Code of Massachusetts Regulations
310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Title 310 CMR 9.00 - WATERWAYS
Section 9.03 - Scope of Jurisdiction
Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1) Authorization of Projects by the Department. Written authorization in the form of a license, permit, or amendment thereto must be obtained from the Department before the commencement of one or more activities specified in 310 CMR 9.03(2) and (3) or 310 CMR 9.05 and located in one or more geographic areas specified in 310 CMR 9.04, unless the legislature has specifically exempted any such activity(ies) from Department jurisdiction under M.G.L. c. 91.
(2) Oversight of Certain Work Authorized by the Legislature. In accordance with M.G.L. c. 91, § 20, no person shall undertake any work authorized by the legislature and subject to M.G.L. c. 91 in accordance with 310 CMR 9.03(1), until said person has given written notice thereof to the Department, in the form of a license or permit application, and has submitted plans for such work which conform with the application requirements of 310 CMR 9.00. The Department may alter such plans and impose conditions in the license or permit, which shall be consistent with the legislative authorization and issued in accordance with 310 CMR 9.31(4). All work so authorized shall conform with the plans and conditions contained in said license or permit, and shall not commence until said license or permit has been issued.
In accordance with the Boston Waterfront decision of the Supreme Judicial Court, grants by the legislature of tidelands below the historic low water mark are subject to a condition subsequent that such tidelands be used for the public purpose for which they were granted, and the rights of the grantee to those tidelands are ended when that purpose is extinguished. If the present use of such tidelands has changed from the public purpose for which they were granted, authorization shall be obtained from the Department, in the form of a license pursuant to 310 CMR 9.00, in order to establish that such change of use serves a proper public purpose.
(3) Activities of the Massachusetts Port Authority. In accordance with its Enabling Act, St. 1956, c. 465, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) may undertake the following activities within the following geographic areas without written authorization in the form of a license or permit from the Department:
Except as provided in 310 CMR 9.03(3)(b), Massport shall obtain a license or permit pursuant to M.G.L. c. 91 for any project consisting entirely of uses other than water-dependent-industrial uses. With regard to all other future Massport projects, Massport and the Department shall develop an MOU, which shall be executed by the effective date of 310 CMR 9.00, in order to further clarify the Department's jurisdiction under M.G.L. c. 91 relative to the purposes, powers, and plans of Massport's Enabling Act, St. 1956, c. 456, as amended.
