Bill would extend liability protections, tax relief and planning duties for responders and shelters

The legislation filed Jan. 17, 2025 would create liability protections, benefits and planning obligations for emergency response workers and local jurisdictions. The bill was filed in the Senate by Senator Barry R. Finegold as Senate No. 541. Why it matters: the proposal addresses legal protections and incentives for volunteer and paid responders, clarifies compensation rules for injuries and deaths during emergency duties, formalizes standards for emergency shelters and sets state responsibilities under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right‑to‑Know Act. The bill would provide that the commonwealth, political subdivisions and emergency response workers performing authorized emergency management functions or participating in authorized training or exercises shall not be liable for damages for acts or omissions committed in the course of such functions, training or exercises, unless the conduct is willful, wanton or reckless. The immunity would not apply to any person whose act or omission caused the emergency, in whole or in part. Consistent with chapter 12, the attorney general would appear for and defend the commonwealth, agencies, political subdivisions and emergency response workers in civil actions arising from emergency actions. The bill also states that, in the absence of other benefits, emergency response workers killed or sustaining disability or injury while performing authorized emergency management functions shall be treated as employees of the commonwealth and compensated in the manner provided under chapter 152. The text allows any city or town to adopt a local program to abate up to $1,000 in property taxes per fiscal year for non‑salaried local emergency management directors and volunteer emergency response workers, or to provide an exemption calculated as $1,000,000 divided by the mill rate. The measure permits employers — public or private — to grant leave of absence to employees serving as emergency response workers; where the commonwealth or a political subdivision grants paid leave for that service, the employee would receive their regular rate of pay for regular work hours but not overtime, shift differential or hazardous duty pay during the leave. On shelters and hazardous planning, the bill would require the director, in consultation with the secretary and the state fire marshal, to establish standards and issue regulations for designating emergency shelters; shelters may be used for other functions but must meet minimum structural, capacity and accessibility requirements. The bill further requires the director to designate nuclear power planning areas (communities within a 10‑mile radius of a nuclear power plant), to publish preparedness and response plans and emergency public information for those areas, and to review those plans annually for changes in traffic patterns, population densities and relevant construction. To fulfill federal hazardous‑materials planning obligations, the bill establishes a state emergency response commission to implement the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right‑to‑Know Act (Title III of SARA). The commission would be chaired by the director (or designee) and include specified designees from the Department of Environmental Protection, state police, the Department of Public Health, the state fire marshal, regional EPA administrator and others, plus a public member appointed by the chair. The day‑to‑day functions of that commission would be the responsibility of the new agency.