2025-04-08 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

SPEAKER1 - I'm so pleased to be2 chairing today's first hearing of the joint committee. We're gonna be covering a variety of proposals,8 mostly local matters today. I am pleased to be12 joined by my colleagues from the house, including vice chair Rep. Aldo. We have Gassy, Rep Sweezy, ranking the minority number Rep Sylvia,
Rep Barmini, and Rep Hong joining us today.30 I'm also very pleased to introduce my senate co chair, senator Rausch, who will introduce the senate members.
SPEAKER2 - Good afternoon, everyone. Glad to40 see you. Welcome back for those of you who are frequent flyers to this committee. Great to be with you again and thrilled to be chairing this committee this term with, my good friend and partner in this work, house chair Christine Barber. Greetings to our our our senate majority whip and ENR committee member, senator Mike Rush. And glad to be with you64 today as we kick off all of this intensive legislative work. Thank you.68
SPEAKER1 - Alright. Lunch is out there. I also70 wanna welcome reverend Tazner, who has just joined us. Before I wanna begin, I wanna remind participants of a couple of ground rules. To ensure everyone who has registered has a chance to speak, I ask that you limit your testimony to 3 minutes, and we will have a clock. Individuals may speak once, and you may address more than 1 bill during your testimony if you choose to. And as is custom customary here, I will be taking public officials out of turn. Written testimonials written testimonies also welcome. You might submit it at any time for for consideration until the committee actually acts on the bill. You can send it, to us today here or by mail to the environment natural resources committee in Room 167 or by email to research research director, Jake Newman at j0.newman@mahouse.com.
That's we will get started. So I will be taking, reps and tensors out of turn. So our first bill is we're going to hear from, chair LaNatra, house 9 84, and rep LaNatra has a panel with her. I believe it is a mix of virtual and in person. Howard Randall, Taim Du Bois, and Matt, you know
SPEAKER2 - if you
SPEAKER3 - wanna kick it
SPEAKER1 - off and then
SPEAKER4 - Thank you. Great. Thank you, Chairman Barber and Chairman Rausch, members of the committee. I'm here today to voice my strong support for h 9 8 4 and to ask that it it be reported favorably from this committee. This bill would restore balanced water management to Silver Lake, Furnace Pond, Mon Pontsin Pond, and the connected branches, including the Jones River, which flows into Cape Cod Bay through Kingston. Under a 1964 law, Brockton is allowed to draw water from Silver Lake. And to maintain that level, water is diverted from Mon Pontsett And Furnace Ponds. This law does not currently require consideration of the environmental impacts this has on the surrounding ecosystems in our communities. We've seen the damage, drought, degraded water, and harm to our habitats. At the same time, we've made real progress restoring Jones River, removing dams, improving flow, and seeing native species return. But that progress is at risk without a more responsible and modern approach to water management. This bill does not take away water from Brockton. It simply ensures that ecological health and regional balance are part of the equation going forward. Now, I'd like to introduce 3 panelists who bring a range of expertise in local insight. First, we have Matt Pinella. He's the conservation agent of the town of Kingston. I have Howard Randall, the newly appointed commissioner of the Central Plymouth County245 Water District, and Pine DuBois, who's the executive director of Jones River Watershed Association. Each will speak to the local and the environmental importance of this bill. I wanna thank you for your time and thank you for your consideration.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you.
So I believe they are virtual.
SPEAKER4 - Yes.
I don't see any virtual
SPEAKER2 - There we269 go. Technology at its finest.
SPEAKER1 - So Matt
SPEAKER4 - So Matt, if Matt could go first? Go first?
