An Act to remove woody biomass from the greenhouse gas emissions standard for municipal lighting plants

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Orlando Ramos

Removes woody biomass from the greenhouse gas emissions standard for municipal lighting plants, eliminating related sections and altering how such plants are measured.

Summary of HD 2076: An Act to remove woody biomass from the greenhouse gas emissions standard for municipal lighting plants

Overview

Bill number: HD 2076 (House Docket No. 2076)

Title: An Act to remove woody biomass from the greenhouse gas emissions standard for municipal lighting plants

Status: Proposed bill (House Docket No. 2076); official text filed January 15, 2025

Introduced: 2025 session (as reflected in the bill text)

Purpose: To remove woody biomass from the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standard applicable to municipal lighting plants in Massachusetts.

Key Provisions

SECTION 1: Amends Chapter 8 of the General Laws (as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition) by striking out sections 34 and 112. This effectively eliminates the provisions that currently define or require woody biomass as part of the GHG emissions standard for municipal lighting plants.

SECTION 2: Effective date — the act takes effect upon its passage.

What the bill would change

Repeals: The specific GHG-related requirements associated with woody biomass for municipal lighting plants by removing sections 34 and 112 from Chapter 8.

Resulting standard: With the woody biomass components removed, municipal lighting plants would no longer be governed by (or measured against) any woody-biomass-specific provisions embedded in those sections. The overall structure of the GHG standard for municipal lighting plants would be altered accordingly, though the text does not replace those sections with new provisions.

Who/What is Affected

Municipal lighting plants in Massachusetts that are subject to the state greenhouse gas emissions standard.

State bodies administering the GHG standard (e.g., agencies responsible for energy and environmental regulation) would implement the change by removing the referenced sections.

Municipalities and municipal utilities that rely on the current woody biomass accounting in meeting GHG standards.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

The act would take effect upon passage.

The bill originates from a petition-style presentation in the House and is part of the 194th General Court (2025–2026) session. The bill text indicates it was filed in January 2025, with the status in the summary not specifying final legislative action.

Context and Notes

The bill’s central aim is a targeted deregulatory/realignment move: to remove woody biomass from the GHG emissions framework for municipal lighting plants. The precise regulatory impact would depend on the content of the repealed sections (34 and 112) and how other GHG accounting provisions (if any) would interact with the change.

If you’d like, I can add a brief comparison to current GHG accounting practices for municipal lighting plants or map out potential compliance implications for affected municipalities.