Massachusetts SD 2109: An Act relative to natural gas safety and responsibility

Bill Text

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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2109        FILED ON: 1/18/2019 
SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1967 
 
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
_________________ 
PRESENTED BY: 
Barry R. Finegold 
_________________ 
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 natural gas safety and responsibility. 
_______________ 
PETITION OF: 
 
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS:  
Barry R. Finegold Second Essex and Middlesex  
Jason M. Lewis Fifth Middlesex 1/29/2019 
Rebecca L. Rausch Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex 1/30/2019 
James B. Eldridge Middlesex and Worcester 1/30/2019 
Edward J. Kennedy First Middlesex 1/30/2019 
Michael O. Moore Second Worcester 1/31/2019 
David Allen Robertson 19th Middlesex 2/1/2019 
Christina A. Minicucci 14th Essex 2/8/2019 
Marcos A. Devers 16th Essex 2/8/2019 
Bruce E. Tarr First Essex and Middlesex 2/8/2019 
Tram T. Nguyen 18th Essex 2/11/2019 

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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2109        FILED ON: 1/18/2019 
SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1967 
By Mr. Finegold, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1967) of Barry R. Finegold, Jason 
M. Lewis, Rebecca L. Rausch, James B. Eldridge and other members of the General Court for 
legislation relative to natural gas safety and responsibility.  Telecommunications, Utilities and 
Energy. 
 
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
 
_______________
 
In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court 
(2019-2020) 
_______________
 
 
An Act relative to natural gas safety and responsibility. 
 
 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. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other general or special law to the 
2contrary, for the purposes of the act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:- 
3 “Declared Public Utility Emergency” shall mean a state of emergency declared primarily 
4as the result of the failure of a public utility system, including, but not limited to, a natural gas 
5pipeline leak or explosion. 
6 “Gas company” shall have the meaning given to the term in Section 1F of chapter 164 of 
7the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition. 
8 SECTION 2. Section 4B of chapter 25 , as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition of the 
9General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “ends.”, in line 39, the following 
10paragraphs:- 

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11 “In the event of a Declared Public Utility Emergency resulting in the termination of gas 
12service, the chairperson of the department of public utilities may set a reasonable date by which 
13gas service terminated as a result of the emergency shall be restored. If the relevant gas company 
14fails to restore service by that date, the chairperson shall have the authority to fine the gas 
15company up to $2,000,000 per day beyond the restoration deadline that gas service has not been 
16restored. 
17 If the National Transportation Safety Board or any other federal entity with relevant 
18oversight authority determines through an investigation of the emergency that the emergency 
19was caused due to the relevant gas company’s failure to maintain its infrastructure, then the 
20chairperson may fine the gas company up to $5,000,000 per day that gas service is not restored, 
21starting with the date of the initial service interruption. The chairperson may also require the gas 
22company to pay all or a portion of the emergency response costs incurred by municipalities 
23affected by the Declared Public Utility Emergency. These fines shall not limit the imposition of 
24any other applicable fines or damage awards against the relevant gas company.” 
25 SECTION 3. Section 3 of chapter 142, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition of the 
26General Laws, is hereby amended by striking, in lines 18 through 20, the words "said employees 
27shall not require a gas fitter's license while performing work for said gas company." and inserting 
28in place thereof the following words:- 
29 "except in the case of a state of emergency declared by the governor, employees of any 
30gas company shall not perform work within fifteen feet of the costumer side of the meter." 
31 SECTION 4. Section 53 of chapter 146 of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 6 of 
32the acts of 2017, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:- 

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33 (h) The exemptions under subsections (e), (f) and (g) shall not apply to a public utility 
34company or other company performing work for a public utility company during the course of an 
35employee strike or lockout unless: (i) the employees of the public utility company or other 
36company performing work for a public utility company who are not part of the strike or lockout 
37have obtained a company lice