reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 131a § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act|Section 3 - Exceptions

Section 3. Any person may transport, possess, or sell, in accordance with the terms of any necessary state and federal permit, any species appearing on any of the lists prepared in accordance with section four which enters the commonwealth from another state or from a point outside the territorial limits of the United States. A person may possess or propagate all plants listed as endangered, threatened or special concern; provided, however, that the sources for such propagation or possession shall not be taken from the wild. All nurserymen may sell all plants listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern; provided, however, that the sources for such sale shall not be taken from the wild.  The director may permit the taking, possession, purchase, sale, transportation, exportation or shipment of any species appearing on the list of endangered or threatened species or species of special concern developed by the director pursuant to section four for scientific, conservation, management or educational purposes, or for or from propagation in captivity and may permit the taking of special concern species for the purposes of falconry pursuant to regulations promulgated by the director.  The director may permit the removal, capture, or destruction of any species appearing on the list of endangered or threatened species or species of special concern developed by the director pursuant to section four to protect human health, when a public health hazard exists as certified by the department of public health.  A landowner may construct a single family house covering no more than three thousand square feet of ground and install any necessary utilities to service said house and construct in a reasonable fashion a single access driveway to the nearest public or private way on a lot having an area of at least three acres; provided, however, that the lot on which said construction takes place was owned by said landowner and in existence on January first, nineteen hundred and ninety; and provided, further, that said lot was not held in common ownership with any adjoining land as of said date. For purposes of this paragraph, the phrase ''in existence'' shall mean a lot shown on a definitive plan that has received final approval under chapter forty-one or shown on a plan that has been endorsed under section eighty-one P of said chapter.
MA Gen L ch 131a § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act|Section 6 - Penalties; Disposition of Fines Received

Section 6. (a) Any person who violates the provisions of the first paragraph of section two or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than ninety days or both such fine and imprisonment. Upon a second or subsequent conviction such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred and eighty days or both such fine and imprisonment.  (b) Any person who violates the provisions of the second paragraph of section two or rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days or both such fine and imprisonment. Upon a subsequent conviction, such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred and eighty days or both such fine and imprisonment. In addition or as an alternative to such penalties, any such person may be ordered to restore the significant habitat to its prior condition.  (c) Any person who violates section 2 or any rule or regulation adopted under this chapter shall be subject to a civil assessment not to exceed $10,000 for each such violation. The civil assessment may be asserted in an action brought on behalf of the commonwealth in a court of competent jurisdiction.  The superior court shall have jurisdiction to enjoin violations of, or to grant such additional relief as it deems necessary or appropriate to secure compliance with this chapter upon petition of the director or the attorney general.  (d) The commission of a prohibited act with respect to each individual animal or plant, or part thereof, shall constitute a separate violation.  (e) All fines and assessments received on account of litigation or settlement thereof for a violation of this chapter or the regulations promulgated thereunder shall be paid to the commonwealth and shall be deposited into the Natural Heritage Endangered Species Fund established pursuant to section 35D of chapter 10 for the purpose of aiding in the protection and enhancement of rare, threatened and endangered species in the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 131a § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act|Section 7 - Fees

Section 7. The director may establish fees for environmental review and assessment pursuant to this chapter, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with section 3B of chapter 7. Monies received by the commonwealth from fees collected under this chapter shall be credited to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund, established by section 35D of chapter 10.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 1 - Director of the Division of Forests and Parks; Duties

Section 1. The director of the division of forests and parks, in this chapter called the forester, in the department of environmental management, in this chapter called the department, shall promote the perpetuation, extension and proper management of the public and private forest lands of the commonwealth; shall give such a course of instruction to the students of the University of Massachusetts on the art and science of forestry as may be arranged by the trustees of the university and the forester; and shall perform such other duties as may be imposed upon him by the governor.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 1a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 1a - Chief Superintendent of the Bureau of Shade Tree Management and Pest Control; Powers and Duties

Section 1A. The chief superintendent of the bureau of shade tree management and pest control shall act for the commonwealth in suppressing the pests declared in section eleven to be public nuisances, and in accordance with the provision of section thirteen of chapter twenty-one, shall perform such other duties imposed upon him by the commissioner. He shall keep a record of all expenditures made by or authorized by him, and shall prepare an annual report for the commissioner. He shall provide technical advice and consulting services to cities and towns in the development and implementation of public shade tree management plans and programs. He shall have the authority, with the approval of the commissioner and secretary of administration and finance to receive, administer and expend without further appropriation, in accordance with the provision of section sixteen, any federal funds, state funds appropriated by the general court, and private funds that may be made available for the purpose of assisting cities and towns in the maintenance, care and management of their public shade trees.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 2 - Bequests and Gifts; Forestry Trust

