reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 111b - Malignant Disease and Benign Brain-Related Tumor Registry; Reports

Section 111B. The department shall, subject to appropriation, establish a registry to record certain cases of malignant disease and benign brain-related tumors that occur in residents of the commonwealth, and such information concerning these cases as it shall deem necessary and appropriate in order to conduct epidemiologic surveys of cancer and benign brain-related tumors and to apply appropriate preventive and control measures.
The commissioner shall require the reporting of certain cases of malignant disease and benign brain-related tumors and the submission of such specified additional information on reported cases or control populations as he deems necessary and appropriate for the recognition, prevention, or control of such diseases.
The department shall, subject to appropriation, maintain comprehensive records of all reports submitted pursuant to this section. Such reports shall be confidential in accordance with section seventy and shall be released by the department only upon written request of the patient, his guardian, executor, attorney, or other person designated in writing by said patient. Such reports and records or information contained therein, may also be released by the department to persons authorized by the commissioner to conduct research studies or to other persons, but no such studies shall identify the subjects of said reports or records.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to compel any individual to submit to medical or department examination or supervision.
The department shall make such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this section pursuant to chapter thirty A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 112 - Notice by Local Board to Department

Section 112. If the board of health of a town has had notice of a case of any disease declared by the department dangerous to the public health therein, it shall within twenty-four hours thereafter give notice thereof to the department, stating the name and the location of the patient so afflicted, and upon request the department shall forthwith certify any such reports to the department of public welfare.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 113 - Records of Reports of Dangerous Diseases; Notice

Section 113. Every board of health shall keep a record of all reports received pursuant to sections one hundred and nine to one hundred and eleven, inclusive, containing the name and location of all persons who are infected, their disease, the name of the person reporting the case, the date of such report, and other information required by the department. Such records shall be kept in the manner or upon forms prescribed by the department. The board of health shall forthwith give information to the school committee of all diseases dangerous to the public health so reported to it. Every board of health shall appoint some person, who may or may not be a member of the board, who shall give notice to the department, as provided in the preceding section, of any person infected with a disease dangerous to the public health; and in case of the absence or disability of such appointee, the board of health shall appoint another person to perform this duty during such absence or disability. Such appointments and the acceptance thereof by the persons so appointed shall be placed upon the records of the board. Any person, having accepted such appointment, who wilfully refuses or wilfully neglects or through gross negligence fails to give such notices shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 114 - Forfeiture of Claim

Section 114. A claim of a town against the commonwealth for reasonable expenses incurred by the board of health in making the provision required by law for persons infected with a disease dangerous to the public health shall not be defeated by reason of the failure on the part of the board to give notice of such disease to the department under section one hundred and twelve, if such claim is otherwise a valid claim against the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 116 - Payment of Reasonable Expenses; Chronically Nonresident Person Defined

Section 116. Reasonable expenses incurred by boards of health or by the commonwealth in making the provision required by law for persons infected with smallpox or other disease dangerous to the public health, other than tuberculosis, shall be paid by such persons, or, if such person is a minor, by his parents, if he or they are able to pay; otherwise, by the town where he has a residence upon the approval of the bill by the board of health of such town or by the department of public health of such town or by the department of public health when such person is determined to be a chronically nonresident person.
For the purposes of this section the term ''chronically nonresident person'' means a person who evidences by his past conduct an inability or unwillingness to establish and maintain a residency with any degree of permanency and whose instability and general living standards in exposing himself and others to infection makes him a special problem for control in the commonwealth of smallpox or other disease dangerous to the public health.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 116a - Hospitalization of Persons Suffering From Chronic Rheumatism; Rules and Regulations

Section 116A. The department, subject to rules and regulations approved by the executive office of health and human services or a governmental unit designated by the executive office, may provide for the care and treatment of persons suffering from chronic rheumatism for a period not exceeding six months in case of any one such person, and said department may enter into contracts with one or more existing hospitals within any metropolitan district for the care and treatment of such patients; provided, that not more than twenty-five such patients may be cared for or treated under this section at any one time.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 117 - Establishment and Maintenance of Clinics for Prevention of HIV or Treatment of Venereal Diseases; Examinations; Minors

