reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 28 - Unlawful Existing Structures

Section 28. This chapter shall not legalize any structure, filling or other occupation or encroachment, made or done without authority, upon the waters in or the land under any great pond prior to May ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, or in or upon the Connecticut river, below high water mark, prior to April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, or as waiving or impairing any rights or remedies of the commonwealth or of any person relative thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 29 - Improvement of Tidal and Non-Tidal Waters by Counties or Towns; Assumption of Liability for Improvements

Section 29. A county or town may appropriate money for the improvement of tidal and non-tidal rivers and streams, harbors, tide waters, foreshores and shores along a public beach within its jurisdiction, and the money so appropriated shall be paid to the state treasurer and be expended by the department for said purposes within the limits of such town; and the town may also assume liability for all damages to property suffered by any person by any taking of land, or of any right, interest or easement therein, within the town made by said department for the purposes hereinbefore authorized.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 29a - Protection of Private Property Along Shores; Construction of Structures by Cities or Towns

Section 29A. Any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section may appropriate money for the construction of structures for the protection of private property along shores within its boundaries. Money so appropriated shall be paid to the state treasurer and expended by the department for such purposes within the limits of such city or town; provided, however, that such city or town assumes liability for all damages to property by reason of any taking of land, or of any right, interest or easement therein, within the city or town by the department for such purpose.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 30 - Removal of Gravel, Sand, Stones, Etc. From Beaches; Notice; Penalty

Section 30. If it appears to the department that the digging or removal of stones, gravel, sand or other material, upon or from any beach, shore, bluff, headland, island or bar, in or bordering on tide waters, or the destruction of any trees, shrubs, grass or other vegetation growing thereon, is, or is likely to prove, injurious to any harbor or other navigable tide waters, the department may, by written notice, prohibit such digging or removal, or the doing of any acts injurious to such trees or other vegetation, upon or from any such beach or other place aforesaid specified in such notice. Whoever, after receiving such notice, wilfully does any act or thing prohibited therein, and which is authorized to be so prohibited by this section, or, being the owner or having the control of any land specified in such notice, wilfully suffers or permits such act or thing to be done thereon, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than two hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 30a - Removal of Natural Barriers Preventing Erosion by Sea; Jurisdiction of Superior Court; Penalty

Section 30A. Whoever removes stones, gravel, sand or other material from any natural barrier on land bordering on the sea, which barrier furnishes protection to such land and adjacent upland against erosion by the sea shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.
The superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to enforce the provisions of this section. A petition for such enforcement may be filed by the attorney general, the selectmen of the town or the mayor of a city in which such barrier is located, or any person who may suffer damage in his property by such removal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 31 - Surveys and Improvements for Preservation of Harbors

Section 31. The department may make surveys and improvements for the preservation of harbors and may repair damages occasioned by storms or other destructive agencies along the coast line or river banks of the commonwealth, and may take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine, or acquire by purchase or otherwise, in the name and behalf of the commonwealth, any land or materials necessary for making such improvements or repairs. No contract made under the authority of this section shall be valid until approved in writing by the governor and council.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 32 - Survey of Connecticut River

Section 32. The department shall, as funds are appropriated therefor, cause that portion of the Connecticut river lying within the commonwealth to be surveyed and plotted, and a copy of such survey within the limits of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, respectively, to be prepared, attested by them and deposited in the registry of deeds for the county to which it relates, as a public record.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 33 - Improvement of Topographical Survey of Commonwealth; Sale of Maps

Section 33. The department may make such surveys and do such other work as may be required by any order of the land court, to reestablish and permanently mark certain triangulation points and stations previously established in connection with the topographical survey of the commonwealth, and the town boundary survey, which have been lost or destroyed, and to obtain the geographical position of such new points and stations as may be required from time to time by the court. The department may sell at such prices and on such conditions as it may prescribe maps prepared by it from time to time in connection with its functions under this chapter in respect to waterways and public lands.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 34 - Establishment of Harbor Lines

Section 34. The department of environmental protection may, after hearing the parties interested, prescribe lines in any harbor of the commonwealth and make report thereof to the general court, not later than the next session, for its action, thereon. If such lines are established by the general court as the harbor lines of said harbor, no wharf, pier or other structure shall thereafter be extended into said harbor beyond such lines, except as provided by section fourteen. Notice of the hearing shall be published three weeks successively in a newspaper published in Boston and in one or more published in the county or counties where such harbor lies, the first publication to be at least thirty days before the hearing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 37 - Enforcement of Stipulations in Deeds From Commonwealth