Section 2. The commissioner of environmental management, in this chapter called the commissioner, with the approval of the governor and council, may accept on behalf of the commonwealth bequests or gifts to be used for the purpose of advancing the forestry interest of the commonwealth, under the direction of the governor and council, or for the laying out, construction or maintenance of state trails or paths, in such manner as to carry out the terms of the bequests or gifts. Said trust properties shall be known as the Forestry Trust and shall be used and expended under the direction of the commissioner and subject to his orders. Subject to the terms of such grant, gift, devise, or bequest, the commissioner may expend such funds without further appropriation whether principal or income. The commissioner may, subject to the approval of the deed and title by the attorney general, accept on behalf of the commonwealth gifts of land to be held and managed for experiment and illustration in forest management and for reforestation in accordance with such rules and regulations as the commissioner, with the approval of the governor and council, may prescribe. A donor of such land may reserve the right to buy back the land in accordance with such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by and between such donor and the commissioner; but in the absence of such reservation in his deed of gift he shall not have such right.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 3 - Forest Wardens; Payment for Investigations; Conventions

Section 3. The forester shall from the money appropriated annually for the expenses of his office recompense the forest wardens for the time spent by them in making investigations under his direction, as required by section thirty-seven of this chapter and section twenty-five of chapter forty-eight; provided, that he shall not be liable to make any such payment except upon the presentation of a duly itemized account or to pay for such investigations at a rate greater than that approved by him or in excess of the appropriation available for such payment. He may also expend such sums as are annually appropriated in making necessary arrangements for conventions of forest wardens to be held at a place within the commonwealth and in paying wholly or in part the traveling expenses to and from their towns of such forest wardens who attend these conventions; provided, that no money shall be expended in paying the traveling expenses of any one warden to or from more than one convention in one year.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 4 - Annual Report of Commissioner of Natural Resources

Section 4. The commissioner shall make annual reports of the acts of the forester and of the acts of the chief superintendent, which latter report shall include a statement of all sums expended from the funds of the commonwealth for the suppression of pests declared in section eleven to be public nuisances in the several cities and towns. The report relative to the acts of the forester shall include the account of all money invested in each state forest and of the annual income and expense thereof, and the report of the state fire warden required by section twenty-eight of chapter forty-eight.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 6 - Demonstrations in Proper Forestry Practices; Distribution of Trees; Co-Operation With Federal Government; Federal Funds; Employment of Technical Foresters

Section 6. The forester may demonstrate to owners of woodland, at a fee not to exceed the actual cost of the service, the proper methods of planting, weeding, selective cutting, pruning, thinning and other silvicultural practices for the establishment, improvement or regeneration of the forests. In connection with the distribution of trees under section nine, and in the distribution of trees for reforestation in water supply lands, town forests and other publicly-owned areas, the forester may withhold sale or distribution thereof until the land to be planted has been examined by him or his agent and approved for such planting. He may co-operate with the federal government in carrying out the purposes of this section and may accept on behalf of the commonwealth, and expend for such purposes, such federal funds as may be made available therefor. He may employ temporarily such technical foresters as he deems necessary to discharge his duties under this section and the employment of such persons shall not be subject to chapter thirty-one.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 7 - Labor on State Forests

Section 7. The forester, in the reforestation, maintenance and development of lands purchased under section thirty or thirty-three, shall, so far as practicable, obtain the labor necessary therefor under sections eighty-three and eighty-four of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 8 - Entry Upon Land to Control and Suppress Public Nuisances

Section 8. The chief superintendent, district supervisors, district superintendents and other employees and authorized agents of the bureau of shade tree management and pest control may enter upon any land within the commonwealth, and any local superintendent appointed under section thirteen and his employees and authorized agents may enter upon any land within his city or town, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, for the purpose of determining the existence, over-all area and degree of infestation or infection caused by the public nuisances named in section eleven, suppressing and controlling said public nuisances and affixing signs to and removing, or causing to be removed, trees and wood infected with the Dutch elm disease or used as a breeding place of the beetles which spread said disease.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 9 - Establishment and Maintenance of Nurseries for Propagation of Forest Tree Seedlings; Distribution of Seeds and Seedlings

Section 9. The forester may establish and maintain nurseries for the propagation of forest tree seedlings upon such lands of the commonwealth at any state institution as the superintendent or trustees thereof may set apart for this purpose and upon such other lands as may be acquired under this section. Superintendents of institutions where land is set apart therefor may furnish without charge the labor of their inmates necessary to establish and maintain said nurseries. All stock grown in nurseries established under this section shall be used within the commonwealth. The forester may distribute seeds and seedlings to land owners, citizens of the commonwealth, under such conditions and restrictions as he may determine, subject to the approval of the governor and council. The forester, with the advice and consent of the governor and council, may expend from time to time such sum as is appropriated therefor by the general court in purchasing, for the establishment of nurseries provided for by this section, lands situated within the commonwealth and adapted to the propagation of forest seedlings.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 12 - Interference With Suppression or Eradication of Asian Longhorned Beetle, Oak Wilt or Any Public Nuisance; Penalties; Injunctive Relief

