HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4590
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, October 9, 2025.
The committee on Public Health, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2427) of Judith A. Garcia for an investigation by a task force relative to improving indoor air quality for certain highly-impacted communities, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4590) ought to pass [Representative Thurber of Somerset dissents].
For the committee,
MARJORIE C. DECKER.
FILED ON: 9/26/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4590
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to improve indoor air quality for highly-impacted communities.
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. (a) There shall be a task force created to develop a statutory and regulatory framework to identify, monitor, and remediate indoor air pollution and indoor mold contamination in schools, long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, early childhood education facilities, public housing, and privately-owned residential buildings. The task force shall also identify and make recommendations for funding sources for implementation of its recommendations.
(b) Said task force shall be comprised of the commissioner of public health or a designee, who shall serve as chair, the commissioner of environmental protection or a designee; the secretary of housing and livable communities or a designee; the attorney general or a designee; and 11 additional members to be appointed by the Governor: a representative of a community-based environmental justice organization; an academic expert on environmental health; a representative of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards; a labor representative recommended by the President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO; an individual with experience in community clinical health care; an individual with experience in the state’s shelter housing system; an individual with experience in long-term senior care; an individual with experience in identifying and monitoring indoor air pollution and indoor mold contamination; an individual with experience in remediating indoor air pollution and indoor mold contamination; an individual with experience monitoring environmental health in correctional facilities; and an individual with experience in public school administration.
(c) The task force shall convene its first meeting within 30 days of the passage of this Act. Said task force shall submit a final report with its recommendations to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on public health, the executive office of health and human services, the executive office of energy and environmental affairs, the Attorney General, and the state Environmental Justice Council within one year of the passage of this Act. Not less than 30 days prior to the release of said final report, the task force shall release draft recommendations for public review and comment.
SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of public health, in consultation with the department of environmental protection, shall promulgate regulations for conducting indoor air quality assessments monitoring exposure to ultrafine particulate matter and black carbon particulate matter concentrations present in the indoor air of existing and proposed buildings, based on the best available science about the health risks associated with ultrafine particulate matter and black carbon. The regulations shall include, but not be limited to, establishing standard procedures and public reporting mechanisms for conducting air dispersion modeling, managing air pollution, monitoring ultrafine particulate matter, and estimating exposure.
SECTION 3. The department of public health shall promulgate regulations relative to conducting indoor air quality assessments no later than July 31, 2027.