Bill > H2020

This bill amends the Massachusetts Water Management Act, Chapter 21G of the General Laws, to clarify the purpose of its permit program and registration statements. Specifically, it adds language to the definition of "Permit" to state that the permit program aims to help the department manage the state's water resources across its river basins by balancing competing water withdrawals and uses while preserving the water itself. It also adds to the definition of "Registration statement" to explain that these statements are intended to allow the department to document current water usage in the commonwealth. Furthermore, the bill amends Section 5 of the Act to stipulate that properly filed renewal registration statements will allow registrants to continue their registered water withdrawal volumes without additional conditions, except that the department can require accurate measurement of the withdrawn water through metering or other methods, and no regulations can be created to impose conditions beyond this measurement requirement.