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LSPA Public Policy / Legislative Efforts
The LSPA works to advance sound policy that protects public health and welfare, the environment, and the waste site cleanup profession with the Massachusetts Legislature.
S.813 / H.1302 | An act relative to the remediation of home heating oil releases: The LSPA continued to champion legislation that would make home heating oil spills automatically covered in homeowners insurance.
- June 2025: Members of the LSPA staff and Legislative Committee testified in front of the Joint Committee on Financial Services in support of this legislation. Read the LSPA’s comment letter.
- October 2025: Members of the LSPA staff and Legislative Committee met with Joint Committee on Financial Services chairs, Senator Paul Feeney and Representative James Murphy’s staff, and the bill co-sponsors, Senator Jacob Oliveira and Representative Jeffrey Roy, to talk about a strategy for advancing the legislation despite push back from the insurance industry. H.1302 advances to House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading.
- November 2025: LSPA Executive Director, Mariellen Morris, testified in front of the Joint Committee for Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy in opposition to H.3471, An Act requiring disclosure to consumers regarding home heating oil insurance, because the onus of informing customers was put on the oil carriers vs. the insurance companies. Read the LSPA’s comment letter.
- December 2025: S.813 advances to Senate Ways and Means Committee. Members of the LSPA staff and Legislative Committee met with Senate Ways and Means legal counsel to discuss amendments to S.813 that would make the legislation more protective of consumer interests and provide parity for home heating oil customers as homeowners insurance policies cover damages related to the failure of other home heating mechanisms, such as electric or gas.
Unfortunately, the bills did not advance in this session and so, the LSPA Legislative Committee began to think of other ways to create meaningful change and impact on this matter. Of note:
- July 2026: The LSPA submitted for a MOSPRA grant to obtain funding for a large scale education campaign to increase awareness and purchase of the optional fuel release rider on Cape Cod.
- September 2026: Members of the LSPA staff and Legislative Committee presented to the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents about home heating oils spills and the responsibility of agents and brokers to educate homeowners about the optional fuel release insurance rider.
S.2007 | An act facilitating brownfields redevelopment:
- July 2025: The LSPA testified in front of the Joint Committee on Revenue alongside NAIOP MA to expand the existing Brownfields Redevelopment statute to be more explicit of the costs covered under the Brownfields Tax Credit Program and to further support LSP opinion in remediating Brownfields sites. Read the LSPA’s comment letter.
- July 2026: S.2007 was sent to a Study Order and so, did not pass this legislative session.
- Of note, in January 2026, a Suffolk County Superior Court ruled in the case, Boston Seaport M1&2 Land, LLC v. Commissioner of Revenue, that the Department of Revenue must pay a developer their tax credit as submitted and that the Department had overstepped its legal authority. Read more here. The Department of Revenue has since appealed the ruling.
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The LSPA submitted testimony on H.255, An Act relative to enabling access and empowering early educators, to protect indicating that language in the statute could potentially nullify existing AULs in cases where home daycares are proposed. The bill was sent to a Study Order in February 2026.
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