SPEAKER5 - Sure. Yeah. Thank you very much for your time. The safe yield of Silver Lake was established in 1900 as 4,300,000 gallons per day. It's a glacially formed lake that has not increased in size, so the safe yield has not increased as far as I'm aware. At this point, Brockton takes an average of 10,000,000 gallons297 per day from the lake, only supplementing it with diversion into Silver Lake when Momponset pond levels are high. So this is more than double the safe yield. As Momponset has long been known307 for cyanobacteria issues, this has created309 a water quality issue for Silver Lake and the Jones River in addition to the quantity issue. Due to the political and physical complexity of the issue, DEP has not stepped in on behalf of the water resources. Their water management act regulations are under review after several watershed nonprofits threatened325 to sue EPA for failure to provide oversight. The329 City Of Brockton's Water Department cannot be trusted to safeguard Silver Lake and the Jones333 River, particularly in a changing climate. Oversight is needed. Already,337 history has shown a lack of environmental concern paired with an inability to manage water resources at a level providing security for the people of Brockton. If anyone doubts that, you can email me for photos from 1981 when Silver Lake was nearly drained. In the winter of 20 16 to 20 17, it went down a level by 8 feet. This past winter, it was down by 4 feet.356 Beyond the resiliency issues for the residents of Brockton and relying solely on 1 water source and taking more than half the safe yield daily, this has resulted in ecological catastrophe.366 In 20 sixteen-twenty 17, an estimated millions of freshwater mussels perished from exposure, including species listed as rare by Mass Natural Heritage Program. In spring 20 24, after a several hundred year hiatus, the efforts of state, town, and nonprofit conservationists resulted in the return of roughly 20,000 alewife to their historic spawning grounds in Silver Lake. These are keystone species crucial to freshwater and marine ecosystems, considered a species of greatest conservation need, rebounding from historic lows throughout the Northeast Region. A low estimate of last year's reproduction indicates juvenile alewife in Silver Lake in the403 hundreds of millions. Unfortunately, Brockton's reliance on Silver Lake and their refusal to take from other sources for various409 reasons, combined with what were are now frequent drought conditions, trapped these fish in Silver Lake. They were unable to reach the sea in the fall. It's unclear how many have survived the winter. And now, the adults are preparing their spring run from the ocean to spawn and Silver Lake is still down more than a foot with no connection to the Jones River for juveniles to leave or adults to enter. The Brockton Water Department's increased reliance on Silver Lake is causing significant ecological and environmental harm and puts Brockton residents at risk. I urge you to support this legislation which will provide 1 bit of oversight pushing towards a more sustainable ecosystem, as well as a more sustainable water source for the people of Brockton. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you.
SPEAKER2 - She's on mute. I
SPEAKER3 - think you're on mute.
SPEAKER1 - Why don't we, move to Howard Randall, and we can come back to you if you can work work with her to shoot out the sound. Howard? Okay.
Howard, we're on mute. We can't hear you.
SPEAKER6 - There we are. How's that?
SPEAKER1 - Terrific. That's great.
SPEAKER6 - Can you hear me now? Yes. Fine. Good afternoon, members of the, committee and guests. As I stated, my name is Howard Randall. I live in currently live in Plympton as I have for over 50 years. I formerly lived in Halifax, and I've had over 30 years of experience in local government, most of it in Plympton as an elected or appointed official. I also have an extensive career in land protection and conservation efforts in Southeastern Massachusetts. I was recently appointed as a commissioner to the CPCWD and, luckily voided, voted chairman. As a new commissioner, I began research into, particularly into the act and in into the past minutes of the commission, which, the minutes demonstrated that this has been a long standing issue. But I was more taken back by what the act had stated, particularly in section 9. I asked Pine to take me around and, show me the various infrastructure, the very, the ponds and the inlets and outlets, to this system. I was alarmed to see only a trickle of water flowing into the Jones River of a civil like high school. We then visited the furnished pond infrastructure, and it looked abandoned, and while there was water flowing, it was nowhere near what I would have expected to see, and I616 learned later from the tape logs that monitor the flow of water out of out of Sobel Lake to Brockton that, really no water is being diverted today from French Pond, and, and that it hasn't perhaps for some time, and as I say, the infrastructure, looked abandoned.
Section 9 of the Act speaks to the minimum flow to be released from Mount Pleasant and Furnished646 Pond after diversion infrastructures were built, and it says, I would read it652 specifically, that the minimum daily flow of 300,000 gallons from furnished pond and the minimum daily flow of 900,000 pounds, gallons,665 should flow out of Mt. Ponce, and downstream.
