SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2837

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

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

_______________

in section 5, by adding after proposed section 30 of chapter 21A of the General Laws the following section:-

“Section 31. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“Charger”, a device having at least 1 charging port and connector for charging electric vehicles; provided, however, that “charger” shall also mean electric vehicle supply equipment.

“Charging network provider”, the entity that operates the digital communication network that remotely manages the chargers which may include charging station operators and manufacture chargers.

“Charging station”, a charger or group of chargers and the area in the immediate vicinity of such charger or group of chargers, which may include, at the discretion of the regulating entity, supporting equipment, parking areas adjacent to the chargers and lanes for vehicle ingress and egress; provided, however, that a charging station may comprise only part of the property on which it is located.

“Charging station operator”, an entity that owns or provides the chargers and the supporting equipment and facilities at charging stations and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the chargers and the supporting equipment and facilities; provided, however, that such operator may delegate responsibility for certain aspects of the charging station operation and maintenance to subcontractors.

“Connector”, a device that attaches an electric vehicle to a charging port to transfer electricity; provided, however, that the term “connector” may also be referred to as a plug.

“Direct current fast charger”, a charger that enables rapid charging by delivering direct-current, or DC current, electricity directly to an electric vehicle’s battery.

“Electric vehicle”, a battery electric vehicle that is either a zero-emission vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle equipped with an on-board electrical energy storage device that can be recharged from an external source of electricity and has the capability to run on another fuel; provided, however, that “electric vehicle” shall not include a golf cart, electric bicycle or other micromobility device.

“Electric vehicle charging services”, the transfer of electric energy from an electric vehicle charging station to a battery or other storage device in an electric vehicle and related billing services, networking and operation and maintenance.

“Electric vehicle supply equipment”, a device, including at least 1 charging port and connector, for charging electric vehicles; provided, however, that the term “electric vehicle supply equipment” may also be referred to as a charger.

“Level 1”, a galvanically-connected electric vehicle supply equipment with a single-phase input voltage nominally 120 volts AC and maximum output current of not more than 16 amperes AC.

“Level 2”, a galvanically-connected electric vehicle supply equipment with a single-phase input voltage range from 208 volts to 240 volts AC and maximum output current of not more than 80 amperes AC.

“National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula program”, the federal program established pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Pub.L.117-58, pursuant to which the Federal Highway Administration provides funding to the states to facilitate the strategic, nationwide deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure and the related establishment of an interconnected, interstate network that is designed to facilitate data collection, access and reliability in association with the increased use of electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure.

“Public electric vehicle charging station”, an electric vehicle charging station located at a publicly-available parking space.

''Publicly-available parking space'', a parking space that has been designated by a property owner or lessee to be available to and accessible by the public and may include on-street parking spaces and parking spaces in surface lots or parking garages; provided, however, that “publicly-available parking space” shall not include a parking space that is part of or associated with residential real property containing not more than 4 dwelling units or that is reserved for the exclusive use of an individual driver or vehicle or for a group of drivers or vehicles, including employees, tenants, visitors, residents of a common interest development and residents of an adjacent building.

“Publicly-funded and available charging station", a public electric vehicle charging station installed on or after January 1, 2025, that has received, or expects to receive, a grant, loan or other incentive from a federal or state government source or through a charge on ratepayers and is located at a publicly available parking space.

(b) The executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall promulgate regulations to: (i) monitor the utilization or frequency of use of such chargers and charging stations; (ii) monitor the reliability and availability of such chargers and charging stations, including, but not limited to, whether reliability varies by the income of municipalities or neighborhoods or by regions of the commonwealth; and (iii) require charging network providers and charging station operators to share, free of charge, certain data fields, with third-party software developers via application programming interfaces; provided, however, that any such data sharing may be conditioned on measures to protect sensitive or confidential business information. The executive office of energy and environmental affairs may designate any of its agencies to promulgate such regulations.

(c) In promulgating regulations under this section, the executive office or its designated agency may apply different requirements to publicly-funded and available charging stations or other charging stations.

(d) Regulations promulgated under this section may vary by technology type, power levels, number of chargers per site, site ownership and according to whether chargers: (i) are networked; (ii) are public; (iii) are publicly-funded and available; (iv) are level 1, level 2 or direct current fast chargers; or (v) are or are not all-inclusive mobile solar charging stations. Such regulations may apply to charging stations other than publicly-funded and available charging stations but shall not apply to chargers or charging stations installed at a residential real property containing not more than 4 dwelling units. The executive office or its designated agency may, in its discretion, set such standards as it deems necessary for data formats that comply with electric vehicle charging industry best practices and standards.

(e) With respect to any regulations that may be promulgated pertaining to reliability, the office or its designated agency shall develop definitions of “uptime” and “exempted downtime” through a public process and in such a manner to promote, as much as is practicable, consistency with other jurisdictions and the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program requirements; provided, however, that the office or designated agency may: (i) set standards for uptime; (ii) consider which events, if any, may count as exempted downtime; and (iii) take into account the quality and condition of software and hardware.”; and

by inserting after section 36 the following section:-

“SECTION 36A.  Chapter 98 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 59.  (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“Charger”, a device having at least 1 charging port and connector for charging electric vehicles; provided, however, that “charger” shall also mean electric vehicle supply equipment.

