Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H963 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. 3655 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 963
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Richard M. Haggerty
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 further defining an environmental justice population.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Richard M. Haggerty30th Middlesex1/17/2025 1 of 2
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3655 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 963
18	18	By Representative Haggerty of Woburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 963) of
19	19	Richard M. Haggerty relative to further defining an environmental justice population.
20	20	Environment and Natural Resources.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 824 OF 2023-2024.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act further defining an environmental justice population.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 Section 62 of chapter 30 is hereby amended by striking out the definition of
32	32	2“Environmental justice population”, as appearing in section 56 of chapter 8 of the acts of 2021,
33	33	3and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
34	34	4 “Environmental justice population”, a neighborhood that meets 1 or more of the
35	35	5following criteria: (i) the annual median household income is not more than 65 per cent of the
36	36	6statewide annual median household income; (ii) minorities comprise 40 per cent or more of the
37	37	7population; (iii) 25 per cent or more of households lack English language proficiency; (iv)
38	38	8minorities comprise 25 per cent or more of the population and the annual median household
39	39	9income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 per cent of
40	40	10the statewide annual median household income; or (v) the neighborhood is located within ½ 2 of 2
41	41	11mile of a site which is or has previously been designated a Superfund site as defined by 42 USC
42	42	12§ 1397h(c)(5); provided, however, that for a neighborhood that does not meet said criteria, but a
43	43	13geographic portion of that neighborhood meets at least 1 criterion, the secretary may designate
44	44	14that geographic portion as an environmental justice population upon the petition of at least 10
45	45	15residents of the geographic portion of that neighborhood meeting any such criteria; provided
46	46	16further, that the secretary may determine that a neighborhood, including any geographic portion
47	47	17thereof, shall not be designated an environmental justice population upon finding that: (A) the
48	48	18annual median household income of that neighborhood is greater than 125 per cent of the
49	49	19statewide median household income; (B) a majority of persons age 25 and older in that
50	50	20neighborhood have a college education; (C) the neighborhood does not bear an unfair burden of
51	51	21environmental pollution; and (D) the neighborhood has more than limited access to natural
52	52	22resources, including open spaces and water resources, playgrounds and other constructed outdoor
53	53	23recreational facilities and venues.