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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1605 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 754 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Natalie M. Blais |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act supporting farm diversification and sustainability. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin1/18/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex3/5/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1605 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 754 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Blais of Deerfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 754) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Natalie M. Blais and Vanna Howard relative to agricultural preservation restrictions. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Environment and Natural Resources. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act supporting farm diversification and sustainability. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 23 of chapter 20 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 84, the words “a maximum of 5 years |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3duration” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- a period of at least 1 year. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 SECTION 2. Subsection (b) of said section 23 of said chapter 20, as so appearing, is |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5hereby amended by adding the following 3 sentences:- Notwithstanding the foregoing, the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6department may approve a special permit for a trial period of 1 year to evaluate a proposal for |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7nonagricultural activities. If a special permit is issued to a permit holder for a 1-year trial period |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8under this subsection, the department shall notify the permit holder of the department’s decision |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9to renew, revoke or amend the permit within 1 year of the date of issuance. If the department |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10fails to notify the permit holder within 1 year of the date of issuance of a special permit of its |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11decision to renew, revoke or amend the special permit, the special permit shall automatically be |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12renewed for a period of 5 years.”. 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13 SECTION 3. Said section 23 of said chapter 20, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14amended by striking out, in line 112, the words “for a special permit authorized in subsection |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15(b)” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- any landowner of land subject to an |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16agricultural preservation restriction who is subject to and aggrieved by a decision of the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17department relative to a special permit authorized under subsection (b), including a decision |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18regarding the renewal, revocation, amendment to or length of a special permit”. |
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