Section 117. For the purpose of providing prevention of HIV or treatment for persons suffering from venereal diseases, as defined under section six, and who are unable to pay for private medical care, the department shall, or with the co-operation of local boards of health, hospitals, dispensaries or other agencies may, establish and maintain clinics in such parts of the commonwealth as it may deem most advantageous to the public health, and may otherwise provide prevention of HIV or treatment for such diseases subject to such rules and regulations as the department may from time to time establish. Cities and towns, separately or jointly, through their boards of health or municipal hospitals, may establish and maintain such clinics. For the purposes of this section, providing prevention of HIV or treatment shall include providing transportation or the reasonable cost of such transportation to and from the place where treatment is given whenever the patient is not able to pay for such transportation.
For the purposes of this section, physical examination, prevention of HIV and treatment provided by a health care provider, as defined in section 1, upon the person of a minor who voluntarily appears therefor shall not constitute an assault and battery upon said minor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 118 - Discrimination Against Treatment of Venereal Diseases

Section 118. No discrimination shall be made against the treatment of venereal diseases, as defined under section six, in any general hospital supported by taxation in any city or town where special hospitals, other than hospitals connected with penal institutions, are not provided for the treatment of such diseases at public expense; but any such hospital may establish a separate ward for their treatment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 119 - Records Pertaining to Venereal Diseases

Section 119. Hospital, dispensary, laboratory and morbidity reports and records pertaining to venereal diseases, as defined under section six, shall not be public records, and the contents thereof shall not be divulged by any person having charge of or access to the same, except upon proper judicial order or to a person whose official duties, in the opinion of the commissioner, entitle him to receive information contained therein. Violations of this section shall for the first offence be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, and for a subsequent offence by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 121 - Treatment of Venereal Diseases or Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Public Charitable or Penal Institutions; Expenses

Section 121. An inmate of a public charitable institution or a prisoner in a penal institution who is afflicted with a venereal disease, as defined under section six or pulmonary tuberculosis shall be forthwith placed under medical treatment, and if, in the opinion of the attending physician, it is necessary, he shall be isolated until danger of contagion is passed or the physician determines his isolation unnecessary. If at the expiration of a prisoner's sentence he is afflicted with a venereal disease, as defined under section six or pulmonary tuberculosis in its contagious or infectious stages, or if, in the opinion of the attending physician of the institution or of such physician as the authorities thereof may consult, his release would be dangerous to public health, he shall be placed under medical treatment in the institution where he has been confined. Thereupon the authorities of such institution shall notify the department of public welfare of his condition and said department shall provide for his hospitalization and medical care at an institution until, in the opinion of the attending physician of the institution wherein he is being treated, the symptoms have disappeared and his release will not endanger the public health. Notice of a prisoner's release hereunder to the department of public welfare shall be made to the department of public health. The expense of his support, not exceeding three dollars and fifty cents a week, shall be paid by the town where he resides, after notice of the expiration of his sentence and of his condition to such town, or, if he is a state charge, by the commonwealth after like notice to the department of public welfare.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 121a - Serological Test for Syphilis of Pregnant Women

Section 121A. A physician attending a pregnant woman in this commonwealth during gestation shall take or cause to be taken a sample of blood of such woman at the time of first examination, and shall submit such sample for a standard serological test for syphilis to a laboratory of the department or to a laboratory approved for such test by the department; provided, that not more than one physician attending a pregnant woman during gestation shall be required to comply with the provisions of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 121b - Prescription and Distribution of Drugs to Treat Chlamydia in Unexamined Sexual Partners of Patients

Section 121B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department, in consultation with the board of registration in medicine, shall promulgate regulations authorizing a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife who is authorized under chapter 94C to prescribe and dispense prescription drugs and who diagnoses infections due to Chlamydia trachomatis in individual patients, to prescribe and dispense such prescription drugs to a patient's sexual partners for the presumptive treatment of Chlamydia infection without an examination of the patient's sexual partners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 122 - Regulations Relative to Nuisances; Examinations

Section 122. The board of health shall examine into all nuisances, sources of filth and causes of sickness within its town, or on board of vessels within the harbor of such town, which may, in its opinion, be injurious to the public health, shall destroy, remove or prevent the same as the case may require, and shall make regulations for the public health and safety relative thereto and to articles capable of containing or conveying infection or contagion or of creating sickness brought into or conveyed from the town or into or from any vessel. Whoever violates any such regulation shall forfeit not more than one thousand dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 122a - Regulation of Domestic Water Supply; Powers of Board of Health; Penalties

