By Veena Dharmaraj, Jess Nahigian, and Jonathan Cohn
On Thursday, April 14, the MA Senate passed a bill, S.2819: An Act Driving Climate Policy Forward, focused on accelerating the clean energy transition and the shift to electric vehicles.
The bill passed 37 to 3, with the NO votes coming from the chamber’s 3 Republicans (Ryan Fattman of Sutton, Patrick O’Connor of Weymouth, Bruce Tarr of Gloucester).
While the transportation policies in the Senate Climate bill are not as comprehensive or ambitious as we hoped for, we are encouraged to see this sector get some much needed legislative attention. Transportation remains the largest source of emissions and air pollution in Massachusetts and nationally; decarbonizing this sector will play an important role in reaching our climate goals. The legislation would also move us forward in several areas where the Baker administration has attempted to delay progress on our state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. For example, the legislature has responded to the utilities’ control in the “future of heat” docket by including language that would allow groups other than the utilities to participate in the proceedings. While this is a good first step, the utilities have already issued final reports from this process, and this bill alone would prove unlikely to protect us from a future planned to transport greenhouse gasses through pipelines.
Additionally, the bill would allow 10 municipalities to pilot a building code that bans the installation of new fossil fuel heating, cooling, and cooking systems. This comes in response to the Baker administration's refusal to ban fossil fuel systems, even by local option, in its latest draft of the specialized stretch building code. Six communities have already filed home rule petitions to implement such a building code. If enacted, this bill would allow them to do so.
Overall, while this bill is a welcome first step, it is not ambitious enough. Two weeks ago, the International Panel on Climate Change released a report saying that global emissions must peak by 2025 if we have any hope of keeping warming to manageable levels. This bill scratches the surface of the measures needed to meet that goal. We face a paradox where decades of inaction have turned what would have previously been Herculean efforts into barely adequate measures. This bill does not address the lack of funding mechanisms to assist building owners in the transition from oil and gas over to clean renewable electricity. Additionally, while the bill includes several zero-emission vehicle policies, it would do little to expand transit access or electrify public and transit fleets. And while we were pleased to see that several amendments increasing equity provisions in the Mass Save efficiency program were adopted, we still have a long way to go to fix the ongoing inequitable impacts of pollution and dirty energy infrastructure on Black and Brown communities.
With that being said, we are proud of the impact Sierra Club has had on strengthening this bill. We worked on priority amendments with a broad swath of coalitions, including wind groups, conservation organizations, environmental justice organizations, transit organizations, grassroots advocates, and transportation, healthy buildings, and gas transition coalitions. We mobilized over 300 members to contact their legislators in support of stronger provisions. Thank you to everyone, including all of our volunteers, who advocated to improve the bill. Many important pieces were only included because of your advocacy.
We will continue to work with the legislature to ensure the strongest climate action possible as the bill moves through the reconciliation process.
Below is an overview of the bill and the proceedings, written in partnership with Progressive Mass.
