Chapter 40 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting

the following new section:—

Chapter 40, Section 4J. The Statewide Municipal Mutual

Assistance Program

(a)(i) “The statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement

for public works” is defined as a comprehensive statewide agreement

entered into by participating governmental units for the

facilitation and provision of sharing of public works resources

across jurisdictional lines in the case of public works incidents

that require assistance from one or more additional municipalities.

(ii) “Governmental unit” is defined as a city, town, county, district

as defined in Section 1A, however constituted, water or

sewer commission established under the provisions of

chapter 40N or pursuant to a special law, fire district, or other

political entity of the Commonwealth or its municipalities.

(b) There shall be a statewide mutual assistance agreement

developed for Public Works activities, by the Statewide Municipal

Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee within 90 days of the

enactment of this statute, that covers public works services, personnel,

equipment, supplies and facilities to prepare for, prevent,

mitigate, respond to and recover from incidents that require assistance

from additional municipalities, consistent with the provisions

herein. Nothing in this section shall establish or apply to

mutual aid agreements among local public safety agencies. All

351 municipalities of the Commonwealth shall be automatically

enrolled in the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement,

however, to continue participation in the program, the chief executive

officer of a city or town, or as otherwise specified by statute

or charter must sign the mutual assistance agreement within 180

days of the enactment of the legislation. If a community does not

execute the agreement it is assumed that the community will not

be a participant. Participation shall exist for a period of ten years.

Other governmental units not under the direction and control of a

commonwealth municipality shall be authorized to sign on to the

statewide mutual aid agreement on a form filed with and prescribed

by the Statewide Municipal Mutual Assistance Advisory

Committee. In addition, governmental units from a municipality

directly adjacent to a commonwealth municipality, but in another

state, shall be able to sign on to the statewide mutual aid agreement,

if duly authorized, on a form prescribed by the Statewide

Municipal Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee.

(c) There will be an annual open enrollment period for those

communities who are not part of the Statewide Municipal Mutual

Assistance Program. The date of the open enrollment period and

any other requirements will be established by the Statewide

Municipal Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee. In addition, a

community may opt out of the program at any time by informing

the Statewide Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee, in writing,

of its intent to terminate participation in the program. This

request for removal from the program shall be executed by the

chief executive officer of al city or town, or as otherwise specified

by statute or charter.

(d) There shall be a Statewide Municipal Mutual Assistance

Advisory Committee that shall consist of one appointee made by

the following parties: the Massachusetts Highway Association, the

New England Chapter of the American Public Works Association

(Massachusetts Representative), the New England Water Environment

Association (Massachusetts Representative), New England

Water Works Association (Massachusetts Representative), the

Massachusetts Tree Wardens Association and the Massachusetts

Municipal Association. One appointee from the Executive Office

of Public Safety and one member from each of the state’s

Regional Planning Agencies shall serve as Ex-officio members.

(e) The Statewide Municipal Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee

shall develop procedural plans, protocols and programs for

intrastate cooperation to be used by public works agencies in

response to an incident.

(f) Each participating governmental unit shall identify no less

than one, but no more than three points of contact within its public

works agency, and shall provide for contacts consistent with the

governmental unit’s so-called continuation of operation/continuation

of governance plan.

(g) A participating governmental unit may request the assistance

of one or more participating governmental units to:

(1) Manage public works incident response or recovery if they

do not possess the ability to do so effectively, independently; or

(2) Conduct public works incident response or recovery related

exercises, testing or training.

(h) A request for assistance to a participating governmental unit

shall be made by and to: the chief executive officer of a city or

town, or as otherwise specified by statute or charter, or one of

three designated points of contact. An oral request shall be allowable

but must be followed in writing no later than twenty-four

hours after the oral request is made.

The request must include the following information:

(1) A description of the public works incident response and

recovery functions for which assistance is needed.

(2) The amount and type of public works services, equipment,

supplies, materials, personnel, and other resources requested and a

point of contact at the location.

(3) The place and time where assistance is needed and where

the point of contact will be.

(i) The responding governmental unit shall not be required to

respond to a request and may choose to do so only if responding

would not jeopardize the participating municipality's own reasonable

protection.

(j) The dispatch of public works resources under the statewide

mutual assistance agreement shall operate under the direction of

their parent agency. Tactical operational control of resources shall

be under the direction and control of the requesting jurisdiction.

The administration and coordination of the statewide mutual aid

agreement shall be the responsibility of the Statewide Municipal

Mutual Assistance Advisory Committee.

(k) Reimbursement for any and all public works services performed

under the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement

is presumed, but may be waived in writing by a participating

municipality prior or subsequent to responding to an incident

through a supplemental agreement. This section shall not provide

for reimbursement of any kind outside of what is agreed to by the

individual governmental units.

(l) Notwithstanding section 4A of chapter 40 of the general

laws, the chief executive officer of a city or town, or as otherwise

specified by statute or charter,, is hereby authorized to enter into

supplemental agreements on behalf of such unit with other governmental

units to further define the rights and responsibilities of

each party for the provision of mutual aid pursuant to the

statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement established

herein.

(m) While in transit to, returning from, and during a mutual

assistance response for another governmental unit, a participating

public works employee of a governmental unit, or volunteer

acting officially under the authorization of the governmental unit,

that is a party to the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement

shall maintain the right of indemnification granted by law, or

by his home governmental unit, should it exist, for all claims

arising out of any action within the scope of employment in accordance

with the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement

pursuant to this section.

(n) All public works employees and equipment requested and

deployed pursuant to the statewide municipal mutual assistance

agreement shall be covered for liability, immunity, employee

benefits, worker’s compensation and insurance, by their employer, as

if they were in their own jurisdiction. Participating governmental

units may, by supplemental agreement with one or more participating

governmental units, address issues such as but not limited

to pay and benefits for government unit employees and volunteers,

insurance, indemnification, injury compensation and other

operational matters related to services provided under a mutual

aid response.

(o) Barring a supplemental agreement to the contrary, public

works employees shall receive the same compensation as if they

were operating in their own jurisdiction while performing services

under the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement.

(p) All activities performed under the statewide municipal

mutual assistance agreement by governmental units are hereby

declared to be governmental functions. Neither the parties, nor,

except in cases of willful misconduct, gross negligence, or bad

faith, their personnel complying with or reasonably attempting to

comply with the mutual aid agreement or any ordinance, rule, or

regulation enacted or promulgated pursuant to the provisions of

this section shall not be held liable for the death of or injury to

persons or for damage to property as a result of any such activity.

(q) Public works employees of a governmental unit that is a

party to the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement shall

be granted recognition of their respective jurisdiction, authority,

licenses or permits outside their original jurisdiction while operating

under the statewide municipal mutual assistance agreement.

(r) This section shall not affect inter-local agreements established

pursuant to section 4A of chapter 40 of the general laws.

(s) The Statewide Municipal Mutual Assistance Committee

shall develop and make available to participating governmental

units forms to facilitate requests for aid, and to facilitate record

keeping of movement of public works equipment and personnel.