Public lands preservation legislation comes up short
Chris Lisinski, State House News Service | Commonwealth Magazine | August 2, 2022
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/public-lands-preservation-legislation-comes-up-short/
BOSTON (State House News Service) – Lawmakers were unable to find agreement on a bill aimed at maintaining open spaces across Massachusetts in a marathon final formal session Sunday into Monday, but one top negotiator said he remains hopeful the measure can still pass in the coming months.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico, one of the leads on a conference committee that failed to produce an accord by the time the Legislature shifted to an easygoing mode for the remainder of the 2021-2022 session, told the News Service he does not believe the proposal died with the final gavel.
“My goal is to get this done during informal,” the Everett Democrat said Tuesday. “We’re very optimistic that we can come to a resolution. We made some progress during the last couple of weeks.”
DiDomenico and his House counterpart, Rep. Ruth Balser of Newton, are tasked with finalizing legislation that would enshrine in state law a longstanding executive branch practice to balance any release or conversion of protected public land with the addition of newly protected land.
Under legislative rules, both branches are set to meet only in informal sessions until the 2023-2024 term begins in January. A single lawmaker’s objection can stall any bill during an informal session, but if legislative leaders secure unanimous consent, most proposals can still advance to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.
“You never say never, right, but I don’t anticipate anything standing in the way if we can come to a resolution in the two branches,” DiDomenico said. “I spoke to my co-chair, Rep. Balser, and I know the Senate conferees are also on the same page that we want to try to get something done during informal. We’re all on the same page trying to find a solution here.”
Article 97 of the state Constitution, which voters approved in 1972, empowered the Legislature to order purchase or acquisition of land for conservation, recreation or open space purposes, and it set a requirement that releasing any property from those protections must be done with a two-thirds vote.
Since 1998, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has generally had a “no net loss” policy, which calls for the state to match any land the Legislature removed from conservation restrictions with an equal or greater replacement, according to Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition Executive Director Robb Johnson.
Johnson said that policy has been enforced to varying degrees over the years, with a “relatively consistent” focus in the past decade-plus.
Environmental advocates have long pushed to enshrine the measure in state law and decouple it from the discretion of the governor and their deputies, and this session was the first time both branches approved a bill, Johnson said.
To read the full article, please click here