Section 37. If the commonwealth has the right under stipulations in a deed given in its name to enter upon premises and, at the expense of the party at fault, to remove or alter a building, any of its grantees under similar deeds, their heirs, legal representatives or assigns may institute proceedings in equity to compel the department to enforce such stipulations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 39 - Willful Abandonment of Vessel on Public Lands or Shores of the Commonwealth

Section 39. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully abandon a vessel upon public land or the shores or waters of the commonwealth or upon private property or the water thereof adjacent to public land or the shores or waters of the commonwealth without the consent of the official designated by law to have jurisdiction over such public land or waterway, or the owner or other person in charge of the private property. Mooring, grounding or otherwise attaching or fastening a vessel upon public land or waterway or private property without consent for a period of more than 90 days shall constitute prima facie evidence of abandonment. A vessel that the owner, operator or lienholder has placed at a storage or repair facility, which is subject to section 63, sections 179 or 180 of chapter 6, sections 26 to 27D, inclusive, of chapter 9, section 14 of chapter 255 or any other applicable federal or state law, shall not be considered an abandoned vessel for purposes of this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 41 - Failure of Owner or Lienholder to Claim Vessel; Application for Title by Claimant

Section 41. If the owner or lienholder fails to claim the vessel within 90 days after the return receipt is received by the claimant or within 90 days after the last day of notice by publication, whichever is later, and if the commonwealth is not the owner pursuant to section 179 or 180 of chapter 6 or sections 26 to 27D, inclusive, of chapter 9, and if the United States is not the owner pursuant to federal law or regulation, the claimant may apply to the office for a title, subject to any lien which is valid and enforceable under any other statute, including section 9 of chapter 106. The application shall include: (i) a notarized affidavit by the claimant stating that the vessel has been abandoned for at least 90 days, that all notice requirements pursuant to this chapter have been satisfied and that the vessel is not subject to said section 179 or 180 of said chapter 6 or said sections 26 to 27D, inclusive, of said chapter 9 or the requirements of section 63, or any other applicable state or federal law or regulation; (ii) if applicable, a copy of the letter to the identified owner and any lienholders and accompanying return receipts; provided, however, that in the alternative, the claimant may supply a detailed explanation of the unsuccessful steps taken to identify the owner and any lienholders and to secure the address of the owner or any lienholders, including any returned notices; and (iii) in the case of notice by publication, original copies of the notice as published. The office shall certify that the claimant has met the requirements of this section and such certification shall be included with the records of the granting of the title.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 42 - Granting of Title to Claimant

Section 42. Except as otherwise set forth in this chapter or in section 179 or 180 of chapter 6 or sections 26 to 27D, inclusive, of chapter 9, or any other applicable state or federal law, the office may grant title to an abandoned vessel and any contents therein to a claimant. Upon certification as required by section 41 and upon payment of any fees or taxes due, the office shall issue the claimant title to the vessel. The applicant shall be responsible for all costs incurred in transferring title. If the claimant wishes to operate the vessel, the claimant shall, if required by law, register the vessel with the office in accordance with chapter 90B or document the vessel under the applicable federal requirements.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 43 - Removal, Destruction or Sale of Vessel by Claimant After Receipt of Title

Section 43. After receiving title, the claimant may remove the vessel, destroy it or sell it. Removal costs shall be borne by the previous owner if that owner has been identified and otherwise shall be borne by the claimant. If the new owner intends to destroy or otherwise dispose of the vessel, the new owner shall do so in compliance with all related state and federal statutes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 43a - Removal of Obstructing Vessel by Department; Department as Claimant

Section 43A. If an abandoned vessel or an unlawful or unauthorized structure or thing is deposited or suffered to remain in the tide waters of the commonwealth and if the department deems it is, or is liable to cause or become, an obstruction to the safe and convenient navigation or other lawful use of such waters, the department shall move it or cause it to be removed, after which time the department may become a claimant and apply for title from the office, in accordance with sections 40 to 43, inclusive.
For a vessel that has been abandoned that does not pose an obstruction to the safe and convenient navigation or other lawful use of the tidewaters of the commonwealth, and for which no other claimant commences proceedings under this chapter within 60 days of the department having notice of the vessel, the department may become a claimant and apply for title from the office, in accordance with said sections 40 to 43, inclusive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 43b - Penalty for Willful Abandonment of Vessel; Exceptions

