SENATE, No. 2
6
6
3
[
December 23, 2010
- Text of
the Senate amendment (
Ethics and Rules
) to the House
Bill
relative to cutting down, trimming or removing bushes and small trees
H.5121
]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and
Ten
_______________
SECTION 1. Chapter 87 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
adding
the following section:-
Section 14.
(a)
For the purposes of this section,
“
utility
”
shall mean a company engaging in the distribution of electricity or owning, operating or controlling distribution facilities; provided, however, that a distribution company shall not include any entity which owns or operates plant or equipment us
ed to produce electricity, steam and chilled water, or an affiliate engaged solely in the provision of such electricity, steam and chilled water, where the electricity produced by such entity or its affiliate is primarily for the benefit of hospitals and n
on-profit educational institutions, and where such plant or equipment was in operation before January 1, 1986.
(
b
) A utility may
, or at the request of the tree warden shall,
submit a
n annual
vegetation management plan
describing the
maintenance work
to
be
performed
in a municipality
.
The plan
shall include,
but not be limited to
, a map of the circuits where the maintenance work will be performed, the tree maintenance standards that will be followed and any foreseeable variance from those standards.
The p
lan shall comply with local ordinances and regulations.
The plan shall be submitted not less than 90 days prior to the date the utility proposes to begin its maintenance work. Upon receipt of the plan, the tree warden
, or
a
designee
thereof, shall
notify
t
he utility
within 60 days,
in writing
, whether or not the plan has been approved
.
Upon recei
pt of
written notification that the plan has been approved, or approved with modifications agreed to by both parties,
a
utility shall be exempt
from
the requiremen
ts of sections 3 and 5 for
the
work
described in the approved plan
.
(
c
)
A
utility may
,
or at the request of the tree warden shall,
submit an annual hazard tree removal plan
describing
hazard tree removal work
to
be performed
in a municipality
.
The plan
shall include,
but not be limited to
, the specific trees that the utility has identified as a hazard and proposes to remove.
The plan shall comply with local ordinances and regulations.
The plan shall be submitted not less than 90 days prior to the date
a
utility proposes to begin tree removal. Upon receipt of the plan, the
t
ree
w
arden
,
or
a
designee
thereof,
shall
notify the utility
within 60 days,
in writing
, whether or not the plan has been approved
.
Upon recei
pt of
written
notification
that the plan
has been approved, or approved with modifications agreed to by both parties, the utility shall be exempt
from
the requirements of sections 3 and 5 for
the
work
described in the approved plan
.
(
d
) If
a
tree warden fails to notify
a
utility
whether a vegetat
ion management plan or hazard tree removal plan has been approved
within 60 days of
the warden’s
receipt of the plan, the utility may request a decision by the selectmen
,
mayor
or chief administrative officer
of th
e
municipality.
(
e
) Notwithstanding
approv
al of
a vegetation management plan or hazard tree removal plan,
a
utility shall notify
a
tree warden
,
in writing
,
not less than 14 days prior to beginning maintenance work or tree removal
work
in a municipality
.
If a local ordinance or regulation requires
more than 14 days notice, the utility shall comply with such ordinance or regulation.
The
notice
provided
shall include the date on which the utility will begin work and the phone number of the person or persons supervising the work in the field.
(
f
) The
utility shall provide to the state forester, or such
other
person or agency as designated by the
s
ecretary of
e
nergy and
e
nvironmental
a
ffairs, a copy of
any
annual vegetation management plan or hazard tree removal plan and a copy of the approval
or
denial letter from
the applicable
tree warden. The state forester,
or such
other
person or agency as designated by the
s
ecretary of
e
nergy and
e
nvironmental
a
ffairs,
shall
provide the utility
an acknowledgment of
receipt
of such plans and determinations in
any manner approved by said secretary
.
(
g
) The utility
shall
annually submit to the
s
tate
f
orester
’
s office a set of utility tree maintenance standards and specifications and evidence that these standards have been adopted by the utility company. These s
tandards and specifications
shall
conform
with:
American National Standard Institute
A
-300
;
American National Standard Institute
Z
-133
;
and
National Electric Safety Code 218 Tree Trimming
and OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910 Line Clearance Tree Trimming Operations. T
he state forester, or such
other
person or agency as designated by the
s
ecretary of
e
nergy and
e
nvironmental
a
ffairs, shall make these standards and specifications available to the public on their websites or other accessible locations
and
shall accept and
maintain a publicly accessible record of comments received
relative to
the standards and specifications and shall transmit the
comments
to the utilities.
