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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2914 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3235
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Tommy Vitolo
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act authorizing municipalities to impose a methane emissions surcharge and authorize non-
pipeline alternatives.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tommy Vitolo15th Norfolk1/18/2023Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk2/2/2023 1 of 7
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2914 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3235
By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3235) of
Tommy Vitolo and Kevin G. Honan for legislation to authorize cities and towns to impose a
methane emissions surcharge and non-pipeline alternatives. Telecommunications, Utilities and
Energy.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act authorizing municipalities to impose a methane emissions surcharge and authorize non-
pipeline alternatives.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 53 of chapter 44 of the
2General Laws, or any other general or special law to the contrary, a city or town that accepts the
3provisions of this section pursuant to section 4 of chapter 4 of the General Laws shall establish a
4separate account to be known as the Emissions Reduction Fund of which the municipal treasurer
5shall be the custodian. The authority to approve expenditures from the fund shall be limited to
6the legislative body and the municipal treasurer shall pay such expenses in accordance with
7chapter 41 of the General Laws.
8 The following monies shall be deposited in the Emissions Reduction Fund: (i) all funds
9collected pursuant to local surcharges or bond proceeds in anticipation of revenue from such
10surcharges; (ii) all funds received from the commonwealth or any other source for such purposes;
11and (iii) proceeds from the disposition of a real property interest that was acquired with funds 2 of 7
12from the Emissions Reduction Fund. The treasurer may deposit or invest the proceeds of the fund
13in savings banks, trust companies incorporated under the laws of the commonwealth, banking
14companies incorporated under the laws of the commonwealth that are members of the Federal
15Deposit Insurance Corporation, or national banks, or may invest the proceeds in paid up shares
16and accounts of and in co-operative banks or in shares of savings and loan associations or in
17shares of federal savings and loan associations doing business in the commonwealth or in the
18manner authorized by section 54 of chapter 44 of the General Laws, and any income therefrom
19shall be credited to the fund.
20 (b) Municipal boards and commissions shall, from time to time, make recommendations
21to the legislative body of the municipality to fund programs or activities to promote emissions
22reductions. The boards and commissions may include in their recommendations to the legislative
23body of the municipality a recommendation to set aside for later spending funds for specific
24purposes that are consistent with emissions reduction but for which sufficient revenues are not
25then available in the Emissions Reduction Fund to accomplish that specific purpose or to set
26aside for later spending funds for general purposes that are consistent with emissions reduction.
27 (c) After receiving such recommendations from municipal boards and commissions, the
28legislative body of the municipality may then take such action and approve such appropriations
29from the Emissions Reduction Fund established pursuant to subsection (a) in an amount not to
30exceed the amounts recommended; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to
31constrain the legislative body of the municipality from appropriating such additional amounts as
32it deems appropriate to carry out the recommendations from a source other than the Emissions
33Reduction Fund. 3 of 7
34 (d) A real property interest that is purchased with monies from the Emissions Reduction
35Fund shall be bound by a permanent deed restriction that meets the requirements of chapter 184
36of the General Laws, limiting the use of the property to the purpose for which it was acquired.
37The deed restriction shall run with the land and shall be enforceable by the municipality. The
38deed restriction may also run to the benefit of a nonprofit, charitable corporation or foundation
39selected by the municipality with the right to enforce the restriction.
40 (e) Real property interests acquired under this section shall be owned and managed by the
41municipality, but the legislative body of the municipality may delegate management of such
42property to any other municipal board or commission, as it may deem appropriate. The
43legislative body of the municipality may also delegate management of such property to a
44nonprofit organization created under chapter 180 or chapter 203 of the General Laws.
45 (f) The municipal treasurer shall keep a full and accurate account of all appropriations or
46expenditures made from the Emissions Reduction Fund. The municipal treasurer shall also keep
47records of any real property interests acquired, disposed of, or improved by the municipality,
48including the names and addresses of the grantors or grantees and the nature and amount of the
49consideration paid. The records and accounts shall be public records.
50 (g) Funds in the Emissions Reduction Fund may be made available and used by the
51municipality as the local share for state or federal grants upon approval by the legislative body of
52the municipality.
53 (h) The Emissions Reduction Fund shall have a limit of $15,000,000 in inflation-adjusted
542022 dollars, for unallocated funds. If at the end of any fiscal year there are more dollars in the
55fund than the limit, excluding: (1) any portion of funds already allocated by the legislative body 4 of 7
56of the municipality; (2) any portion of funds deposited within that fiscal year; and (3) any portion
57of funds provided by the commonwealth rather than from local revenue, such excess shall be
58transferred to the municipality’s free cash. The legislative body of the municipality may modify
59the limit.
