Overview
In November 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed into law An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers, St. 2024, c. 239 (the “2024 Climate Act”), which makes significant changes to the siting and permitting of energy infrastructure in Massachusetts.
The 2024 Climate Act requires the Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (“OEJE”) to develop standards and guidelines regarding the potential use and applicability of cumulative impact analysis (“CIA”) for clean energy infrastructure. The 2024 Climate Act also requires the Energy Facilities Siting Board (“EFSB,” "the Siting Board") to promulgate regulations and guidance to implement reforms related to siting and permitting by March 1, 2026, including regulations requiring the use of CIA in the Board’s review of facilities, informed by the guidance developed by OEJE.
To inform the development of these regulations and related guidance, in collaboration with Siting Board, OEJE issued presentations and draft guidance and conducted public meetings to receive stakeholder input. Based on the comments received, OEJE and EFSB developed guidance and regulations on CIA.
Cumulative Impact Analysis Guidance and Regulations
OEJE has finalized Standards and Guidelines for Cumulative Impact Analysis intended to direct the implementation of cumulative impact analysis requirements for energy facility siting.
To access the EFSB's final Cumulative Impact Analysis Regulations and Template, please use the links below:
MassEnviroScreen
To support the implementation of energy siting and permitting reforms, OEJE has released the MassEnviroScreen. This tool is a GIS-based mapping tool developed and administered by OEJE that uses indicators to produce a MassEnviroScreen Score and provide indicator data for every census block group across the Commonwealth. It is intended to support the guidance and regulations on Cumulative Impact Analysis and Site Suitability assessments. A draft version of the MassEnviroScreen was released in November 2025. Technical documentation for the tool is available through MassEnviroScreen Technical Documentation.
CIA Webinar
The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board and Office of Environmental Justice and Equity conducted a public webinar on Thursday, November 6th at 2:00pm to provide an overview of the proposed draft guidance and regulations for Cumulative Impact Analysis and provide an opportunity for public input. The draft guidance documents are posted below. The draft guidance drafted by the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Justice and Equity is meant to inform the draft proposed regulations, which are drafted by EFSB staff. The webinar precedes a formal rulemaking process that will include further opportunities for comment.
A recording of the webinar is now available on the Siting Board’s YouTube channel.
For this webinar, interpretation was provided in the following languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Russian, Khmer, Arabic, French, Cape Verdean Creole, and American Sign Language (ASL).
The slides used for the webinar are available in English, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cape Verdean Creole (Crioulo), Spanish, Portuguese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Khmer, Arabic, and Russian.