reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 43d § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43d - Expedited Permitting|Section 14 - Time for Required Reviews

Section 14. Any required reviews established under sections 61 to 62H, inclusive, of chapter 30 or sections 26 to 27C, inclusive, of chapter 9 shall conclude within 120 days of a state determination of completeness of required review materials, as established by the executive office of environmental affairs in consultation with the state secretary. The secretary of environmental affairs and the state secretary shall establish time frames for all required filings and additional filings by the applicant in order to comply with this section. In the event an applicant fails to comply with all relevant time frames, the time shall be tolled until the applicant files the required documents.
MA Gen L ch 43d § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43d - Expedited Permitting|Section 15 - Substantive Jurisdictional Authority of Issuing Authorities

Section 15. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to alter the substantive jurisdictional authority of issuing authorities.
MA Gen L ch 43d § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43d - Expedited Permitting|Section 16 - Rules and Regulations

Section 16. The secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 1 - Definitions

Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—  ''Growth district'', a district designated from time to time by the secretary of housing and economic development, with the approval of the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, to participate in the growth district initiative.  ''Growth district initiative'', a program established by the executive office of housing and economic development and section 2C of chapter 303 of the acts of 2008 to provide for commercial and residential transportation and infrastructure development, improvements and various capital investment projects.  ''Issuing authority'', a state agency, commission, department or other state entity that is responsible for issuing permits, granting approvals or otherwise involved in land use development including redevelopment of existing buildings and structures.  ''Permit'', a permit, formal determination, order of conditions, license, certificate, authorization, registration or other approval or determination with respect to the use or development of land, buildings or structures required by an issuing authority. ''Permit'' shall not include the decision of an agency to dispose of property under its management or control or permits granted by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority or permits or approvals issued by the department of public utilities or the Energy Facilities Siting Board under chapter 40A and chapter 164 or requests for variances or waivers from state laws or regulations.  ''Priority development site'', priority development site as defined in section 2 of chapter 43D.  ''Project'', project as defined in section 62 of chapter 30.  ''Site'', a privately or publicly owned property that is zoned for commercial or industrial use.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 2 - Time Period for Completion of Permit Review and Issuance of Final Decision

Section 2. (a) Issuing authorities shall complete permit reviews and final decisions within 180 days, or 210 days for permit processes requiring a public comment period, subject to an extension under section 5, for projects that are in: (i) priority development sites designated under chapter 43D; (ii) located within a growth district; (iii) provided the applicant has received a certificate indicating the completion of the process under sections 61 to 62H, inclusive, of chapter 30; and (iv) provided neither the project nor any portion of the project shall be in a wetland as defined by section 40 of chapter 131, tidelands as defined by section 1 of chapter 91, priority habitat as delineated by the division of fisheries and wildlife under chapter 131A or an area of critical environmental concern as designated by the secretary of energy and environmental affairs.  (b) The time period to complete reviews and issue permit decisions shall begin the day after the issuing authority issues notice that the application materials necessary for the permit are complete. The issuing authority shall notify the applicant in writing within 20 business days from receipt of the completed form of additional information needed or requirements that it may have. The issuing authority may provide for pre-application conferences to facilitate this process.  (c) The resubmission of the application or the submission of such additional information required by the issuing authority shall commence a new 30–day period for review of the additional information.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 3 - Grant of Permit Upon Failure of Issuing Authority to Take Final Action or Approve Within Time Period for Completion of Review and Issuance of Final Decision

Section 3. Failure by any issuing authority to take final action on a permit or approval within the 180–day or 210–day period or extended time, if applicable, shall be considered a grant of the permit requested of that authority. In that event, within 3 days after the date of expiration of the time period, the applicant shall file a notice with the issuing authority, attaching the application, setting forth the facts giving rise to the grant and stating that notice of the grant has been mailed, by certified mail, to all parties to the proceedings and all persons entitled to notice of hearing in connection with the application.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 4 - Grounds for Denial of Grant

Section 4. The grant shall not occur if: (1) the issuing authority has made a timely determination that the application is not complete in accordance with its requirements, properly notified the applicant and the applicant has not made a timely response to complete the application; (2) the issuing authority has determined that the final application contained false or misleading information; or (3) the issuing authority has determined that substantial changes to the project affect the information required to process the permit application have occurred since the filing of the application.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 5 - Waiver or Extension of Time Period

Section 5. The 180 or 210 day time period may be waived or extended for good cause upon written request of the applicant with the consent of the issuing authority or upon written request of the issuing authority with the consent of the applicant. The 180 or 210 day time period shall be extended without consent of the applicant if the issuing authority determines either: (1) that action by another federal, state or municipal government agency is required before the issuing authority may act; (2) that judicial proceedings affect the ability of the issuing authority or applicant to proceed with the application; or (3) that enforcement proceedings that could result in revocation of an existing permit for that facility or activity and denial of the application have been commenced. In those circumstances, the issuing authority shall provide written notification to the applicant and send a copy to the secretary of housing and economic development. When the reason for the extension is no longer applicable, the issuing authority shall immediately notify the applicant and shall complete its decision within the time period specified in this section, beginning the day after the notice is issued. An issuing authority shall not deny a permit exclusively due to a lack of time for review if the applicant has provided a complete application and met all other obligations under this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 6 - Commencement of Time Period for Appeal of Grant