Section 122A. Upon determination by the board of health that the available supply of water for drinking, culinary and other domestic purposes in any place of habitation, or in any place where food or drink is prepared, handled or served to the public, is so unsafe or inadequate as to constitute a nuisance within the meaning of this chapter, said board may issue a written order to the owner of such place, as appearing in the current records of the assessors, requiring him to discontinue the use of the water supply, or, at his option, to provide such place with a water supply safe and adequate for such purposes. Any person who wilfully fails or refuses to comply with such an order shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, and the board may thereupon cause the removal of the occupants of the place to which the order relates, which shall not again be occupied as a place of habitation or place in which food or drink is prepared, handled or served to the public, without its written permission. The superior court, on a petition in equity brought by said board, shall have jurisdiction by injunction or otherwise to enforce any order issued under this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 123 - Abatement of Nuisance by Owner; Penalty

Section 123. Said board shall order the owner or occupant of any private premises, at his own expense, to remove any nuisance, source of filth or cause of sickness found thereon within twenty-four hours, or within such other time as it considers reasonable, after notice; and an owner or occupant shall forfeit not more than one thousand dollars for every day during which he knowingly violates such order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 124 - Service of Order for Abatement

Section 124. Such order shall be in writing, and may be served personally on the owner, occupant or his authorized agent by any person authorized to serve civil process; or a copy of the order may be left at the last and usual place of abode of the owner, occupant or agent, if he is known and within or without the commonwealth; or a copy of the order may be sent to the owner, occupant or agent by registered mail, return receipt requested, if he is known and within the commonwealth. If the order is directed against the owner and if the residence and whereabouts of the owner or his agent are unknown or without the commonwealth, the board may direct the order to be served by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place on the premises and by advertising it for at least three out of five consecutive days in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the municipality wherein the building affected is situated.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 125 - Removal of Nuisance by Board

Section 125. If the owner or occupant fails to comply with such order, the board may cause the nuisance, source of filth or cause of sickness to be removed, and all expenses incurred thereby shall constitute a debt due the city or town upon the completion of the removal and the rendering of an account therefor to the owner, his authorized agent, or the occupant, and shall be recoverable from such owner or occupant in an action of contract.
The provisions of the second paragraph of section three A of chapter one hundred and thirty-nine, relative to liens for such debt and the collection of the claims for such debt, shall apply to any debt referred to in this section, except that the board of health shall act hereunder in place of the mayor or board of selectmen.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 125a - Review of Order Adjudging the Operation of a Farm to Be a Nuisance

Section 125A. If, in the opinion of the board of health, a farm or the operation thereof constitutes a nuisance, any action taken by said board to abate or cause to be abated said nuisance under sections one hundred and twenty-two, one hundred and twenty-three and one hundred and twenty-five shall, notwithstanding any provisions thereof to the contrary, be subject to the provisions of this section; provided, however, that the odor from the normal maintenance of livestock or the spreading of manure upon agricultural and horticultural or farming lands, or noise from livestock or farm equipment used in normal, generally acceptable farming procedures or from plowing or cultivation operations upon agricultural and horticultural or farming lands shall not be deemed to constitute a nuisance.
In the case of any such nuisance a written notice of an order to abate the same within ten days after receipt of such notice shall first be given as provided in section one hundred and twenty-four. If no petition for review is filed as herein provided, or upon final order of the court, said board may then proceed as provided in said sections one hundred and twenty-two, one hundred and twenty-three and one hundred and twenty-five, or in the order of the court. If the owner or operator of said farm within said ten days shall file a petition for a review of such order in the district court for the district in which the farm lies, the operation of said order shall be suspended, pending the order of the court. Upon the filing of such petition the court shall give notice thereof to said board, shall hear all pertinent evidence and determine the facts, and upon the facts as so determined review said order and affirm, annul, alter or modify the same as justice may require. The parties shall have the same rights of appeal on questions of law as in other civil cases in the district courts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 126 - Location of Privy Vaults

Section 126. If the city council of a city, or a town having a population of more than one thousand, accepts this section, or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, no privy vault shall be constructed upon premises connected with a common or private sewer or abutting on a public or private street, court or passageway in which there is a common sewer opposite thereto, without permission in writing having first been obtained from the board of health. And if, in the opinion of said board, a privy vault so situated is injurious to the public health, it shall declare the same a nuisance and forbid its continuance, and the three preceding sections shall apply thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127 - Regulations Relative to House Drainage

