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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2011 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 65
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Paul W. Mark
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act establishing healthy soil performance guidelines.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul W. MarkBerkshire, Hampden, Franklin and
Hampshire 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2011 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 65
By Mr. Mark, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 65) of Paul W. Mark for legislation to
establish regulations defining post-construction healthy soil standards. Agriculture.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act establishing healthy soil performance guidelines.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 128 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting after Section 124 the following section:-
3 Section 125. The department shall promulgate regulations relative to post-construction
4soil performance guidelines that shall include but not be limited to soil depth and quality, carbon
5storage capacity, storm water runoff, water quality, fertilizer and nutrient input mitigation, and
6compaction or infiltration capacity. The department may limit the scope of those regulations
7regionally as appropriate. The department shall work in conjunction with the University of
8Massachusetts Amherst Extension to ensure any regulations of the department relative to soil
9guidelines are consistent with the program’s published information, educational materials and
10other public outreach programs. Said regulations shall also be consistent with healthy soils
11practices, as defined by Section 7A of Chapter 128. 2 of 3
12 The department may establish fines for violations of regulations promulgated under this
13subsection which shall not exceed $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense and $1000
14for a third or subsequent offense. A person aggrieved by the assessment of a fine under this
15subsection may appeal that fine by filing a notice of appeal with the division of administrative
16law appeals within 10 days of the receipt of the notice of the fine. An appellant shall be granted a
17hearing before the division of administrative law appeals under chapter 30A. The hearing officer
18may affirm or, if the aggrieved person demonstrates by a preponderance of evidence that the fine
19was erroneously issued, vacate or modify the fine. A person aggrieved by a decision of the
20hearing officer may file an appeal in the superior court under said chapter 30A.
21 SECTION 2. Section 64 of said Chapter 128, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
22striking the definition of “Lawn” and inserting after the definition of “Fertilizer material”, the
23following new definitions:-
24 “Functional turf”, turf that is located on private property or on recreational use areas or
25other space that is regularly used for civic, community, or recreational purposes which may
26include but not be limited to residential lawns, playgrounds, sports fields, parks, golf courses,
27picnic grounds, cemeteries and amphitheaters.
28 “Utility turf”, turf that is established primarily to fulfill ecological or practical functions
29which may include but not be limited to stabilizing soil, preventing erosion from wind or water,
30sequestering carbon, mitigating heat island effect, vegetative buffer strips from watersheds
31capturing and filtering urban pollutants and for community planning and safety purposes.
32 And, by inserting after the definition of “Ton”, the following definition:- 3 of 3
33 “Turf”, a natural living ground cover that produces a dense canopy of contiguous plant
34coverage and an interconnected subsurface root network comprised of any of the grass plants of
35the Poaceae family or living plants in other taxa serving a similar purpose as often found in
36lawns and commercial green spaces.