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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2831 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3446 |
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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 | | Jennifer Balinsky Armini |
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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 relative to municipal voices in gas utility work. |
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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:Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex1/16/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2831 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3446 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Armini of Marblehead, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3446) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Jennifer Balinsky Armini for legislation to further regulate the opening of streets or the use of |
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| 20 | 20 | | public ways by gas companies. Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. |
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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-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to municipal voices in gas utility work. |
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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. Chapter 164 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking section 70 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2and inserting in place thereof the following:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 70. (a) A gas company may, with the written consent of the city council of a city |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4or the select board of a town, dig up and open the ground in any of the streets, lanes and |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5highways of a city or town, so far as necessary to accomplish the objects of said corporation; but |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6such consent shall not affect the right or remedy to recover damages for an injury caused to |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7persons or property by the acts of such corporation. It shall ensure that all such streets, lanes and |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8highways are in as good repair as when they were opened; and upon failure to do so within a |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9reasonable time, shall be guilty of a nuisance. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (b) For the purposes of this section, damage to property shall include (i) any tree on |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11public property damaged or killed by gas migrating into the critical root zone of such tree, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12defined as the area measured from the trunk of a tree at a radius of 1 foot per inch of the diameter 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13of the tree at 4.5 feet above grade; or (ii) damage by construction during the course of repairing |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14or replacing gas infrastructure. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 (c) As a condition of granting consent as provided in subsection (a) or consenting to a |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16grant of location, a city council or select board may require a gas company to provide the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17following information within 30 days of request: (i) a list by street segment of the proposed |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18project; (ii) the age and condition of gas pipelines; (iii) the type and size of pipeline material; (iv) |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19the pipeline pressure; (v) the number of leaks within the city or town having a significant |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20environmental impact and the status and timeframe of their expected repair; (vi) probable cause |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21of such leaks, including defect, deterioration, or damage in pipe material or joint; (vii) estimated |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22cost and timeframe for making any repairs to, or replacement of, existing pipelines, including |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23estimated commencement date and completion date of such construction; (viii) whether a gas |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24main is being extended, repaired, replaced, or retired as part of the proposed project; (ix) where |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25and how many leaks are in the sections where work will be performed; (x) the purpose of work |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26to be performed, such as upcoming municipal roadwork, extension of service to new |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27development, or repair, replacement, or retirement of leak-prone pipeline; (xi) whether any |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28replacement will increase pipeline capacity; (xii) any anticipated risks or hazards from such |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29repair or replacement; and (xiii) such other information as the city council or select board may |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30reasonably require in order to make an informed consent. |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31 (d) On written petition of a city council of a city or of a select board of a town aggrieved |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32by the failure or refusal of a gas company to comply with a request made by said city council or |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33select board pursuant to subsection (c), the department shall, after notice to such gas company to |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34appear at a time and place therein named to show cause why the prayer of such petition should |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35not be granted and after determining that the gas company has failed to comply with the 3 of 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36requirements of subsection (c), issue an order directing such gas company to provide the |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37petitioner with the information requested, upon such terms as are reasonable. |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38 (e) Nothing in this section shall prevent a municipality from further regulating the |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39opening of streets or the use of public ways by a gas company in a manner that is otherwise |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40consistent with the laws and regulations of the commonwealth, or from conditioning the consent |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41of such municipality to dig up and open the ground in a manner that is otherwise consistent with |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42the laws and regulations of the commonwealth. |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43 SECTION 2. Section 145 of chapter 164, as amended by chapter 239 of the acts of 2024, |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following subsection:- |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45 (i) Within 3 days of submission of any plan by a gas company to the department for |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46repair, replacement, improvement or retirement of any existing infrastructure pursuant to this |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47section, a gas company shall send such plan including identification and prioritization of affected |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48street segments to the municipality whose service territory is covered by such plan, as a |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49condition of approval by the department of such plan. Within 90 days of receipt of such plan, |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50such municipality may provide the gas company with comments and questions about such plan. |
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| 79 | 79 | | 51Within 15 days of receipt of such comments and questions, the gas company shall respond to |
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| 80 | 80 | | 52questions posed by such municipality about such plan. Within 3 days of approval of such plan |
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| 81 | 81 | | 53by the department, the gas company shall send such approval to the municipality whose service |
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| 82 | 82 | | 54territory is covered by such plan. Costs for a non-emergency project whose plan was not |
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| 83 | 83 | | 55submitted for review by the affected municipality pursuant to this section shall be determined by |
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| 84 | 84 | | 56the department as not reasonably incurred pursuant to subsection (f). |
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