Section 127. The board of health of a city or town may make and enforce regulations for the public health and safety relative to house drainage and connection with common sewers, if such a sewer abuts the estate to be drained. Master plumbers and journeymen licensed under chapter one hundred and forty-two shall be exempt from any such regulation relative to license qualifications, but shall be subject to all other regulations. Whoever violates any such regulation shall forfeit not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127a1/2 - Requirement of Personal Flotation Devices for Municipal and Recreational Programs and Camps for Minor Children; Determination of Swimming Ability

Section 127A1/2. (a) The department of public health shall adopt rules or regulations requiring municipal and recreational programs and camps for minor children under its jurisdiction to have a system in place to have Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices of Type I, II or III available to non-swimmers and at-risk swimmers who will be present in a swimming or diving area, excluding swimming pools, wading pools and other artificial bodies of water.
(b) A determination shall be made of each minor's swimming ability at the first swimming session at municipal and recreational programs and camps in order to identify and classify non-swimmers and at-risk swimmers. Minors attending a municipal or recreational program or camp shall then be confined to swimming areas consistent with the limits of their swimming skills or to swimming areas requiring lesser skills than those for which they have been classified.
(c) No municipal or recreational program or camp for minor children shall refuse, decline or otherwise prohibit a parent, guardian or person with custody of a minor from providing a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device of Type I, II or III to such municipal or recreational program or camp to be used by the minor for the duration of the minor's attendance at such camp.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127c - Petition for Violation of Sanitary Code; Requisites

Section 127C. If the condition of any building or any part thereof used for residential purposes is in violation of the standards of fitness for human habitation established under the state sanitary code, as provided by section one hundred and twenty-seven A, or in violation of any board of health standards, a petition may be filed by any affected tenant or by the board of health, or, in the cities of Boston, Worcester and Cambridge, by the commissioner of housing inspection, in a district court, housing court, or superior court. The petition shall state that the premises have been inspected by the board of health or other appropriate inspection agency and that the condition of said premises has been found to be in violation of the state sanitary code; that such condition may endanger or materially impair the health or well-being of any tenant therein; and that said condition was not substantially caused by the tenant or any other person acting under his control.
An affected tenant may also file a petition in such court without stating that such premises have been found by an appropriate inspection agency to be in violation of any such standards, provided that he states (a) facts sufficient to demonstrate a likely violation of the state sanitary code which may endanger or materially impair the health or well-being of any tenant in the building or premises occupied by such tenant, (b) that the conditions in question were not substantially caused by such tenant or any person acting under his control and (c) that a request for inspection of such premises was made to the appropriate inspecting agency at least twenty-four hours prior to the filing of the petition and that there has been no inspection.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127d - Entry Fee; Notice Upon Offending Owner

Section 127D. The entry fee for a petition under section one hundred and twenty-seven C shall be two dollars. Upon the filing of such a petition, an order of notice shall issue requiring the owner of record to appear at a time not later than fourteen days after the issuance of said order of notice, to file an answer to the matters alleged in the petition including therein the names and addresses of any mortgagees or lienors of record known to the owner of record, and to submit to a hearing thereon.
Such order of notice shall be served at least seven days before the return day thereof, by any officer qualified to serve civil process by delivering to the respondent an attested copy thereof, or, by leaving such copy at his last and usual place of abode, or, at the address to which the rent is sent or delivered, or, if the respondent is a corporation, service may also be made in the manner provided by law or by leaving an attested copy thereof at the last and usual place of abode of the president, treasurer or clerk of the corporation, or in such other manner as the court may direct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127e - Copy of Report of Investigation; Admissibility in Evidence

Section 127E. A copy of the report of the investigation by the department of public health or the board of health, or, in the cities of Boston, Worcester and Cambridge, the commissioner of housing inspection, certified as a true copy by the custodian of the records of such agency shall be admissible in any proceeding brought under section one hundred and twenty-seven C without further authentication, and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127f - Court Order Regarding Rental Payments; Disbursement of Funds; Receiver

