Amendment #1 to H5500

Municipal Hazardous Tree Removal Trust Fund.

Mr. McKenna of Sutton moves to amend Chapter 29 of the General Laws by inserting after Section 2FFFFFFF the following section:

Section XXXX

(a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Municipal Hazardous Tree Removal Trust Fund. There shall be credited to the fund: (i) revenue from appropriations or other funds authorized by the general court and specifically designated for the fund; (ii) any gifts, grants or private contributions; (iii) any interest on the fund's assets; and (iv) other amounts credited or transferred to the fund from any other sources. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended without further appropriation. Any balance in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years and shall not be transferred to any other fund or revert to the General Fund. No expenditure made from the fund shall cause the fund to be in deficit at any point. The comptroller shall report the amount remaining in the fund at the end of each fiscal year to the house and senate committees on ways and means.

(b)(1) The fund shall administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environment, in consultation when necessary and practicable with the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Transportation, MEMA, and any such public or private utility company maintaining transmission wires on Massachusetts roadways, which may make funds available via direct grants to municipalities for the removal, pruning, disposal, and related mitigation of dead, dying, or hazardous trees that pose a risk to public roadways or infrastructure.

(2)Grants under this section shall be awarded on a competitive or formula basis, or a combination thereof, with preference to projects demonstrating an immediate public safety risk, proximity to a major roadway or bridge, inability of the municipality to address the hazard from existing local resources, and a documented public works, utility, or emergency response concern.

(3)DEP may promulgate guidelines to implement this section, including application requirements, eligible costs, matching requirements, and reporting standards