2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title II - Executive and Administrative Officers of the Commonwealth › Chapter 16 - Department of Highways › Section 21 - Comprehensive Statewide Master Plan

Section 21. The department shall investigate and study the solid waste disposal needs of the commonwealth, including but not limited to appropriate solid waste management techniques for source and volume reduction, landfill design and operation, resource recovery plant design, the operation of composting and recycling facilities, and the operation of any other innovative, environmentally sound technologies. The department may designate regional solid waste disposal districts to carry out the purposes of sections eighteen to twenty-four, inclusive. The department, after a public hearing, shall develop and maintain a comprehensive statewide master plan for solid waste disposal including any necessary provisions to meet eligibility requirements under any federal program for financial aid in solid waste disposal. Any amendment, alterations, or changes to said master plan shall be adopted only after a public hearing. A solid waste disposal district shall, wherever practicable, consist of a single city or town, or a part thereof, or two or more cities or towns, or any combination or parts thereof. Each district shall have an advisory committee comprised of one member from each city or town in the district, who shall be appointed by the city manager in a city having a city manager, by the mayor in any other city, by the board of selectmen in the town having selectmen, by the town council, or by such other municipal officer, officers, or municipal agency to which or to whom any city or town has delegated the responsibility for solid waste disposal. The members of such committee may be elected officials of such cities or towns and shall serve at the pleasure of their appointing authority.
The comprehensive statewide master plan referred to herein shall describe, to the maximum practicable extent, a short and long-range program for disposal of solid waste throughout the commonwealth, the solid waste facilities which the department determines to be necessary or convenient to the disposal of such waste in a manner which protects the public health, safety and environment and is financially sound, and the funding for the development of such facilities which the department finds to be reasonable necessary.
Without limitation of the foregoing, said plan shall, to the maximum practicable extent, identify:
(1) the sources, types and quantities of solid waste generated within each city or town;
(2) the current means for collection, transfer, processing, recycling or other disposal of such waste;
(3) the adequacy of solid waste facilities with reference to disposal of solid waste in a manner which the department determines is or is likely to protect the public health, safety and environment;
(4) the means of collection, transfer, processing, recycling or other disposal of such waste which have been reported to the department by each city or town or by any other public or private entity for the five year period beginning with the year for which the statewide plan is prepared;
(5) whether and to what extent the waste identified or reported as described above is currently being disposed of at sites permitted by the department or by a local board of health pursuant to section one hundred and fifty A of chapter one hundred and eleven or with respect to future years, is being proposed for disposal at such sites; and
(6) to the extent disposal is identified as not taking place in any current or future year at such sites, the options available to local public bodies for disposal at such sites or alternative means for which the department finds there is a reasonable likelihood that disposal will take place in an environmentally safe manner and recommendations of the department as to such options or alternative means. Each city or town may prepare a local solid waste management plan to be presented to the department to assist the department in the creation of the statewide plan. Such local plan shall, to the maximum practicable extent, identify:
(1) the sources, types and quantities of solid waste generated within each city or town;
(2) the current means for collection, transfer, processing, recycling or other disposal of such waste, and the length of, and termination date of any existing contract entered into by said city or town for the contracting of the collection, transfer, processing, recycling or disposal of such waste;
(3) whether and to what extent the waste identified or reported as described above is currently being disposed of at sites permitted by the department or by a local board of health pursuant to section one hundred and fifty A of chapter one hundred and eleven, or, with respect to future years, is being proposed for disposal at such sites;
(4) to the extent disposal is identified or reported as not taking place in any current or future year at such sites, the options available to such city or town for future disposal at such sites or for alternative means for which the community finds there is a reasonable likelihood that disposal will take place in an environmentally safe manner and recommendations of said city or town as to such options or alternative means; and
(5) a listing of proposed options for addressing the collection, transfer, processing, recycling or disposal of waste for the next five years. Said plan shall include an estimate of the expected financial resources needed to implement said plan.