Bill > H2913

This bill, titled the "Environmental Justice Act," aims to promote environmental justice, eliminate disparities in exposure to environmental toxins, and ensure access to environmental benefits within the Commonwealth. Key provisions include: 1. Defining key terms like "environmental justice," "environmental justice population," and "Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Facility." 2. Establishing the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Advisory Council to advise the Governor, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), and other Secretariats on environmental justice issues. 3. Requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to develop and implement a strategy prioritizing enforcement in environmental justice population neighborhoods, as well as establish a Supplemental Environmental Project bank. 4. Mandating the Secretary of EEA to publish a progress report on environmental justice every five years. 5. Expanding the requirements for environmental impact reports to include potential public health impacts and measures to minimize them. 6. Restricting the exemption of projects in environmental justice population neighborhoods from the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. 7. Directing the Secretary of EEA to establish a cap on the total number of TRI Facilities that may be sited or expanded within any environmental justice population neighborhood. 8. Requiring each Secretariat to develop an environmental justice policy or strategy tailored to their jurisdiction and programs. 9. Establishing an Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group to coordinate state resources and assistance on environmental justice matters.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H2913