What You Need to Know
Cumulative impacts are the total effect of past, present, and future actions on the environment and human health. Evaluating these effects is the focus of cumulative impact analysis (CIA).
Governor Baker in March 2021 signed Chapter 8 of the Acts of 2021, An Act Creating a Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy. The Act directed the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to:
- Evaluate and seek public comment on incorporating CIA into its review of applications for certain categories of air permits and approvals;
- Propose regulations for accomplishing this; and
- Complete these tasks within 18 months of the signed legislation's June 2021 effective date (or by late December 2022).
The Act also gave the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Office six months (or by late December 2021) to develop new regulations that would require:
- Submission of an environmental impact report (EIR) for any project that is likely to cause damage to the environment and is located near an environmental justice (EJ) population;
- Assessment of potential existing unfair or inequitable burden and related public health consequences; and
- Analysis of how the proposed project might result in a disproportionate adverse effect on the EJ population.
See Additional Resources below to learn more about environmental justice communities and populations in Massachusetts.
Additional Resources
How You Can Participate
MassDEP is conducting a robust stakeholder engagement process on incorporating cumulative impact analysis (CIA) in its review of applications for certain categories of air permits and approvals.
See the table below for times and, for future meetings, links where you can pre-register to participate. If you need language translation for either meeting, please contact Deneen Simpson.
Here is the complete virtual stakeholder meeting schedule*:
| Meeting | Dates & Times | Topics |
| 1 | August 31, 2021 (2)
Completed |
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| 2 | September 28 & 29, 2021
Completed |
|
| 3 |
October 26 & 27, 2021 |
|
| 4 |
November 16 & 17, 2021 |
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| 5 |
January 25 & 26, 2022
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|
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6 |
April 26 & 27, 2022 |
See the Draft Framework, download the presentation, and view the video playbacks. |
*Please note that all sessions will be recorded and made available on the MassDEP YouTube Channel. Follow the link in Additional Resources below to an archive of these video playbacks and other meeting materials.
Additional Resources
MassDEP's Regulatory Development Process
The Department of Environmental Protection has set the following tentative schedule for developing regulations to incorporate Cumulative Impact Analysis into its review of applications for certain air permits and approvals.
| July–September 2022 | Develop Draft Regulation |
| October 2022 | Propose Draft Regulation for Public Comment |
| November-December 2022 | Hold Public Hearings & Comment Period |
| January–March 2023 | Develop Final Regulation & Guidance |
| April 2023 | Promulgate Final Regulation & Issue Guidance |
How to Stay Informed
Join the MassDEP email list to receive periodic updates on:
- The cumulative impact analysis (CIA) regulatory development process;
- Future stakeholder meetings; and
- Opportunities for providing input to the agency.
Sign up by following the link in Additional Resources below.