By Mr. Petersen of Marblehead, petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 825) of Douglas W. Petersen and others that the departments of Environmental Protection and Public Health be required to identify and prioritize environmental and/or public health risks.  Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PETITION OF:

Douglas W. Petersen

Mary E. Grant

Denise Provost

Barbara A. L'Italien

Gloria L. Fox

Anthony J. Verga

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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

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An Act prioritizing risks to public health.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to require identification of priority environmental and/or public health risks in the commonwealth so that the government resources of the commonwealth may be applied effectively to reduce these risks.

SECTION 2. Section 8 of Chapter 21A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence to the second full paragraph thereof:—
The department of environmental protection and the department of public health shall prepare a report that will identify:
(1) the ten greatest environmental risks in the commonwealth, ranked in order of importance by the department of environmental protection;
(2) the ten greatest risks to the health and safety of the inhabitants of the commonwealth, ranked in order of importance by the department of public health;
(3) a combined list of the ten priority environmental and/or public health risks, ranked in order of importance jointly by the department of environmental protection and the department of public health, together with a detailed evaluation of the scientific basis or other reasons for inclusion of the risks among the priority environmental and/or public health risks and for the relative ranking of the priority environmental and/or public health risks;
(4) an estimate of the current and prospective costs to the state, the private sector, and the general public of the regulatory actions which address the priority environmental and/or public health risks;
(5) an estimate of the percentage of the annual budgets of the department of environmental protection and the department of public health which address the priority environmental and/or public health risks.
The department of environmental protection and the department of public health shall use generally accepted scientific principles in identifying and establishing the relative importance of priority environmental and/or public health risks, including but not limited to generally accepted risk assessment methods.
The report shall be filed with the secretary of state, the clerk of the House of Representatives, and the clerk of the Senate by January 1, 2006 The report shall thereafter be updated on a bi-annual basis. Public notice of the availability of the report, and supporting documentation shall be provided by the department of environmental protection and the department of public health and such materials shall be made available for public review.
The bi-annual update of the report to be filed on January 1, 2006 shall be accompanied by the joint recommendations of the department of environmental protection and the department of public health concerning how the reporting process on priority environmental and/or public health risks could be improved to allow government to more effectively identify and address the priority environmental and/or public health risks.
For the purpose of this act, the terms set forth below shall be defined as follows:—
The term “priority environmental and/or public health risks” shall mean the greatest risks to (i) the health and safety of the inhabitants of the commonwealth, and (ii) to the natural resources of the commonwealth, whether such risks result from natural or manmade causes, as identified by the department of environmental protection and the department of public health pursuant to this act.
The term “risk” shall mean the threat of harm to public health and safety, or to natural resources.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and shall cease to have effect on December 31, 2010, unless further authorized by the General Court