SENATE DOCKET, NO. 472        FILED ON: 1/16/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2160

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Patrick M. O'Connor

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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 relative to the impact of natural gas transfer facilities on public health.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 472        FILED ON: 1/16/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2160

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2214 OF 2021-2022.]

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 relative to the impact of natural gas transfer facilities on public health.

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. There is hereby established a moratorium of the issuance of permits for the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas within the legal boundaries of the Commonwealth.

SECTION 2. (a) A school of public health within the state university of Massachusetts shall conduct a comprehensive health impact assessment following a model recommended by the centers for disease control and prevention to examine potential public health impacts that could be caused by the extraction or transportation or compression of natural gas. For the purposes of this act, health impact assessment shall mean a combination of procedures, methods, and tools by which a policy, program, or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population.

(b) Prior to the commencement of such assessment, the school of public health conducting such assessment shall prepare a scoping document that will establish the parameters of the health impact assessment. The scoping document shall include the analyses contained in this act, as well as any other potential analyses to be conducted, and shall be subject to public review, comment and revision.

SECTION 3. The comprehensive health impact assessment shall be submitted, along with any recommendations or drafts of legislation, to the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the chairs of the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse not later than December 1, 2024.