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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4571 FILED ON: 4/14/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4036 |
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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 | | Tommy Vitolo |
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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 authorizing the town of Brookline to adopt green zoning by-laws and regulations. |
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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:Tommy Vitolo15th Norfolk4/14/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4571 FILED ON: 4/14/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4036 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Vitolo of Brookline, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 4036) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Tommy Vitolo (by vote of the town) that the town of Brookline be authorized to adopt green |
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| 20 | 20 | | zoning by-laws and regulations in said town. Municipalities and Regional Government. [Local |
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| 21 | 21 | | Approval Received.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 3850 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 24 | 24 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 28 | 28 | | _______________ |
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| 29 | 29 | | An Act authorizing the town of Brookline to adopt green zoning by-laws and regulations. |
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| 30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 31 | 31 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 1 SECTION 1. Notwithstanding section 3 of chapter 40A, section 95 of chapter 143 or |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2chapter 164 of the General Laws, any statute or regulation relating to the state building code and |
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| 34 | 34 | | 3its incorporated specialty codes or any other general or special law to the contrary, the town of |
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| 35 | 35 | | 4Brookline may adopt zoning by-laws and regulations for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas |
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| 36 | 36 | | 5emissions, increasing energy efficiency and otherwise addressing specific harms stemming from |
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| 37 | 37 | | 6or contributing to the climate crisis. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 7 SECTION 2. A zoning by-law or regulation, the adoption of which is authorized by this |
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| 39 | 39 | | 8act, shall not be deemed invalid or unenforceable or have its approval withheld by the attorney |
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| 40 | 40 | | 9general on the basis that it regulates: 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 10 (i) the use of materials or methods of construction of buildings, whether or not otherwise |
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| 42 | 42 | | 11regulated by the state building code; or |
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| 43 | 43 | | 12 (ii) the use, inclusion or prohibition of certain design elements, components, equipment |
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| 44 | 44 | | 13or infrastructure for the construction of buildings including, but not limited to, heating and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 14cooling systems, solar energy systems and electric vehicle charging systems. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 15 SECTION 3. A zoning by-law or regulation, the adoption of which is authorized by this |
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| 47 | 47 | | 16act, shall not be deemed invalid or unenforceable or have its approval withheld by the attorney |
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| 48 | 48 | | 17general on the basis that it regulates: |
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| 49 | 49 | | 18 (i) air emissions regulated by the department of environmental protection; |
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| 50 | 50 | | 19 (ii) seasonal, annual or lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of structures; or |
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| 51 | 51 | | 20 (iii) greenhouse gas emissions attributable to construction, including those attributable to |
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| 52 | 52 | | 21the production and transportation of building materials. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 22 SECTION 4. A zoning by-law or regulation, the adoption of which is authorized by this |
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| 54 | 54 | | 23act, shall not be deemed invalid or unenforceable or have its approval withheld by the attorney |
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| 55 | 55 | | 24general on the basis that it regulates: |
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| 56 | 56 | | 25 (i) the installation or prohibition of appliances or equipment, whether for residential or |
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| 57 | 57 | | 26commercial purposes, that consume a utility product regulated under chapter 164 of the General |
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| 58 | 58 | | 27Laws or otherwise by the department of public utilities; |
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| 59 | 59 | | 28 (ii) new connections to a transmission or distribution system for consumer utility |
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| 60 | 60 | | 29products that may impact directly or indirectly the sale or distribution of such utility products, 3 of 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 30including, but not limited to, natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, renewable natural gas, hydrogen, |
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| 62 | 62 | | 31steam or hot or chilled water; or |
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| 63 | 63 | | 32 (iii) greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the production, transmission, distribution or |
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| 64 | 64 | | 33consumption of such utility products. |
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| 65 | 65 | | 34 SECTION 5. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or |
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| 66 | 66 | | 35circumstance shall be found to be invalid for any reason in a court of competent jurisdiction, |
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| 67 | 67 | | 36such invalidity shall be construed as narrowly as possible and the balance of the act shall be |
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| 68 | 68 | | 37deemed to be affected to the minimum extent necessary, so as to secure the purposes of the act. |
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| 69 | 69 | | 38 SECTION 6. This act shall take effect upon its passage |
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