Clean Energy
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Enables nuclear fusion, networked geothermal, and deep geothermal energy to be eligible for support from the Mass Clean Energy Center
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Creates a $100 million Clean Energy Investment Fund
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Updates the offshore wind procurement process by maintaining a price cap while allowing certain direct economic development costs to be excluded from the calculation, removing utilities from the role as selector of the winning procurement, and reducing the remuneration rate for utilities
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Removes impediments to medium-sized solar developments and tees up a successor to the state’s SMART solar program (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target) solar program that favors development in the built environment
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Expands the ability for “dual use” solar and agriculture projects to receive incentives, and incentivizes pollinator-friendly measures in solar developments
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Authorizes all public pensions, with the exception of the state employees retirement system, the state teachers retirement system, and the State Boston retirement system, to divest from any investment in fossil fuel companies
Electric Vehicles
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Establishes a $100 million fund for the MOR-EV rebate program (Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicles) and provides a $3,500 point-of-sale rebate for the purchase of an electric car or light-duty trucks (with an additional $1000 for trading in a gas-powered vehicle), with $4,500 for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles; also allows used vehicles to qualify for the first time and establishes a $1,500 rebate at point of sale for low-income buyers
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Creates a new outreach program for underserved and low-income communities, as well as communities with high proportions of high-emission vehicles
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Requires all light-duty vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035
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Requires the entire MBTA bus fleet to be electric by 2040 and all new MBTA bus purchases to be electric by 2028
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Requires emissions reduction targets for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft
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Creates a new interagency coordinating council to develop and implement a plan for deploying EV charging infrastructure in an equitable and accessible way, backed by a $50 million fund
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Requires new developments to allocate 10 percent of parking spaces to electric vehicle charging
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Requires utilities to offer reduced electricity rates for off-peak EV charging
Buildings
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Creates a 10-municipality demonstration project allowing municipalities to restrict the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects
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Limits ratepayer-funded efficiency programs from incentivizing fossil fuel equipment starting in 2025
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Mandates that the utility-controlled investigation into the “future of gas” receive additional scrutiny
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Expands equity in the Mass Save program by requiring the Department of Public Utilities to include equity data in its evaluation of efficiency investment plans and to invest to strategically to reduce racial disparities in outcomes
Other Measures
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Prevents biomass facilities from receiving state clean energy incentives
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Directs creation of a study into future energy storage needs
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Bans competitive electricity suppliers, who often prey on the most vulnerable, from operating in Massachusetts
The Amendment Process: What Was Adopted, Rejected, or Withdrawn without a Vote
Most floor debate happens without discussion or a vote. Occasionally, a lead sponsor will make some remarks before an amendment is adopted by voice vote or before withdrawing the amendment to avoid seeing it rejected. Thursday was no different.
Moreover, many amendments that were adopted were redrafted before adoption. Curious to know how an amendment changed during redrafting? Well, so are we. The Senate does not show the original text, a striking lack of transparency.
Here’s a run-down of the fate of some key amendments advocated for by the Sierra Club:
Adopted by Voice Vote
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#5 Offshore Wind, redrated (Cyr): Increases the minimum required offshore wind target to 10,000 MW total by 2035 and ensures that local indigenous tribes are included in both the process and the opportunities that result
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#7 Large Building Energy Reporting, redrafted (Rausch): Requires the owners of large buildings (such as offices, apartments, hospitals, and university campuses) to report their energy use to the state each year and allows municipalities to set stronger reporting standards
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#13 Commuter Rail Electrification, redrafted (Crighton): Requires all commuter rail procurements to be electric by 2031 and requires the MBTA to establish short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans for each commuter rail line and how they fit into the state’s emissions reductions goals
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#36 Monitoring & Reducing Air Pollution, redrafted (Jehlen): Creates a committee to identify air pollution hotspots and establish baseline pollution levels, and requires a 2024 report from the committee on how to reduce air pollution in identified locations by 50 percent by December 31, 2030
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#65 Mass Save Equity, redrafted (Chang-Díaz): Adds increased valuation of equity, renter access, and data collection in Mass Save programs
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#128 Green and Healthy School Buildings, redrafted (Comerford): Assesses and creates a plan to renovate k-12 schools to improve energy efficiency, air quality, temperature and light control and more, starting with the highest needs schools
