Amendment #238 to S3064

Study Commission on the Effects of Sand Mining on Drinking Water, Public Health and the Environment

Mr. Livingstone of Boston moves to amend the bill by adding the following sections:

"SECTION XXXX.

SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall

be created a 11 member Advisory Commission to investigate the scope, scale and environmental

impact of sand mining in Massachusetts. The Commission shall consist of the following members or their designees:  two members, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the House, with knowledge of ecology, ecosystems, forestry or biodiversity; two legislators, one appointed by the Senate President and one by the Speaker of the House;  one representative from the Community Land & Water Coalition; one representative of Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association; one representative from the Conservation Law Foundation; one expert in hydrology nominated by the University of Massachusetts and appointed by the Governor; the Commissioner of Public Health, and one Indigenous person appointed by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe.  The Commission shall be chaired by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs or their designee.

b) The panel shall serve in an advisory capacity only and shall meet monthly or more

frequently in public meetings to study sand mining in the Commonwealth including 1) the

current and potential impact on drinking water; 2) the impact on air pollution including worker

and public exposure to respirable crystalline silica from sand mines; 3) the impact on

Environmental Justice communities and Indigenous history and culture; 4) climate change

mitigation and resilience.

c) Said investigation shall conclude within two years of this legislation’s passage into law

and it shall include recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes to protect drinking

water, air quality, worker and public health, and the ecology and environment. Said changes may

include changes to licensing laws for mining, Part I, Title II, Chapter 21B, Section 5 of the

24 General Laws.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #238 to S3064

Study Commission on the Effects of Sand Mining on Drinking Water, Public Health and the Environment