It also specifically emphasized that none of this,680 notwithstanding the aforementioned minimums, flows, sufficient water shall be allowed to pass downstream at all times689 when water is being diverted to allow herring and to travel up stream and down stream. And while this particular section does not mention Thank
SPEAKER2 - thank you,
SPEAKER1 - miss thank you, mister Randall.
SPEAKER6 - Fondant. I'm sorry. Critical literature. Yeah.
SPEAKER1 - Mister Randall, thank you so much. Your time is up. Yep. If you have additional testimony, please feel free to submit it. Thank you so much. So and,
SPEAKER7 - Brian, thank you. Thank you for, your patience. I couldn't figure out718 where the mute mic was. So I've been involved in this for a long722 time. The Jones River Watershed Association, in fact, was started 40 years ago because of the conditions in Silver Lake. We learned a lot about the ecosystem, including that, Jones River was formed 14000 years ago by a melting glacier called Glacial Lake Ponton, that the Gulf Of Maine fishery pretty much thrives as the third largest fishery in the world because of river herring, that river herring are now
considered endangered in some places and in critical condition in others, including in this region. We've been working in the Jones River Watershed Association all this time to to help, open the river up. We've gotten federal and state money in order to take772 down dams. That's why 20,000 river herring got into Silver Lake last year. We work with the division778 of marine fisheries. We are constantly in touch with the agencies.
The acts of 1964 was an emergency788 legislation to help Brockton790 because the city was on fire. Now the fisheries are on fire. We need to take emergency action now and clarify that the acts of 1964 did not in any way intend either804 to be a permanent solution, it was a temporary solution, or808 to critically endanger other resources that our society and our planet rely on. And it's doing just816 that. And it's doing that because Brockton is left in charge. They don't, they're not accountable. They don't feel accountable to the Central Plymouth County Water District Commission. They don't come to the meetings and testify. They have a commissioner, but she rarely talks.
Now the head of the so called, water department is the DPW commissioner, yet the legislation says it should be the water commission. The water commission was disbanded in 02/2018 when they stopped diverting from Furnace Pond. Furnace Pond should be giving us 6 6000000 gallons a day, and it hasn't been giving any since 02/28/2018. On Pond to Pond, it should be giving 30,000,000 gallons a day right now, and it hasn't been giving more than 14 since an ACO was delivered by the DEP because there was so much cyanobacteria coming into the pond that now Silver Lake is imperiled. It has cyanobacteria, it has piles of phosphorus, and it has 200,000,000 stranded juvenile herring.879 We beg you, we beg you to do something. This is an emergency. You885 can't look at it any other way. And since you took action in 1964, please take action now and level the playing field so we can have a healthy environment and all survive. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much. Are there any questions for the panel?
Seeing none,
SPEAKER4 - thank you so much. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER6 - I would
SPEAKER7 - I would just like to add that we will be submitting written testimony, and and we hope you'll be get to get to read it. And I'm914 I'm afraid of waiting until you're, ready for action. So is there a better if there's a better920 time, if that would be communicated with us,922 we would appreciate that.
SPEAKER1 - Please. Yeah. So please submit written testimony. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER7 - Thank you very
SPEAKER6 - much. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Moving on to our next bill, House 1069. I'm gonna bring up representative Wells and James Gordon.
SPEAKER8 - Thank you, madam chair, senate chair. Thank you, members of, the environmental committee. I expected at some point that I would be before you, given that nearly 6,000 acres of, my district comprise the Bull Hills Reservation, but I was unsure that it would be this 1. I do want to, introduce to you this is Massachusetts state trooper James Gordon from the state police barracks in Milton. Also present today is lieutenant Sean Duret, who many of you may not realize in the back who's sitting here. And there's a police state house, who came as a very as a dear colleague of Trooper Gordon. A little bit of history is that,
the message of the builders before you today, specifically outlines the death of 3 MDC police officers that happened in the past hundred years. 2 of them were killed in the line of duty in Milton. 1 was killed in the town of Canton. The state police's the veteran colleagues here would know, merged the MDC police into them in 9092.
