Overview
The Energy Facilities Siting Board (“Siting Board”) will conduct a public meeting on July 21, 2025 to discuss the implementation of An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers,” St. 2024, c. 239 (the “2024 Climate Act”). Siting Board staff will issue for discussion purposes draft regulations and guidance implementing the Act. The Siting Board will hear staff presentations on the draft regulation and guidance, and have the opportunity to ask questions or make comments on the packages. The Siting Board will not vote on the proposed regulations at this meeting. The Siting Board will hear public comment as time allows. Proposed regulations and guidance documents will be posted below.
In November 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed into law the 2024 Climate Act, which makes many changes to the way that energy infrastructure is sited and permitted in Massachusetts. The Siting Board is required to promulgate regulations and guidance to implement reforms related to siting and permitting by March 1, 2026. Siting Board staff previously prepared straw proposals to elicit input ahead of issuing proposed regulations. For more information, visit: 2024 Climate Act Stakeholder Sessions | Mass.gov.
July Board Meeting
The Siting Board anticipates the following schedule:
Monday, July 21, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The Siting Board will discuss implementation of the 2024 Climate Act, St. 2024, c. 239. Siting Division staff plans to issue for discussion purposes draft regulations and guidance implementing the Act. The Siting Board will hear staff presentations on the regulation and guidance proposals, and have the opportunity to ask questions or make comments on the packages. The Siting Board will hear public comment as time allows. Proposed regulations and guidance documents will be posted when available on this website. The website will also provide further details on the Board meeting, sign-up procedures for commenters, and the Zoom link for remote participation. The Siting Board will not vote on the proposed regulations at this meeting. There will not be an opportunity to discuss any pending or future proposals about specific projects.
Tuesday, July 22, 2025, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The Siting Board will meet, deliberate, and vote on a Tentative Decision in the Mid Cape Reliability Project Change proceeding, EFSB 19-06A/D.P.U. 19-142A/19-143A/23-22. The Siting Board will provide additional information on the upcoming Board meeting including the link for remote participation soon. The Siting Board maintains an informational webpage for this proceeding and will continue to update it during the proceeding: Mid Cape Reliability Project Change | Mass.gov. At the conclusion of the Mid Cape portion of the morning, the Siting Board staff will accept additional comment on the 2024 Climate Act regulations packages, as time allows.
Accessing Board Meeting
The Siting Board meeting will be both in-person and on Zoom on Monday, July 21, 2025 at 9 a.m. and Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at 9 a.m.
In-person meeting location: One South Station, Boston, MA 02110, 3rd floor, Large Hearing Room. Building security requires a government-issued photo ID. Nearby transit station: South Station (Red Line).
Remote attendees: join by using this link from a computer, tablet, or smart device. For audio-only participation attendees can dial in at (646) 558‑8656 (not a toll-free number) and then enter the Webinar ID: 813-4580-6829. A recording of the meeting will be posted to YouTube.
The Siting Board invites written comments on the Project. Written comments will be most useful to the Siting Board if submitted by Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Any person seeking to comment must file their comments by email or email attachment to the following email address: sitingboard.filing@mass.gov.
A copy of the full notice can be accessed from the following links:
English | Haitian Creole | Portuguese | Simplified Chinese | Spanish | Vietnamese
Draft Regulations and Guidance
This section will be updated as draft regulations become available:
- 980 CMR 1.00 Regulation Modifications (Adjudicatory Procedures)
- 980 CMR 2.00 Regulation Modifications (Board Procedures)
- 980 CMR 14.00 Regulation (De Novo Review Procedures)
- 980 CMR 17.00 Regulation (Constructive Approval Procedures)
Spring Stakeholder Sessions
For more information, visit: 2024 Climate Act Stakeholder Sessions.
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (“EEA”) Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (“OEJE”), Energy Facilities Siting Board (“EFSB”), Department of Public Utilities (“DPU”), and Department of Energy Resources (“DOER”) conducted stakeholder sessions for the public to learn about implementing the siting and permitting changes required by law for energy facilities, provide written and/or oral comments, and ask questions on numerous straw proposals. Staff from EEA, EFSB, and DPU prepared the straw proposals to elicit input from the public, public officials, other agencies, community-based organizations, and potential project applicants ahead of issuing proposed regulations. OEJE, EFSB, DPU, and DOER conducted three hybrid stakeholder sessions and one virtual stakeholder session. At each stakeholder session, there were short presentations of the specific topics for that session and attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the straw proposals for those topics.
Accommodation Requests and Language Services Requests
Interpretation services for the Siting Board meeting (in-person and Zoom) will be provided in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese and ASL. Additional language interpretation services are also available upon request to Yonathan Mengesha at (617) 305-3544 or Yonathan.Mengesha@mass.gov. Include in your request the language required and your contact information. To assist us in accommodating your request, please submit it as soon as possible.
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities (e.g., Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format) are available upon request. To request an accommodation, please contact:
Melixza Esenyie
Non-Discrimination Coordinator and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Human Resources, 9th Floor
100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114
eeadiversity@mass.gov, 617-626-1282
In your communication, state the accommodation you need and why you need the accommodation. Provide contact information in case the Coordinator needs more information. Provide your request as soon as possible. The Coordinator will consider but may not be able to fulfill late requests.
Non-discrimination Notice
The Siting Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, income, ethnicity, class, disability, religious creed or belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, English language proficiency or ancestry in administration of its programs or activities. See the Siting Board’s Non-Discrimination Notice.
If you have any questions about this notice or any of the Siting Board’s non-discrimination programs, policies, or procedures or believe the Siting Board has discriminated against you, you may contact Melixza Esenyie (see above for contact information) for more information.
Contact
For further information please send an email to sitingboard.filing@mass.gov or use this comment form. For periodic updates, please visit this webpage.
| Last updated: | July 14, 2025 |
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