PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Section 23 of chapter 32 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (6) the following new subsection:

(7) Duty to consider long term liabilities. (a) Subject to the approval of the Board, the executive director of the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board shall when investing and reinvesting funds on behalf of the fund, consider, and where appropriate avoid, investments subject to potential long term liabilities, including liabilities that may result from potential product or environmental hazards or reputational damage resulting from such potential hazards. The executive director shall consider whether the management of current or potential holdings have quantified, analyzed and discussed such potential long term liabilities. The executive director may enter a contract with a third party, such as an independent research firm, to assist in making these determinations and payment of reasonable compensation for these services shall not be considered a violation of fiduciary duties. Any current or former state employee with assets in the PRIT Fund may bring relevant information on such liabilities to the attention of the executive director. The director shall issue a public report no later than January 1 each year on the implementation of this section, including major issues investigated and actions taken pursuant to this paragraph during the preceding calendar year. (b) The executive director shall also give due consideration to shareholder resolutions and votes on issues germane to potential long term liabilities, and shall prepare and promulgate guidelines for proxy voting on these matters.

SECTION 2. Chapter 111F of the General Laws is hereby amended following section 21 by inserting the following new section:

Section 22. Additional Duties Of Notice and Disclosure. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any business refulated by chapter one hundred and eleven F shall publish on its website on a quarterly basis a report in a format defined by regulations adopted under this section which shall include:

1) An up-to-date listing of any developments or trends in customer or stakeholder complaints, or accidents, related to potential harm to human health or the environment that may be caused by the company’s products and activities.

2) A brief synopsis of any newly published peer reviewed scientific literature, government studies, or other credible information known to the company that may be suggestive of the potential for the company's products, services or activities to cause harm to human health or the environment. The business may also state whether it has other countervailing or exculpatory evidence or studies, and shall include citations to literature referenced, and where any exculpatory studies may be reviewed.

3) Litigation facing the company including number of civil cases filed, per year, over the last five years, broken down by significant categories such as securities; environment; labor; discrimination; or antitrust including percent of cases dismissed, percent summary judgment issued to plaintiffs, percent to defendants, percentage pending and percent settled. This section of the disclosure report shall also specifically identify any litigation that alleges a potential "public hazard", and any resolution of such litigation.

Any person or legal entity required to publish information pursuant to this section believing that disclosing information required by this chapter will reveal a trade secret may file a trade secrecy claim pursuant to section 20 of chapter 21I.

The duties to disclose pursuant to this section shall not apply to any activities for which disclosure is otherwise regulated by an OSHA standard. The Department of Labor and Industries shall promulgate a regulation clarifying the activities that are exempted pursuant to this section.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to directly or indirectly prohibit, limit or impose conditions, upon the offer or sale of any security regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor to be a condition upon the sale of securities in the Commonwealth.

"Public hazard" as used in this section means an instrumentality, including but not limited to any device, instrument, person, procedure, product, or a condition of a device, instrument, person, procedure or product, that has either caused or has the potential to cause injury to human health or the environment.

(b) Duty of Disclosure in Proceedings and Against Document Destruction. It shall be unlawful for a business to knowingly withhold or conceal information on potential hazards of its products, processes or activities to human health or the environment, or on the availability of safer alternatives to current or proposed activities, so as to mislead officials of the Commonwealth in a manner that may cause the business, corporate entity or corporate officials to avoid a statutory or regulatory duty, or to avoid a statutory or regulatory limit or prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any corporate official to knowingly destroy or falsify documents, or to negligently allow the destruction of documents, so as to conceal or avoid accountability for the potential for harm to health, safety or the environment from the business's products, practices or services or the availability of alternatives to such activities.
(c) Penalties for Violation. Violations of paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section shall subject the violator to civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. Each instance of noncompliance shall constitute a separate violation.

(d) Enforcement with respect to Fraud, Deceit or Unlawful conduct in the sale of goods or securities in the Commonwealth. The information disclosed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this Act may be utilized by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General in investigating and bringing enforcement actions for consumer or securities fraud in the Commonwealth, including false or misleading statements or omissions in the offering of goods or securities in the Commonwealth.

(e) Regulations and Guidelines. The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs shall promulgate guidelines within one year of the enactment of this act which shall clarify the manner and form of disclosures under section A of this Act.

SECTION 3. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 258D the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 258E.

Sunshine in litigation; concealment of

public hazards prohibited.

Section 1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Sunshine in Litigation Act."

Section 2. As used in this chapter, "public hazard" means an instrumentality, including but not limited to any device, instrument, person, procedure, product, or a condition of a device, instrument, person, procedure or product or by-product, that has either caused or has the potential to cause injury to human health or the environment.

Section 3. Except pursuant to this chapter, no court shall enter an order or judgment which has the purpose or effect of concealing a public hazard or any information concerning a public hazard, nor shall the court enter an order or judgment which has the purpose or effect of concealing any information which may be useful to members of the public in protecting themselves from injury which may result from the public hazard.

Section 4. Any portion of an agreement or contract which has the purpose or effect of concealing a public hazard, any information concerning a public hazard, or any information which may be useful to members of the public in protecting themselves from injury which may result from the public hazard, is void, contrary to public policy, and may not be enforced.

Section 5. Trade secrets as defined in section one of chapter 111F which are not pertinent to public hazards shall be protected pursuant to section 42A of chapter 93.

Section 6. Any substantially affected person, including but not limited to representatives of news media, has standing to contest an order, judgment, agreement, or contract that violates this chapter. A person may contest an order, judgment, agreement, or contract that violates this chapter by motion in the court that entered the order or judgment, or by bringing a declaratory judgment action pursuant to chapter 231A of the General Laws.

Section 7. Upon motion and good cause shown by a party attempting to prevent disclosure of information or materials which have not previously been disclosed, including but not limited to alleged trade secrets, the court shall examine the disputed information or materials in camera. If the court finds that the information or materials or portions thereof consist of information concerning a public hazard or information which may be useful to members of the public in protecting themselves from injury which may result from a public hazard, the court shall allow disclosure of the information or materials. If allowing disclosure, the court shall allow disclosure of only that portion of the information or materials necessary or useful to the public regarding the public hazard.

Section 8. (a) Any portion of an agreement or contract which has the purpose or effect of concealing information relating to the settlement or resolution of any claim or action against the state, its agencies, or subdivisions or against any municipality or constitutionally created body or commission is void, contrary to public policy, and may not be enforced. Any person has standing to contest an order, judgment, agreement, or contract that violates this chapter. A person may contest an order, judgment, agreement, or contract that violates this subsection by motion in the court that entered such order or judgment, or by bringing a declaratory judgment action pursuant to chapter 231A of the General Laws.

(b) Any person having custody of any document, record, contract, or agreement relating to any settlement as set forth in this chapter shall maintain said public records in compliance with section ten of chapter 66 of the General Laws. Failure of any custodian to disclose and provide any document, record, contract, or agreement as set forth in this chapter shall be subject to the sanctions as set forth in section ten of chapter 66 of the General Laws. This subsection does not apply to trade secrets protected pursuant to section 42A of chapter 93, proprietary confidential business information, or other information that is confidential under state or federal law.

Section 9. A governmental entity, except a municipality or county, that settles a claim in tort which requires the expenditure of public funds in excess of $5,000, shall provide notice, in the county in which the claim arose, within 60 days of entering into such settlement; provided that no notice shall be required if the settlement has been approved by a court of competent jurisdiction.