S 3180

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3180
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
  SENATE, July 16, 2026.
   The committee on Senate Ways and Means to whom was referred the Senate Bill
authorizing the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to grant easements to
NSTAR electric company d/b/a Eversource Energy in return for NSTAR releasing or modifying
easements for the benefit of the Commonwealth (Senate, No. 2922), - reports, recommending
that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting a new draft with the same title
(Senate, No. 3180).
  For the committee,
  Michael J. Rodrigues
  FILED ON: 7/16/2026
  SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3180
  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  _______________
  In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
  (2025-2026)
  _______________
An Act authorizing the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to grant
easements to NSTAR electric company d/b/a Eversource Energy in return for NSTAR releasing
or modifying easements for the benefit of the Commonwealth.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1SECTION 1. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General
2 Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset
3 management and maintenance may, in consultation with the commissioner of conservation and
4 recreation, grant an easement to NSTAR Electric Company doing business as Eversource
5 Energy, its successors and assigns, for the purposes of: (i) clearing and keeping cleared of trees,
6 structures and buildings; (ii) constructing, maintaining, accessing, operating, replacing, repairing,
7 patrolling and removing underground and overhead electric transmission and distribution lines
8 and equipment, associated ground wires and telecommunication wires or cables solely for
9 electric infrastructure monitoring and poles, structures, conduits or other appurtenances and
10 fixtures; and (iii) constructing and maintaining substation fixtures and appurtenant facilities for
11 the transmission of electricity. The conveyance shall be subject to additional conditions and
12 restrictions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation
13 with the commissioner of conservation and recreation, may determine.
  1 of 4
14The easement is located in an area more particularly shown as “20’ Wide Permanent
15 Easement to be Located within the Hatched Area. Final Location to be Determined by Survey of
16 the Centerline of Duct Bank Installation” on a progress print plan of land, entitled “Easement
17 Plan, Magazine Beach Charles River & Dr. Paul Dudley White Bike Path in Boston and
18 Cambridge, Massachusetts, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties” dated August 28, 2025, prepared
19 by DGT Associates Surveying & Engineering and on file with the division of capital asset
20 management and maintenance. The exact boundaries and location of the easement shall be
21 determined by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation
22 with the commissioner of conservation and recreation. The property is currently under the care
23 and control of the department of conservation and recreation for conservation and recreation
24 purposes.
25SECTION 2. (a) In consideration for the grant of the easement authorized in section 1,
26 NSTAR Electric Company doing business as Eversource Energy shall compensate the
27 commonwealth through: (i) the transfer of land or an interest in land to the department of
28 conservation and recreation, with a value equal to or greater than the full and fair market value of
29 the easement described in said section 1 or its value in use as proposed, whichever is greater, as
30 determined by an independent appraisal; (ii) a sum of money equal to the full and fair market
31 value of the easement or its value in use as proposed, whichever is greater, as determined by an
32 independent appraisal; or (iii) a combination thereof. The commonwealth shall not be obligated
33 to pay any consideration to NSTAR Electric Company doing business as Eversource Energy if
34 the appraised value of any parcels or interests conveyed under this subsection exceeds the value
35 of the easement authorized in section 1. Any funds received pursuant to this subsection shall be
  2 of 4
36 deposited in the Conservation Trust established in section 1 of chapter 132A of the General
37 Laws.
38(b) To ensure no-net-loss of lands protected for natural resource purposes, and as all or a
39 portion of the consideration for the conveyance authorized in section 1 and calculated in
40 accordance with subsection (a), the commonwealth may accept the conveyance of a parcel of
41 land located at 0 Thompson Road in the town of Wendell. The parcel is approximately 53.725
42 acres and is more particularly shown on a plan entitled, “Plan of Land, Thompson Road,
43 Wendell, Massachusetts” dated December 4, 2023, prepared by BSC Group, which plan is on file
44 with the division of capital asset management and maintenance. The land shall be permanently
45 held and managed for conservation and recreation purposes by the department of conservation
46 and recreation.
47SECTION 3. The value of the easement described in section 1 and the value of any
48 property interests to be conveyed to the commonwealth pursuant to section 2 shall be determined
49 by an independent appraisal prepared in accordance with the usual and customary professional
50 appraisal practice by a qualified appraiser commissioned by the commissioner of capital asset
51 management and maintenance. The commissioner shall submit any appraisals to the inspector
52 general for review and comment. The inspector general shall review and approve any appraisals
53 and the review shall include an examination of the methodology utilized for the appraisals. The
54 inspector general shall prepare a report of such review and file the report with the commissioner
55 who shall submit copies of the appraisals and the inspector general’s report to the senate and
56 house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and
57 regulatory oversight not less than 15 days before the execution of the instrument effecting the
58 grant of easement described in section 1.
  3 of 4
59SECTION 4. No instrument granting the easement described in section 1 shall be valid
60 unless the instrument provides that the easement shall be used solely for the purposes described
61 in this act. The instruments authorized in said section 1 shall stipulate that: (i) the easement shall
62 terminate if the property ceases to be used for the express purposes authorized in this act, upon
63 such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in
64 consultation with the commissioner of conservation and recreation, may determine, following
65 notice of the violation to NSTAR Electric Company doing business as Eversource Energy by the
66 division of capital asset management and maintenance and a failure by NSTAR Electric
67 Company doing business as Eversource Energy to cure the violation to the satisfaction of the
68 division of capital asset management and maintenance; and (ii) for installation, maintenance,
69 repair or other work performed in the easement area, the easement holder shall restore the
70 surface condition to the equivalent or better condition as determined by the department of
71 conservation and recreation.
72SECTION 5. NSTAR Electric Company doing business as Eversource Energy shall be
73 responsible for all costs associated with engineering, surveys, appraisals, document preparation
74 and other expenses deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and
75 maintenance to effect the conveyances authorized by this act.
  4 of 4