Section 12. Whoever knowingly resists or obstructs the commissioner, any local superintendent or employee or authorized agent of any of them, while any of those persons is engaged in suppressing or eradicating the Asian longhorned beetle, oak wilt or any public nuisance described in section 11, or whoever knowingly violates any rule, regulation, order or quarantine issued by the commissioner, in writing, relative to the suppression or eradication of public nuisances shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation. Each day that such violation occurs or continues shall be deemed a separate violation. The penalty may be assessed by the department, and may be recovered in an action brought on behalf of the commonwealth in the superior court. The commonwealth also may bring an action for injunctive relief in the superior court for any such violation, and the superior court shall have jurisdiction to enjoin such violation and to grant such further relief as it may deem appropriate.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 12a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 12a - Suppression of Public Nuisances on Land Under Control of Commonwealth

Section 12A. All persons in charge of land under the control of the commonwealth shall take measures on lands within their charge to suppress the public nuisances named in section eleven, and shall use such lawful means of suppression as the chief superintendent, with the approval of the commissioner, may require, and shall carry out such requirements pursuant to the advice and direction of the chief superintendent, except that the bureau of shade tree management and pest control may, on the request of the agency in charge of said lands, carry out all the duties required by the chief superintendent in connection with control of the Dutch elm disease and the beetles which spread said disease.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 13 - Local Superintendents of Shade Tree Management and Pest Control; Appointment; Notice; Assistants

Section 13. The city manager and the town manager in cities and towns having such a manager, otherwise the mayor in cities and the selectmen in towns, shall appoint for a term of three years a local superintendent of shade tree management and pest control, hereinafter called the local superintendent, for the suppression of the public nuisances named in section eleven. Said local superintendent shall be qualified by training and experience to enable him to carry out efficiently the powers and duties of his position, and shall be licensed or certified to apply pesticides in accordance with the rules and regulations of the pesticide board in the department of food and agriculture. The commissioner shall be notified in writing forthwith of the said appointment, and the name and address of said local superintendent. Said local superintendent shall, pursuant to the advice and general direction of the chief superintendent, destroy said public nuisances within his city or town, including wood infected by said Dutch elm disease or infested with the beetles which spread said disease, or likely to become so infested, except on property under the control of the commonwealth. The local superintendent may appoint such assistants as appropriations are made for by a city or town, and may designate the tree warden to assist him.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 14 - Reimbursement of Cities and Towns by Commonwealth for Suppression of Public Nuisances; Financial Liability; Accounts and Vouchers

Section 14. The financial liability, referred to in section eleven, of each city and town for the suppression of public nuisances named in section eleven shall be determined annually by the commissioner, who shall notify the city manager or town manager in cities and towns having such a manager, otherwise the mayor in cities and the selectmen in towns, on or before January first of his determination. The determination of liability shall be based upon the last preceding valuation of the city or town made for the purpose of apportioning the state tax, and shall set forth an amount for the control of the Dutch elm disease and the beetles which spread said disease, and an amount for the suppression or control of the other public nuisances named in section eleven, the total of which shall not exceed in any year one fifteenth of one per cent of said valuation. In determining the said financial liability, the commissioner shall consider the degree of infestation or infection, the area involved, the location of the municipality in relation to its neighbors, the number and specie of public and private shade trees and the location and size of woodland and swampland areas therein.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 15 - Certified Itemized Statements of Expenditures

Section 15. Each local superintendent shall render to the chief superintendent not later than the twenty-fifth day of each month a certified itemized statement of his expenditures during the preceding month, with vouchers showing separately the amounts expended on public lands and private lands for the suppression and control of the public nuisances named in section eleven, other than the Dutch elm disease and the beetles which spread said disease, and a similar statement of expenditures on Dutch elm disease control and the removal and destruction of elm trees then infected with the disease or infested with the beetles which spread the disease, and wood which was then or was likely to become a breeding place for said beetles.
MA Gen L ch 132 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation|Chapter 132 - Forestry|Section 16 - Partial Reimbursement of Expenditures for Management of Public Shade Trees; Applications; Limitation of Assistance

Section 16. Any city or town, which has a public shade tree inventory, not more than five years old, a public shade tree management plan approved by the state forester, and is in compliance with all requirements of law as well as any rules and regulations of the chief superintendent pertaining thereto, may apply to the bureau of shade tree management and pest control, hereinafter the bureau, for partial reimbursement of total expenditures made during the calendar year for the care, control and management of their public shade trees. Compensable activities include, but are not limited to, the planting, pruning, and removal of public shade trees. Any expenditures made for suppressing public nuisances as they affect public shade trees are excluded from the above.  Application for financial assistance as provided by the bureau must be received annually by the chief superintendent. Reimbursements shall not exceed fifty per cent of the expenditures made by the city or town and shall be based on a program of evaluation as may be adopted by said chief superintendent, with the approval of the commissioner.  Any city or town which has expended during the calendar year for the suppression of said public nuisances, an amount equal to its financial liability as provided in section fourteen, and has complied with the requirements of law and the rules and regulations of said chief superintendent pertaining thereto, may apply for assistance of the bureau in taking further measures for the control of said public nuisances. The value of such assistance shall not exceed fifty per cent of the expenditures made by the said city or town in excess of its financial liability as provided for in section fourteen.