the secretary of environmental affairs for assistance to undertake a harbor or waterfront improvement or a harbor plan. An application for assistance pursuant to this chapter shall represent no more than fifty per cent of the estimated total cost of the improvement and in no case shall exceed two million dollars for improvements in designated port areas and one million five hundred thousand dollars in all other areas. The commonwealth shall reimburse no more than three million dollars to communities with designated port areas and at least one project within these areas or two million dollars total to a city or town applying for funding for more than one harbor or waterfront project. The secretary of environmental affairs is hereby authorized to utilize seventy per cent of the funding provided for in this chapter, for public facilities used primarily for commercial purposes.

Said secretary of environmental affairs is hereby authorized to utilize ten per cent of the funding in this chapter for grants to prepare harbor plans. An application for assistance in the preparation of a harbor plan shall represent no more than fifty per cent of the total cost of said plan. The secretary of environmental affairs is hereby authorized to approve applications for improvements and plans for up to thirty-three per cent of the funding provided for this chapter in any one year.

Said applicant must provide a cash or inkind match with a value equal to at least fifty per cent of the total cost of the improvement which may originate from any source including grants, bequests, gifts, or contribution by the federal, state or municipal government or by an individual, corporation or association.