The LSPA continues to work for the passage of our bill to mandate that all homeowners’ policies automatically include coverage for spills and leaks from oil heating tanks. Read our letter in today’s Boston Globe.
The LSPA continues to work for the passage of our bill to mandate that all homeowners’ policies automatically include coverage for spills and leaks from oil heating tanks. Read our letter in today’s Boston Globe.
The Legislature’s Formal Session ended on July 31, 2022, without passage of the LSPA’s bill, An Act relative to the remediation of home heating oil releases. The LSPA was thrilled that the bill passed the Senate in April 2022 with a unanimous roll-call vote, indicating that Senators wanted to be on-record as supporting our bill. It was then sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means but did not advance in time for closure of the formal session.
This is the furthest our bill has advanced over three sessions and we have not given up on the bill’s passage this session. The informal legislative session ends on January 2, 2023. Once the legislature has made decisions on more complex bills (e.g., economic development bill; FY '22 final supplemental budget), there should be a window for action for us. We don’t expect this to happen until the end of September or early October.
Here are two more news stories about the Wareham family dealing with a fuel oil spill:
Any homeowner in Massachusetts who has faced this situation, without insurance coverage, knows how challenging it is. Hopefully this media coverage is raising awareness and more homeowners will buy fuel oil insurance riders. We hope that state legislators will also be motivated to pass Senate Bill No. 676, An Act relative to the remediation of home heating oil releases, which would require that all Massachusetts homeowner insurance policies provide coverage for the cleanup of accidental releases of home heating oil. Please contact your state senator and representative to ask for their support.
NBC Boston ran this story on September 22, 2021 to again highlight the devastating and costly impacts of residential heating oil spills, especially for those without insurance coverage. The LSPA continues to work with Senator Anne M. Gobi to pass S. 676, our bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for the approximately 700,000 homeowners who do not have it. For two sessions, this bill has received a favorable report from the legislature's Joint Committee on Financial Services.
For more information about the LSPA's bill, please read our fact sheet and this additional information which includes TV news coverage.
The LSP Association (LSPA) is sponsoring legislation to address this problem. Senate bill 594 would require insurance companies to automatically provide this coverage. Read more here and here to learn how the LSPA's legislation will close a loophole.
While we can't comment on the specifics of this Blackstone property, we can say that Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs), attorneys, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), and the LSP Association (LSPA) hear regularly from homeowners who are overwhelmed and desperate about how they will afford to clean up home heating oil releases on their properties to meet the requirements of the State’s environmental regulations. Home heating oil spills are emotional and difficult for all involved.
Many homeowners do not have the financial means to pay for costly cleanups, and MassDEP does not have the public funds to do this itself. The backing of homeowners' insurance companies is critical to make cleanups financially viable. The LSPA is working with state legislators to mandate that insurance companies provide coverage to homeowners using oil heat - just like they do for homeowners using electric, gas, and other energy sources, and just as most homeowners would expect when purchasing insurance.
Thank you to Paul Locke and the MassDEP for posting this video on LinkedIn today. The LSPA looks forward to providing updates as the legislation progresses through the committee process.
By: James J. Decoulos, P.E., LSP; James Curtis, P.E., LSP; Richard Eurich, Esq.; and Arthur Kreiger, Esq.
At the May 8, 2014 LSPA Membership Meeting, the Loss Prevention Committee presented a special program on the complexities of insurance coverage issues at contaminated sites - especially homeowner sites. This article is intended to provide a brief summary of the issues discussed at the meeting. Note, it is impossible in this brief article to provide a full discussion of all the relevant issues that come into play in evaluating insurance. Further, the exact coverage that is provided by a particular policy depends on the language of the policy, and the generalizations discussed at the meeting may not apply.