Massachusetts HD 234: An Act relative to a marine special activity license program

Bill Text

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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 234 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 979

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Patrick Joseph Kearney
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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 relative to a marine special activity license program.
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PETITION OF:

NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Patrick Joseph Kearney 4th Plymouth 1/7/2025

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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 234 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 979
By Representative Kearney of Scituate, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 979) of
Patrick Joseph Kearney relative to a marine special activity license program. Environment and
Natural Resources.

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 841 OF 2023-2024.]

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 relative to a marine special activity license program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:

1 Chapter 130 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
2 Section 107. (a) For purposes of this section, unless the context clearly indicates
3 otherwise, the following terms shall have the following meanings:-
4 “Attract” or “attraction”, any activity that lures or may lure any marine organism to a
5 person or vessel by using food, bait, chum, dyes, decoys, acoustics or any other means,
6 excluding the mere presence of persons on the water including those persons conducting
7 commercial or recreational fishing activity.
8 “Harvest”, the catching, taking or molesting of a marine organism by any means
9 whatsoever, followed by a reduction of such organism or part thereof to possession. A marine

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10 organism that is caught and immediately returned to the water free, alive and unharmed is not
11 harvested.
12 “Scientific research”, an activity that uses marine organisms to conduct 1 or more of the
13 following:
14 (1) Research activity that involves the application of rigorous, systematic and objective
15 procedures of observation, measurement and experiment to obtain reliable and pertinent data
16 using an experimental design, controls and data analysis to test a stated hypothesis.
17 (2) Monitoring activity that involves making technical and scientific observations as a
18 means of gathering data according to a predetermined study plan.
19 (3) Restoration activity that facilitates mitigation or recovery of marine organisms and
20 includes subsequent monitoring to measure the success of the restoration effort
21 “Special activity license” or “license”, a permit for oceanic scientific research described
22 in subsection (b).
23 (b) The division shall grant special activity licenses for oceanic scientific research,
24 including but not limited to aquaculture or mariculture; scientific, environmental and biological
25 collection and study, assessment or experimentation; collection and possession for education
26 purposes; provided, that if conducting research, study results shall be presented in sufficient
27 detail and clarity to allow for replication, or at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build
28 systematically on findings; provided further, that if conducting monitoring, collected data shall
29 be analyzed to detect physical or biological changes over time in marine organisms, their
30 populations or communities; provided further, that if conducting restoration or mitigation,

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31 species such as oysters, corals, sponges, sea fans, sea whips and other marine organisms shall be
32 repaired in the event that the species are damaged and the effectiveness of the restoration or
33 mitigation activity shall be evaluated by subsequent monitoring.
34 (c) An application for a license shall be reviewed and approved by the director or a
35 designated representative. The director may allow individuals outside of the division to review
36 license applications; provided, that the individuals possess the biological, technical, regulatory
37 and enforcement expertise necessary to appropriately evaluate a requested activity.
38 (d) The director shall review an application and grant or deny a license based on the
39 following criteria:
40 (1) eligibility of the applicant;
41 (2) completeness of information submitted during the application process;
42 (3) consistency of the requested activities with the license type requested;
43 (4) degree of compliance with the terms and conditions set forth by a special activity
44 license previously issued to the applicant;
45 (5) potential impacts of the type, size and method of attraction or harvest gear requested
46 for use;
47 (6) biological status of the species