The new regulations set the first statewide energy usage reporting deadline for large buildings, which is coming up on June 30, 2025. Building on our previous updates on LBER, here’s what the regulated community needs to know...more
In some good news for the development community, the Massachusetts legislature has finalized language that would extend the validity of most municipal and state permits related to land development or the environment for a...more
11/15/2024
/ Building Codes ,
Conservation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Municipalities ,
New Legislation ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
As we posted previously, a lesser-known provision of the Massachusetts legislature’s 2022 An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind created M.G.L. ch.25A §20, which requires the reporting of energy usage data for...more
9/24/2024
/ Clean Energy ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Sector ,
Offshore Wind ,
Public Comment ,
Public Utility ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Utilities Sector
This week, the Massachusetts Commission on Clean Heat released its final report. The report seeks to establish a framework for a long-term reduction in emissions from heating fuels, to align with the Commonwealth’s emissions...more
Massachusetts will soon see significant updates to the energy codes that govern the construction and alteration of buildings throughout the Commonwealth. As required by the 2021 climate bill, the Massachusetts Department of...more
10/24/2022
/ Building Codes ,
Building Standards ,
Clean Energy ,
Construction Industry ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Municipalities ,
Net Zero ,
Opt-In ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Utilities Sector
Massachusetts will soon see significant updates to the energy codes that govern the construction and alteration of buildings throughout the Commonwealth. As required by the 2021 climate bill, the Massachusetts Department of...more
Lost amid the more high profile items in Massachusetts’ recently enacted Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind is a requirement that the Department of Energy Resources establish a program requiring large buildings across...more
As we’ve discussed before, multiple cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have tried to ban fossil fuel hookups for new buildings by zoning or other ordinance over the past few years. But in July 2020, the...more
Just over a year ago, the city of Berkeley, California, became the first City in the United States to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings. The trend of municipalities enacting fossil fuel bans, driven by a desire to...more
August 23, 2017, Massachusetts and the eight other New England and Mid-Atlantic states that participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative announced a proposed plan for the continued implementation of RGGI (the...more
Back in September and February, we wrote about MassDEP’s Proposed Interpretation of Chapter 91 regulations, which attempted to provide guidance to the regulated community on the conditions under which a historic pile field...more
Last month, MassDEP and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management released long-awaited revisions to the regulations governing waterfront development in Massachusetts (the Chapter 91 regulations, the Designated Port...more
Last week we wrote about the Conservation Law Foundation filing suit against EOEEA Secretary Beaton and DEP Commissioner Suuberg for actions associated with the approval of an amendment to the South Boston Waterfront District...more
Last week the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) announced it has filed suit against EOEEA Secretary Beaton and DEP Commissioner Suuberg for actions associated with the approval of an amendment to the South Boston Waterfront...more
Back in September, we wrote about MassDEP’s Proposed Interpretation of Chapter 91 regulations, which attempted to provide guidance to the regulated community on the conditions under which a historic pile field can contribute...more
In one of the first acts of his presidency, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order entitled “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects”, with a stated goal of streamlining...more
Does a pile field exist if it’s covered at high tide?
MassDEP seems to think not.
Through the Commonwealth’s Chapter 91 program, MassDEP regulates what can be built over tidelands. In last week’s Environmental...more
MassDEP and the Commonwealth’s office of Coastal Zone Management recently proposed draft changes to the Designated Port Area and Facility of Public Accommodation regulations under the Chapter 91 program. Comments are due by...more
As announced in the Federal Register this week, EPA finally released the General Permit for small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems in Massachusetts (say that three times fast!)
This permit has been in the works for...more
Last month, we wrote about MassDEP’s trichloroethylene (TCE) site reevaluation initiative. MassDEP has begun the process of screening sites previously closed under the MCP to look for sites where TCE might exceed the new...more
MassDEP recently published its final guidance for Light Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPL). The document provides guidance on investigating and assessing the presence and migration of LNAPL at disposal sights regulated under...more
Last week, we wrote about an audit that MassDEP is conducting of previously closed sites to look for high concentrations of TCE in soils and groundwater. The intent of the audit is to address potential vapor intrusion. The...more
At a recent meeting of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee, MassDEP announced that it will soon begin the process of contacting owners of previously closed sites...more
On January 26, 2016, insurance giant AIG announced a major restructuring designed to make it a “more profitable and focused insurer.” Apparently as a result of these efforts to streamline and slim down, AIG has begun...more
MassDEP has recently released for public comment draft Guidance on Vapor Intrusion. The proposed guidance would replace MassDEP’s December 2011 Interim Final Vapor Intrusion Guidance, which saw minor revisions in the spring...more