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The General Laws of Massachusetts <br>
PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 

TITLE II. EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH 

CHAPTER 21. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 

DIVISION OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL 

Chapter 21: Section 37A. Program for preservation and restoration of publicly-owned lakes and great ponds 

Section 37A. The department of environmental management, in this section referred to as the department, shall administer a program for the preservation and restoration of the publicly-owned lakes and great ponds of the commonwealth. Said program shall conform to and complement the program authorized by 33 USC 1324 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The department shall survey and investigate said lakes and great ponds and shall classify them according to their trophic condition and taking into account their value for public recreation, the availability of their public beaches and swimming facilities, for such lakes and great ponds which have beaches and swimming facilities, for use by all residents of the commonwealth, and other relevant matters, shall determine the priority of said lakes and great ponds for the studies and projects set forth in this section. 

The department shall provide for the conduct of studies to diagnose the limnological and environmental characteristics of said lakes and great ponds and, on the basis of said diagnosis, determine the feasibility of methods and procedures to preserve and restore the quality of said lakes and great ponds. Where the federal government has provided financial assistance in the amount of seventy per cent of the costs of any such study, the department, subject to appropriation, shall provide financial assistance for such study in the amount not exceeding thirty per cent of the costs eligible for such federal financial assistance, as determined by the department. In the event that the Congress does not appropriate funds for such studies under said section 1324 of said Title 33 in any fiscal year, the department, subject to appropriation, shall provide financial assistance for such studies in an amount not exceeding seventy per cent of the costs which would have been eligible for federal financial assistance. 

The department shall provide for the conduct of projects to implement methods and procedures for the preservation and restoration of said lakes and great ponds. When the federal government has provided financial assistance in the amount of fifty per cent of the costs of any project, the department, subject to appropriation, shall provide financial assistance for such project in an amount not exceeding twenty-five per cent of the costs eligible for such federal financial assistance, as determined by the division. In the event that the Congress does not appropriate funds for such projects under said section 1324 of said Title 33 in any fiscal year, the department subject to appropriation, shall provide financial assistance for such projects in an additional amount not exceeding seventy-five per cent of the costs which would have been eligible for federal financial assistance. 

Financial assistance provided by the department under this section shall be paid in reimbursement in accordance with a schedule of payments approved by the commissioner of administration.

TITLE XVI. PUBLIC HEALTH 

CHAPTER 111. PUBLIC HEALTH 

DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 

Chapter 111: Section 5S. Public bathing waters; minimum sanitation standards; testing, monitoring and analysis; regulations 

Section 5S. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:— 

“Bathing water”, fresh or salt water adjacent to any public bathing beach or semi-public bathing beach in the commonwealth. 

“Department”, the department of public health. 

“Public bathing beach”, a beach open to the general public, whether or not an entry fee is charged, that permits access to bathing waters. 

“Semi-public bathing beach”, a bathing beach used in connection with a hotel, motel, trailer park, campground, apartment house, condominium, country club, youth club, school, camp or similar establishment where the primary purpose of the establishment is not the operation of the bathing beach, and where admission to the use of the bathing beach is included in the fee paid for use of the premises. A semi-public bathing beach shall also include a bathing beach operated and maintained solely for the use of members and guests of an organization that maintains such a bathing beach. 

(b) The department, in consultation with local health officers, shall establish minimum sanitation standards to protect bathing waters from contamination from the following: (1) sludge deposits and solid refuse; (2) floating solid, grease or scum wastes; (3) oil, hazardous material, and heavy metals; and (4) bacteria, including but not limited to, total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococci bacteria. 

(c) Such standards shall establish safe levels of human exposure to such contaminants, and shall further incorporate, at a minimum, the following provisions:— 

(1) An officer or an agent of a local board of health shall test, monitor and analyze all bathing waters within its municipality. Every local board of health shall report the results from all testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters to the department. The department shall establish such reporting requirements and shall keep public records thereof. The department shall issue an annual report on the state of beach water quality using data that has been reported to the department. The department shall make such data available to the public upon written request. 

(2) The department shall determine at which sites to conduct testing and monitoring of bathing waters. The department shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors in determining at which sites to conduct testing and monitoring of bathing waters: (i) prior testing results pursuant to this section for such bathing waters; (ii) the number of people who use the bathing beach annually; and (iii) whether the beach is located adjacent to a storm water drain, sewage, industrial and commercial wastewater discharges, or commercial, industrial and agricultural drains. 

(d) The department shall determine at what frequency to conduct testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters. Testing, monitoring and analysis shall be conducted on at least a weekly basis during the bathing season, and at such times and under such conditions as shall be sufficient to protect public health and safety. The department may grant a variance from the weekly testing requirement for a public or semi-public bathing beach only where there is a documented history of no sources of pollution, both point and non-point, at the bathing beach, or where such pollution sources at the beach have been fully and completely remediated. 

(e) The department shall require the posting of conspicuous warning signs to notify the public whenever there is a threat to human health or safety in bathing waters. Signs shall be posted at locations on the beach that are visible to the public in order to inform the public of the nature of the problem and the possibility of a threat to human health and safety. Signs shall be posted immediately after significant rainstorms at bathing beach locations where there has been a chronic history of violations of the department’s minimum sanitation standards for bathing beaches after such rainstorms. When an officer or agent of a local board of health discovers a violation of such minimum sanitation standards, the officer or agent shall notify the department immediately, and in no event not later than 24 hours after such discovery. The local board of health shall also post signs immediately, and in no event not later than 24 hours after such a discovery. 

(f) A person may request that a local board of health conduct testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters when there is a reasonable basis to believe that an alleged violation of such minimum sanitation standards established by this section has occurred. Local boards of health shall promptly review such requests and determine whether any such testing, monitoring and analysis is necessary to ensure the public health and safety in bathing waters. 

(g) The owners of semi-public bathing beaches shall be required to pay for the costs of testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters adjacent to such semi-public bathing beaches. 

(h) Local boards of health may enter into contractual agreements with owners of semi-public bathing beaches where the local board of health conducts testing, monitoring and analysis of such bathing waters. 

(i) A municipality or state agency may adopt sanitation standards and testing, monitoring, and analysis requirements for bathing waters within its jurisdiction that are stricter than the standards adopted by the department. In any case where a municipality or state agency adopts such stricter standards, any warning signs required by this section shall display the results of such stricter standards relative to the standards of the department. 

(j) The testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters that are under the control of any state agency shall be conducted by that state agency. All such state agencies shall meet the requirements set forth by this section and the regulations promulgated by the department. 

(k) The department may, subject to appropriation, award competitive grants to local boards of health in the form of a 50 per cent reimbursement for the testing, monitoring and analysis of bathing waters and to otherwise carry out the provisions of this section and the regulations promulgated thereunder. The department shall enter into a contractual agreement with a sole provider of testing services to be utilized by any state agency, and which may be utilized by any local board of health, to comply with the provisions of this section. 

The department shall also ensure that the provisions of this section and the regulations promulgated thereunder are implemented in a cost effective manner by encouraging, where possible, regional approaches or other cost effective means of carrying out the purposes of this section. 

(l) The department shall enforce the provisions of this section in accordance with the penalty and enforcement provisions of section 127A.