Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3633 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1954 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3633
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Andres X. Vargas
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to lead pipe safety.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex1/9/2023 1 of 6
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1954 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3633
18	18	By Representative Vargas of Haverhill, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3633) of
19	19	Andres X. Vargas relative to lead pipe safety. Public Health.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
23	23	(2023-2024)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act relative to lead pipe safety.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 SECTION 1. Section 18 of chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
29	29	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
30	30	3 (g) For the purposes of this section, “eligible borrowers” shall include homeowners
31	31	4removing, replacing or otherwise conducting abatement of lead service lines in their premises
32	32	5pursuant to the provisions of section 197 of chapter 111. Homeowners removing, replacing or
33	33	6conducting abatement of lead service lines in their premises shall be eligible for an interest-free
34	34	7loan, grant or other financial assistance from the trust to assist in financing or refinancing the
35	35	8cost of abatement of lead service lines pursuant to chapter 111.
36	36	9 SECTION 2. Section 189A of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
37	37	10hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Director” the following definition:-
38	38	11 “Lead service line”, a portion of pipe that is made of lead, which connects the water main
39	39	12to the building inlet. A lead service line may be owned by the water system, owned by the 2 of 6
40	40	13property owner, or both. For the purposes of this subpart, a galvanized service line is considered
41	41	14a lead service line if it ever was or is currently downstream of any lead service line or service
42	42	15line of unknown material. If the only lead piping serving the home is a lead gooseneck, pigtail, or
43	43	16connector, and it is not a galvanized service line that is considered a lead service line the service
44	44	17line is not a lead service line.
45	45	18 SECTION 3. Section 192 of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
46	46	19amended by inserting after the word “poisoning”, in line 9, the following words:- including, but
47	47	20not limited to, lead service lines.
48	48	21 SECTION 4. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section
49	49	22194 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
50	50	23 Section 194. (a) The director shall, subject to appropriation, establish a comprehensive
51	51	24program for detection of sources of lead poisoning including, but not limited to, lead service
52	52	25lines. Such program shall attempt, to the extent permitted by appropriations, to locate all
53	53	26premises that contain lead service lines and in which the paint, plaster or other accessible
54	54	27structural material contains dangerous levels of lead. The means of detection of lead service lines
55	55	28and the detection and the amount of lead in the paint, plaster or other accessible structural
56	56	29material that produces the danger of lead poisoning shall be determined by regulation by the
57	57	30director in accordance with sound medical practice and current technical knowledge.
58	58	31 (b) Such program of detection may, to the extent that all appropriate premises are not
59	59	32inspected, give priority in inspections to those premises located in areas where significant
60	60	33numbers of lead poisoning cases have been reported, and in which children under 6 years of age
61	61	34reside. 3 of 6
62	62	35 (c) Upon the request of any occupant and subject to appropriation, the director shall cause
63	63	36to have the occupant's premises inspected, within a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 days,
64	64	37unless systematic inspection of the area in which the person requesting the inspection resides is
65	65	38scheduled within thirty days, in which case said inspection may be deferred up to 20 additional
66	66	39days.
67	67	40 (d) When the director is informed of a case of lead poisoning, they shall cause to have
68	68	41inspected the premises in which the victim resides, or has resided within the past 12 months, if
69	69	42the occupants of said premises consent, after reasonable notice, to such inspection. If the
70	70	43occupant refuses admittance, an agent of the director or of any local board of health or code
71	71	44enforcement agency may apply for a search warrant to permit entry. A court may issue a warrant
72	72	45upon a showing that a victim of lead poisoning resides in said premises. The findings of such
73	73	46inspection shall be reported to the director and to the appropriate enforcement authorities.
74	74	47 (e) Lead service lines or a dangerous level of lead found in premises inspected pursuant
75	75	48to this section or otherwise, shall be reported immediately to the owner of the building, all
76	76	49mortgagees and lien holders of record, the director, the public water system serving the property,
77	77	50and all affected tenants as outlined below. The owner of such building shall comply with any
78	78	51order to correct violations issued by the director, any local board of health or any code
79	79	52enforcement agency within the time established by regulations promulgated by the director.
