Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S636 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2033 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 636
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Liz Miranda
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 to improve environmental justice in the Commonwealth.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk 1 of 6
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2033 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 636
18	18	By Ms. Miranda, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 636) of Liz Miranda for legislation
19	19	to improve environmental justice in the Commonwealth by establishing the Green Zones Act.
20	20	Environment and Natural Resources.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2493 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 to improve environmental justice in the Commonwealth.
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 1. Whereas Black/African American, Asian, Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic, and
32	32	2low-income persons of the Commonwealth have been adversely and disproportionally impacted
33	33	3by environmental burdens posed by living and working in environmental justice neighborhoods,
34	34	4it is the intention of the general court, to authorize meaningful actions to redress said impacts. To
35	35	5achieve the purposes as stated in this section as well as sections 2 and 3, inclusive, this Act shall
36	36	6be known as the Commonwealth GREEN ZONES ACT.
37	37	7 SECTION 2. As used in sections 1 through 4, inclusive, the following words shall, unless
38	38	8the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— 2 of 6
39	39	9 “Environmental Audit” means a comprehensive study undertaken by the secretary for the
40	40	10purpose of identifying and quantifying the number and type of environmental burdens as defined
41	41	11herein and shall include but not be limited public health data, public safety data, energy burden,
42	42	12transportation access data, and land use where such data is useful in quantifying the
43	43	13environmental burden within an environmental justice neighborhood.
44	44	14 Where clusters of environmental burden and/or opportunity to create environmental
45	45	15sustainability and Environmental resilience exist, those areas will be defined as “Green Zones”
46	46	16for the purpose of planning and funding.
47	47	17 The audit will include determining prior causes of environmental burden, where possible,
48	48	18if those conditions still exist, and the ideal future “Green” state.
49	49	19 “Environmental Burdens” means (a) any destruction, damage, or impairment of natural
50	50	20resources that is not insignificant, resulting from intentional or reasonably foreseeable causes,
51	51	21including but not limited to climate change, air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination,
52	52	22improper sewage disposal, dumping of solid wastes and other noxious substances, excessive
53	53	23noise, activities that limit access to natural resources and constructed outdoor recreational
54	54	24facilities and venues, inadequate remediation of pollution, reduction of ground water levels,
55	55	25impairment of water quality, increased flooding or storm water flows, and damage to inland
56	56	26waterways and waterbodies, wetlands, marine shores and waters, forests, open spaces, and
57	57	27playgrounds from private industrial, residential, commercial and government operations or other
58	58	28activity that contaminates or alters the quality of the environment and poses a risk to public
59	59	29health. 3 of 6
60	60	30 “Environmental sustainability” means the ability to maintain an ecological balance in the
61	61	31natural environment and conserve natural resources to support the wellbeing of current
62	62	32and future generations.
63	63	33 “Environmental resilience” means the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a
64	64	34perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly.
65	65	35 “Environmental Justice Neighborhood” means a neighborhood located within a
66	66	36municipality designated as an Environmental Justice Community and which meets one or more
67	67	37of the following criteria: (i) the annual median household income is not more than 65 per cent of
68	68	38the statewide annual median household income; (ii) minority individuals comprise 40 per cent or
69	69	39more of the population; (iii) 25 per cent or more of households lack English language proficiency
70	70	40or (iv) minorities comprise 25 per cent or more of the population and the annual median
71	71	41household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150
72	72	42per cent of the statewide annual median household income.
73	73	43 “Green Zone” means an area or areas within a targeted environmental justice
74	74	44neighborhood identified pursuant to an environmental audit in which specific strategies to
75	75	45mitigate, redress and eliminate environmental burdens and the ability to improve and increase
76	76	46environmental sustainability and resilience exists.
77	77	47 "Lack English Language Proficiency" refers to households that, according to federal
78	78	48census forms, do not have an adult proficient in English.
79	79	49 “Minority” refers to individuals who identify themselves Latino/Hispanic, Black/African
80	80	50American, Asian, Indigenous people, and people who otherwise identify as non-white. 4 of 6
81	81	51 “Neighborhood” means a census block group as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau but
82	82	52not including individuals who live in college dormitories or individuals under formally
83	83	53authorized, supervised care or custody, including but not limited to federal prisons, state prisons,
84	84	54or a county house of corrections.
85	85	55 ''Officer'', ''officers'' and ''administrative officers'', means, when used without further
86	86	56qualification or description, any person or persons in charge of any department or division of a
87	87	57city.
88	88	58 “Secretary” means the secretary of the executive office of energy and environmental
89	89	59affairs.
90	90	60 “Targeted Environmental Justice Community” means a municipality designated as an
91	91	61environmental justice community and that meets two or more of the following criteria: (i) the
92	92	62municipality is comprised of 100 or more block groups; (ii) the percentage of block groups
93	93	63defined as environmental justice block groups is not less than 75% of all block groups located
94	94	64within the municipality; or (iii) the population of individuals residing within environmental
95	95	65justice block groups is not less than 100,000
96	96	66 “Targeted Environmental Justice Neighborhood” means an environmental justice
97	97	67neighborhood within a Targeted Environmental Justice Community in which areas within the
98	98	68environmental justice neighborhood may be designated or otherwise identified as green zones.
99	99	69 SECTION 3. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the
100	100	70Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs is hereby authorized and directed to
101	101	71conduct an environmental audit of environmental justice neighborhoods located within the
102	102	72Commonwealth. 5 of 6
103	103	73 (b) In furtherance of conducting the environmental audit, the secretary is hereby
104	104	74authorized to create an environmental audit working group, consisting of not less than nine
105	105	75persons who live or work in an environmental justice neighborhood, to provide advice to the
106	106	76secretary on the conduct of said environmental audit. Said members of the environmental audit
107	107	77working group shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for expenses necessarily
108	108	78incurred in the performance of serving on the working group.
109	109	79 (c) The secretary upon completion of an environmental audit shall transmit the findings
110	110	80of said environmental audit, in report format, to the officer of the municipality in which the
111	111	81environmental justice neighborhood is located, pursuant to the environment audit, shall identify
112	112	82and designate within said environmental justice neighborhoods areas to be known as green
113	113	83zones.
114	114	84 (d) Pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the secretary shall, bi-annually, not
115	115	85later than October 1, shall report to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, chairs
116	116	86of house and senate committees on ways and means, and the chairs of the joint committee on
117	117	87environment, natural resources and agriculture the findings of said environmental audit and shall
118	118	88cause said environmental audit to be published on the main webpage of the executive office of
119	119	89environmental affairs.
120	120	90 (e) In addition to conducting an environmental audit, the secretary shall designate green
121	121	91zones within targeted environmental justice neighborhoods; provided that in addition to the
122	122	92working group created pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the secretary shall consult and
123	123	93otherwise provide opportunities for input by residents of targeted environmental justice
124	124	94neighborhoods in the process of designating said green zones. 6 of 6
125	125	95 (f) Pursuant to this Section, the Secretary is hereby authorized to enter into an intrastate
126	126	96compact with the officer of the environmental justice community for which an environmental
127	127	97audit was conducted. Said intrastate compact shall be designed to establish and define the levels
128	128	98of cooperation that may be developed in an effort to realize the goals and objectives of green
129	129	99zones, so designated, within a targeted environmental justice neighborhood. Said levels of
130	130	100cooperation may include, be limited to, the designation of agency staff, the provision of other
131	131	101technical assistance, the making of planning grants, and such other means that are otherwise
132	132	102authorized by existing state law.
133	133	103 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, this act shall
134	134	104take effect immediately.