1020 Ironically,1020 the third officer, the most recent1022 officer that was killed was Robert Dana.1024 He was killed my first1026 month that I was appointed to the Milton1028 Police Department in 1984. Dana's wife of 6 months. Dana was killed in a vicious struggle on Blue Hills Parkway while they were trying to arrest a wanted felon, with a young Milton Police Officer who was assisting him. And in the course of that struggle, the suspect overpowered the Milton Officer, grabbed his gun, and killed Dana with it. Dana's wife of 6 months was the first female police officer, Charlotte Berkowitz, was the first known police officer appointed to the Milton Police Department and was the third officer on the scene to find her husband fairly wounded on the ground. I tell you that because that incident, and the vicious death of that officer kinda shaped the way I was as a police officer, and even I carry that with me here today. It's the last thing I ever expected to be testifying before you tonight. So with that, I will hand this over to Trooper Gordon and let him, take it from there. Thank you all very much for your time.
SPEAKER9 - Thank you, representative. I'd also like to thank all of you and state senator Driscoll for sponsoring this bill or these bills. There are there are 41096 guidelines I'm I'm working on from this project, which began a couple years ago, and it was to honor their public service, their sacrifice, also for their families and the legacy of their sacrifices and what occurred. We're running from the dates of 19 o 9 to 1984. 1984 is well before my time. I was a child, but the fast sacrifice, that they offered in the positions
is real. And I thought this project needed to be done, and and I offer, any information I might be1136 able to give. When I'm I'm done, I can talk about1138 it on the side. I also brought something a1140 little more tangible, something that's a little more to names. This was from, commissioner William Geary, who was the commissioner of the MDC Police Department, at the time of our post, Robert Dana's death that is is very beautifully well written for his legacy, for his coworkers to remember him. And since the merge and many of the MDC police officers are no longer involved in this type of, enforcement or profession, I thought it was, good to bring this forth that they can see something physical in memory of their former coworkers or their families that the generations that have passed can also see something. I thank you for your time, and I'll be available for any questions afterwards.
SPEAKER1 - Any questions for the panel?
Seeing none.
SPEAKER8 - Just 1 final comment that I'll add in the in my written testimony is that, there is precedent of the city of Boston. Our what 1 of the emphasis for the trooper to stop this, 2 years ago is the city of Boston has done this, erected a street sign. It'd be kinda taken back how many, places in the city police officers have been killed in line of duty. This would be a similar type monument in each of the 3 locations where these officers lost their
SPEAKER1 - lives. Thank you.
SPEAKER8 - Thank you very much for your time today.
SPEAKER10 - Thank
SPEAKER11 - you. I wanna
SPEAKER1 - welcome the Scarsdale, committee member joining us.
SPEAKER2 - Thanks, madam chair. I just wanna take a quick minute to, recognize, and appreciate the attendance of some of the young people from my district who are here in the building today for our youth summit. They are learning about the legislative process firsthand, and so just wanna welcome them to the hearing. Thanks, madam chair.
SPEAKER1 - You're welcome.
SPEAKER12 - Have a happy 1.
SPEAKER1 - Next, we have rep McKenna. He is testifying on House 1002.
