SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1370        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2285

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Jacob R. Oliveira

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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 electrifying Regional Transit Authorities.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1370        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2285

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 electrifying Regional Transit Authorities.

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. Section 1 of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following definitions:-

“Electric vehicles” are vehicles that rely solely on electric motors for propulsion and includes non-combustion vehicles.

SECTION 2. Section 6 of chapter 161B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (r), the following paragraph:-

(s) The authorities shall operate electric vehicles with a priority for operating such buses on routes serving environmental justice populations as defined in section 62 of chapter 30 of the General Laws. Authorities shall conduct robust community outreach and engagement with residents of environmental justice populations, municipal officials in cities and towns that have environmental justice populations, and with transportation and environmental justice advocates.  The authorities shall implement electrification along all regional transit authorities by no later than December 31, 2035 and meet the following procurement targets.

The Secretary, in consultation with the executive office for administration and finance, shall require that new electric vehicles purchased by the authorities shall be electric vehicles according to the following deadlines: (i) 40 per cent of all purchases in 2025; (ii) 60 per cent of all purchases in 2028; (iii) 80 per cent of all purchases in 2032; and (iv) 90 per cent of all purchases in 2034.

The authorities shall report annually beginning June 30, 2024 to the Regional Transit Authority Council pursuant to Section 27 of chapter 161B the progress of electrifying the bus fleet. As part of the public reports, authorities shall explain the cost analysis of all procurements of fossil fuel infrastructure and the reasons for procuring internal combustion engines and fossil fuel infrastructure in lieu of electric vehicles and zero-emission infrastructure.

SECTION 3. The department of transportation shall establish a central planning and procurement office by August 30, 2024.  The central planning and procurement office shall be tasked with technical, planning, grant writing, procurement, and worker retraining support for implementation of the electric vehicle bus rollout plans.  The department of transportation central planning and procurement office shall create an electric vehicle bus rollout plan as described in section 78 and chapter 179 of the Acts of 2022 for each authority by June 30, 2025.

Any employees who become unemployed as a result of the transition to electric buses from implementation of this act will be provided with free retraining options and hiring assistance to transition to another role. The employers of any labor required to design, build, and maintain infrastructure related to RTA electric buses will pay a prevailing wage, be subject to project labor agreements, and at a minimum remain neutral to unionization efforts.

The department of transportation in consultation with the Secretary shall identify sources of funding to support the implementation of the electric vehicle bus rollout plans and may pursue federal funding opportunities to support electric vehicle penetration throughout the Commonwealth in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 21N.