The Final Regulations for RPS I, RPS II, and APS, which DOER filed with the Secretary of State on May 29, 2009, will become effective on June 12, 2009, when they are published in the Massachusetts Register. Until that date, the Emergency Regulations of March 31, 2009, remain in force.

On April 17, 2009, the Commissioner of DOER received a report from the legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. After careful consideration of the comments from the Committee, the Commissioner sent a reply to the Committee on May 29, along with the Final Regulations and a requested final "Summary of RPS & APS Regulations." Links to all of the documents identified above are provided at the following bullets.

Previous Regulatory History

The Emergency Regulations of March 31, 2009, described in the next paragraph and provided in the next set of bullets, are effective until the Final Regulations are published in the Massachusetts Register on June 12, 2009. For the Final Regulations, go to the top of this page

On March 30, 2009, DOER filed with the Secretary of State as Emergency Regulations the same proposed final regulations for RPS Class I, RPS Class II, and APS that had been filed with the legislature on Thursday, March 12, 2009. These new Emergency Regulations, which are listed below, are effective as of March 31, 2009, replacing the Emergency Regulations that had been in effect since January 1, 2009. The new Emergency Regulations are effective for 90 days, after which they must be replaced by final regulations that have undergone the formal rulemaking process required by M.G.L. Chapter 30A. The Chapter 30A process for these regulations, which began in January of 2009 and is well underway, is described and documented below and via other links on the Green Communities webpage. On March 19, 2009, the proposed final regulations for RPS Class I, RPS Class II, and APS were referred to the legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy for a thirty day review, as described below.

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, DOER filed its proposed final regulations for RPS Class I, RPS Class II, and APS with the legislature for referral to the appropriate committees, as required by section 12 of chapter 25A of the General Laws. This section provides a 30 day review period where the committee may, if it chooses, hold public hearings and solicit comments. The committee members may communicate their views to DOER regarding the regulations. DOER will consider the views of the committee members before finalizing these regulations by filing with the Secretary of State after another 30 day period. The regulations will go into effect upon publication in the Massachusetts Register.

DOER wishes to express its sincere appreciation to all participants in both last fall's informal stakeholder process and this winter's formal 30A process. All of the comments were read and considered, and the regulations sent to the legislature have been revised as DOER deemed necessary or appropriate.

The regulations, as filed with the Legislature, are attached here

On February 6, 2009, DOER posted the following additional documents pertaining to the process by which DOER will receive public comments on its proposed final regulations for RPS Class I, RPS Class II, and APS:

In order to provide sufficient time for public review and comment on the revised provisions, DOER will accept written comments (preferably by email) until 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 19, 2009, but ONLY on the revised provisions, namely (a) all of he Waste to Energy provisions of the RPS Class II regulation and (b) the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) provisions of the APS regulation. All other comments must be received by 5:00 PM on Monday, February 9, 2009, as announced in the Notice of Public Hearing pdf format of rps-hearing-feb-5-2009.pdf . Written comments are to be submitted via email to Courtney.Karp@State.MA.US by 5:00 pm on Monday February 9, 2009. If necessary, the written comments may be sent or delivered as hard copy to Courtney Feeley Karp at DOER, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 1020, Boston, MA 02114 - also by 5:00 pm on Monday February 9, 2009. Any questions should be directed to Courtney Feeley Karp at DOER via email at Courtney.Karp@State.MA.US.

On December 31, 2008, DOER issued the following regulations to implement the provisions of Section 32 of the Green Communities Act:

DOER held a public hearing pdf format of rps-hearing-feb-5-2009.pdf on Thursday February 5, 2009 from 1:00-5:00pm at 100 Cambridge St, 2nd Floor.

(Please note that these three documents are unofficial and are to be used for informational purposes only. The only official versions of the Regulation are those published in the Massachusetts Register, which is available from the State Bookstore.)

The regulations were filed as "emergency regulations" due to the short time period available between enactment of the Act and the effective date of Section 32: January 1, 2009. During the autumn of 2008, DOER was able to solicit comments from and meet with stakeholders. As a result, the emergency regulations have benefited substantially from stakeholder input.

At the beginning of January, DOER initiated the formal rulemaking process required under M.G.L. Chapter 30A. DOER announced and conducted a public hearing and will accept and consider oral and written public comments on the proposed regulations. The rulemaking will be completed in the spring of 2009 with the issuance of final regulations. In the meantime, as of January 1, 2009, the emergency regulations govern the three programs.

This information is provided by the Department of Energy Resources,
DOER Creating a Greener Energy Future for the Commonwealth.