Amendment ID: S2196-8

Amendment 8

Positioning of Compressor Stations

Messrs. O'Connor and Keenan move to amend the bill by inserting at the end the following new section:-

SECTION XX. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no new natural gas compressor stations shall be located in an area which is less than 0.5 miles in linear distance from: (i) a playground;(ii) a licensed day care center; (iii) a school; (iv) a church; (v) an environmental justice population neighborhood; (vi) an area of critical environmental concern as determined by the secretary of environmental affairs under 301 CMR 12.00; (vii) a waterway preserved and protected for water-dependent uses under chapter 91; or (viii) an area occupied by residential housing. Linear distance shall be measured from any point along a natural gas compressor station to the outermost point of buildings or areas in clauses (i) to (viii), inclusive; provided, however, that repairs or replacements that do not increase the capacity of a natural gas compressor station in operation prior to January 1, 2018, shall not be subject to this section. For the purposes of this section, “environmental justice population neighborhood” shall mean a neighborhood with an annual median household income of not more than 65 per cent of the statewide median income or with a segment of the population that consists of residents that is not less than 25 per cent minority, foreign born or lacking in English language proficiency based on the most recent United States census.