HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5340        FILED ON: 8/11/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5185

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act requiring the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to develop commuter rail system plans to maximize ridership returns on investment and meet statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to require the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to develop commuter rail system plans to maximize ridership returns on investment and meet statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

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

(a) The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority shall develop and implement short-term, medium-term and long-term plans for each line of the commuter rail system to ensure that the rail system is fully integrated into the commonwealth’s transportation system and designed to make the system more productive, equitable and decarbonized. Each plan shall seek to maximize the ridership returns on investment and shall be designed to meet statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits established in chapter 21N of the General Laws.

(b)(1)  For the short-term plan, the authority shall include immediate action items to operate electric locomotive service along the Providence/Stoughton line, the Fairmont line, the line from the cities of Boston to the cities of Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Salem and Beverly, any line provided for electrification under this act and any other line identified by the Authority. The plan shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a detailed critical path schedule for each phase; (ii) cash flow needs organized by fiscal year through completion of each phase; (iii) a regional strategy to receive all necessary environmental approvals and permits; (iv) a list of needs from utilities to achieve adequate and redundant power to update the system; (v) target completion dates; and (vi) a conceptual work plan and a schedule outlining the work to be pursued in 2022 and 2023. The authority shall include, in any capital plan approved after the effective date of this act, purchases necessary to begin the transition to electric service on the rail lines listed in this section and no agreement to purchase commuter rail trains shall be diesel locomotives after December 31, 2030.

(2)  For the medium and long-term plans, the plans shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a comprehensive and specific plan to electrify the remainder of the commuter rail fleet for all lines as necessary to maximize the ridership returns on investment and meet statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits established in chapter 21N of the General Laws; (ii) a list of necessary updates to layover and maintenance facilities; (iii) a list of necessary infrastructure upgrades; and (iv) a schedule for fleet design, testing, procurement and deployment.

(c)  The authority shall publish and receive public comment on its short-term plan under paragraph (1) of subsection (b) by November 1, 2022 or 180 days after the effective date of this act, whichever is later. The authority shall publish and receive public comment on its medium and long-term plans under paragraph (2) of said subsection (b) by December 31, 2023 or 180 days after the effective date of this act, whichever is later.