Section 43B. A person who willfully abandons a vessel shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000, except where a vessel, scow, lighter or other structure is or has been grounded within the limits of a harbor or on the shores of the commonwealth by reason of accident, emergency, errors of navigation, or in order to prevent loss of life or the sinking of such vessel, scow, lighter or other structure.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 44 - Liability of Insurer

Section 44. An insurer of a vessel who has paid the loss thereon shall not, by reason of such insurance, be held liable to remove such vessel, or to pay the cost and expenses of such removal, unless he has exercised some act of ownership or control over such vessel or some part or appurtenance thereof or received the proceeds of the sale thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 45 - Application to Federal Government for Reimbursement

Section 45. The department shall make application to the government of the United States for reimbursement of any amounts expended under any provision of the seven preceding sections, which, in the opinion of the department, might properly be paid by the United States.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 46 - License for Breaking Up and Disposing of Floating Structures

Section 46. The owners of any vessel, scow, lighter or similar floating structure lying within the limits of any harbor of the commonwealth shall not, without first obtaining a license therefor from the department, cause or permit the same to be broken up or altered to such an extent that it will not keep afloat with ordinary care, nor shall they ground any such craft within any such harbor or permit other persons so to do, or to remove any part thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 46a - Violations of Sec. 46; Penalty

Section 46A. Whoever, without first obtaining the license required by section forty-six, causes or permits the work of breaking up or altering of any vessel, scow, lighter or other structure, as described in said section, shall be subject to a penalty of not less than five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars to the use of the commonwealth to be recovered by an information in equity brought by the attorney general in the superior court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 47 - Application for License; Issuance; Conditions; Bond

Section 47. Upon the application of the owner of any vessel, scow, lighter or similar floating structure, the department may issue a license authorizing him to break up such vessel or other floating structure upon the following conditions: first, that the written consent of the owner of the premises where the work is to be done shall first be obtained and filed with the department; second, that all the material composing the vessel or other structure shall be removed wholly from tide water, to the satisfaction of the department; third, that the work shall be completed within a certain fixed time, which may be extended by the department; fourth, if the work is not completed at the time fixed in the license or as so extended, the department may cause the work to be completed at the expense of the licensee; and fifth, such other conditions as the department deems proper in any case. Before receiving the license, the licensee shall file a bond with the department in a sum fixed by it, with satisfactory sureties, in which the commonwealth is obligee, conditioned to perform the provisions of the license and to pay to the commonwealth such sums as it may expend in connection with the work licensed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 48 - Failure to Comply With Terms of License; Completion of Work by Department

Section 48. Whenever a licensee under either of the two preceding sections fails to comply with the terms of his license, the department may proceed to complete the work and remove from tide water all materials composing the vessel or other structure, and the cost thereof shall, in the first instance, be paid from the appropriation made therefor. If not repaid to the commonwealth by the licensee, upon demand, it may be recovered by the state treasurer in contract, brought by him in behalf of the commonwealth in the superior court against the licensee or the sureties on his bond.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 49a - Removal of Whales or Other Mammals From Tidewaters

Section 49A. If a whale or other mammal is deposited or remains in the tidewaters or on the shores of the commonwealth, the department shall, if it determines that said whale or other mammal is or may be injurious to the public health, remove or cause to be removed therefrom such whale or other mammal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 50 - Foreign Corporations Engaged in Business of Wrecking or Salvaging; License; Bond; Penalty

Section 50. No foreign corporation shall engage in the business of wrecking or salvaging in the navigable waters of the commonwealth without first obtaining a license therefor from and filing a bond with the department. The license, effective for one year from the date of its issue, shall be granted upon payment of a fee, to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. The bond shall run to the state treasurer in a sum and with security satisfactory to the department, and shall be conditioned upon payment by the licensee of such amounts as shall lawfully be due to any person for damage to person or property caused by any act of the corporation, its agents or servants, in the commonwealth. Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than three hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 52 - Supervision of Transportation and Dumping of Dredged Material in Tidewaters; Payment of Cost; Burning and Towing of Rubbish

