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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2945 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3449 |
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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 | | Christine P. Barber |
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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 to further empower local climate action. |
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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:Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex1/16/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/27/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/31/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester3/4/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2945 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3449 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Barber of Somerville, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3449) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Christine P. Barber and others for legislation to regulate municipal acceptance into the |
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| 20 | 20 | | demonstration project. 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 to further empower local climate action. |
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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 84 of chapter 179 of the acts of 2022 is hereby amended in |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2subsection (c) by striking out, in the first and seventh instance, the figure “10” and inserting in |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3place thereof in each instance the following figure:- 20. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 SECTION 2. Said subsection (c) is hereby further amended by striking the second |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5sentence and inserting in place thereof the following new text:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 No city or town shall apply for acceptance into the demonstration project until it has |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7received local approval as defined in subsection (a) of Section 84 of this act or has submitted a |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8home rule petition to the general court on the subject matter of this section; provided, that the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9department shall issue approvals under this section to not more than 20 applications in the order |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10in which cities and towns have submitted or submit applications; provided further, that the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11department shall, in the interest of increasing housing production in the commonwealth, withhold |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12approval of an application by a city or town applying to participate in the demonstration project 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13until such time as said city or town has: (i) met the 10 per cent housing affordability threshold set |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14under chapter 40B of the General Laws or has been granted safe harbor status through an |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15approved Housing Production Plan by the department of housing and community development; |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16or (ii) has approved a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for at least 1 district of |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right; provided, that such multi- |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18family housing shall be without age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children; |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19provided further, that a city or town that met the 10 per cent affordability threshold as of |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20December 21, 2020, shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of this paragraph. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21 SECTION 3. Said subsection (c) is hereby further amended by striking out, in the last |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22sentence, the following words:- “of home rule petitions to the general court” |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23 SECTION 4. The department of energy resources, in consultation with the executive |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24office of energy and environmental affairs and the executive office of housing and economic |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25development, may promulgate regulations to implement this section. Said regulations shall be |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26promulgated no later than July 1, 2026. |
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