reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 128 § 8a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 8a - Destruction or Control of Foxes and Rodents; Investigations; Cooperative Arrangements With United States

Section 8A. In order to protect the food supplies, agricultural produce, growing crops, live stock, manufactured goods and buildings, and to safeguard the public health, the commissioner may investigate the life and habits of, and may take necessary measures to destroy or to control, foxes, and rats, mice, woodchucks, and such other rodents not protected by law, as may from time to time be determined by him to be detrimental to one or more of such purposes. In performing such duties he may, by himself or by his authorized agent, with the consent of the owner or tenant, enter upon private premises for any of such purposes at any reasonable time. In order to carry out this section, the commissioner may enter into co-operative arrangements with the United States or any agency thereof, with any department, board or commission of this commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or with any association, corporation or individual owning, occupying or possessing any property within the commonwealth. Section forty-three of chapter one hundred and thirty-one shall not apply to the destruction of rodents under this section. Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the destruction or control of foxes by the use of poison.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 8b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 8b - Supervision of Mink Ranches; Listing; Fee; Certificate; Penalty

Section 8B. Mink that have been propagated in captivity for two or more generations shall be considered domesticated mammals subject to all the laws of the commonwealth with reference to possession, ownership and taxation as are at any time applicable to domesticated animals; such domesticated mink and the pelts or products thereof shall be deemed agricultural products and shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-one. The breeding, raising, producing in captivity and marketing thereof shall be deemed an agricultural pursuit. For the purposes of this section, a mink ranch shall be deemed to be any place where mink as defined by this section are raised and propagated in captivity. Each mink ranch shall be listed with the department on or before February first of each year and the premises and the breeding records may be inspected by the commissioner or his agents at any reasonable time. The fee for such listing shall be $25 annually for which fee a certificate shall be issued by the department of agriculture. Such certificate shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises at all times. The burden shall be upon the owner of such a ranch to prove that all mink possessed are domesticated as defined above. Whoever violates any provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 9 - Establishment of Demonstration Sheep Farms

Section 9. The department may establish demonstration sheep farms in such places as may be selected by the commissioner. Such a farm may be established in co-operation with the owner of any farm who is desirous of conducting it in conformity with this and the two following sections.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 10 - Maintenance of Flock of Sheep on Demonstration Farm

Section 10. Each person conducting a demonstration sheep farm shall maintain under the supervision of and in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the commissioner, a flock of not less than twenty sheep and under his direction may from time to time purchase and sell such sheep as may be considered essential to the proper development of the industry in the locality of such farm, the sheep so purchased or sold to be passed upon by the division of animal health as to their condition and freedom from disease.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 11 - Compensation From Commonwealth for Use of Farm as a Demonstration Sheep Farm

Section 11. The owner of every such farm shall receive a reasonable compensation from the commonwealth for the use of the farm as such demonstration sheep farm, for the labor and expense involved in carrying out this and the two preceding sections, and for any loss involved in the purchase or sale of sheep made in accordance with the preceding section.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 12 - Powers and Duties of Division of Regulatory Services

Section 12. The division of regulatory services shall investigate all dairy products bought or sold, enforce the laws for the manufacture, transfer and sale of such products, and take such action as will tend to produce better quality thereof and to improve the dairy industry. It may co-operate with the department of public health and with inspectors of milk, but it shall not interfere with the duties of such department or officers.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 13 - Report of Unsanitary Condition

Section 13. The bureau of dairying in the division of regulatory services shall report to the director of animal health each case brought to its attention where any barn, stable or other enclosure, where neat cattle, other ruminants or swine are kept, is found in an unsanitary condition.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 13a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 13a - Reimbursement Following Dealer's Milk Payment Default

Section 13A. The Milk Producers Security Fund, established by section 48 of chapter 10, shall be for the purpose of reimbursing Massachusetts producers who sold milk to a dealer when the dealer has defaulted in the timely payment for the milk under chapter 94A, or orders, rules or regulations issued under the authority thereof, or of a federal milk marketing order. Each producer shall notify the commissioner in writing of any default in the payment within 90 days after the date on which payment of milk is regularly due. If there is reason to believe that the dealer is in arrears in his payments to producers for milk received by him, the commissioner shall give notice to all producers so affected to file verified claims with the commissioner. The commissioner shall examine all claims so filed and shall certify the amounts determined to be due thereon, and transmit the same for payment to the state treasurer under section 48 of chapter 10.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 13b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 13b - Dealer Payments Into Milk Producers Security Fund

