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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1550 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1477 |
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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 | | Michael J. Barrett |
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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 restrict the use of polystyrene. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Michael J. BarrettThird MiddlesexJoanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/6/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/10/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1550 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1477 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Barrett, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1477) of Michael J. Barrett, Joanne |
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| 19 | 19 | | M. Comerford and James B. Eldridge for legislation to restrict the use of polystyrene. Public |
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| 20 | 20 | | Health. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 1328 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act to restrict the use of polystyrene. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2amended by inserting after section 5S, the following section:- |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 5T. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5 “Disposable Food Container”, a single-use disposable product used in a food service |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6establishment for serving, transporting or packaging prepared, ready-to-consume or uncooked |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7food or beverages. 2 of 3 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8 “Food Establishment”, a business that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends or |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9otherwise provides food for human consumption, including but not limited to, any establishment |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10requiring a permit to operate in accordance with the State Food Code. |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 “Polystyrene”, a synthetic resin which is a polymer of styrene, used chiefly as lightweight |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12rigid foams and solid containers. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13 “Prepared Food”, food or beverage for consumption on the premises of a food |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14establishment, using any cooking or food preparation technique. This does not include any raw |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15uncooked meat, fish or eggs unless provided for consumption without further food preparation. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16 “Retail Establishment”, a commercial business facility that sells goods directly to the |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17consumer, including but not limited to, grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores, convenience |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18stores, restaurants, retail stores and vendors selling clothing, food and personal items. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19 (b) Except as provided herein, on or after August 1, 2027, food establishments shall be |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20prohibited from dispensing food to customers in disposable food service containers made from |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21polystyrene. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22 (c) Except as provided herein, on and after August 1, 2027, retail establishments shall be |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23prohibited from selling or distributing disposable food containers made of polystyrene to |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24customers. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25 (d) A food establishment may apply to the health department of the town or city in which |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26it operates, showing that the conditions of this provision would cause undue hardship. The local |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27health department or its designee may defer application of this provision for a food establishment |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28for a one year period. An undue hardship shall mean a situation unique to the food establishment 3 of 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29where there are no reasonable alternatives to the use of polystyrene disposable food service |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30containers and compliance with this provision would cause significant economic hardship to that |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31food establishment. |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32 (e) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations for the enforcement of this section. |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33Regulations promulgated under this section shall include fines, not to exceed 1,000 dollars, for |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34any single violation of subsections (b) and (c). |
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