SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1814        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1785

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Marc R. Pacheco

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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 bill:

An Act to protect our environment and update our climate action plan.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1814        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1785

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act to protect our environment and update our climate action plan.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no power generating facility in operation on and after January 1, 2017 shall utilize or gasify coal, and no utility may purchase and seek to sell electricity, in or out of state, from coal-fired power plant facilities.

(b) On or before January first, two thousand eighteen, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs shall publish a plan detailing:

(1) how the Commonwealth will provide support for all communities that hosted operational coal plants as of January first, two thousand ten to enable a full site transition toward something that meets the needs of the towns as laid out by their elected municipal representatives; and

(2) how the Commonwealth will provide re-training and employment placement support for all currently unemployed workers who worked in a coal-burning power plant operational on or after January first, two thousand ten.

(c) Section 26A of chapter 21 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding, after the definition of “Effluent limitation,” the following definition:-

“Fluid,” means any material or substance which flows or moves whether in semi-solid, liquid, sludge, gas, or any other form or state.

(d) Said section 26A of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding, after the definition of “FWPCA,” the following definitions:-

“Gas,” means all natural gas, whether hydrocarbon or nonhydrocarbon, including hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, casinghead gas, and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil.

“Hydraulic fracturing,” means the process of pumping a fluid into or under the surface of the ground in order to create fractures in rock for the purpose of the production or recovery of oil or gas

“Oil,” means crude petroleum, oil, and all hydrocarbons, regardless of specific gravity, that are in the liquid phase in the reservoir and are produced at the wellhead in liquid form.

“Oil and gas,” means oil and gas collectively, or either oil or gas, as the context may require to give effect to the purposes of this chapter.

(e) Said section 26A of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting in the definition of “Pollutant” after the word “effluent,” in line 36, the following words:-

“hydraulic fracturing fluid,”

(f) Section 27 of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, after clause 13, in line 83, the following new clause:-

(14) Enforce prohibitions on drilling, waste treatment and disposal, and mining activities which have been enacted to protect the water quality and the natural resources of the commonwealth.

(g) Chapter 21 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 39 the following section:-

Section 39A. (a) No person may engage in hydraulic fracturing in the commonwealth.

(b) No person may collect, store, treat, or dispose of wastewater hydraulic fracturing fluid, wastewater solids, drill cuttings or other byproducts from hydraulic fracturing within the commonwealth.

(h) Section 42 of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “commonwealth,” in line 3, the following words:-

“or into an injection well or into a treatment works in the commonwealth.”

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, commencing 180 days after the enactment of this legislation, no person shall construct or install any new oil or coal generation facility or any fossil fuel generation facility that raises the state’s carbon footprint.

SECTION 3. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:—

“Fossil fuel companies” shall mean companies identified by a Global Industry Classification System code in one of the following sectors: (1) coal and consumable fuels; (2) integrated oil and gas; (3) oil and gas exploration and production.

“Public fund” shall be defined as the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust or the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, within 180 days of the effective date of this act, the public fund shall identify all of the fossil fuel companies in which the fund owns holdings and shall divest all publicly-traded holdings of each company identified within 5 years of the effective date of this act. At no time shall the public fund acquire new assets or securities of fossil fuel companies.

SECTION 4. (a) Section 1 of chapter 21N of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 60, after the word “chapter” the following words:- “; or (iii) an economy-wide price on carbon”

(b) Said section 1 of said chapter 21N, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 54, the word:- “or”

(c) Subsection (b) of said section 7 of said chapter 21N of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 15, the word “may” and inserting in place thereof the word:- “shall”

(d) Said subjection (b) of said section 7 of said chapter 21N of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 16, after the word “mechanisms” the word:- “, including, but not limited to, an economy-wide price on carbon,

(e) Said subsection (b) of said section 7 of said chapter 21 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the last sentence the following sentences:- “All revenue derived from said economy-wide price on carbon shall be placed into a Clean Energy and Transportation Fund. 20 percent of the fund shall be used for public transportation and energy projects which will reduce carbon emissions and help Massachusetts transition from fossil fuels.  The remaining revenue shall be returned to all Massachusetts residents through a revenue rebate program established by the Department of Revenue.

SECTION 5.  (a) Within 180 days of the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall identify Massachusetts public, private and agricultural enterprises providing methane emissions.

(b) Within one year of the effective date of this act, the Department of Environmental Protection shall promulgate regulations to encourage and provide incentives for increased use of anaerobic digesters.

SECTION 6. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary the state shall establish a goal of generating 20% of our total electricity use from solar energy by 2025. Within one year of the effective date of this Act, the Department of Energy Resources shall report back to the legislature with a comprehensive plan to achieve this goal, considering numerous policy options including: (1) increasing the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard; (2) adding a carve-out within the RPS for solar energy; (3) increasing the net metering cap; (4) providing purchase incentives for solar, and increasing energy storage and microgrids within the state. The department’s analysis shall also specifically consider ways to expand solar access to low and moderate-income consumers.

(b) Within one year of the effective date of this act, the Department of Energy Resources shall promulgate regulations to provide incentives to encourage increased use of smart meters in the state.  Said incentives may include, but are not limited to: (1) savings for utilities if a certain number of customers adopt smart meters; and (2) offer utility bill savings for customers who adopt smart meters.

(c) Within one year of the effective date of this act, the Department of Public Safety shall promulgate regulations to work toward updating and strengthening the Stretch Energy Code.

(d) Within one year of the effective date of this act, the Department of Transportation shall promulgate regulations to develop and implement a clean fuel standard.  Said clean fuel standard shall aim to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels, while accounting for the full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of all fuels.