Rejected by Voice Vote
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#8 Large Building Energy Performance Standards (Rausch): Requires large buildings to meet minimum standards for energy efficiency, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels over time
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#31 Prioritizing Project Labor Agreements in Offshore Wind Energy Generation Proposals (Feeney): Requires DOER to give preference to offshore wind proposals that demonstrate benefits from the greatest economic development and employment contributions and adds consideration of the use of project labor agreements for the life cycle of offshore wind projects
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#55 Promoting Sustainable Development and Infrastructure (Collins): Integrates climate adaptation planning across various components of the economy, such as capital infrastructure projects, environmental impact reviews, utility infrastructure, and building codes and standards
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#63 Expanding Electric New Construction (Eldridge): Increases the number of municipalities that can participate in the demonstration project allowing municipalities to restrict the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects by 30 to a total of 40
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#82 Parking Spaces Wired for Charging Stations (Edwards): Requires at least 90% of all parking spaces in new residential and commercial construction be wired to be electric vehicle capable
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#88 Fleet Electrification (Edwards): Sets interim targets and requires all public fleets including state, municipal, and school bus fleets to be electric by 2035. Also requires the DOER to design an incentive program to encourage the transition of private fleets to electric vehicles
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#122 Methane emissions accounting (Comerford): Updates MA’s greenhouse gas reporting law to meet latest scientific understandings on methane emissions, ensuring more accurate and consistent accounting of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of methane
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#148 Expanding the MassSave program (Chandler): Expands the range of energy efficiency applications and subsidies covered by the MassSave program to include insulation, upgrading electrical systems, heat pumps, and solar energy systems
Withdrawn
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#24 Fare-Free Bus Pilot (Jehlen): Requires the MBTA and the RTA to implement a one-year fare-free bus pilot by March 31, 2023
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#33 Hydrogen & Biomethane Gas Contracts (Jehlen): Prevents the department of public utilities from approving a contract for the so-called “decarbonized gases” of hydrogen, renewable natural gas, or any gas derived from hydrogen if it costs more than an average cost of fossil gas
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#64 Food Justice with Jobs (Eldridge): Creates Community Land Trusts in food-insecure communities in order to grow more food and create food security jobs, and creates Garden Agriculture Program and Grants
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#89 Restrict the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects (Friedman): Expands the number of municipalities that can participate in the demonstration project allowing municipalities to restrict the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects by greenlighting all gateway cities with over 50,000 residents and 20-30 additional towns.
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#109 Equitable Siting in East Boston (Edwards): Prevents the building of an electrical substation in East Boston
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#118 Electrification of New and Substantially Remodeled or Rehabilitated Buildings (Comerford): Requires all newly constructed, substantially remodeled, or rehabilitated buildings to use electricity or thermal solar instead of fossil fuels, with some exceptions; allows municipalities to impose reasonable penalties for violations
Notable Roll Call Votes
As noted earlier, the final bill was a party-line vote of 37-3. The Senate also rejected 36-3 the Republican caucus’s substitute version of the bill, a truncated version of the bill that allows the “future of gas” work of the Department of Public Utilities to conclude with the current governor and that removes the language ensuring that wood-burning electric power plants not be counted as clean energy.
The Senate voted unanimously for amendments to allow local pension funds to divest from fossil fuels (#57, Pacheco) and to require MassDOT to assist Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) in transitioning to the use of electric buses (#123, Chandler).
The most interesting contested vote was that on Sen. Pacheco (D-Taunton)’s Amendment #4: Building Environmental Justice and Energy Efficiency With Jobs, which integrated critical pieces of the Building Justice with Jobs bill with funding sources. The amendment requested $1 billion from Federal Covid-19 recovery funds be transferred to the Clean Energy Investment Fund for at least 1 million home retrofits, prioritizing people living in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities. The amendment was a key priority for the Mass Renews Alliance, MA Power Forward, and the Mass Sierra Club.
There was a tense floor debate between Sen. Pacheco and Sen. Barrett (D-Lexington), the chairman of the Telecommunications, Utilities, and & Energy Committee. Barrett criticized the amendment for requesting too much of the remaining $2.5 billion in ARPA funds (although, given the urgency of climate action, effective equity and job-focused climate investment can never be too little) and for delegating the creation of a plan to a task force of state officials, policy experts, and community and nonprofit leaders rather than the Legislature itself (strikingly, this seemed to be a rare moment of legislators complaining about something being delegated to a commission…).
What now?
Because this bill was a replacement of the House’s narrower wind bill, the bill will either head back to the House for changes or head to conference committee, where it will be reconciled with the original House version. Join our Outreach Team to continue learning and advocating for stronger policy by coming to our meetings on Thursdays at 7pm! Head over to our Events Calendar to RSVP for a team meeting.