Section 13B. (a) The dealer of milk in the commonwealth who first received milk from Massachusetts producers, shall pay on or before the due date of payment to the producers, the amount of 5 cents per 100 weight on the volume of all the milk purchased from the producers and the payments shall be deposited with the state treasurer in the Milk Producers Security Fund established by section 48 of chapter 10. Payment as provided in this section shall be made for all milk shipped to a dealer by a producer who is not a member of a cooperative association which guarantees payment where there is a default in the payment for milk. Payment shall be deducted by the dealer from monies owed by the dealer to the producers in the amount of 5 cents per 100 weight.  (b) The commissioner may suspend the collection of payments made under subsection (a) from time to time as the commissioner determines to be in the best interests of the producers affected by this section and section 13A; provided, that the balance of the fund shall not be less than $1,000,000; and provided further, that the commissioner shall consider the quantity of milk covered by the fund and the current price levels for milk when making the determination. The commissioner shall provide 30 days written notice of any suspension or reinstatement of payments into the fund to the house and senate committees on ways and means and to all dealers and producers affected.  (c) Notwithstanding section 13A, a milk producer who pays into the fund under subsection (a) may, after the milk producer's application is approved by the commissioner, be reimbursed up to an amount equal to the monies paid by the applicant into the fund minus any funds previously distributed to said applicant plus a pro rata share of the interest earned by the fund. The commissioner shall establish criteria for the approval of the applications, the criteria shall include, but shall not be limited to: whether the milk producer continues to produce milk; whether the milk producer has joined a cooperative association; and other criteria the commissioner deems relevant. The commissioner shall not authorize a reimbursement if payment of that reimbursement would result in the balance of the fund falling below $1,000,000. Upon approval of an application, the commissioner shall certify the amount due to the milk producer and transmit the certified amount for payment to the state treasurer under section 48 of chapter 10.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 14 - Access by Department to Places or Vehicles Used in Manufacture, Storage or Sale of Dairy Products; Enforcement of Laws; Hindrance of Officer

Section 14. The department and its employees shall have access to each place or vehicle used in the manufacture, storage, transportation or sale of dairy products or imitations thereof, and to each vessel and can used in such manufacture, storage, transportation and sale, and shall have the authority given to the department of public health or its officers, or to inspectors of milk, to enforce and prosecute violations of all laws relating to dairy products or imitations thereof. Whoever hinders, obstructs, or in any way interferes with an officer or duly authorized agent of the department in the performance of his duty shall be punished for a first offence by a fine of one hundred dollars and for a subsequent offence by a fine of two hundred dollars, to the use of the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 15 - Duties of Employees of Department

Section 15. Employees of the department shall visit towns to inquire into the methods and needs of practical husbandry, ascertain the adaptation of agricultural products to soil, climate and markets, encourage the establishment of farmers' clubs, agricultural libraries and reading rooms, disseminate useful information in agriculture by lectures or otherwise, and annually in October make detailed reports to the commissioner.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 16 - Entry Upon Public or Private Grounds for Purposes of Abating Serious Plant Diseases; Contracts

Section 16. The director of regulatory services and his assistants may at all times enter any public or private grounds in the performance of duties required by section seventeen to thirty-one, inclusive, for the purpose of abating any serious plant diseases. Said director may, subject to appropriations, make contracts on behalf of the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 17 - Inspection of Nurseries; Certificate; Suppression of Pests

Section 17. The said director, either personally or through his assistants, shall inspect at least once each year each nursery or place where nursery stock is grown, and if no dangerous insects or fungous pests are found therein, he shall give a certificate to that effect. If such pests are found therein the owner of the stock shall take such measures to suppress the same as the director shall prescribe, and no certificate shall be given until he has satisfied himself by a subsequent inspection that all such pests have been suppressed. He shall determine the season for inspecting nurseries and the form of certificates to be given but in no case shall he issue a certificate to continue in force after July first next following the date of inspection.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 18 - Licensing of Nursery Agents; Application; Revocation

Section 18. Each agent or other person, except a grower, who sells nursery stock shall make application to the director for an agent's license, and shall file with him the names and addresses of all persons or nurseries from which he purchases his stock. On receipt of such application, the director shall issue an agent's license, valid for one year, in such form and with such provisions as the department prescribes. The license may be revoked at any time for failure to report the names and addresses of persons or nurseries from which stock is purchased, or for such other cause as may be deemed sufficient by the director and the commissioner. Each person except a grower who sells, or who takes or solicits orders for, nursery stock shall be regarded as a nursery agent for the purposes of sections eighteen to thirty-one, inclusive.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 19 - Sale of Nursery Stock; Grower's Certificate

Section 19. No person shall sell, exchange, give, deliver or ship within the commonwealth any tree, shrub or plant commonly known as nursery stock unless such person holds a grower's certificate under section seventeen or an agent's license under the preceding section, and unless a copy of such certificate or license, or such other evidence as the department prescribes, shall accompany each car, box, bundle or package sold, exchanged, given, delivered or shipped, and unless such certificate or license is dated within twelve months of the date of such delivery or shipment; but this section shall not prohibit the selling, giving or exchanging of trees, plants or shrubs by any person who is not a grower of, dealer in, or agent for nursery stock.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 20 - Importation of Nursery Stock; Certificate of Inspection

