H918 • 2025

An Act protecting drinking water and public health from sand mining pollution

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The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Mike Connolly
Last action: 2026-03-19
Official status: Accompanied a new draft, see H5267
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act protecting drinking water and public health from sand mining pollution

An Act protecting drinking water and public health from sand mining pollution By Representative Connolly of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act protecting drinking water and public health from sand mining pollution By Representative Connolly of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
918) of Mike Connolly, John R.
Gaskey and Leigh Davis for legislation to creation of a advisory panel (including members of the General Court) to investigate the scope and scale of sand mining and its current and potential impact on drinking water.
Environment and Natural Resources.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-19 House
Accompanied a new draft, see H5267
2025-12-24 House
Reporting date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026
2025-08-28 House
Reporting date extended to Wednesday, December 31, 2025
2025-05-21 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 06/03/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on Environment and Natural Resources
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act protecting drinking water and public health from sand mining pollution
By Representative Connolly of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 918) of Mike Connolly, John R. Gaskey and Leigh Davis for legislation to creation of a advisory panel (including members of the General Court) to investigate the scope and scale of sand mining and its current and potential impact on drinking water. Environment and Natural Resources.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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Bill H.918

The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter xx, the following Section:

(a) There shall be created a 6 member advisory panel which shall consist of the following members or their designees: one member from the office of the secretary of energy and environmental affairs with an expertise in geographic information systems (GIS); two members, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, with knowledge of ecology, ecosystems, forestry and biodiversity and/or from the office of the State Geologist; one member from Community Land & Water Coalition or their designee; one expert in hydrology nominated by the University of Massachusetts and appointed by the Governor; and one Indigenous person with expertise in Indigenous and environmental justice issues.

(b) The panel shall serve in an advisory capacity only and shall meet monthly or more frequently in public meetings to investigate the scope and scale of sand mining.

(c) The investigation shall address sand mining in the Commonwealth including (1) the current and potential impact on drinking water; (2) impact on Environmental Justice communities; (3) climate change mitigation and resilience; (4) air pollution including worker and public exposure to respirable crystalline silica from sand mines.

(d) Said investigation shall conclude within two years and include recommendations for regulatory changes to protect drinking water, worker and public health, and the environment. Said changes may include changes to licensing laws for mining, Part I, Title II, Chapter 21B, Section 5 of the General Laws.

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