Section 52. The department shall supervise the transportation and dumping of all material dredged in the tide waters of the commonwealth, or of any other material which may be placed in scows or boats to be transported and dumped in tide water, and may employ necessary inspectors therefor, who shall accompany the material while in transit, either upon the scows containing the material or upon the boat towing them, upon which they shall be provided with proper and suitable quarters and board by the owner of the boat. The cost of such supervision and also of the supervision under licenses and permits authorizing such transportation or dumping granted by the department, shall in the first instance be paid from such appropriation as may be available, if the material is taken outside of Boston harbor, and from the Port of Boston Fund if taken in said harbor, and shall be repaid to the commonwealth monthly by the owners of the dredges or other machines doing the excavating when the material is dredged in tidewater and credited respectively to the General Fund or to said Port of Boston Fund, and, in the case of other material, by the owners of the scows in which it is transported, the monthly amount due from each owner to be determined and certified to the state treasurer by the department.
This section shall apply also to the burning of rubbish and other material upon any of the waters within the jurisdiction of the department. Reasonable rules and regulations to control towing and burning rubbish or other debris within harbor lines and upon adjacent waters may be adopted by the department, in accordance with chapter thirty A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 53 - Terms of License

Section 53. Every license or permit issued to any person to dredge in the tide waters of the commonwealth shall contain a provision that the transportation and dumping of the dredged material shall be done under the supervision of the department as provided in the preceding section, and that the licensee shall be held liable to pay the cost of said supervision whenever the owner of the dredge or excavating machine fails to pay for the same within ten days after written notification from the state treasurer that the same is due.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 54 - Dumping; Notice; Inspector; Cost of Supervision

Section 54. Every contractor or other person shall, at least three days before commencing any piece of dredging in tide water, give written notice to the department of the location and amount of the proposed work, and the time at which it is expected work will begin and, except with the written assent of the department, no dredged or other material which it is proposed to dump in tide water, shall be transported or dumped within the tide waters of the commonwealth, unless there is present on board the scows containing the material, or on the boat towing the same, an inspector employed for that purpose by the department; and no such material shall, in any event, be dumped within the limits of any channel which has been deepened by dredging, nor in any other part of the tide waters of the commonwealth, unless the same is duly authorized. The state treasurer may recover in contract from such contractor or person the cost of supervision determined as provided in the two preceding sections.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 55 - Penalty for Violating Secs. 52 to 54

Section 55. Whoever violates any provision of sections fifty-two, fifty-three and fifty-four or of any license or permit granted under said sections, (a) shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for each day that such violation occurs or continues, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment; or (b), shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per day for each day such violation occurs or continues.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 59 - Discharge of Petroleum Products, Refuse or Other Matter Into or on Lakes, Rivers or Tidal Waters; Penalty; Exception; Enforcement

Section 59. Whoever pumps, discharges or deposits, or causes to be pumped, discharged or deposited, into or on the waters of any lake or river or into or on tidal waters and flats, any crude petroleum or any of its products or any other oils or any bilge water or water from any receptacle containing any of the said substances, or any other matter or refuse, in such manner and to such extent as to be a pollution or contamination of said waters or flats or a nuisance or be injurious to the public health, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $25,000 for each day such violation occurs or continues; but this section shall not be construed to prohibit the use of oil for the extermination of mosquitoes or other insects. The provisions of this section shall be enforced by the department of state police and by all other officers authorized to make arrests.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 59a - Tort Liability for Discharge or Deposit of Crude Petroleum or Products; Double Damages

Section 59A. Whoever, by himself or his agent, so negligently pumps, discharges or deposits any crude petroleum or any of its products or any other oils or any bilge water or water from any receptacle containing any of the said substances into or on the waters of any lake or river or into or on tidal waters or flats in such manner as to cause damage to the property of another shall be liable in tort to the person whose property is so damaged in double the amount of the damages sustained by him. The use of oil for the extermination of mosquitoes or other insects on the waters of any lake or river or on tidal waters or flats declared to be a breeding place of mosquitoes or other insects, by a town, city or mosquito control project acting under chapter two hundred and fifty-two or any special law, shall not be deemed to be a violation of the provisions of this section, provided such use of oil conforms to the rules and regulations promulgated by the pesticide board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 59b - Marinas; Licensing by Division of Water Pollution Control; Restrictions; Term; Renewal; Fees

