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Bill

S 636

Creates a sales and use tax exemption for school buses and related items

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Patrick Gallivan

Creates a statewide program of environmental audits in EJ neighborhoods and designates Green Zones to target mitigation, resilience, and equity investments.

REFERRED TO BUDGET AND REVENUE
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Bill Summary · S 636

Summary — S.636 (Commonwealth GREEN ZONES ACT)

Note: The bill metadata provided includes conflicting items (a different short title about a sales/use tax exemption for school buses and an inconsistent sponsor list). The attached bill text, however, is titled “An Act to improve environmental justice in the Commonwealth” (the Commonwealth GREEN ZONES ACT) and is the basis for this summary. Where the text is truncated, I note limitations below.

Purpose / Intent

Establish a statewide program to identify and remediate concentrated environmental burdens in disadvantaged neighborhoods by conducting environmental audits and designating “Green Zones” — targeted areas within Environmental Justice (EJ) neighborhoods where strategies to mitigate pollution, improve sustainability, and increase resilience will be planned and funded.

Key definitions (selected, from the bill)

  • Environmental Audit: comprehensive study by the Secretary (Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, EOEEA) to identify and quantify environmental burdens (public health, public safety, energy burden, transportation access, land use, etc.).
  • Environmental Burdens: non‑insignificant harm to natural resources/ public health (air/water pollution, soil contamination, flooding, noise, inadequate remediation, loss of green space, etc.).
  • Environmental Justice Neighborhood: a census block group in an EJ community meeting one or more criteria:
    • median household income ≤ 65% of statewide median; or
    • minority population ≥ 40%; or
    • ≥ 25% of households lack English proficiency; or
    • minority ≥ 25% and the municipality’s median household income ≤ 150% of statewide median.
  • Targeted Environmental Justice Community: an EJ municipality meeting two or more criteria (e.g., ≥100 block groups; ≥75% of block groups are EJ block groups; or ≥100,000 people living in EJ block groups).
  • Green Zone: areas within a targeted EJ neighborhood identified by the audit as priority sites for mitigation and resilience investments.

Major provisions

  • Directs the Secretary of EOEEA to conduct environmental audits of EJ neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.
  • Authorizes creation of an Environmental Audit Working Group (minimum 9 members who live or work in an EJ neighborhood) to advise the Secretary. Members serve without pay but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses.
  • Audits must quantify environmental burdens, identify prior causes where possible, assess current conditions, and describe an ideal future “green” state.
  • The Secretary must report audit findings to the municipal officer for the affected municipality and identify areas to be designated as Green Zones (text truncated thereafter — presumably outlines designation, planning, and possible funding/implementation mechanisms).

Who is affected

  • Residents of Environmental Justice neighborhoods (particularly low‑income, Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, non‑English proficient households).
  • Municipal governments and local officials who would receive audit reports and participate in designation/planning.
  • EOEEA (Secretary) — responsible for conducting audits and coordinating the working group.
  • Statewide and local planners, public health, transportation, and environmental agencies that would implement mitigation/resilience projects.

Procedural status & timeline (selected actions)

  • Filed: 1/17/2025 (Senate Docket No. 2033)
  • Introduced/Read twice & referred in Senate: 02/19/2025
  • Referred to Committee on Environment and Natural Resources: 02/27/2025
  • Hearing scheduled (per record): 09/02/2025, 1:00–5:00 PM (A‑1)
  • Other recorded referrals include Budget & Revenue (records show multiple referrals; source materials contain some inconsistent entries).

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Would create a statewide, data‑driven process to target investments and remediation to disadvantaged communities, potentially improving public health, resilience to climate impacts, and equitable access to green infrastructure.
  • Implementation will require EOEEA staff time, technical resources for audits, and likely funding commitments for remediation and capital projects.
  • Municipalities may see increased planning obligations and opportunities for targeted state resources.
  • Specific mechanisms for funding, enforcement, timelines for designation, and required municipal actions are not visible in the truncated text and would be important to evaluate fiscal and operational impacts.

Limitations / Notes

  • The provided bill text is truncated after describing the Secretary’s reporting duty and Green Zone identification; full details (e.g., funding, timelines, enforcement, statutory changes) are not available in the excerpt.
  • Metadata includes inconsistent title and sponsor information; this summary relies on the bill text (Commonwealth GREEN ZONES ACT authored by Senator Liz Miranda). If you want, I can reconcile the metadata inconsistencies or prepare a deeper analysis once the full bill text is available.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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