HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 989        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 98

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Paul A. Schmid III

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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 protecting the viability of farms in the Commonwealth.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 989        FILED ON: 1/17/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 98

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act protecting the viability of farms in the Commonwealth.

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 30A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:-

Section 18. All state and regional agencies, boards and commissions shall, before any rule, regulation, or other regulatory requirement is promulgated, make public and post in writing whether such rule, regulation, or other regulatory requirement will potentially have an adverse impact on commercial agricultural operations based in the Commonwealth. For the purposes of this section, “agricultural” shall mean pertaining to agriculture as defined in section one A of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight. Further, if such rule, regulation, or other regulatory requirement is determined to have such a potential impact on agriculture, the responsible agency, board, or commission, in conjunction with the department of food and agriculture, shall conduct an impact assessment to determine the extent of such impact, including, but not limited to, the effect on future land use and related environmental impacts, including costs, and submit to the joint committee on natural resources and agriculture and to the house and senate committees on ways and means a copy of their findings at least forty-five days prior to promulgation.

All city and town agencies, boards, and commissions shall, before enacting any rule, regulation, law, bylaw, ordinance, or other regulatory requirement that will potentially have an adverse impact on commercial agricultural operations based in the Commonwealth, complete a form prescribed by the department of food and agriculture at least ninety days prior to final enactment of the regulatory requirement. In the case of by-laws, ordinances, and other requirements subject to review by the Attorney General, such form shall be submitted to the department of food and agriculture on the same date a by-law, ordinance, or other requirement is submitted to the Attorney General. No regulatory action described in this section, except those of an emergency nature expiring in six months or less for the purposes of protecting health and safety of persons, shall take effect until the provisions of this section have been complied with.            

If the impact assessment yields that such proposed rule, regulation, or other regulatory requirement will have a negative impact of $500 per year and/or 20 hours per year in labor in cost a copy of these findings shall be submitted to the board of agriculture for comments and suggestions to mitigate such cost or negative impact and their findings are to be returned to the  joint committee on natural resources and agriculture and to the house and senate committees on ways and means no more than 15 days prior to promulgation.