“Charging network provider”, the entity that operates the digital communication network that remotely manages the chargers which may include charging station operators and manufacture chargers.

“Charging station”, a charger or group of chargers and the area in the immediate vicinity of such charger or group of chargers, which may include, at the discretion of the regulating entity, supporting equipment, parking areas adjacent to the chargers and lanes for vehicle ingress and egress; provided, however, that a charging station may comprise only part of the property on which it is located.

“Charging station operator”, an entity that owns or provides the chargers and the supporting equipment and facilities at charging stations and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the chargers and the supporting equipment and facilities; provided, however, that such operator may delegate responsibility for certain aspects of the charging station operation and maintenance to subcontractors.

“Connector”, a device that attaches an electric vehicle to a charging port to transfer electricity; provided, however, that the term “connector” may also be referred to as a plug.

“Direct current fast charger”, a charger that enables rapid charging by delivering direct-current, or DC current, electricity directly to an electric vehicle’s battery.

“Electric vehicle”, a battery electric vehicle that is either a zero-emission vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle equipped with an on-board electrical energy storage device that can be recharged from an external source of electricity and has the capability to run on another fuel; provided, however, that “electric vehicle” shall not include a golf cart, electric bicycle or other micromobility device.

“Electric vehicle charging services”, the transfer of electric energy from an electric vehicle charging station to a battery or other storage device in an electric vehicle and related billing services, networking and operation and maintenance.

“Electric vehicle supply equipment”, a device, including at least 1 charging port and connector, for charging electric vehicles; provided, however, that “electric vehicle supply equipment” shall also mean a charger.

“Level 1”, a galvanically-connected electric vehicle supply equipment with a single-phase input voltage nominally 120 volts AC, or alternating current, and maximum output current of not more than 16 amperes AC.

“Level 2”, a galvanically-connected electric vehicle supply equipment with a single-phase input voltage range from 208 volts to 240 volts AC, or alternating current, and maximum output current of not more than 80 amperes AC.

“Public electric vehicle charging station”, an electric vehicle charging station located at a publicly-available parking space.

''Publicly-available parking space'', a parking space that has been designated by a property owner or lessee to be available to and accessible by the public and may include on-street parking spaces and parking spaces in surface lots or parking garages; provided, however, that “publicly-available parking space” shall not include a parking space that is part of or associated with residential real property containing not more than 4 dwelling units or that is reserved for the exclusive use of an individual driver or vehicle or for a group of drivers or vehicles, including employees, tenants, visitors, residents of a common interest development and residents of an adjacent building.

“Publicly-funded and available charging station", a public electric vehicle charging station installed on or after January 1, 2025, that has received, or expects to receive, a grant, loan or other incentive from a federal or state government source or through a charge on ratepayers and is located at a publicly available parking space.

(b) The division of standards shall promulgate regulations to: (i) inventory the number and location of charging stations; and (ii) ensure the accuracy of pricing and volumes of electricity purchased at public electric vehicle charging stations; provided, however, that, with respect to such public charging stations, such regulations shall include setting minimum requirements for the communication and display of pricing information; provided further, that the division of standards shall not prevent a charging station from operating due to an omission or inability by the division to test, inspect, seal or inventory the charging station or otherwise administer and enforce such regulations or, in the case of a public electric vehicle charging station, due to an omission or inability to ensure the accuracy of pricing and volumes of electricity purchased at, and information communicated by, such charging station.

(c) Any regulations promulgated pursuant to this section may vary by technology type, power levels, number of chargers per site, site ownership and according to whether charging stations and chargers: (i) are networked; (ii) are level 1, level 2 or direct current fast chargers; and (iii) are or are not all-inclusive mobile solar charging stations. Such regulations shall not apply to chargers or charging stations installed at a residential real property containing not more than 4 dwelling units.  The division may set standards for data formats that comply with electric vehicle charging industry best practices and standards, as determined by the division.

(d) Annually, not later than May 1, the division shall submit a report and accompanying data with respect to the inventory required under subsections (b) and (c) and other findings made and activities undertaken pursuant to said subsections (b) and (c) to the joint committee on ways and means, the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs and the secretary of administration and finance.

(e) In promulgating regulations under this section, the division may apply different requirements to publicly-funded and available electric vehicle chargers and other charging stations”; and

in section 87, by inserting after the word “section;”, in line 1846, the following words:- “and”; and

in said section 87, by striking out, in lines 1849 and 1850, the words “; and (v) ensuring the effective and timely sharing of data and information across state, local and federal government and the public”; and

by inserting after section 103 the following section:-

SECTION 103A.  The initial regulations required to be promulgated by the executive office of energy and environmental affairs or its designated agency under section 31 of chapter 31A of the General Laws and the initial regulations required to be promulgated by division of standards in the office of consumer affairs and business regulation under section 59 of chapter 98 of the General Laws shall be completed not later than February 1, 2026 and shall apply to chargers installed on or after June 1, 2026.”