Effective June 15, 2021, Governor Baker rescinded the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Massachusetts which he issued 462 days earlier on March 10, 2020. This ending triggered the expiration of a number of COVID-19 measures, some in statutes, executive orders, guidelines, and regulations, affecting environmental, land use, and real estate permits, licenses and other approvals.
Governor Baker recently announced that, on June 15, 2021, he will lift the State of Emergency he declared on March 10, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This State of Emergency is the basis for and the reference point for many orders, laws, policies, and provisions which gave local boards and commissions great flexibility in how they conducted business over the last year or so. A list of the Governor’s orders is available here.
With the enactment of Chapter 201 by the Massachusetts Legislature on November 10, 2020, municipal, district, county and regional permitting authorities (collectively, “permitting authorities”) now will have to take action sooner than they may have expected.
During the COVID-19 declared State of Emergency in Massachusetts, the state’s reporting, testing, cleanup, compliance, enforcement and other matters under the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act (G.L. c.21E) have been the subject of MassDEP Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) guidance documents. These guidelines are said to prioritize the health and safety of the public, agency staff, and cleanup parties.
On March 24, 2020, Governor Baker issued COVID-19 Order No. 17: “Order Suspending State Permitting Deadlines and Extending the Validity of State Permits”, which, among other things, gave state agencies additional time to act on pending or new permit applications and conduct administrative hearings. This Order applied only to state agencies within or reporting to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs or the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
It’s becoming clear that Zoom and other virtual meeting platforms will continue to be used as a replacement for face-to-face meetings, and for longer than first anticipated when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Knowing how to effectively run or participate in virtual meetings is increasingly important.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the usual procedures, rules, and regulations for land use permitting. Since March 2020, Massachusetts lawyers and their clients have seen new legislation that says how municipalities can accept, review, grant, deny, and enforce their permits.
UPDATE (July 27, 2020): On July 1, 2020, the Governor issued COVID-19 Order No. 42, “Order Resuming State Permitting Deadlines and Continuing to Extend the Validity of Certain State Permits” which changes some of the deadlines discussed above. A summary of Order No. 42 can be found here. Order No. 42 replaces Order No. 19.
(Revised July 27, 2020.)
The flurry of emergency executive orders and court orders, plus a new state statute, have provided needed relief and flexibility to local and state government agencies and courts to cope with the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts.
(Revised July 27, 2020)
UPDATE: On July 1, 2020, the Governor issued COVID-19 Order No. 42, “Order Resuming State Permitting Deadlines and Continuing to Extend the Validity of Certain State Permits” which changes some of the deadlines discussed above. A summary of Order No. 42 can be found here. In essence, Order No. 42 replaces Order No. 19 which was the underpinning of several of the answers provided by DEP in its FAQ. Most notably, MassDEP’s deadline to appeal to itself an Order or Determination will now end on August 10, 2020.
The Massachusetts Legislature has enacted a legal framework for municipal boards, including conservation commissions, to receive and process applications, conduct meetings and hearings, make and issue decisions, take enforcement actions, and otherwise function during the state of emergency declared by Governor Baker on March 10, 2020.1
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