SECTION 1: Section 1 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is amended by inserting the following definition: -

“Combustible fuel facilities”, infrastructure involving the processing, storage, transmission, or distribution of combustible fuel sources, including but not limited to oil, natural gas, renewable natural gas, and hydrogen.

SECTION 2: Section 69J of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, at the end thereof the following: -

No new combustible fuel facility shall be approved, and no expansion of an existing combustible fuel facility shall be approved unless required for the safety of the public, until 2026 at the earliest.

SECTION 3: Section 69K of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, at the end thereof the following: -

No new combustible fuel facility shall be granted a petition for a certificate, and no expansion of an existing combustible fuel facility shall be granted a petition for a certificate unless required for the safety of the public until 2026 at the earliest.

SECTION 4: Section 30 of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is amended by striking out, in line 1 the words “a gas or” and inserting in place thereof the following word: -”an”.

SECTION 5: Said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 86 the following section:-

Section 86A. A town where no gas company exists in active operation, or where no person owns or operates the manufacture and sale of gas, no gas company, nor any other person, shall dig up and open the streets, lanes, and highways of such town in order to construct a combustible fuel facility.