Section 59B. No marina shall be operated without a license issued by the division of water pollution control. Said division shall not issue any such license unless such marina provides (1) adequate facilities for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage or other sanitary waste, as said division may specify, including facilities for the purging out and cleaning of holding tanks, the contents of which shall be then disposed of in such manner as not to be discharged into or near any waters of the commonwealth, unless such discharge is to a municipal sewerage system or to an adequate sewage treatment or disposal facility approved by the division of water pollution control; (2) adequate and conveniently located dockside toilet facilities for the use of the occupants of watercraft; and (3) adequate and conveniently located trash receptacles or similar devices designed for the disposal of litter and refuse.
Any license issued under this section shall be for a term of one year and may be renewed annually. The fee for such annual license and for a renewal of such license shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 91 - Waterways › Section 64 - Uniform Beach Warning and Safety Flag Program

Section 64. (a) The department of conservation and recreation shall create a state uniform beach warning and safety flag program to be used at all public coastal beaches maintained and guarded by the department. The program shall provide for a uniform size, shape, color and definition for each warning and safety flag deemed necessary by the department. The program shall warn the public of drowning and injury hazards presented by changes in tide and surf conditions.
(b) If the department defines any safety flags as warnings of health hazards presented by the quality of the beach water, such definitions shall be based on water quality testing procedures that ensure the warnings are timely, frequently updated and reflect, to the maximum extent feasible, the actual water conditions at the time the flags are posted and for the duration of their posting.
(c) A city or town having jurisdiction over a public beach along the coast may utilize at such beach the state uniform beach warning and safety flag program created by the department of conservation and recreation. Subsection (a) shall take effect in a city with a Plan D or Plan E charter by a vote of the city council upon submission by the city manager and in all other cities by a vote of the city council with the approval of the mayor and in a town with a town council, by vote of the town council and in all other towns, by a vote of the town meeting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 33 - Division of State Parks and Recreation; Reservations; Recreational Areas Water Supplies.

Section 33. The division of state parks and recreation, hereinafter referred to as the division, may maintain and make available to the inhabitants of Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Chelsea, Dedham, Dover, Everett, Hingham, Hull, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, Weymouth, Winchester and Winthrop, which shall constitute the urban parks district, open spaces for exercise and recreation, in this chapter called reservations and, for the purposes set forth in this section, the powers of the division shall extend to, and be exercised in, said district.
The division may preserve, beautify and care for such public reservations, and also, in its discretion and upon such terms as it may approve, such other open spaces within said districts as may be intrusted, given or devised to the commonwealth for the general purposes of this section or for any one or more of such purposes as the donor may designate.
The division may, for the purpose of making the rivers and ponds within said district more available as open spaces for recreation and exercise, regulate the use of certain spaces along or near said rivers and ponds, and care for and maintain spaces so regulated, and plant, care for, maintain or remove trees, shrubs and growth of any kind within said regulated spaces.
The commissioner of conservation and recreation, hereinafter referred to as the commissioner, may enter into and issue agreements, licenses and permits for recreational and other uses which he deems compatible and consistent with this section and Article XCVII of the amendments to the Constitution, provided, however, that such agreements, licenses and permits shall be for periods not exceeding 10 years, and shall be in writing.
This section shall not limit existing rights of any town in relation to water supply purposes or in any way obstruct its taking advantage of such rights.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34 - Division of State Parks and Recreation Trust Fund

Section 34. The state treasurer may, with the approval of the governor and council, receive and hold in trust for the commonwealth, exempt from taxation, any grant or devise of lands or rights in land, and any gift or bequest of money or other personal property, made for the purposes of the preceding section, and shall preserve and invest the proceeds thereof in notes or bonds secured by good and sufficient mortgage or other securities. Said trust property shall be known as the Division of State Parks and Recreation Trust Fund and shall be used and expended under the direction of the division and subject to its orders. Subject to the terms of any such grant, gift, devise or bequest, the division may expend such funds, whether principal or income.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34a - Metrozoos Zoological Trust

Section 34A. The executive director of the office of travel and tourism, in this section called the executive director, may receive and hold in trust for the commonwealth, exempt from taxation, any instrument of value, including but not limited to any gift or bequest of money or other personal property, and any grant or devise of lands or rights in land for the purpose of fostering and advancing the MetroZoos zoological parks of the commonwealth, and shall administer the same in such a manner as to carry out the terms of those bequests or gifts, grants, or devises. All money and securities received hereunder shall be transferred to the state treasurer, who shall preserve and invest the proceeds thereof, in notes or bonds secured by good and sufficient mortgage or other securities. The trust property shall be known as the MetroZoos Zoological Trust and shall be used and expended under the direction of the executive director after notification to the office of travel and tourism. Subject to the terms of any grant, gift, devise, or bequest, the office of travel and tourism may expend these funds, whether principal or income.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34b - Park Ranger Program; Promulgation and Notice of Rules and Regulations; Authority of Rangers

