Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H142 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3075 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 142
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	David T. Vieira
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 establishing healthy soil performance guidelines.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:David T. Vieira3rd Barnstable1/16/2025 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3075 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 142
18	18	By Representative Vieira of Falmouth, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 142) of
19	19	David T. Vieira for legislation to authorize the Department of Agricultural Resources to establish
20	20	post-construction soil performance guidelines. Agriculture.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act establishing healthy soil performance guidelines.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 128 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting at the end
30	30	2thereof the following new section:-
31	31	3 Section XX. The department shall promulgate regulations relative to post-construction
32	32	4soil performance guidelines that shall include but not be limited to soil depth and quality, carbon
33	33	5storage capacity, storm water runoff, water quality, fertilizer and nutrient input mitigation, and
34	34	6compaction or infiltration capacity. The department may limit the scope of those regulations
35	35	7regionally as appropriate. The department shall work in conjunction with the University of
36	36	8Massachusetts Amherst Extension to ensure any regulations of the department relative to soil
37	37	9guidelines are consistent with the program’s published information, educational materials and
38	38	10other public outreach programs. Said regulations shall also be consistent with healthy soils
39	39	11practices, as defined by Section 7A of Chapter 128. 2 of 3
40	40	12 The department may establish fines for violations of regulations promulgated under this
41	41	13subsection which shall not exceed $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense and $1000
42	42	14for a third or subsequent offense. A person aggrieved by the assessment of a fine under this
43	43	15subsection may appeal that fine by filing a notice of appeal with the division of administrative
44	44	16law appeals within 10 days of the receipt of the notice of the fine. An appellant shall be granted a
45	45	17hearing before the division of administrative law appeals under chapter 30A. The hearing officer
46	46	18may affirm or, if the aggrieved person demonstrates by a preponderance of evidence that the fine
47	47	19was erroneously issued, vacate or modify the fine. A person aggrieved by a decision of the
48	48	20hearing officer may file an appeal in the superior court under said chapter 30A.
49	49	21 SECTION 2. Section 64 of said chapter 128, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
50	50	22striking the definition of “Lawn” and inserting after the definition of “Fertilizer material”, the
51	51	23following new definitions:-
52	52	24 “Functional turf”, turf that is located on private property or on recreational use areas or
53	53	25other space that is regularly used for civic, community, or recreational purposes which may
54	54	26include but not be limited to residential lawns, playgrounds, sports fields, parks, golf courses,
55	55	27picnic grounds, cemeteries and amphitheaters.
56	56	28 “Utility turf”, turf that is established primarily to fulfill ecological or practical functions
57	57	29which may include but not be limited to stabilizing soil, preventing erosion from wind or water,
58	58	30sequestering carbon, mitigating heat island effect, vegetative buffer strips from watersheds
59	59	31capturing and filtering urban pollutants and for community planning and safety purposes.
60	60	32 And, by inserting after the definition of “Ton”, the following definition:- 3 of 3
61	61	33 “Turf”, a natural living ground cover that produces a dense canopy of contiguous plant
62	62	34coverage and an interconnected subsurface root network comprised of any of the grass plants of
63	63	35the Poaceae family or living plants in other taxa serving a similar purpose as often found in
64	64	36lawns and commercial green spaces.