Bill > S464

This bill, known as the Environmental Justice Act, is intended to promote environmental justice, eliminate disparities in exposure to environmental toxins, and ensure access to environmental benefits within the Commonwealth. The key provisions of the bill are: 1. It establishes the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Advisory Council to provide independent advice and recommendations to the Governor, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and other state secretariats on environmental justice issues. 2. It requires the Department of Environmental Protection to develop and implement a strategy prioritizing enforcement in neighborhoods with environmental justice populations, ensure equal compliance and enforcement, and establish an online environmental justice repository. 3. It requires the Department to establish and maintain a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) bank to fund environmentally beneficial projects in environmental justice communities. 4. It requires the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs to publish a progress report on environmental justice every five years. 5. It requires the Department to work with the Department of Public Health to establish health risk assessment guidelines, develop an online mapping tool, and prioritize census tracts with the worst health risk outcomes. 6. It enhances public participation requirements for projects located in or near environmental justice populations, including translation of materials and interpretation services. 7. It establishes a cap on the total number of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities that may be sited or expanded within any environmental justice population neighborhood. 8. It requires the appointment of a Director of Environmental Justice and environmental justice coordinators within each state secretariat to ensure the purposes of the Act are carried out. Overall, the bill aims to address environmental injustices and ensure equitable protection and access to environmental benefits for all communities in the Commonwealth, particularly those with environmental justice populations.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S464