Section 127F. If the court finds after hearing that the facts are as alleged in said petition, it may by written order authorize the petitioner or any other affected tenant to pay to the clerk of the court the fair value of the use and occupation of the premises, or such installments thereof from time to time as the court may direct; provided the court finds that any such violation may endanger or materially impair the health, safety or well-being of such tenant and that such payments are necessary to remedy the condition constituting the violation; and that said tenant is not in arrears in his rent, taking into account any abatement of rent due to the existence of such violations, or if he is in arrears is willing to pay any arrearage into the court as ordered. A person occupying the premises shall not be considered to be in arrears in his rent when the amount of rent the landlord alleges in good faith to be due is equal to or less than the amount of any counterclaim that said person may bring in good faith against the landlord, including any damages owed because of a breach of warranty or a violation of any other law. In determining said fair value, the court may be guided by any findings issued by the department or any other agency concerned with the condition of residential premises and any other evidence relative to the effect of violations of such standards upon the use and occupation of residential premises. Any order of the court shall be forthwith sent by the clerk of court to any and all mortgagees and lienors of record as the court deems proper under the circumstances.
The court may direct the clerk by written order to disburse all or any portion of the rental payments received by him to the respondent for the purpose of effectuating the removal of the violation. The court may also direct the clerk to make such other disbursements of the rental payments to the respondent or to any other person as in the judgment of the court will permit the owner to maintain the property.
When the violation is removed, the court shall direct that the balance of funds, if any, remaining with the clerk be paid to the respondent. The court may render judgment for costs in its discretion.
In lieu of or in addition to any relief that may be provided under this section, the court may appoint a receiver under section one hundred and twenty-seven I.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127g - Removal From District to Superior or Housing Court; Transmittal of Rents and Removal Fees

Section 127G. At any time after thirty days from the date of a district court's order authorizing the making of rental payments into court under section one hundred and twenty-seven F, upon application of any party and upon payment of a removal fee of five dollars, the clerk of the district court shall remove the case to the superior or housing court for further proceedings therein in the same manner and to the same extent as if the petition had originally been brought in said court. The clerk of court shall forthwith transmit any rents held by him, as the result of a written order issued under section one hundred and twenty-seven F together with the removal fee, to the clerk of the superior or housing court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127j - Petition by Receiver to Apply for Financial Assistance; Notice and Hearing; Financial Assistance; Lien

Section 127J. A receiver may petition the court for leave to apply for financial assistance from the commonwealth to supplement funds otherwise available from rents, if he deems that the rents are insufficient to effectuate the necessary repairs or rehabilitation. Seven days' notice of a hearing on said petition shall be given to the respondent as well as any mortgagees or lien holders of record. The court, after hearing, may, by decree, authorize the receiver to apply for such financial assistance, if it finds such assistance is necessary, that it is in a reasonable amount and that the sum required to repair and rehabilitate the premises is not so excessive as to constitute an imprudent and unreasonable expenditure to accomplish the purpose.
Application for financial assistance shall be made to the department of public health in such manner and on such forms as may be prescribed by said department.
Said department may expend for such assistance such sums as may be appropriated therefor.
The receiver shall return any unused portion of any sums received by him to the commonwealth. The balance owed by the receiver to the commonwealth shall, together with interest thereon at the rate of six per cent per annum, constitute a debt due the commonwealth, upon the rendering of an account therefor to the owner of record, and shall be recoverable from such owner in an action of contract. Any such debt, including interest thereon, shall constitute a lien on the property involved, if a notice of such lien is recorded on behalf of the commonwealth in the proper registry of deeds within ninety days after the debt becomes due.
Any proceeding under this section may be advanced for speedy trial.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127k - Agreement to Waive Enforcement of Sanitary Code; Validity

Section 127K. Any provision of a lease or other rental agreement relating to real property whereby a lessee, tenant or occupant enters into a covenant, agreement or contract, by the use of any words whatsoever, the effect of which is to waive the benefits of any provision of section one hundred and twenty-seven C to one hundred and twenty-seven I, inclusive, shall be deemed to be against public policy and void.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127n - Actions by Tenants Against Owners of Residential Premises; Joinder of Certain Other Persons as Parties; Liability; Exception