SPEAKER13 - Okay. Thank you very much, madam chair, madam chair, members of the committee. I am happy to come before you today to testify, in support of senator Fatman and my own companion bills, which would raise a surcharge, available to the town of Douglas from $1 to $5 of vehicles parking at Douglas State Forest. Douglas State Forest is a 6,000 square foot natural resource, that porters both Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is very rural. It is it is difficult to get to, but it has fishing. It's got hiking. It's got, camping, it's got picnic areas. It it's a really wonderful resource. But it's isolated location means that the local town bears the brunt of the responsibility for emergency management at the park. This has1321 become a problem in recent years with, lost people, brush fires, water rescues, and things of that nature. And so several years ago, Senator Fatman1331 and I were able to put into place the1333 surcharge, which allows the town to collect $1 on every vehicle entering that is in a state account that the town can then receive reimbursement from for emergency expenditures. They've used it for a, high capacity drone, which has been very valuable on missing person searches and for ATV vehicles, which have been valuable for brush firefighting and missing people searches throughout the forest. The limiting factor of that limiting factor of that fund is that when the park reaches capacity, it is not reopened later in the day. So there is a natural cap on the revenue that can be received, and it is only really a revenue source for a limited number of weekend days throughout the summer. Basically, mid May through September. So if you had a rainy weekend, you're losing significant portion of the revenue that would be available for that fund. So this bill before you seeks to raise that, fund from $1 to $5 for entry. Basic use of the park remains free. If you were to walk in or there's there's many, many parking areas and hiking trails that are not located at the main parking location, that are horse trailer access, various various locations. It's It's just for the paved parking and boat launch. So it it would be a valuable resource to allow the town of Douglas to respond to any emergencies that came up. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Could you just clarify? It is a DCR park?
SPEAKER13 - Yes. Yep.
SPEAKER2 - But this will help.
SPEAKER13 - Yeah. It's so DCR and and, forest, rangers do respond to emergencies as well as do state police and environmental police. But given its location and proximity, it's it's almost always Douglas emergency response first on the scene and and doing the bulk of any sort of, emergency reaction.
And I have submitted to you via email, testimony from the town administrator, police chief, and fire chief. So that was sent
SPEAKER1 - to the committee group. Great.
SPEAKER13 - Thank you so much.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Moving on, we are going to take testimony on House 994 filed by rep Luddy. First, we'll have Michael.
SPEAKER14 - To be here today, and thanks to representative Luddy and senator Cyr for their support in refiling our home rule bill. Since Orleans passed this petition and the bill was introduced 2 years ago, Orleans and Cape Cod waters, unfortunately, have continued to significantly degrade. Since then, 5 of our 6 major water bodies were closed for periods of time due to pollution. Several for the very first time. The science is proven and irrefutable that excess nitrogen and phosphorus pollutes fresh water and saltwater bodies, including our aquifer. Fertilizer is the second biggest contributor polluting our waters. When fertilizer is applied, nutrients are not all absorbed by vegetation. The excess nutrients run off onto other people's properties from irrigation and storms until it reaches the nearest water body. With today's AI technology, for good or for bad, 1 does not necessarily need to read all of the extensive peer reviewed studies, articles, testimony. 1 can simply search topics like significant contributors to water pollution. And fertilizers and pesticides will appear as 1 of the top negative contributors. Water is our most valuable environmental resource and economic asset. Orleans has 63 ponds and lakes and 50 plus miles of coastline. It is our responsibility to keep them healthy and protect what we love. Doing nothing will change nothing. Orleans needs your support to help us make the hard decisions needed to act on solutions that protect our environment, economy, and community. Thank you for your consideration.
SPEAKER1 - Next up on the same bill, we have Bob Mann.
SPEAKER15 - Good afternoon. It's great to be back with you. It's nice to be in person. And, wow. So many new faces can't be taken. My name, distinguished co chairs, member of the committee members of the committee, my name is Bob Mann. I'm the1631 senior director of, technical1633 and regulatory affairs for the1635 National Association of Landscape Professionals, and I'm also a past president, current member of the board of directors, the Massachusetts Lawn Care Professionals. I'm here today to testify in opposition to house bill 9 9 4. I've submitted written testimony, which goes into excruciating detail, why this the passage of this bill is not in the state's best interest. This legislature took up this issue, of plant1661 nutrient management back in 2012, amending chapter 2 62. At that time, the legislature considered this issue to be of such importance that it sought1671 to occupy the entire, entire field of regulation,1674 preempting cities and towns from further regulating plant1678 nutrients. This argument is bolstered by language and, language in section 9 of the act, which allows cities and towns with previous adopted regulations to remain in place, as long as they were consistent with the Department of Agriculture Resources and in conjunction with the information published by UMass Amherst Cooperative Extension. The window for opportunity, which the town of Orleans took did take advantage of, closed on 01/01/2014. Passage of the amendment to 2 62 was a long and arduous process and was filled with a lot of compromise, but that was only the beginning. That process of of, formulating the regulations took 4 years to complete. I took I attended many of the public meetings held by EMDR at the time and engaged deeply in the debate. In the in the end, we found compromise and agreement. Today, professional applicators embrace these regulations wholeheartedly. I have the privilege of observing nutrient management law from a national perspective. Massachusetts nutrient management law is, in my opinion, the most progressive, well considered, and uniquely efficient, effective nutrient management regulatory scheme in The United States. We require those who use fertilizers to follow best management practices, published by UMass Cooperative Extension. In so doing, we are always guided by non biased scientifically based system that can quickly adjust seamlessly if and when the science changes. I wish to emphasize, we are not anti regulation at all. We agree with and follow the regulations that are in place for a decade now. However, this successful, regulatory scheme cannot continue to succeed if we allow individual cities and towns to make up their own rules, creating a patchwork of confusing and contradictory regulations that do not1794 align with the sound science. Thank you very much, and I'm happy to take any questions.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Any questions?
