By Mr. Walsh of Lynn, petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3390) of Steven M. Walsh relative to requiring the replacement of certain overhead power lines with underground facilities.  Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

——————

PETITION OF:

Steven M. Walsh

——————

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

——————

An Act regarding safe construction of lines for transmitting electricity.

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

Section 22e of Chapter 166 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence at the end thereof:─

Any utility organized and existing under the laws of or doing business in this commonwealth or in any municipality, upon the petition of the effected municipality, must replace existing overhead power lines and associated structures with underground facilities if the exposure of such overhead lines has caused or has the potential to simultaneously cause an outage to three or more communities, resulting in a potential public safety catastrophe.