Section 6. The commencement of the time period for an administrative or judicial appeal of a grant under section 3 shall be the date the applicant files notice of the grant under said section 3. The 180 or 210 day timeline shall not apply to an administrative appeal following the issuance of a permit.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 7 - Application of Chapter

Section 7. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to alter the substantive jurisdictional authority of issuing authorities. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to modify any requirement of the State Implementation Plan or other requirement of law that is necessary to retain federal delegation to, or assumption by, the commonwealth of the authority to implement a federal law or program.
MA Gen L ch 43e § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 43e - Expedited State Permitting|Section 8 - Rules and Regulations

Section 8. The secretary of housing and economic development shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this chapter with the approval of the secretary of energy and environmental affairs. Any agency issuing permits under this chapter may issue rules and regulations to tailor this chapter to the specific permits issued by such agency.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 1 - Definitions

Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:  ''Revenue'', receipts from (1) the exercise of governmental power of taxation and police control; (2) donations, gifts, grants and subvention for governmental use; (3) performing services for compensation and from the operation or management of productive enterprises, investments and properties of government. Receipts from the sale or disposal of capital assets, loans, refunds and various temporary transactions are in the nature of non-revenue.  ''Director'', director of accounts in the department of revenue.  ''Majority vote'' and ''two thirds vote'', as applied to towns or districts, the vote of a majority or two thirds, respectively, of the voters present and voting at a meeting duly called, and, as applied to cities, the vote taken by yeas and nays of a majority or of two thirds, as the case may require, of all the members of each branch of the city government where there are two branches, or of all the members where there is a single branch of the city government, or of a majority or two thirds of the commissioners where the city government consists of a commission; and in every case subject to the approval of the mayor, where such approval is required by the charter of the city.  ''Municipal finance oversight board'', a board composed of the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state auditor, and the director of accounts in the department of revenue, or their designees.  ''Town'' shall not include city.  ''District'' shall mean a fire, water, sewer, water pollution abatement, refuse disposal, light, or improvement district, or any other district, howsoever named, formed for the purpose of carrying out any of the aforementioned functions, whether established under general law or special act.  ''Equalized valuation'' shall mean the equalized valuation of the aggregate property in a city or town subject to local taxation, as most recently reported by the commissioner of revenue to the general court under the provisions of section ten C of chapter fifty-eight.  ''Sewage'' shall mean wastewater from homes, public buildings, commercial or industrial establishments, or any combination thereof, and shall include any surface or ground water that may be present therein.  ''Sewage treatment and disposal facilities'' shall mean any wastewater treatment facility used for treating, neutralizing or stabilizing sewage including treatment or disposal plants; the necessary intercepting, outfall and outlet sewers; pumping stations integral to such facilities; and equipment and appurtenances related to the foregoing.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 2 - Limitations and Restrictions Upon Manner of Incurring Debt

Section 2. Except as otherwise expressly permitted by law, cities, towns and districts shall incur debts only in the manner of voting and within the limitations as to amount and time of payment prescribed in this chapter; but this section shall not be construed as prohibiting any city, town or district from placing additional restrictions, consistent with this chapter, upon the manner of incurring debt, nor as affecting the right of any city, town or district to incur debt under any special act which has or shall become effective after January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, or at any time in the case of debt of the city of Boston for tunnel or transit purposes; but no debt may be authorized under a general or special act except by a two-thirds vote, unless the act so provides. All provisions of law providing for sinking funds for the payment of debt of the city of Boston incurred for transit or tunnel purposes shall continue to be applicable to said debt.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 3 - Computation of Indebtedness

Section 3. The indebtedness of a city or town for a specific purpose shall be its net indebtedness, which shall be the total indebtedness for that purpose after deducting the amount of sinking funds applicable to the same. The indebtedness to which the debt limit imposed by section ten shall be applied shall be the total net indebtedness of the city or town after excluding debts exempted from the operation of said section.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 4 - Temporary Loans in Anticipation of Revenue; Conditions; Limitations

Section 4. Cities, towns and districts may incur debt in any fiscal year for temporary loans in anticipation of the revenue of the fiscal year in which the debt is incurred, and may issue notes therefor to an amount which for cities and towns shall not exceed in the aggregate the total tax levy of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the debt is incurred, together with the net amount received during such preceding fiscal year from the excise on motor vehicles and trailers, as provided by chapter sixty A, and the payments made by the commonwealth in lieu of taxes on account of property taken for institutions or for metropolitan district purposes; and for districts shall not exceed the receipts from taxes, rates and services of the fiscal year preceding that in which the debt is incurred, and for newly established districts which have not yet had receipts from taxes, rates and services throughout an entire fiscal year, an amount as fixed by vote of the district. The aggregate amount of such notes shall not exceed an amount reasonably required, which amount, in the case of notes of a town or district, shall be approved by the director or by counsel and shown on an estimated cash flow statement prepared on a form approved by the director, by such other evidence as the director or counsel may require, and filed with the treasurer of the town or district and the director. Such notes shall be payable, and shall be paid, not later than one year from their date and said one-year term may occur within the span of two separate fiscal years. Such notes shall not be renewed or paid by the issue of new notes, except as provided in section seventeen. Notes may be authorized and issued under this section by the treasurer of the city, town or district, with the approval of the officer, committee, board or other body required by law to countersign such notes.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 6 - Power to Incur Debt for Payment of Land Damages, Altering Grade Crossings, and Highway or Traffic Control Expenditures

