Massachusetts § 12N - Facility siting division; clean energy infrastructure dashboard

§ 12N. Facility siting division; clean energy infrastructure dashboard

Section 12N. There is hereby established within the department, and under the general supervision and control of the commission, a facility siting division, which shall be under the charge of a director appointed by the commission. The facility siting division, hereinafter referred to as the division, shall perform such functions as the commission deems necessary for the administration, implementation and enforcement of sections 69G to 69W, inclusive, of chapter 164 imposed upon the department and the energy facilities siting board by said sections.

The division shall maintain a real-time, online, clean energy infrastructure dashboard. The division shall, in cooperation with the executive office of energy and environmental affairs and its affiliated departments and offices, create, maintain and update the dashboard by collecting, facilitating the collection and reporting of comprehensive data and information related to: (i) accelerating the responsible deployment of clean energy infrastructure through siting and permitting reform in a manner consistent with applicable legal requirements, including, but not limited to, the greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits set under chapter 21N; (ii) facilitating community input into the siting and permitting of clean energy infrastructure; and (iii) ensuring that the benefits of clean energy deployment are shared equitably among all residents of the commonwealth. The dashboard shall, at a minimum, report for the most recent reporting period and in the aggregate the number of applications filed, decided or pending information, including, but not limited to: (i) the number of applications deemed incomplete and the number of applications constructively approved; (ii) the average duration of application review; and (iii) average staffing levels delineated by job classification. The dashboard shall make use of bar charts, line charts and other visual representations to facilitate public understanding of both recent performance and long-term and cumulative trends and outcomes of clean energy deployment. The division shall convene a stakeholder process to develop and inform the design and content of the dashboard; provided, however, that comprehensive data and information shall be made publicly available in a machine-readable format.