Section 127N. In actions brought under this chapter against owners of residential premises a tenant may, prior to a hearing on the merits, move to join the following persons as parties: any individual, trust or corporation, partnership, association or other person who, acting alone or with another, has the authority to decide whether to rehabilitate, or sell or otherwise dispose of the premises, with or without record title or recorded interest. Such person shall not be joined, however, if its decision-making authority is derived solely from its position as a fiduciary if such person has never personally had any financial or possessory interest in the premises.
If the court finds that the owner may be unable for financial reasons or otherwise to perform any act or pay any liability that may be ordered if judgment is entered for the tenant, the court shall allow the motion joining any such person. The owner and any person so joined shall be jointly and severally liable for taking any action or paying any damages ordered by the court; provided, however, that the provisions of this section regarding the liability of persons other than owners shall not apply to two and three family owner-occupied residential premises.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127o - Conveyance of Real Estate With Intent to Evade Nuisance Provisions; Penalty

Section 127O. Any person who conveys a parcel of real estate with the intent to evade a notice or order, issued pursuant to sections one hundred and twenty-two to one hundred and twenty-seven B, inclusive, and sections one to three A, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and thirty-nine, section six to nine, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and forty-three, the state sanitary code, the state building code, or chapter forty A, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a house of correction or jail for not more than one year, or both.
The amount of consideration or the relationship of the grantor to the grantee shall be evidence of such intent to evade a notice or order under the provisions of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 127p - Land Covered by Subdivision Plan; Application of State Environmental Code

Section 127P. Whenever a person has submitted a subdivision plan, or a preliminary subdivision plan which is followed within seven months by a definitive plan, or a plan referred to in section eighty-one P of chapter forty-one, the land shown on such plan shall be governed by provisions of the state environmental code, or of the provisions of local board of health regulations which differ from said code, which are in effect at the time of first submission of said plan. Said provisions shall apply during the time such plan is being processed, including the time required to pursue or await the determination of an appeal relative to said plan. If such plan is approved, or if it is found such approval under the subdivision control law is not required, such provisions shall apply for a period of three years from the date of the endorsement of such approval or from the endorsement that approval under the subdivision control law is not required.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 128a - Filling of Sites of Demolished or Removed Buildings

Section 128A. The board of health may adopt and, from time to time, revise regulations requiring that the site of a demolished or removed building or structure be levelled to uniform grade by a sanitary fill proper to prevent rodent harborage and other insanitary conditions.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 128g - Farm Labor Camps; Inspection; Certificate; Complaints

Section 128G. The department shall annually inspect all farm labor camps as defined in the state sanitary code, or, in lieu thereof, may delegate any such annual inspection to a local board of health. When such inspection is so delegated, the local board of health shall make its inspection and file its report with the department within thirty days of notice of such delegation. If a farm labor camp after inspection conforms with the requirements of said code the department shall issue a certificate of occupancy which shall be posted upon one or more of the buildings comprising such camp. No such camp shall be opened in any year unless a current certificate of occupancy has been so posted. Any such certificate may be revoked for any violation of said code which the department after inspection determines exists. Complaints in writing of violations of the sanitary code, whether filed with the local board of health or the department, shall be investigated by the department as soon as practicable but in any event within thirty days after such filing. If any such complaint is filed with the local board of health said board shall forthwith forward said complaint to the department. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit or restrict the powers and duties of local boards of health.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 128h - Migrant Workers; Educational and Recreational Opportunities; Locomotion; Visitation Rights; Regulations; Injunctive Relief

Section 128H. The department of public health shall, as a part of its inspection of a site for a farm labor camp, determine what educational and recreational opportunities may be available for migrant workers, and shall, as far as is practical, encourage the development of such opportunities in cooperation with local and state agencies. The department shall protect the right of the migrant worker to enter and leave the premises of the employer during the period of his employment, and shall include in its certificate of occupancy a notification to the worker that such right exists, notwithstanding any contract provision to the contrary. A worker living in quarters apart from the living quarters of his employer shall have reasonable rights of visitation in his living quarters outside of regular working hours and the certificate of occupancy issued by the department shall include notification, in English and in Spanish, of said rights. The department shall establish, by promulgation of regulations, such minimum standards relating to the rights of visitation under this section as will ensure the adequate protection of said rights. The superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity upon petition brought by the department in the name of the commonwealth to restrain and enjoin violations of this, or of section one hundred and twenty-eight G, or regulations promulgated thereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 129 - Removal or Destruction of Nuisance on Conviction of Owner