SPEAKER2 - Thanks very much.
SPEAKER16 - Thanks
SPEAKER2 - very much.
SPEAKER1 - Nice to see you. I believe we have 1 more person to testify on this bill. Karen Connolly, are you online?
SPEAKER12 - Hello. I'm on via hello. I'm on the telephone. Can you hear me?
SPEAKER1 - We can. Yes.
SPEAKER12 - Oh, that's great. My eyes are dilated. I had to come into, for eye appointment. And, so I can't read and, I'm sitting here and I I appreciate this opportunity. I concur with what Bob Meehan had just said. I represent the Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care Professional as well as the Green Industry Alliance, which is the the Mass Association of Landscape Professionals, the Mass Association of Lawn Care Professionals, the Mass Arborists Association, and the Golf Course Superintendents of
described. It runs for the entire state. It goes from Gloucester to Provincetown, out to the island, Central Massachusetts, the Berkshires, and Springfield and, you know, every single city in town. And it was done in coordination with MDAR and with the, all of the research that had been put together and continues to be put together by the University of Massachusetts and the other land grant universities which surround us. So it was it was designed for our state and if there are issues, then each state has each community has always looked into those issues to see what was causing whatever they felt was happening. And so, if they feel that that fertilizer is going into the base, where is that fertilizer coming from? There have been study after studies talking about fertilizer goes into the lawn. It feeds the plant. And when you put on correct amount, it doesn't go anywhere because the plant eats it all. So, I would like to know where all of that is coming from. I look forward to speaking with anyone at any time again. I will be submitting written written testimony. Thank you for this opportunity.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much. Were there any questions for Ms. Connolly? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.
You're welcome. Moving on to our next bill, it's House 10 73. I have Heather Harper signed up to testify, I believe, also virtualized.
I'm here. Can you hear me? We can.
