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H 4041

Linda Harvey

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Alexander and 121 co-sponsors

Massachusetts creates Green Zones and a dedicated Green Zone Investment Fund to direct clean energy, efficiency, and resilience projects to overburdened communities by 2030.

Introduced and adopted
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Bill Summary · H 4041

Summary — H 4041 (House No. 4041) — “An Act promoting environmental justice in Massachusetts”

Status note: the source materials include two distinct items that appear to be conflated — (1) a Massachusetts bill introduced by Rep. Mike Connolly establishing “Green Zones” and an Office of Green Zone Administration, and (2) an unrelated South Carolina House resolution honoring Linda Jean Harvey. This summary focuses on the Massachusetts legislation (the substantive bill text attached to House No. 4041). Procedural entries in the record contain mixed dates; key procedural items listed below reflect the provided timeline.

Main purpose

To promote environmental justice by identifying and prioritizing overburdened communities (“green zones”) for targeted clean energy, efficiency, resilience, workforce, outreach, and investment programs administered through a new Office of Green Zone Administration within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA).

Key provisions

  • Establishes a new Chapter 21P — “Green Zones”:
    • Creates an Office of Green Zone Administration under the EEA’s Undersecretary for Environmental Justice.
    • Directs the office to develop and implement a statewide scoring methodology (with the Department of Energy Resources, DOER) to rank communities by environmental damage, public health disparities, energy burden, past harm and census data, and to designate “green zones” based on that ranking.
  • Green Zone Investment Fund:
    • Establishes a dedicated fund to receive appropriations, gifts/grants, investment returns and interest.
    • Fund to be administered in coordination with the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, which will provide grants, rebates, low-interest loans and financing for eligible projects in green zones.
  • Program and investment targets:
    • Install onsite or community solar and energy-efficiency measures for at least 250,000 low-income households — or 35% of the Commonwealth’s low-income households, whichever is greater — by 2030, with the goal of reducing their energy burden to at or below the statewide average as measured by DOE LEAD Tool.
    • Require a minimum of 400 megawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030, sited to benefit public facilities (community energy resilience hubs) or directly at low-income households.
  • Workforce, outreach, and community engagement:
    • Integrate workforce development and training (EEA, DOER, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development) into programs, prioritizing recruitment from environmental justice populations.
    • Provide outreach/recruitment grants to community-based organizations and prioritize hiring local residents for outreach work.
    • Appoint a community liaison and establish an advisory board drawn from designated green zone populations; the board will review programs and issue an annual recommendations report.
  • Budget targeting and program accessibility:
    • Secretary of EEA must ensure at least 10% of the statewide budget for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs is spent in green zone communities each fiscal year.
    • Programs must address barriers faced by low-income and environmental justice populations (simplified applications, technical support, culturally competent outreach).
  • Note: the bill text provided is truncated after Section 10; additional regulatory or implementation details may be contained in omitted portions.

Who is affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: residents of designated green zones — particularly low-income households and environmental justice (overburdened) populations.
  • Implementing agencies: Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Department of Energy Resources, Massachusetts Community Climate Bank, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and other state agencies.
  • Service providers and community-based organizations involved in outreach, installation, training, and project delivery.

Timeline and procedural aspects

  • Sponsor: Rep. Mike Connolly (26th Middlesex). Bill text filed 1/17/2025 (House Docket No. 4234).
  • Targets set in the bill: 2030 (installation and storage capacity goals).
  • Procedural entries in the record (mixed): introduced and adopted 02/19/2025; referred to Environment and Natural Resources committee 04/22/2025; Senate concurred 04/24/2025; a hearing was scheduled for 09/02/2025 (1:00–5:00 PM).
  • Related bill: HD 4234 is listed as replacing this filing.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Would direct new public and leveraged private investment into overburdened communities, expanding clean energy access, resilience, and job training.
  • Implementation requires rulemaking, coordination across agencies, and sustained funding to meet 2030 goals.
  • Outcomes will depend on the final scoring methodology, adequacy of the Green Zone Investment Fund resources, and the Massachusetts Community Climate Bank’s capacity to deploy financing effectively.

Note: The appended South Carolina House resolution recognizing Linda Jean Harvey is unrelated to the Massachusetts Green Zones bill and appears to have been included in the provided materials in error.

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

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