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Bill H.3479
SECTION 1.
1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, and standing firmly in support of the goal to increase the generation of electrical power from renewable sources, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts directs the developers of offshore wind power projects to site the related onshore infrastructure on coastal locations that are industrial in nature and/or that contain existing power plants, whether they be active or decommissioned.
2. It is the direction of the Commonwealth that no such offshore wind projects should come ashore on or underneath public beaches, parks, recreation areas or conservation lands, or in small residential communities whose economies are based on tourism.
3. Such infrastructure shall include but not be limited to high voltage power cables, splicing vaults installed beneath public parking lots and public and private roadways, concrete duct banks conveying high voltage power cables beneath public and private roadways, and electric substations newly constructed or rebuilt to take the electricity generated by offshore wind turbines.
4. Such infrastructure, especially including but not limited to electric substations, should never be situated on top of a sole source aquifer and on or adjacent to wellhead protection zones, where any explosion or leak of toxic dielectric cooling fluids could prove catastrophic and a long-lasting threat to public health and safety.
5. Prior to accepting any new bids for offshore wind development, including the ongoing Section 83C Round 4 Offshore Wind Procurement, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) is directed to:
a. Review and evaluate independent studies of coordinated offshore transmission solutions, analyses and any such other studies and other recognized experts that are deemed credible and relevant; and
b. Report the results of such EEA review and evaluation, including EEA’s assessment of the potential cost savings to electric utility ratepayers of coordinated offshore transmission solutions in public session to the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court and to the Massachusetts voters at large.
6. Furthermore, each of the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) and any related commission or permitting agency of the Commonwealth is directed not to consider, hold hearings on, approve or issue any permits for such projects that contravene the intentions stated herein.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
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