HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3180        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 762

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Carolyn C. Dykema

_________________

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 relative to maintaining adequate water supplies through effective drought management.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

1/18/2019

Louis L. Kafka

8th Norfolk

1/18/2019

Shawn Dooley

9th Norfolk

1/22/2019

Paul A. Schmid, III

8th Bristol

1/22/2019

Christine P. Barber

34th Middlesex

1/23/2019

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

1/24/2019

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

1/24/2019

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

1/24/2019

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

3rd Berkshire

1/25/2019

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

1/25/2019

James K. Hawkins

2nd Bristol

1/25/2019

Tram T. Nguyen

18th Essex

1/27/2019

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

1/28/2019

Danielle W. Gregoire

4th Middlesex

1/28/2019

Daniel J. Hunt

13th Suffolk

1/28/2019

Daniel J. Ryan

2nd Suffolk

1/28/2019

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

13th Middlesex

1/28/2019

Natalie M. Higgins

4th Worcester

1/28/2019

Jonathan Hecht

29th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Peter Capano

11th Essex

1/29/2019

Joan Meschino

3rd Plymouth

1/29/2019

Brian W. Murray

10th Worcester

1/29/2019

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

1/29/2019

Marjorie C. Decker

25th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Denise Provost

27th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Jay D. Livingstone

8th Suffolk

1/29/2019

Maria Duaime Robinson

6th Middlesex

1/29/2019

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

1/30/2019

Kate Hogan

3rd Middlesex

1/30/2019

Tommy Vitolo

15th Norfolk

1/30/2019

Bradford Hill

4th Essex

1/30/2019

Mary S. Keefe

15th Worcester

1/30/2019

Anne M. Gobi

Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex

1/30/2019

Hannah Kane

11th Worcester

1/30/2019

Jennifer E. Benson

37th Middlesex

1/31/2019

Denise C. Garlick

13th Norfolk

1/31/2019

José F. Tosado

9th Hampden

1/31/2019

Bradley H. Jones, Jr.

20th Middlesex

1/31/2019

Harold P. Naughton, Jr.

12th Worcester

1/31/2019

James Arciero

2nd Middlesex

1/31/2019

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

1/31/2019

Ann-Margaret Ferrante

5th Essex

1/31/2019

Richard M. Haggerty

30th Middlesex

1/31/2019

Christina A. Minicucci

14th Essex

1/31/2019

Michelle L. Ciccolo

15th Middlesex

1/31/2019

John C. Velis

4th Hampden

1/31/2019

Joseph W. McGonagle, Jr.

28th Middlesex

2/1/2019

Tami L. Gouveia

14th Middlesex

2/1/2019

Patrick Joseph Kearney

4th Plymouth

2/1/2019

Natalie M. Blais

1st Franklin

2/1/2019

Ruth B. Balser

12th Middlesex

2/1/2019

William C. Galvin

6th Norfolk

2/1/2019

Michael J. Barrett

Third Middlesex

2/1/2019

Paul W. Mark

2nd Berkshire

2/1/2019

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

2/1/2019

Rebecca L. Rausch

Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex

2/1/2019

Frank A. Moran

17th Essex

2/1/2019

Linda Dean Campbell

15th Essex

2/1/2019

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

2/1/2019

Mindy Domb

3rd Hampshire

2/1/2019

Carlos González

10th Hampden

2/1/2019


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3180        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 762

By Ms. Dykema of Holliston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 762) of Carolyn C. Dykema and others relative to maintaining adequate water supplies through effective drought management.  Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

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

_______________

 

An Act relative to maintaining adequate water supplies through effective drought management.

 

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

Chapter 21A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 2A the following section:-

Section 2B. (a) There shall be established within the office the drought management task force. The secretary and the director of the Massachusetts emergency management agency shall appoint to the task force officials from state agencies and professional organizations with responsibility for areas likely to be affected by drought conditions; representatives of agencies that provide data used to assess drought conditions or that have the ability to respond to drought conditions; and public health and safety and environmental professionals, and may invite officials from federal agencies to participate. The secretary and the director shall have joint responsibility for coordinating the task force. The task force shall meet at least quarterly, but it shall meet at least monthly during drought. The task force shall be staffed by a director appointed by the secretary.

(b) The task force shall assist in collecting and assessing technical information, facilitating coordination and communication among task force members, agencies and the public, and provide recommendations to the secretary, the secretary of public safety and security and the governor on the level of drought and responses thereto. The task force shall also make recommendations for the end of drought, or reduction of the drought level.

(c) The secretary may order water conservation measures, including limits on nonessential outdoor water use, based on the severity of drought in drought regions to protect public health, safety or the environment. Such water conservation measures by the secretary shall apply uniformly to all water users within a drought region.

(d) Notwithstanding section 27C of chapter 29 of the General Laws or any ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation to the contrary, cities and towns shall enforce, water conservation restrictions issued by the secretary to the fullest extent permitted by law.