SPEAKER3 - Great. Thank you very much for the opportunity, chairman Barber and chairman Rausch. The town of Sandwich in our region need your help. Those of you that have previously served will recall, and we thank you, that this, committee previously reported favorably out on this bill, which was then, sent to a third reading with no action taken. We are energized like you walk and grateful for this opportunity to re revisit the importance of this act to the town of Sandwich. Our neighbors in Marstable, Mashpee, Salmon, and At Joint Base Cape Cod are all referenced within the act and2014 are supportive. For reference, Joint Base Cape Cod is a complicated 22,000 acre military base. A northern 15,000 acres of the base is the single largest undeveloped land area on Cape Cod. 1 Third of the land area is in the town of Sandwich and used by JVCC. We have a long history of mutual aid and support. It's also worth noting that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is an underlying property owner. It cod. For nearly 10 years, Sandwich and our colleagues on the cake with the Department of Environmental Protection, State Treasurer's Office, SRSF program, the EPA, and other public and private entities have worked in collaboration to develop a plan for our mutual interest in existing wastewater treatment and disposal opportunities at Joint Base Cape Cod. This regional effort has been funded by the Commonwealth, with almost $750,000 already invested by the State of Massachusetts, which has demonstrated feasibility to share and reuse existing underutilized wastewater infrastructure at Joint Base Cape Cod. Why is this act so important to us? We view this site as viable, that with investment, our long term wastewater needs, treatment and disposal needs will be met. In the short term, Sandwich needs 400,000 gallons per day for its first phase plan, approved in our comprehensive wastewater resources management plan. JVCC has existing capacity and could offer wastewater treatment immediately. It is well known that the JVCC system is below its ideal capacity and that additional consistent flow would improve its effectiveness. Our need for wastewater infrastructure on Cape Cod is acute to address environmental, new title 5 regulations for Cape Cod, public health, health, and economic development needs. Through our intentional and cooperative work group, sharing infrastructure is the most cost effective and environmentally responsible option for Sandwich. We were looking for your help and courage to not simply stand behind us, but to as through to become law. We all have much work to do, and the town must make significant financial investments to consider the site, and even more to meet the existing standards. Continued support from you is foremost, as we seek from our residents, homeowners, and taxpayers of the town of Sandwich, to tax themselves to fund the single largest infrastructure project in the history of our town. You all know better than me. Our, on behalf of our communities, communities takes courage and commitment. We need not only your support for this bill, but your best efforts with our excellent Cape Cod delegation to shepherd House 1073 into law. Thank you very much. And you have written testimony.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. We appreciate that. Are there any questions?
Seeing none, thank you for your testimony.
We are gonna move to senator Driscoll next.
SPEAKER10 - Thank you, chair Barber, chair Rausch, members of the committee. Just wanted to briefly testify on 2, bills that are before you. I appreciate last session, session, the committee moved, these forward, favorably. The first 1 is enact, s 5 7 5, enact providing transparency for the Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund. This would do 2 things. It would specifically mention film and television production, fees and and contracts that are entered into, making sure that the money that is, generated from those, on-site, filmings make it back into the trust fund. And right now, we can kinda see a profit and loss statement, available through the treasurer's office in terms of what's in the trust fund and what's going coming in and going out, but there's very little detail. This trust fund is almost 20 years old, and it was originally set up with the concept of retained revenue. But also, you know, if you're familiar with BigBlue, it has the GBH tower. It has cell phone towers, and making sure that the money from those contracts, stay in the Blue Hills are used for Blue Hills, preservation and institutions that call the Blue Hills home. The second bill in front of you is s 5 7 4, an act establishing memorial markers in the towns of Milton and Canton in memory of certain law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. So the basic idea here is that we would honor, officer Robert Dana, patrolman Robert Edmonds, patrolman Robert Stewart, and patrolman William Mattier, who have all been killed, in the vicinity of the Blue Hills, state police barracks, catchment area,
SPEAKER8 - area, and we put a
SPEAKER10 - place on mile marker on the roads and and are in their duty and their sacrifice, here in the Commonwealth. So thank you again for your, support last session, and, I'd ask that the committee will do this favorably again.
SPEAKER3 - Senator?
SPEAKER10 - Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Senator Hals?
SPEAKER11 - Thank you, Chair Barber and Chair Rausch and members of the committee. I'm here today to testify in support of, several bills. I also wanna, voice my support for s 5 7 5 enact providing transparency for the Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund,
as well as h 8 9 9 sponsored by representative Beal, an act dedicating certain park and field space in the South Boston section of the city of Boston, as well as a bill that I filed s 5 95, which is of the same concept titled an act relative to admiral David g Farragut Park. And, just wanna, make mention that this bill was filed late last session. The park in question has been called Farragut Park my entire life. There's a Farragut statue, at the base of the park across from the, the bay. It this was officially named Farragut Park, after an American civil war hero, admiral David g Farragut. He was among other achievements served in the United States Navy at age 11 years old during the war of 18 12, and went on to lead the successful attack on the Confederates at the Battle of Mobile Bay in the American Civil War with his famous order, damn the torpedoes full steam ahead. So quite a significant impact on our history, And the navy was stationed out at Ford Independence, during the civil war and in that part of South Boston. He dedicated 59 years of his life to service and became the first person to hold the ranks of vice admiral, rear admiral, and full admiral of the United States Navy. Since June 20 eighth of 18 93, a statue of admiral Farragut has stood in Marine Park, which is DCI Park. Serving as a tribute to his dedication and contributions, renaming the park officially would further solidify this legacy. Additionally, in the bill would name athletic fields within Farragut Park, the football fields after a long time South2463 Boston Youth and Park League football coaches Walter Roescher and Gerard McCarthy. These pieces of legislation speak to the same end, but I'm asking that my bill be amended to add some appropriate language that's in representative Beal's bill. The department shall erect and maintain a suitable marker bearing bearing its appropriate distinctions for said parking field, which is typically in these types of, naming bills. So with that, thank you for your consideration of these 2. I hope that the committee moves favorably on them.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much.
