SENATE DOCKET, NO. 540        FILED ON: 1/19/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 158

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Benjamin B. Downing

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying resolve:

Resolve establishing a commission to enhance competitiveness in plastics manufacturing.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Benjamin B. Downing

Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden


SENATE DOCKET, NO. 540        FILED ON: 1/19/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 158

By Mr. Downing, a petition (accompanied by resolve, Senate, No. 158) of Benjamin B. Downing for legislation to establish a commission to enhance competitiveness in plastics manufacturing.  Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

_______________

 

Resolve establishing a commission to enhance competitiveness in plastics manufacturing.

 

Resolved, that a special commission is hereby established to study the availability of safe, cost-effective alternatives to bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastics manufacturing. The commission shall consist of five members as follows: the director of the office of technical assistance or his designee, the commissioner of the department of public health or his designee, the director of the Massachusetts office of business development or his designee, the director of the Massachusetts manufacturing extension partnership or his designee, and a representative of the toxics use reduction institute at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

The commission shall sponsor an open exchange with plastics manufacturers in the Commonwealth and examine the costs and benefits of implementing available alternatives. The commission?s study shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of implementing alternatives, the potential of directing existing financial incentives including state and federal grants and tax credits toward the implementation of safer alternative in plastics manufacturing, or the need for new incentives to be developed. The recommendations and findings shall be filed with the clerks of the House and Senate, the chairs of the joint committee on the environment, natural resources and agriculture and the chairs of the joint committee on public health no later than June 1, 2012.