Section 20. No nursery stock shall be brought into the commonwealth unless it bears an unexpired certificate of inspection. Each person bringing into the commonwealth, or receiving for transportation to a point within the commonwealth from outside thereof, any car, box, bundle, package or consignment in any form, of living trees, shrubs or plants commonly known as nursery stock, shall immediately notify the director of the fact that such consignment has been received by him and give the name and address of the consignee, together with such further report as may be lawfully required by the director.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 20a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 20a - Spread or Growth of Plants of Water Chestnut ≪i>(trapa Natans)</i>

Section 20A. No person shall knowingly plant, transport, transplant or traffic in plants of water chestnut (Trapa natans) or in seeds or nuts thereof nor in any manner cause the spread or growth of such plants.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 21 - Inspection of Nursery Stock, Fruits and Plants at Points of Destination; Destruction; Notice to Director

Section 21. The director, either personally or through his assistants, may inspect at its point of destination all nursery stock coming into the commonwealth, and if such stock is found to be infested with injurious insects or plant disease he may cause it to be destroyed, treated or returned to the consignor at the consignor's expense. He may, either personally or through his assistants, inspect all fruits, plants and parts thereof brought into the commonwealth from outside thereof which also grow out of doors in this commonwealth, and, if such fruits, plants and parts thereof are found to be infested with injurious insects or plant disease likely to become established herein, he may cause the same to be destroyed, treated or returned to the consignor at the consignor's expense.  Each person, except a common carrier, who receives, brings or causes to be brought into this commonwealth any such fruits, plants and parts thereof from such states, provinces or countries as may be designated by the commissioner, shall immediately after the arrival thereof notify the director of such arrival, and hold them until they have been duly inspected.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 23 - Compensation for Destruction of Cultivated Berry-Bearing Shrubbery; Notice; Investigation; Arbitration; Award; Certification

Section 23. The owner of any cultivated berry-bearing shrubbery destroyed by the director or his assistants under sections twenty-one and twenty-two shall receive compensation therefor from the commonwealth, provided that he has given written notice thereof to the director within thirty days after the accrual of his claim to compensation. The director or an assistant shall thereupon investigate the same, and if the director does not agree with the claimant as to the validity of his claim or as to the amount thereof, the question at issue shall be determined by three arbitrators who shall be the commissioner, the director of the division of forests and parks in the department of environmental management, and an assistant attorney general to be designated by the attorney general. Any award of damages made by said arbitrators, together with the cost of the appraisal, shall be certified to the comptroller, and shall thereupon be paid by the commonwealth in the same manner as other claims.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 24 - Inspection of Orchards, Etc. for Noxious Weeds, Insect Pests or Plant Diseases; Notice to Landowners, Et al.; Abatement; Cost of Treatment

Section 24. The director, either personally or through his assistants, may inspect any orchard, field garden, roadside or other place where trees, shrubs or other plants exist, whether on public or private property, which he may know or have reason to suspect is overgrown with noxious weeds or infested with the San Jose scale or any serious insect pests or plant disease, when in his judgment such pests, disease or weeds are likely to cause loss to adjoining owners, and may serve upon the owner, occupant or person in charge of the land on which such noxious weeds, trees, shrubs or other plants are present, written notice of the presence of such weeds, pests or plant disease, with a statement that they constitute a public nuisance, together with directions to abate the same, giving the methods of treatment for the abatement thereof, and stating a time within which the nuisance must be abated in accordance with the methods given therein. If the person no notified refuses or neglects so to treat or destroy such weeds, trees, shrubs or other plants within the time prescribed, the director may cause such property to be so treated or destroyed, and may employ all necessary assistants for this purpose, who may enter upon any public or private property, if such entry is necessary for this purpose. Upon the completion of said treatment the director shall certify in writing to the owner or person in charge of the treated property the amount of the cost of such treatment, and if this be not paid to the commissioner within ninety days thereafter, the same may be recovered by suit, together with the cost of the suit.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 25 - Appeal From Proposed Action

Section 25. In case of objection to the proposed action of the director or his assistants in executing any provision of sections sixteen to thirty-one, inclusive, an appeal in writing may be taken within ten days to the commissioner, and the appeal shall operate as a stay of proceedings until it has been heard and decided by the commissioner, whose decision shall be final.
MA Gen L ch 128 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 128 - Agriculture|Section 26 - Proceedings After Appeal; Notice

Section 26. When the commissioner has heard an appeal and has rendered a decision that the action of the director from which the appeal was taken is sustained, the director shall notify in writing the owner, occupant or person in charge of the trees, shrubs or other plants concerned, of the decision, and shall direct him to treat or destroy the trees, shrubs or other plants within a given time in accordance with a method prescribed in the notice. If the person so notified refuses or neglects so to treat or destroy such trees, shrubs or other plants within the time prescribed, the director may cause such property to be so treated or destroyed, and the cost thereof to be recovered as provided in section twenty-four.