SPEAKER11 - Thank you. Any questions for
SPEAKER2 - the governor? Just 1. Hi. That revision in the language, we just send that to us, so we can Yes.
SPEAKER11 - We put that in the letter that was submitted to the committee, so that should be in writing.
SPEAKER1 - Great. Okay. Fantastic.
SPEAKER11 - Thank you. Any other questions?
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much, senator.
SPEAKER3 - Jamie, I'm there. If you are, we
SPEAKER12 - can come here.
SPEAKER16 - Are you speaking to Jamie Medea?
SPEAKER1 - Yes.
SPEAKER16 - Wonderful. You cut out ever so briefly. Thank you so very much for having me, Chairman, Chair Rausch, and, Chair Barber. I am a frequent flyer, but it's my first time doing this by Zoom, after many years. I'm appreciating your flexibility. And thank you to Representative Sylvia, who is a member of the voting caucus. Thank you very much for your participation. Thank you very much2566 for your participation. Prepare yourselves. You may see me more in the months to2572 come. This film has been around a little bit. I'm hoping you will take it very2578 seriously and recommend it for favorable passage, or favorable reporting out. I speak today on behalf of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. Oh, and you can't see me. Here. There you are. Big excitement. You get to see me now. So, I'm here on behalf of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association. It's the statewide 50 year old nonprofit, for the business of recreational boating. And you may be surprised to learn that2610 that's over 18,000 men and women employed in the marine trades, generates $5,000,000,000 in direct and indirect annual economic activity. And specifically to this bill, which is a request to expand pleasure boat access to Boston Harbor. Thank you, Representative Techna Chan, Chairman, Chan. The bill I did not put in my written testimony something you might want to know for all of your districts. For every $1 spent on a SWIFT or a moron, dollars 3.8 are spent in the local economy. So those are economic, but you're environmental. So, I'll simply observe, on environmental issues, boars are extremely committed to water quality. They care, they see, they do. There's a reason why there's a no discharge zone in all of Massachusetts waters, and that's because boars are on it, and they can see, and they can smell, and they can care. So boars make excellent environmental stewards. These are not the days of yore, back when I was I was General Counsel for Environmental Affairs many years ago, and that was when you could honestly say there were, discharges that shouldn't belong in the armor due to boats. Not so, any longer. So I ask forward this out, please, positively. It directs municipal and state public agencies that control property to establish mooring and boating facilities or expand public access and report to you widely entertained. That's it. I'm grateful for your time, especially on this committee. Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much for your testimony.
SPEAKER16 - Any questions?
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much. Aw, Thank
you. Best question. And now we know. So, appreciate it.
SPEAKER16 - Just not for the word. You have great stuff. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you very much.
SPEAKER2 - So with
SPEAKER1 - that, is there anyone else who has registered to testify who have not called? If not, that concludes this first hearing of the environment and natural resources committee hearing. I wanna thank everyone who took time out of their day to come testify and participate, especially to committee members, to Rauch, and everyone participating today. If you'd like to follow-up, feel free to submit a written testimony. You can send it to our research director,2764 Jane Newman, at great.juman@nihas.gov. Thank you2768 so much, and have a great day.