Opportunities for the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board to Advance Environmental Justice
This July 2022 paper explores how the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) can or must use its existing authorities to better incorporate environmental justice (EJ) principles in its reviews of proposed energy facilities. This paper identifies the EFSB’s obligations and opportunities to advance substantive environmental justice—as opposed to procedural environmental justice—under its organic statutes, the Environmental Justice Policy of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act as amended by the Climate Roadmap Act of 2021. The paper recommends that the EFSB: 1) Make a “senior-level commitment” to environmental justice; 2) Develop a formal EJ strategy; 3) Issue impact review guidelines that explicitly take into account the distributive effects of proposed projects; 4) Issue regulations for its consideration of cumulative impacts and of projects’ consistency with the EJ policy; and 5) Develop these guidelines, regulations, and strategy pursuant to a process that prioritizes public engagement, especially with EJ communities.