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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2202 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 655 |
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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 | | Rebecca L. Rausch |
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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 advancing water access equity through utility reporting requirements. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and Middlesex 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2202 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 655 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Rausch, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 655) of Rebecca L. Rausch for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to advance water access equity through utility reporting requirements. Environment |
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| 20 | 20 | | and Natural Resources. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 2177 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 advancing water access equity through utility reporting requirements. |
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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 SECTION 1. Section 22 of chapter 25 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subparagraph (e) the following |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3subparagraphs:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4 (f) Public and private water utilities shall file quarterly reports with the executive office |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5of energy and environmental affairs regarding customer service data. The reports shall be public |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6record and shall include, but shall not be limited to the following information, disaggregated by |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7zip codes: |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8 (1) The number of customers receiving service from a water utility provider; |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9 (2) The number customer disconnection notices sent due to bill nonpayment; 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10 (3) The number and dates of water shut offs that took place and average time between |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11service disconnection due to non-payment and service reconnection; |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12 (4) The number of customer accounts that became eligible for disconnection due to bill |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13nonpayment but were not disconnected because of any legally mandated or voluntary suspension |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14of disconnections due to the coronavirus 2019 pandemic; |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15 (5) The number of customers charged late fees, penalties, reconnection fees, interest, and |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16any other charge associated with late payment of a bill; |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17 (6) The number of liens on real property placed, sold, or enforced due to nonpayment; |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18 (7) The number of customers enrolled in deferred payment agreements at the end of each |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19month, and the average length of the repayment term under those agreements; |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20 (8) The number of customers that entered into, successfully completed, or defaulted from |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21a deferred payment agreement; |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22 (9) Customer assistance programs available to water consumers, including terms of |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23eligibility, and available budget for each program; |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24 (10) The number of customers receiving assistance under each customer assistance |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25program at the end of each month, the total dollar amount of assistance provided, and the number |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26of customers who were denied assistance; and |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27 (11) The methods and contents of general communications by local utilities and public |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28utilities to customers concerning their rights and available assistance programs if customers are |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29unable to pay their bills in full. 3 of 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30 (g) The executive office of energy and environmental affairs may adopt regulations |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31necessary to implement this section. |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32 (h) Annually, not later than March 15, the executive office of energy and environmental |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33affairs shall report to the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34committee on environment, natural resources and agriculture data concerning the results of such |
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| 65 | 65 | | 35equity audit reports. |
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| 66 | 66 | | 36 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2026. |
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