MassDEP hearing draws environmental‑justice advocates urging strong cumulative‑impact rule

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection held an online public hearing on March 9, 2023, to take testimony on proposed amendments to 310 CMR 7.00 that would add a cumulative impact analysis requirement (310 CMR 7.02 §14) for comprehensive plan applications affecting environmental‑justice communities. Hearing officer Joanne Morin opened the session, explained how to submit oral and written comments, and gave the April 7, 2023, 5 p.m. deadline for written submissions to massdep.impact@mass.gov or by mail to MassDEP, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114.

Advocates and residents who spoke urged MassDEP to adopt stronger, enforceable protections for communities that are already overburdened by pollution. Pat Gazimba, co‑chair of the Salem Alliance for the Environment, told the department it has failed to do a “serious deep dive” on cumulative impacts around projects such as the Weymouth compressor station, the Peabody peaker plant and the East Boston substation, and urged inclusion of qualitative measures like poverty, housing insecurity and chronic disease in CIAs. “Please look at issues like poverty levels, housing insecurity, chronic disease patterns,” Gazimba said.

Paulina Casasola, climate justice organizer at Clean Water Action and member of the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Table, said the CIA rule should protect places she listed by name — Roxbury, Chinatown, Springfield and East Boston — and include a strict alternatives analysis and mitigation measures designed to restore quality of life. “We should start conversations about how we can restore the quality of life of residents of these communities,” Casasola said, adding that CIAs should consider flooding, heat islands, tree canopy and green infrastructure.

Carmen Martinez, a Lynn resident, highlighted local harms in Essex County and focused on the Saugus incinerator, which she said has experienced “numerous fires, breakdowns, spills and malfunctions” and operates an unlined, uncovered ash dump that she fears will contaminate nearby marshes and beaches during storms. Martinez said the draft rules should prevent expansion of that ash dome and ensure the company is held to higher standards.

Representing the Sierra Club Massachusetts chapter, Vic Mohinka said the organization supports adding cumulative impact analyses to permitting but urged stronger rule language that includes qualitative metrics that could lead to permit denial and an approach centered on preventing harm rather than permitting at specified pollution thresholds. Mohinka also urged longer comment periods for meaningful engagement.

Throughout the hearing Morin emphasized procedure and recordkeeping: oral testimony was limited to five minutes and the public comment period remains open until April 7, 2023. She said all testimony will be considered before MassDEP finalizes the regulation and that the final rule will be posted on MassDEP’s website and participants notified when it is available. The remote hearing was closed at 6:31 p.m.

The hearing record contains repeated calls from residents and advocacy groups for (1) CIAs that include qualitative community health and socioeconomic indicators, (2) requirements that consider alternatives and mitigation, and (3) regulatory language that allows DEP to deny permits that would exacerbate inequitable burdens. MassDEP did not provide responses during the hearing; written comments may be submitted through the stated deadline.