§ 69T — Consolidated permits for large clean energy infrastructure facilities

[ Text of section added by 2024, 239, Sec. 74 effective March 1, 2026. See 2024, 239, Sec. 139.]Section 69T. (a) The energy facilities siting board may issue consolidated permits for large clean energy infrastructure facilities. No applicant shall commence construction of a large clean energy infrastructure facility at a site unless an application for a consolidated permit for such facility pursuant to this section has been approved by the board and no state agency shall issue a construction permit for any such facility unless the petition to construct such facility has been approved by the board. For the purposes of this section, construction shall not include contractual obligations to purchase facilities or equipment.(b) The board shall establish the following criteria governing the siting and permitting of large clean energy infrastructure facilities: (i) a uniform set of baseline health, safety, environmental and other standards that apply to the issuance of a consolidated permit; (ii) a common standard application to be used when submitting an application to the board; (iii) pre-filing requirements commensurate with the scope and scale of the proposed large clean energy infrastructure facility, which shall include specific requirements for pre-filing consultations with permitting agencies and the Massachusetts environmental policy act office, public meetings and other forms of outreach that must occur in advance of an applicant submitting an application; (iv) standards for applying site suitability criteria developed by the executive office of energy and environmental affairs pursuant to section 30 of chapter 21A to evaluate the social and environmental impacts of proposed large clean energy infrastructure project sites and which shall include a mitigation hierarchy to be applied during the permitting process to avoid or minimize or, if impacts cannot be avoided or minimized, mitigate impacts of siting on the environment, people and goals and objectives of the commonwealth for climate mitigation, carbon storage and sequestration, resilience, biodiversity and protection of natural and working lands to the extent practicable; (v) standards for applying the cumulative impacts analysis standards and guidelines developed by the office of environmental justice and equity pursuant to section 29 of chapter 21A; (vi) standard permit conditions and requirements for a single permit consolidating all necessary local, regional and state approvals to be issued to different types of large clean energy infrastructure facilities in the event that constructive approval is triggered through the non-issuance of a permit by the board pursuant to subsection (i); and (vii) entities responsible for compliance and enforcement of permit conditions, including in the event of sale of large clean energy infrastructure facilities after permitting.(c) An application for a consolidated permit for a large clean transmission and distribution infrastructure facility shall include, in such form and detail as the board shall from time to time prescribe: (i) a description of the large clean transmission and distribution infrastructure facility, site and surrounding areas; (ii) an analysis of the need for the large clean transmission and distribution infrastructure facility, either within or outside or both within and outside the commonwealth, including a description of energy benefits; (iii) a description of the alternatives to the large clean transmission and distribution infrastructure facility, including siting and project alternatives to avoid or minimize or, if impacts cannot be avoided or minimized, mitigate impacts; (iv) a description of the environmental impacts of the large clean transmission and distribution infrastructure facility, including both environmental burdens and benefits such as shared use, recreational paths or access to nature; (v) evidence that all pre-filing consultation and community engagement requirements established by the board have been satisfied and, if not, a demonstration of good cause for a waiver of the requirements that could not be satisfied by the applicant; and (vi) a cumulative impact analysis. The board may issue and revise filing guidelines after public notice and a period for comment.(d) An application for a consolidated permit for a large clean energy generation facility or large clean energy storage facility shall include, in such form and detail as the board shall from time to time prescribe: (i) a description of the large clean energy generation facility's or large clean energy storage facility's site and surrounding areas, including any ancillary structures and related facilities and a description of the energy benefits of the large clean energy generation facility or large clean energy storage facility; (ii) a description of the environmental impacts of the large clean energy generation facility or large clean energy storage facility, including both environmental benefits and burdens; (iii) a description of the project site selection process and alternatives analysis used in choosing the location of the proposed large clean energy generation facility or large clean energy storage facility to avoid or minimize or, if impacts cannot be avoided or minimized, mitigate impacts; (iv) evidence that all pre-filing consultation and community requirements established by the board have been satisfied and, if not, a demonstration of good cause for a waiver of the requirements that could not be satisfied by the applicant; and (v) a cumulative impact analysis. The board may issue and revise filing guidelines after public notice and a period for comment.(e) Review by the board of the application shall be an adjudicatory proceeding under chapter 30A. The authority of the board to conduct the adjudicatory proceeding under this section may be delegated in whole or in part to the employees of the department. Pursuant to the rules of the board, such employees shall report back to the board with recommended decisions for final action thereon.(f) The board shall determine whether a large clean energy infrastructure facility permit application is complete within 30 days of receipt of the application. If an application is deemed not complete, the applicant shall have 30 days to cure any deficiencies identified by the board before the application is rejected. The board may provide extensions of time to cure deficiencies if the applicant can demonstrate extenuating circumstances.(g) The board shall conduct a public hearing in at least 1 of the affected cities or towns in which a large clean energy infrastructure facility would be located.(h) Following a determination by the board that an application for a large clean energy infrastructure facility is complete, all municipal, regional and state agencies, authorities, boards, commissions, offices or other entities that would otherwise be required to issue at least 1 permit to the facility shall be deemed to be substantially and specifically affected by the proceeding and upon notification to the board shall have intervenor status in the proceeding to review the facility's application. All municipal, regional and state agencies, authorities, boards, commissions, offices or other entities that would otherwise be required to issue at least 1 permit to the facility shall be afforded an opportunity to submit statements of recommended permit conditions to the board relative to the respective permits that each agency, authority, board, commission, office or other entity would otherwise be responsible for issuing.(i) The board shall establish timeframes for reviewing different types of large clean energy infrastructure facilities based on the complexity of the facility, the need for an exemption from local zoning requirements and community impacts, but in no instance shall the board take more than 15 months from the determination of application completeness to render a final decision on an application. The board shall have the authority to approve, approve with conditions or reject a consolidated permit application. If no final decision is issued within the deadline established by the board for the type of large clean energy infrastructure facility, the board shall issue a permit granting approval to construct that includes the common conditions and requirements established by the board through regulations for the type of large clean energy infrastructure facility under review, which shall be deemed a final decision of the board. A consolidated permit, if issued, shall be in the form of a composite of all individual permits, approvals or authorizations that would otherwise be necessary for the construction and operation of the large clean energy infrastructure facility and that portion of the consolidated permit that relates to subject matters within the jurisdiction of a municipal, regional or state agency, authority, board, commission, office or other entity shall be enforced by said agency, authority, board, commission, office or other entity under other applicable laws of the commonwealth as if the consolidated permit had been directly granted by said agency, authority, board, commission, office or other entity.