On January 20th, State Representaive Gail Cariddi discussed environmental issues and current legislative initiatives in Massachusetts.
Gail is a first-term representative to the state legislature and represents eleven communities of Berkshire and Franklin Counties. She is a member of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture. Last year, approximately 6300 bills were presented to the committee. As such, Gail relies upon her constitutents to contact her about environmentsl issues to be presented to the committee.
Representative Cariddi proceeded to then discussed bills she co-sponsored and were of particular interest. The first bill discussed refined a 1962 state act protecting lakes and ponds from aquatic nuisances. The legal definition of aquatic nuisance was more clearly defined and legal consequences were enumerated for offenders of the bill, starting with warnings and switching to fines of up to $5000 for commercial offenders.
The next bill dealt with green energy career development. A solar panel contractor from North Adams broached Rep. Cariddi on the bill It proposes a licensure standard for solar panel installation contractors. As of the time of log lunch, the bill was still in committee.
Following this was a bill that updated the bottle bill. It proposed a five-cent retention for juice and other bottles. Leadership in legislature had been adamant about the bill not being perceived as a tax burden or a tax on the consumers, but as an action of environmental protection.
A fourth bill discussed dealt with feeding of wildlife. Years ago, Clarksburg State Forest had much wildlife and became a feeding area for geese and other animals. Gail’s predecessor in office, Dan Bosely, had previously proposed the bill. The bill allows for the state director of fish and games to make rules and regulations on direct and indirect feeding of birds and mammals, beginning with warnings and ramping up to fines up to $100. The humane society has contested the use of the word “mammals” due to the presence of feral cats in some state forests. “Mammals” may be revised to “wildlife” as a result.
Plastic bag reduction was the subject of the following bill. The bill aims to get rid of plastic bags altogether in the state of Massachusetts and replace them with paper or some other type of reusable bag. An elementary class from Grafton adopted the bill as its cause and spoke before the committee advocating it. Because Nantucket successfully banned plastic bags over twenty years ago, Gail believes it is entirely possible to do so on a state-wide level. A company in eastern Massachusetts contacted the committee about an alternative to plastic bags that degrades within a few days.
An interesting anecdote provided by Rep. Cariddi dealt with article 97 of the natural resource common law. This article grants people the right to use certain state lands. A wind farm in Florida asked Gail to sponsor a bill that would provide an easement of article 97 for wires to be put up in a state forest to transfer power from the wind farm to southern Vermont. The easement was granted, but unfortunately the bill did not include an easement of wooden poles.
The last bill discussed was an act for competitive economy, safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. It proposed an analysis of three chemicals every year to remove them from the waste stream. Gail was hard-pressed by a lobbyist to not support the bill because it affects big business in Berkshire County, e.g. Sabic in Pittsfield. However, Gail feels that it is better to err on the side of public safety rather than business. It is nearly guaranteed that the bill will come to a close vote, if it comes to a vote at all this year. Because states tend to be more innovative than the federal government in regards to regulations, it is important for Massachusetts to take the lead when it comes to toxic chemicals so other states follow suit. Berkshire County, too, can also take the lead in terms of drafting innovative regulations, e.g. chicken slaughtering.
Written by Brandon Abasolo ’13