Section 34B. (a) The metropolitan district commission is hereby authorized to establish a park ranger program within the department to preserve, maintain and protect the parks, reservation, historic sites and open space and to ensure the environmental integrity of properties under the care, custody and control of the commission.
(b) To further the objectives of the park ranger program, the department shall be concerned with the use by the public for exercise, education and recreation of the reservations; and, notwithstanding any general or special law or administrative bulletin to the contrary, the commission shall adopt rules and regulations to define the authority of the park rangers in performing their duties and responsibilities to preserve and protect the reservations as defined above. Rules and regulations so promulgated shall include but not be limited to defining the programs, program objectives, mission, working rules and responsibilities of the park rangers.
(c) The commission shall cause such rules and regulations to be posted in the reservations to which they apply and shall also cause the same to be published at least once in a newspaper published in the county where said reservations are in whole or in part situated, and such posting and publication shall be sufficient notice to all persons. The sworn certificate of any member of the commission or of its secretary of such posting and publishing shall be prima facie evidence thereof.
(d) The park rangers are hereby authorized to issue citations under duly promulgated rules and regulations to any person violating any regulation concerning the parking of motor vehicles, littering, defacing commission property and disturbing flora and fauna. Whoever violates any rule or regulation made hereunder shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34c - Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund

Section 34C. Notwithstanding any general or special law or administrative bulletin to the contrary and pursuant to section 34, there is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, to be known as the Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund, which shall be used for the purposes of advancing recreational, educational and conservation interests, including, but not limited to, the construction and maintenance of facilities and infrastructure improvements for the area within the reservation. The trust shall receive, hold and expend all fees generated by permits, licenses and all other agreements not currently being directed to the General Fund relating to the use of the reservation land as authorized by the commission. The department shall not make expenditures from this fund so as to cause the fund to be deficient.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34d - Christian A. Herter Park Trust Fund

Section 34D. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate, non-budgeted special revenue fund known as the Christian A. Herter Park Trust Fund, which shall be administered by the department of conservation and recreation. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended, without further appropriation, for the purposes of advancing recreational, educational and conservation interests including, but not limited to, the construction and maintenance of facilities and infrastructure improvements for Christian A. Herter Park within the Charles River Reservation; provided, however, that not less than 50 per cent of the funds shall be used for the Friends of Herter Park, Inc. The fund shall receive, hold and expend all fees generated by permits, licenses and all other agreements not currently being directed to the General Fund relating to the use of the Christian A. Herter Park land as authorized by the commission. The unexpended balance in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall remain available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years and shall not revert to the General Fund. The department shall not make expenditures from this fund so as to cause the fund to be deficient.
(b) Annually, not later than July 31, the department shall submit a report to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing an accounting of all funds generated for the fund and all expenditures in the previous fiscal year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 34f - Middlesex Fells Reservation Trust Fund

Section 34F. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, which shall be known as the Middlesex Fells Reservation Trust Fund. The fund shall be used to advance recreational, educational and conservation interests, including, but not limited to, the construction and maintenance of facilities and infrastructure improvements for the area within the Middlesex Fells reservation. The fund shall receive, hold and expend all fees generated by permits, licenses and all other agreements not currently being directed to the General Fund relating to the use of the reservation land as authorized by the commission. The department shall not make expenditures from this fund so as to cause the fund to be deficient.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 35 - Acquisition and Maintenance of Roadways or Boulevards

Section 35. The commission may connect any way, park or other public open space with any part of the towns of the urban parks district by suitable roadways or boulevards, in this chapter called boulevards, and for this purpose exercise any of the rights and powers granted the commission in respect to reservations, and may construct and maintain along, across, upon or over lands acquired for such boulevards or for reservations, a suitable roadway or boulevard. The commission shall have the same rights and powers over and in regard to said boulevards as are or may be vested in it in regard to reservations and shall also have such rights and powers in regard to the same as, in general, counties, cities and towns have over public ways under their control. The commission shall submit its plans for any such connection to the secretary of the department of transportation and the administrator for highways so that it may be included in their capital plans.
Notwithstanding section 20 of chapter 21A, the division and department shall preserve and protect the scenic and historic integrity of its roadways and boulevards. Neither the department nor the division shall enter into an interagency or other agreement concerning the roadways and boulevards with a state or public agency or entity to transfer any lands, roadways or boulevards, bridges, facilities, personnel, equipment or material under its care, custody and control without the express prior approval of the legislature.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 35a - Removal of Parked Vehicles

