S 1597 Massachusetts Senate · 193rd Legislature (2023-2024)

An Act relative to hazardous material teams

This bill amends Massachusetts law to clarify how the state deploys hazardous material teams during emergencies and defines who must pay for those responses. It allows the state department to send specialized teams to sites within or outside the state when requested by local fire departments or initiated on its own to handle hazardous substance releases or threats. The legislation establishes that once deployed, the team leader has full operational control until the immediate danger is mitigated, at which point authority transfers to the incident commander. Additionally, the bill specifies that owners, operators, and other parties responsible for hazardous materials are liable for all costs associated with emergency mitigation actions, regardless of fault.
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2023
Committee Review
May 2024
House Passage
Apr 2024
Governor
Introduced Feb 16, 2023 Last action May 16, 2024
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
4
Committee
2
May 16, 2024
Upper · Passed
Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means
upper
Apr 25, 2024
Lower · Passed
House concurred
lower
Apr 4, 2024
Lower · Passed
House concurred
lower
Feb 16, 2023
Lower · Passed
House concurred
lower
Feb 16, 2023
Committee
Referred to the committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors