*This blog post is being actively updated as amendments are being reviewed*
Background:
107 amendments were filed on July 16th, 2024 for House bill H.4876 An Act accelerating a responsible, innovative and equitable clean energy transition.
Each of our supported amendments represents a step towards creating a cleaner, healthier, more equitable future for Massachusetts residents. If enacted, the legislation listed below will dramatically reduce carbon pollution and protect ratepayers, establish stronger environmental protections for historically marginalized communities, and reduce fossil fuel reliance.
AMENDMENT HIGH PRIORITIES TO SUPPORT - BY TOPIC
Environmental Justice
15 Improving Air Quality in Environmental Justice Communities (Barber)
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Creates standards for indoor air quality and directs environmental agencies to promulgate regulations to protect residents
Moving off Dirty Energy
17 Protecting consumers and communities from new, large gas pipeline expansions (Williams)
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Ends new, large, polluting gas pipeline expansions which, if undertaken, will adversely affect ratepayers, the health and safety of Massachusetts residents, and the climate.
42 Ensuring Clean Heat Alternatives (Owens)
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Instructs the DPU to adhere to state climate goals related to natural gas proceedings.
Solar
106 Solar on Disturbed and Built Lands (Sabadosa)
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Creates more robust incentives for solar where is most desirable, e.g., landfills, canopies, rooftops and other disturbed land.
Nuclear
87 Nuclear Power Generation (Sabadosa)
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Removes a section that levies a charge on Massachusetts electric ratepayers to subsidize nuclear power plants that currently sell electricity to the regional markets.
Ecological Restoration & Protection
22 Ecological Restoration in Wetlands (Kassner)
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Creates authorization for crucial wetlands restoration projects.
53 Improve outdoor lighting, conserve energy, and increase dark-sky visibility (Garballey)
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Comprehensive changes to outdoor lighting that result in less light pollution which harms human health, disrupts ecological systems, and costs municipalities unnecessarily.
AMENDMENTS OPPOSED - BY NUMBER
107 Regulating the APS (Pignatelli)
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This language would give extra financial incentives to ‘biomass’ energy, wood burning.
ALL ADDITIONAL SUPPORTED AMENDMENTS - BY NUMBER
2 Data Access (Lipper-Garabedian)
3 Modernizing the Massport Charter (Gentile)
10 Low-Income Access to Solar (Gregoire)
11 Solid Waste Disposal Facilities in Environmental Justice Communities (Tyler)
13 Prohibiting the practice of coal rolling (Murray)
21 Ratepayer Protections (Moran)
23 Maintaining Adequate Water Supplies Through Effective Drought Management (Meschino)
26 Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries (Jones)
30 Solar Panels in Historic Districts (Peake)
36 Solar and Energy Storage Permit Applications (Giannino)
49 Community Access to Electric Bicycle Grant Initiatives (Blais)
50 Equitable Investment in Environmental Justice Communities (Owens)
60 Spark Act (Vitolo)
64 EV School Bus Procurement (Meschino)
65 Consolidated Billing (Moran)
66 Environmental Justice Solar Panel Incentive Program (González)
79 Limiting Biomass in the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (Ramos)
81 Updating MLP Clean Energy Standards (Ramos)
100 Community Standards on Clean Energy Projects (Decker)
105 Massport Enabling Act Improvements (Cataldo)