Section 35A. The division may authorize the removal to some convenient place, through the agency of a person in the employ of the division, or by an independent contractor selected on the basis of competitive bids, any vehicle, except a vehicle owned by the commonwealth or a political subdivision thereof or by the United States or an instrumentality thereof or registered by a member of a foreign diplomatic corps or by a foreign consular officer who is not a citizen of the United States and bearing a distinctive number plate or otherwise conspicuously marked as so owned or registered, parked or standing on any part of a parkway, boulevard or roadway in such a manner as to impede in any way the removal or plowing of snow or ice, or parked or standing in violation of any rule or regulation adopted under section 37 which prohibits the parking or standing of all vehicles on such parkway, boulevard or roadway or portion thereof at such time and which recites that whoever violates such regulation shall be liable to charge for the removal and storage of the vehicle as well as subject to punishment by fine. Liability may be imposed for the reasonable cost of such removal, and for the storage charges, if any, resulting therefrom, upon the owner of such vehicle.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 36 - Liability for Defects in Boulevards; Notice

Section 36. The commonwealth shall be liable for injuries sustained by persons while traveling on any boulevard maintained by the division under authority of the preceding section, if the same are caused by defects within the limits of the constructed traveled roadway, in the manner and subject to the limitations, conditions and restrictions specified in sections fifteen, eighteen and nineteen of chapter eighty-four, except that the commonwealth shall not be liable for injury sustained because of the want of a railing in or upon any boulevard, or for injury sustained upon the sidewalk of a boulevard or during the construction, reconstruction or repair of such boulevard. All sums recovered against said division under the foregoing provisions, together with any costs of suit and counsel fees, expenses and interest, shall be deemed expenses of care and maintenance of boulevards.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 92 - Metropolitan Sewers, Water and Parks › Section 37 - Rules and Regulations for Government and Use of Reservations or Boulevards; Penalty

Section 37. Except as provided in section 38, the commissioner, in consultation with the director, may make rules and regulations for the government and use of the reservations, roads, driveways, parkways, boulevards or bridges under the division's care and to govern the public use of the Charles river, the Neponset river and the Mystic river, within the urban park district, and of the ponds and other waters along which it holds abutting lands for reservations in said district; provided, that no rule or regulation shall affect the water rights of any person, whether a mill owner or otherwise. No such rule or regulation shall prohibit the use of passenger or station wagon type motor vehicles whose gross weight is less than 5000 pounds and which are registered for commercial use, on ways, parkways or boulevards where non-commercial passenger-type motor vehicles are permitted to operate. No such rule or regulation shall provide for the collection of any charge or fee for parking on any boulevard, roadway, parkway, way or any portion thereof, under the jurisdictional care, custody or control of the commissioner, between regularly established curb lines or that part, exclusive of shoulders, improved and intended to be open and used for vehicular traffic by the public on a public way unless the commissioner has received prior approval from the local appropriating authority, as defined in section 21C of chapter 59, of the municipality in whose boundaries such charge or fee is collected on or after January 1, 2021. Any municipal approval of any rule or regulation providing for the collection of such charge or fee for parking prior to January 1, 2021 shall be inoperative for the purposes of this section.
A police officer employed by a city or town in whose boundaries, reservations, roads, driveways, parkways, boulevards or bridges are located shall have all the same powers they have as a police officer of the city or town to enforce the laws of the commonwealth and the rules and regulations of the department on any bikeway, pathway, park, reservation or other land under the care of the division.
The division shall cause such rules and regulations to be posted in the reservation, road, driveway, parkway, boulevard or bridge to which they apply, and shall also cause the same to be published at least once in a newspaper published in the county where said reservation, road, driveway, parkway, boulevard or bridge is in whole or in part situated, and such posting and publication shall be sufficient notice to all persons. The sworn certificate of the director of such posting and publishing shall be prima facie evidence thereof.
Whoever violates any rule or regulation made hereunder shall be punished by fine not exceeding $200.