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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 651 FILED ON: 1/10/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 951 |
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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 | | Carmine Lawrence Gentile |
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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 eliminate hydraulic fracturing in the Commonwealth. |
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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:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/10/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/10/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/11/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 651 FILED ON: 1/10/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 951 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gentile of Sudbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 951) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Carmine Lawrence Gentile, James B. Eldridge and James K. Hawkins for legislation to eliminate |
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| 20 | 20 | | hydraulic fracturing in the Commonwealth. 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-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 eliminate hydraulic fracturing in the Commonwealth. |
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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 26A of chapter 21 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “effluent”, in line 67, the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3following words:- , hydraulic fracturing fluid. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 SECTION 2. Section 27 of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5the following clause:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 (14) Enforce restrictions on drilling, waste treatment and disposal and mining activities |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7which have been enacted to protect the water quality and the natural resources of the |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8commonwealth. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9 SECTION 3. Section 42 of said chapter 21, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10inserting after the word “commonwealth”, in line 3, the following words:- ,or into an injection |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11well or into a treatment works in the commonwealth. 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 SECTION 4. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:- |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14 “Fluid”, any material or substance which flows or moves whether in semi-solid, liquid, |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15sludge, gas or any other form or state. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 “Gas”, all natural gas, whether hydrocarbon or nonhydrocarbon, including hydrogen |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, casinghead gas and all other fluid |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18hydrocarbons not defined as oil. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 “Hydraulic fracturing”, the process of pumping a fluid into or under the surface of the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20ground in order to create fractures in rock to produce or recover oil or gas. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21 “Oil”, crude petroleum, oil and all hydrocarbons, regardless of specific gravity, that are in |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22the liquid phase in the reservoir and are produced at the wellhead in liquid form. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23 “Oil and gas”, oil and gas collectively, or either oil or gas, as the context may require to |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24give effect to the purposes of this chapter. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25 “Enhanced geothermal systems,” the process of injecting fluid into naturally existing or |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26artificially created fractures in rock to enable the production of geothermal energy. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27 (b) a person shall not engage in hydraulic fracturing in the Commonwealth, except when |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28performed as part of an enhanced geothermal system for the purpose of energy production. |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29 (c) a person shall not collect, store, treat or dispose of wastewater hydraulic fracturing |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30fluid, wastewater solids, drill cuttings or other byproducts from hydraulic fracturing in the |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31Commonwealth, except as generated from enhanced geothermal systems. |
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