Section 129. If a person is convicted on an indictment for a common nuisance injurious to the public health, the court may order the nuisance to be removed or destroyed at the expense of the defendant, under the direction of the board of health.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 131 - Compulsory Examination of Premises; Complaint; Warrant

Section 131. If the board considers it necessary for preservation of life or health to enter any land, building or premises, or go on board a vessel within its town, to examine into and destroy, remove or prevent a nuisance, source of filth or cause of sickness, and the board, or any agent thereof sent for that purpose, is refused such entry, any member of the board or such agent may make complaint to a justice of any court of record or to a magistrate authorized to issue warrants, who may thereupon issue a warrant, directed to the sheriff or any of his deputies, to such member or agent of the board, or to any constable of such town, commanding him to take sufficient aid and at any reasonable time repair to the place where such nuisance, source of filth or cause of sickness complained of may be, and to destroy, remove or prevent the same, under the direction of the board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 142a - Pollution or Contamination of Atmosphere; Prevention; Regulations; Violation; Enforcement

Section 142A. The department of environmental protection, referred to in this section and in sections one hundred and forty-two B through one hundred and forty-two M, inclusive, as the department may from time to time adopt regulations, pursuant to this section and sections one hundred and forty-two B through one hundred and forty-two M, inclusive, to prevent pollution or contamination of the atmosphere. Whoever violates any such regulation or any permit or plan approval or order issued thereunder: (a) shall be punished for each violation by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment; or (b) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for each violation. Each day or part thereof that such violation occurs or continues shall be a separate violation. The civil penalty may be assessed in an action brought on behalf of the commonwealth in the superior court. The commonwealth may also 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 142c - Other Air Pollution Control Districts; Formation

Section 142C. Other air pollution control districts similar to that established by section one hundred and forty-two B may be formed upon approval of the department. Each such district shall be composed of two or more political subdivisions of the commonwealth and of contiguous territory. Cities or towns wishing to form such a district shall make joint application to the department, requesting the department to approve such district and to effect the control of air pollution therein. The powers, duties, and rights of the department in the exercise of air pollution control in such districts and the manner in which funds shall be made available to it shall be as provided in section one hundred and forty-two B.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 142e - Air Pollution; Preventing and Controlling by Departments, Agencies, Commissions, Authorities and Political Subdivisions

Section 142E. Any department, agency, commission, authority or political subdivision of the commonwealth having control and supervision over any building, installation or other property shall cooperate with the department of environmental protection in preventing and controlling pollution of the air insofar as the discharge of any matter from or by such building, installation or other property may cause or contribute to air pollution.
All departments, agencies, commissions, authorities and political subdivisions shall be subject to rules and regulations adopted by the department pursuant to sections one hundred and forty-two A to one hundred and forty-two C, inclusive. The department may serve upon any such department, agency, commission, authority or political subdivision an order to cease and desist from violating such rules or regulations. If objection to such order is made within ten days, the department, agency, commission, authority or political subdivision so objecting shall be entitled to a hearing before a person designated by the commissioner whose recommendations when adopted, or amended and adopted, by the department of environmental protection shall be a final decision within the meaning of section fourteen of chapter thirty A, subject to judicial review as therein provided. If such order is violated the department may file a bill of complaint in the superior court to enjoin such violation; provided, however, that in such a proceeding the sole questions in issue shall be (1) was the order of the department violated and (2) is the relief sought appropriate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 142f - Discharging Excess Fuel From Aircraft Into Atmosphere; Penalty; Definitions

Section 142F. Whoever, except in an emergency, allows excess fuel to be discharged into the atmosphere from an aircraft shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than seven hundred and fifty dollars. As used in this section ''excess fuel'' shall mean that quantity of unused fuel which collects in ''drain cans'' from the engines of aircraft following the starting up or the shutting off of such engines, and ''drain can'' shall mean that receptacle located below or adjacent to an aircraft engine in which unused fuel collects or is collected when the engine is not in operation or just after the engine has been put into operation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111 - Public Health › Section 142g - Burning of Christmas Trees Restricted

Section 142G. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections one hundred and forty-two A and one hundred and forty-two B, any person may burn Christmas trees during the period from December twenty-sixth to January seventh in each year, provided that said person obtains a permit from the head of the fire department of the city or town wherein such burning shall take place and provided further that such burning is conducted under the supervision and control of said head of the fire department.