Section 6. Cities and towns may, by a majority vote, incur debt for temporary loans for the payment of land damages or any proportion of the general expenses of altering a grade crossing which they are required primarily to pay, or any proportion of the expense of constructing a highway or installing traffic control devices and other devices appurtenant thereto, in anticipation of payment or reimbursement by the commonwealth or county, such payment or reimbursement first having been agreed upon by the commissioner of highways or county commissioners, or the sums allotted for such payments or reimbursements having first been certified as available by the commissioner of highways or county commissioners, and may issue notes therefor for a period not exceeding 2 years from their date; and when any money so paid is repaid to the municipality, it shall be applied to the discharge of the loan. Notes issued under this section shall not be renewed or paid by the issue of new notes, except as provided in section 17.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 6a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 6a - Power to Borrow in Anticipation of Reimbursement by Federal Government or Commonwealth

Section 6A. If a city, town or district has been allotted a grant by the federal government, the commonwealth, or any agency or department of either, or by any body politic or public instrumentality of the commonwealth, or similar entity, for any purpose for which the city, town or district may incur debt that may be payable over a term of 5 years or longer, and is required primarily to pay that proportion of the expense for which an advance payment or reimbursement is to be received from such sources, such advance payment or reimbursement first having been agreed upon by the grantor of the funds, in order to provide the necessary funds to meet the expense for which the advance payment or reimbursement is to be made, the treasurer of the city may, with the approval of the official whose approval is required by the city charter in the borrowing of money, the treasurer of the town may, with the approval of the board of selectmen, and the treasurer of the district may, with the approval of the prudential committee, if any, otherwise the commissioners, incur debt outside the debt limit and issue notes therefor for a period not exceeding 2 years from their dates, and may refund the same from time to time; provided, however, that no loan shall be so refunded unless the auditor, in the case of a city, or the accountant or chief accounting officer in the case of a town or district which has such an officer, otherwise the treasurer, shall certify in a writing filed in the office of the treasurer, where it shall be open to inspection by the public, that at the time such loan is refunded, the city, town or district remains entitled to receive the advance payment or reimbursement in an amount at least equal to the amount of the refunding loan. The proceeds of the advance payment or reimbursement shall be applied to the discharge of the loan, without further appropriation. In the event the city, town or district shall no longer be entitled to receive advance payment or reimbursement in an amount sufficient to pay all or any portion of a loan issued under this section at the time such loan matures, the loan shall be paid from revenue funds of the city, town or district to the extent it can no longer be refunded under this section. A payment made by a city, town or district as provided in the preceding sentence shall be reported by the auditor or accountant of the city, town or district, or other officer having similar duties, or by the treasurer if there be no such officer, to the assessors, who shall include the amount so reported in the determination of the next annual tax rate, unless the city, town or district has otherwise made provision therefor. The provisions of chapter 74 of the acts of 1945 shall not apply to borrowing under this section.
MA Gen L ch 44 § 8a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 44 - Municipal Finance|Section 8a - Orders Authorizing Issuance of Bonds; Authentication

Section 8A. In any city which accepts this section upon its submission in accordance with law at its first regular city election following the effective date of this section, an order authorizing the issue of bonds, notes or certificates of indebtedness for any purpose specified in any applicable clause of section seven, other than clause (11), or for any purposes specified in section eight, other than clause (1), (2) or (9), shall not become effective before the expiration of a period of twenty days from the day upon which such order would become effective except for this section. If within said period a petition signed by registered voters of the city to the number of twelve thousand or equal in number to at least twelve per cent of the total number of such registered voters, whichever is the lesser, and conforming to the provisions of section thirty-eight of chapter forty-three relative to initiative petitions in cities governed by said chapter, shall be filed with the city clerk, such filing in cities subject to said section thirty-eight to be in the manner therein provided, asking that the question of approving or disapproving such order be submitted to the registered voters of the city, such order shall be further suspended from becoming effective and said city clerk shall forthwith transmit such petition to the city council, which shall immediately reconsider such order. If such order is not rescinded, the city council shall submit the same to a vote of the registered voters of the city, either at the next regular city election, or at a special city election which may, in the discretion of the city council, be called for the purpose in the manner provided by law. If an order submitted as aforesaid be approved by a majority of the registered voters voting on the question, such order shall at once become effective; but if not so approved such order shall have no effect. If a petition relative to any such order is not filed within said period of twenty days, such order shall become effective upon the expiration of said period.