July 12, 2018

The high level of legislative activity continues and today the Senate is debating an Environmental Bond bill (S.2591) and close to 300 amendments have been filed.  The majority of these seek funding for local projects but there were a few policy issues as well.  The bill has already been through the House so we expect this will join a growing number of conference committees that the Legislature hopes to resolve before the close of session on July 31, 2018.  Nothing we need to take action on but wanted to send around just so you are aware of what’s happening – list below and text attached.

A#                 Title                                                Sponsor
129    Commission to Protect Pollinators    Lewis
176    High Efficiency Irrigation System - Gannon Golf Course    Crighton
183    Pesticide Enforcement                             Gobi
211    Pollinator Protection                             Eldridge
274    Trees in the City                                  Collins

We will keep you informed of the outcome of these amendments and next steps for this bill.

DEP Stakeholder Meeting
We just received word from the DEP that they are scheduling the next stakeholder meeting for Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 10AM at their office at downtown crossing (One Winter Street, Boston).  We should regroup on this after July 31st to make sure we have done what they asked us to do.