80	80	53Except as otherwise provided, abatement or containment of lead shall not be required unless the
81	81	54premises has been occupied by a poisoned child within the past 12 months or is occupied by a
82	82	55child under 6 years of age. When lead service lines or dangerous levels of lead are present on the
83	83	56exterior of the building or in common areas, notice shall be given to all occupants of the
84	84	57building; and when lead service lines or such levels are present only within particular premises, 4 of 6
85	85	58notice shall be given to the occupants of the premises involved. The director shall promulgate
86	86	59regulations specifying the form and content of all required notices.
87	87	60 (f) When lead service lines or a dangerous level of lead is found in premises inspected
88	88	61pursuant to this section, or otherwise, the director shall cause to have screened all children under
89	89	626 years of age, and such other children as they may find advisable to screen, residing or who
90	90	63have resided within the past 12 months in said premises. The results of such screening shall be
91	91	64reported to the director and the affected child's parent or legal guardian. The director shall inform
92	92	65such other persons or agencies as they deems advisable, subject to the provisions of section 191
93	93	66relating to the names of affected individuals.
94	94	67 (g)The director shall provide by regulation for the implementation by local boards of
95	95	68health, code enforcement agencies and housing inspection agencies of the provisions of this
96	96	69section and the periodic reporting to him of the results of all inspections of premises conducted
97	97	70hereunder by said boards and agencies.
98	98	71 (h) The director shall maintain comprehensive records of all inspections conducted
99	99	72pursuant to this section and a record of a lead lines inventory as required by the Environmental
100	100	73Protection Agency shall be conducted and publicly available by October 2024. Such records and
101	101	74inventory shall be geographically indexed in order to determine the location of areas of relatively
102	102	75high incidence of lead service lines or of dangerous lead levels. Such records shall be public
103	103	76records. A summary of the results of all inspections conducted pursuant to this section shall be
104	104	77released annually, or more frequently if the director so determines, to all interested parties. The
105	105	78commissioner and each municipality of the commonwealth shall publish and maintain the
106	106	79records and inventory on its website for access by the public. 5 of 6
107	107	80 SECTION 5. Section 197 of said chapter 111, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
108	108	81is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following
109	109	82subsection:-
110	110	83 (a) Whenever a child under 6 years of age resides in any premises in which any paint,
111	111	84plaster or other accessible structural material contains dangerous levels of lead or the premises
112	112	85contains lead service lines, the owner shall remove the lead service lines and abate or contain
113	113	86said paint, plaster or other accessible structural materials in accordance with the requirements of
114	114	87subsection (b) or (c). Except as provided in section 197D, whenever any such premises
115	115	88containing lead service lines or said dangerous levels of lead undergoes a change of ownership
116	116	89and as a result a child under 6 years of age will become or will continue to be a resident therein,
117	117	90the new owner shall have 90 days to remove said lead service lines or contain or abate said paint,
118	118	91plaster or other accessible structural material as required by this section, so as to make the
119	119	92premises in compliance with the provisions of sections 189A to 199 B, inclusive. All lead service
120	120	93line removal shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of 40 CFR §141.84 and 310
121	121	94CMR 22.00 et seq. After October 2024, any homeowner selling their premises shall conduct due
122	122	95diligence and consult the lead line inventory described in subsection (h) of section 194 to
123	123	96determine if the premises is serviced by lead service lines and inform potential buyers of the
124	124	97information. The public water system shall have the authority to enter the premises to replace
125	125	98lead service lines.
126	126	99 SECTION 6. Said section 197 of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further
127	127	100amended by inserting after the word “lead”, in line 17, the following words:- or lead service
128	128	101lines. 6 of 6
129	129	102 SECTION 7. Said section 197 of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further
130	130	103amended by inserting after the word “address”, in line 29, the following words:- the existence of
131	131	104lead service lines or.
132	132	105 SECTION 8. Said section 197 of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further
133	133	106amended by inserting after the word “material”, in line 124, the following words:- or to remove
134	134	107service lines pipes.
135	135	108 SECTION 9. Said section 197 of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further
136	136	109amended by inserting after the word “All”, in line 133, the following word:- removal,.
137	137	110 SECTION 10. Paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of said section 197 of said chapter 111, as
138	138	111so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence: - All lead service lines shall
139	139	112be removed and there shall be no partial replacements.