Cities and towns in Massachusetts struggling to repair decrepit dams and aged seawalls got a belated holiday gift from state lawmakers, who in a rare New Year’s Eve session approved a bill to create a $17 million loan pool to help communities mend or remove these structures.

The legislation comes a year after a state auditor’s report identified 100 “high hazardous” dams in need of $60 million in repairs. An earlier report from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation identified $1 billion in needed repairs to 140 miles of seawalls meandering along the Bay State’s coast.