AN ACT PROMOTING ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE ADOPTION.
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. Chapter 25A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
Section 16. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
“Electric vehicle”, a battery electric vehicle that draws propulsion energy solely from an on-board electrical energy storage device during operation that is charged from an external source of electricity or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with an on-board electrical energy storage device that can be recharged from an external source of electricity which also has the capability to run on another fuel.
“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 billing services, networking and operation and maintenance.
“Electric vehicle charging station”, an electric component assembly or cluster of component assemblies designed specifically to charge batteries within electric vehicles by permitting the transfer of electric energy to a battery or other storage device in an electric vehicle.
“Network roaming”, the act of a member of 1 electric vehicle charging station billing network using a charging station that is outside of the member's billing network with the member’s billing network account information.
“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 a private residence or a parking space 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 or residents of an adjacent building.
(b) A person shall not be required to pay a subscription fee to use a public electric vehicle charging station or be required to obtain a membership in a club, association or organization as a condition of using the station; provided, however, that owners and operators of public electric vehicle charging stations may have separate price schedules conditional on a subscription or membership.
(c) The owner or lessee of a publicly available parking space, whose primary business is not electric vehicle charging services, may restrict the use of that parking space, including by limiting use to customers and visitors of the business.
(d) The owner or operator of a public electric vehicle charging station shall provide payment options that allow access by the general public.
(e) The owner or operator of a public electric vehicle charging station or a designee shall disclose on an ongoing basis to the United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or other publicly available database designated by the department of energy resources, the station’s geographic location, hours of operation, charging level, hardware compatibility, schedule of fees, accepted methods of payment and the amount of network roaming charges for nonmembers, if any.
(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude an electric company or distribution company, as defined in section 1 of chapter 164, from submitting a proposal to the department of public utilities for approval of cost recovery to construct, own, and operate publicly available electric vehicle charging infrastructure including charging stations; provided, however, that approval shall be granted only if a proposal is in the public interest, meets a need regarding the advancement of electric vehicles in the commonwealth and does not hinder the development of the competitive electric vehicle charging market.
SECTION 2. Section 22A of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
A city or town acting pursuant to this section with respect to ways within its control, or pursuant to the authority granted by chapter 40A with respect to zoning, may regulate the parking of vehicles by restricting certain areas or requiring that certain areas be restricted for the parking of a zero emission vehicle. An ordinance, by-law, order, rule or regulation pursuant to this paragraph may contain a penalty of not more than $50 and, in a city or town that has accepted section 22D, may provide for the removal of a vehicle pursuant to said section 22D. For the purposes of this section, “zero emission vehicle”, shall mean a battery electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or a fuel cell vehicle.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the state board of building regulations and standards established pursuant to section 93 of chapter 143 of the General Laws, in consultation with the department of energy resources, may include requirements for electric vehicle charging for residential and appropriate commercial buildings as amendments to the state building and electric code. The requirements may include separate specifications for installed electric vehicle charging stations and for maintaining the capability to install electric vehicle charging stations.
SECTION 4. The department of energy resources may adopt interoperability billing standards for network roaming payment methods for electric vehicle charging stations. If the department of energy resources adopts interoperability billing standards, electric vehicle charging stations that require payment shall meet those standards within 1 year. The standards adopted shall consider interoperability standards adopted by a national standards organization, if any, and other governmental or industry-developed interoperability billing standards. The department may adopt interoperability billing standards promulgated by an outside authoritative body.
SECTION 5. The secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, in consultation with the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, shall conduct a study examining the advisability and feasibility of assessing surcharges, levies or other assessments to offset projected gas tax revenue loss from the purchase or operation of zero emission vehicles. The study shall examine practices in other states and shall include input from electric vehicle manufacturers, dealers and trade associations, the zero emission vehicle commission, electric vehicle and fuel cell vehicle manufacturers, electric vehicle charging station manufacturers and hydrogen providers, as well as transportation, environmental and clean energy advocacy groups. For the purposes of this section, “zero emissions vehicle”, shall mean a battery electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or a fuel cell vehicle. The report shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the chairs of the senate and house committees on ways and means and the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on transportation not later than December 1, 2017.
SECTION 6. The department of energy resources, in consultation with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall conduct a study on the opportunities for electrification of the state fleet, including the vehicles used by the regional transit authorities; provided that the study shall include recommendations for the allowance of non-electric emergency vehicles as part of the state fleet. For the purposes of this section, “emergency vehicle” shall mean any publicly owned or leased vehicle operated by a sworn officer in performance of their duties, any authorized emergency vehicle used for fighting fires, any publicly owned or leased authorized emergency vehicle used by an emergency medical technician or paramedic, or used for towing or servicing other vehicles, or repairing damaged lighting or electrical equipment, or any ambulance used by a private entity pursuant to contract with a public agency. The study shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and with the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on transportation not later than October 1, 2017.
SECTION 7. Section 4 shall take effect on January 1, 2018.
Approved, January 13, 2017