60 (i) At any point more than 5 years after its establishment, the legislative body of the
61municipality may choose to terminate the Emissions Reduction Fund. If terminating the
62Emissions Reduction Fund, the legislative body of the municipality may transfer remaining
63funds to other funds or to free cash, and may choose whether to terminate individual programs
64generating revenue for the Fund or to redirect those programs to generate revenue for another
65purpose.
66 SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the
67contrary, a city or town that accepts the provisions of this section pursuant to section 4 of chapter
684 of the General Laws may impose a surcharge on the use of natural gas within the municipality.
69The surcharge shall apply to all properties in the municipality served by gas companies as
70defined in section 1 of chapter 164 of the General Laws. The surcharge shall be assessed and
71collected on gas bills for properties located in the municipality. The amount of such surcharge, to
72be determined by legislative body of the municipality, shall be no greater than 25 per cent of all
73charges for gas service on the customer’s bill.
74 (b) There shall be a complete exemption from the natural gas surcharge for qualifying
75residential customers who already receive a means-tested discounted rate from the utility, or for
76qualifying residential customers whose income in the immediately prior year was less than 200
77per cent of the area median income, provided that the legislative body of the municipality may 5 of 7
78increase this percentage. For the purposes of this section, the term “area median income” shall
79mean the median family income for the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area, adjusted for family size,
80as established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The
81exemption shall be applied to the primary residence of the taxpayer only.
82 (c) Customers shall qualify for the exemption if all the following criteria are met:
83 (i) the applicant or joint applicants’ prior year income would make the applicant or
84joint applicants eligible for the exemption; or the applicant or joint applicants receive gas service
85from the utility under a means-tested discounted rate; or the applicant or joint applicants are
86qualified participants in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program administered by the
87department of housing and community development;
88 (ii) the qualifying residential property is occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as
89their primary residence; and
90 (iii) applicants complete annual certification, meeting the stated criteria relative to
91income and residency.
92 (d) The legislative body of the municipality may wholly or partially exempt any set of
93gas utility customers from this surcharge, and a locally established Emissions Reduction Fund
94may wholly or partially reimburse any resident for a surcharge paid by their condominium
95association or landlord.
96 (e) Upon initial connection to gas service, and every April thereafter, the utility shall
97provide an application, the contents of which shall be created in consultation with and subject to
98the approval of either the municipal treasurer or the municipal assessor, to determine whether a 6 of 7
99customer qualifies for a total or partial exemption from the surcharge. A person who seeks to
100qualify for an exemption shall complete said application. Qualifying applicants shall be entitled
101to the exemption. The application shall be completed in each year for which the applicant seeks
102the exemption.
103 (f) The gas company shall collect all amounts received pursuant to the surcharge
104established in subsection (a) and maintain them in a segregated account. The gas company shall
105remit all funds collected under the surcharge no later than the 15th of the month following
106receipt of such amounts, to the Emissions Reduction Fund established by the municipality. Late
107payments of the surcharge shall be exempt from the calculation of any late payment charges
108otherwise authorized for utility bills. Annually, the gas company shall provide an audited report
109to the municipality of all collections and disbursements of funds made pursuant to this act.
110 SECTION 3. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a gas
111company as defined in section 1 of chapter 164 of the General Laws shall offer a program of
112financing for alternatives to the gas company’s distribution of natural gas to all gas customers in
113a city or town that accepts the provisions of this section pursuant to section 4 of chapter 4 of the
114General Laws. Such program shall include, but need not be limited to, financing for:
115 (i) the sale or lease, installation and servicing of ground source or air source heat pumps
116and other electric heating or cooling devices;
117 (ii) the sale or lease, installation and servicing of electric appliances to replace or
118supplement gas appliances, including but not limited to hot water heaters, dryers and ranges; and
119 (iii) the sale or lease, installation and servicing of renewable energy storage and
120generation equipment. 7 of 7
121 (b) The gas company shall offer on-bill financing for the non-pipeline alternatives
122provided for in subsection (a) and may also base all or portions of the financing costs for these
123investments if they serve to accelerate electrification.
124 (c) A gas company may, subject to all applicable local by-laws and regulations, engage in
125renewable energy generation and storage in the municipality.