HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3547        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2873

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Jonathan Hecht

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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 promoting zero-emission vehicles.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3547        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2873

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act promoting zero-emission vehicles.

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: Chapter 6C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 57A the following section:-

Section 57B:

(1) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, upon registration or change of registration, the registrar of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to disclose upon request the type of vehicle and address of a registered owner for electric vehicles to a distribution company or municipal light plant if the registered address is within the relevant service territory.  The information shall be simultaneously disclosed to the Department of Public Utilities and Department of Energy Resources.

(2) Every quarter, a distribution company or municipal lighting plant, or its agent, may request the type of vehicle and address of each electric vehicle newly registered within their service territory.  Under penalty of perjury, this information may only be used for the purposes of identifying where an electric vehicle is registered and provision of information on programs for electric vehicle owners.

(3) Within 15 days of receiving residence address information from the department pursuant to this section, a distribution company or municipal lighting plant shall provide a clear, express disclosure to the electric vehicle owner that his or her residence address information is permitted by law to be shared with the distribution company or municipal lighting plant. The disclosure shall not contain marketing information or a solicitation for the purchase of goods or services, but may contain information on electricity tariffs and energy management programs.

(4) Confidential home address and type of vehicle information of electric vehicle owners disclosed pursuant to this section shall only be used for the purpose of identifying where an electric vehicle is registered and the provision of information on programs for electric vehicle owners and shall not be used or disclosed for any other purpose, including for purposes of identifying the individual or individuals residing at the address, or to any other person.

(5) The distribution company or municipal lighting plant, and its agents, shall not sell, share, or further disclose, including to any subsidiaries, the residence address or type of vehicle information of electric vehicle owners obtained pursuant to this paragraph, or name information determined by matching residence information against the corporation or utility's customer records.

SECTION 2. The commissioner of the department of energy resources is hereby authorized and directed to apportion proceeds from: (1) monies generated by all market-based compliance mechanism emission control programs, including, but not limited to, the cap and trade program established under the NOx Allowance Trading Program and the carbon dioxide allowance trading mechanism established under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as defined in subsection (a) of section 22 of chapter 164; (2) amounts from alternative compliance payments established and administered under 225 CMR 14.00 adopted under section 11F; and (3) other funds as determined by the department of energy resources to establish a grant program providing rebates to consumers to defray the expense of the purchase or lease of a zero-emissions vehicle, which shall take effect upon the exhaustion of funds currently allocated to the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles program, referred to hereafter as the MOR-EV program. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to determine qualifying criteria for zero-emission vehicles, to set rebate values, and to provide for the administration of the program in a timely fashion that ensures no incentive gap between the MOR-EV program and the rebate program authorized herein. Rebate values shall be set no lower than MOR-EV program rebate values. The commissioner shall review the rules and regulations of the program on a biannual basis. If the commissioner deems it appropriate to make any changes to the program, he or she shall prepare a report to be submitted to the house and senate ways and means committee and the joint committee on transportation detailing and providing a rationale for the changes made.

SECTION 3. Not later than six months after the effective date of this act, the department of energy resources shall publish a guide to assist cities and towns to develop programs that allow residents unable to install off-street electric vehicle charging stations to install curbside electric vehicle charging stations proximate to their residences.

SECTION 4. Not later than six months after the effective date of this act, distribution companies, as defined in section 1 of chapter 164 of the general laws, shall submit to the department of public utilities for approval proposals to offer an opt-in time of use rate, defined for the purposes of this section as a rate designed to reflect the cost of providing electricity to a consumer charging an electric vehicle at an electric vehicle charging station at different times of the day, but shall not include demand charges. Such proposals shall include a separate opt-in residential time of use rate for electric vehicle owners or lessees. For department approval, such proposals shall encourage energy conservation, optimal and efficient use of a distribution company’s facilities and resources, and equitable rates for electric consumers.

SECTION 5. Not later than six months after the effective date of this act, the department of energy resources and department of transportation shall file a report with the joint committee on transportation, identifying state routes, U.S. routes, and interstate highways in Massachusetts that are high priority for public electric vehicle charging station installation. Determinations of priority shall be based on total traffic volume on the route, volume of trips on the route that exceed 50 miles, importance of the route for accessing employment centers, tourist attractions, and other frequent destinations, and other factors as detailed in the report.

SECTION 6. Section 2 of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 387, after the words “section seven D.”, the following words:-

The registrar shall issue, without additional registration fees, distinctive license plates for plug-in electric vehicles upon their initial registration with the registry or upon the renewal of their registration if a plug-in electric vehicle does not yet have said license plate.

SECTION 7: Section 3 of chapter 448 of the Session Laws of 2016 is hereby amended by striking out the word “may” in the first sentence and inserting in place thereof:- “shall”