Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 83 — Sewers, Drains and Sidewalks

Massachusetts · statute · Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83 · 49 active provisions

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1

Authorization; connecting sewers; approval of plans; acquisition of lands by eminent domain or purchase; agreements with municipalities or districts; contracts

Section 1. A city or town may lay out, construct, maintain and operate a system or systems of common sewers and main drains in public or private ways for a part or the whole of its territory as they adjudge necessary for the public convenience or the public health with such connections and other works as may be require…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1A

Common sewers and main drains in public or private ways; voter approval and comprehensive water resources management plan

Section 1A. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1 and 3 to the contrary, any municipality or sewer district adopting this section is hereby authorized to lay out, construct, maintain and operate a system or systems of common sewers and main drains in public or private ways for that part of its territory as it ad…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1B

Connection of abutting land to common sewer; requirements; amendment of comprehensive water resources management plan

Section 1B. At the commencement of operation of the municipalities' sewer system authorized by section 1A, the owner of land abutting upon a private or public way in which a common sewer has been laid shall be required by the board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers to connect such land wi…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1C

Certification by board of health for additional connections; service for municipal buildings, public restrooms or public service uses

Section 1C. After commencement of operations of the sewer system authorized pursuant to section 1A, additional connections shall be permitted within the final area of concern by such board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers, subject to available capacity, only upon certification by the boa…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1D

Assessments upon connection of abutting land to common sewer

Section 1D. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapters 80 and 83 to the contrary, a municipality acting under section 1A may make assessments upon owners of land abutting upon a private or public way in which a common sewer has been laid only at the time of actual connection to the common sewer. Nothing herein shall pr…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1E

Written decision regarding approval or denial of connection to common sewer; appeal

Section 1E. Every decision by the board or officer having charge of sewers permitting or denying a connection to the sewer system pursuant to sections 1A to 1D, inclusive, shall be made in writing. Any person aggrieved by such a decision may appeal said decision within 30 days of issuance pursuant to the provisions of…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1F

Discrimination prohibited

Section 1F. In carrying out the provisions of sections 1A to 1E, inclusive, a municipality shall not discriminate against any person on the grounds of race, color, marital status, physical disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ancestry or national origin in any manner prohibited by federal or state law.

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1G

Separate account; collection, deposit and use of funds

Section 1G. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, a municipality with a comprehensive water resources management plan under review or approved by the department of environmental protection may establish and maintain a separate account into which it may collect and deposit and exp…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 1H

Borrowing or assessing funds for construction of wastewater treatment system

Section 1H. Notwithstanding section 7 of chapter 44, a municipality or sewer district adopting section 1A may borrow and assess betterments for a term not to exceed 50 years or the useful life as approved by the department of environmental protection, whichever is shorter, for the construction its wastewater treatment…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 2

Plans and records

Section 2. Plans and descriptions of all main drains and common sewers belonging to a town, with a true record of the charges of making and repairing said drains and sewers and of all assessments therefor, shall be kept in the office of the town clerk or in such other office of the town as the town by ordinance or by-l…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 3

Sewer connections

Section 3. The board or officers of a city or town having charge of the repair and maintenance of sewers may, upon request of the owner of land and payment by him of the actual cost thereof, construct a particular sewer from the street line to a house or building. A town may appropriate money for connecting estates wit…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 3A

Private ways; repair of sewers

Section 3A. The board or officers of a city or town having charge of the repair and maintenance of sewers may at the request of the owner of land and payment by him of the actual cost thereof repair a break in a sewer laid in a private way and remove any sewerage flowing from such break.

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 4

Highway ditches or drains

Section 4. The department of highways, county commissioners, and the officers having charge of highways in any city or town may construct ditches or drains for the purpose of properly draining any highway, and may carry water away from any highway and over or through any land as they may deem necessary for public conve…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 5

Separate systems for drainage of water and sewage

Section 5. In this section surface or storm water and such other waters as shall be specified by the department of public health shall be designated as waters and all other waters and sewage shall be designated as sewage. When a town has provided both a drain for waters and a sewer for sewage in a public way, the owner…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 6

Sewage disposal works

Section 6. A town, with the approval of the department of environmental protection, after a public hearing by said department of all parties interested, of which notice shall be given by publication in one or more newspapers, may purchase land within its limits, or take the same by eminent domain under chapter seventy-…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 7

Examination of sewage disposal works; prevention of nuisances

Section 7. If the department of environmental protection determines upon examination that a filter bed or other works for the treatment, purification and disposal of sewage causes the pollution of a stream, pond or other water, or is likely to become a source of nuisance or create objectionable results in its neighborh…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 8

Digging up public ways; permits

Section 8. No person shall dig up or make an excavation in a public way for the laying, altering or repairing of a drain or sewer without obtaining a written permit from the board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers in the town in which such way is situated. Notwithstanding any contrary pro…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 9

Obstruction of ditches

Section 9. Whoever, by himself, his agents or servants, deposits in or along any ditch or drain constructed under section four any material which will obstruct the flow of water therein shall be punished by a fine of ten dollars, and shall be liable in tort to the commonwealth, the county, city or town controlling the…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 10

Rules and regulations regarding use and connections

Section 10. A city, town or sewer district may, from time to time, prescribe rules and regulations regarding the use of common sewers to prevent the entrance or discharge therein of any substance which may tend to interfere with the flow of sewage or the proper operation of the sewerage system and the treatment and dis…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 11

Sewer connections

Section 11. The board of health of a town may require the owner or occupant of any building upon land abutting on a public or private way, in which there is a common sewer, to connect the same therewith by a sufficient drain, and such owner or occupant who fails to comply with such order shall be punished by a fine of…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 12

Repair of private drains

Section 12. If a city council or a town accepts this section or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, the board of health may require the owner or occupant of an estate which drains into a private drain in a public or private way to put such drain in good repair and condition. If he fails to comply wit…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 13

Equity jurisdiction

Section 13. The supreme judicial court and the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to restrain the unlawful use of common sewers or the placing or depositing of materials therein or the violation of regulations regarding the use thereof made under section ten, and to enforce the provisions of sections five…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 14

Sewer assessments; authorization

Section 14. A person who enters his particular drain into a main drain or common sewer, or who by more remote means receives benefit thereby for draining his land or buildings, shall pay to the town a proportional part of the charge of making and repairing the same, and of the charge, not already assessed, of making an…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 15

Sewerage systems; adoption; assessment; uniform units; separation of costs

Section 15. The city council of a city or a town may adopt a system of sewerage for a part or the whole of its territory, and may provide that assessments under section fourteen shall be made upon owners of land within such territory by a fixed uniform rate or a rate based upon a uniform unit method. A fixed uniform ra…

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Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 83, § 15A

Redetermination of assessment

Section 15A. Any city at any meeting of the proper municipal authority, or any town at a town meeting, may, from time to time, redetermine the uniform rate or uniform unit fixed under section 15, or under any special law, and charged to abutters for, or to the existing and potential sewer units to be served by, the con…

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