Environmental Rules in Massachusetts (2026)

Massachusetts regulates stormwater discharges under the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c.131 §40) and 310 CMR 10.00…

Boston requires stormwater management plans for any land disturbance over 1 acre under the city's Stormwater Management…

Somerville is an EPA MS4 community. Projects disturbing 1 acre need NPDES permits; local review kicks in at 500 sq ft…

No one may excavate, connect to, alter or otherwise use Cambridge's wastewater or stormwater drainage system without a…

Lawrence bans dumping any pollutant or non-stormwater discharge into its municipal storm sewer system, watercourses, or…

New Bedford bars anyone from altering land within the city without first obtaining a stormwater management permit (SMP)…

Quincy bars dumping any pollutant or non-stormwater discharge into its municipal storm drain system, with illicit…

Revere bans illicit discharges and connections into its municipal storm drain system under Municipal Code Chapter…

Chapter 381 of the Taunton Code bans dumping or discharging anything but stormwater into the City's storm drain system…

Any new development or redevelopment in Brockton that increases stormwater runoff or alters drainage must get both a…

Chelsea's Code of Ordinances Sec. 30-223 requires every property owner to run industry-standard best management…

Leominster regulates stormwater through a Stormwater Management Permit program run by the Conservation Commission…

Any Lynn project big enough to trigger site plan review, generally 5,000 or more square feet of new floor area, or ten…

Whenever a Newton property owner alters land contours, the zoning ordinance requires the finished grade to prevent soil…

Norfolk County does not administer stormwater programs. All Norfolk County towns are EPA MS4 permittees, enforcing…

Under the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, no one may discharge pollutants, including construction stormwater, into…

Springfield requires a stormwater management permit before larger construction projects: commercial buildings over…

Worcester bans discharging storm water, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff or subsurface drainage into any public…

Construction and other regulated activity within 100 feet of Boston wetlands, streams, ponds, or the coast falls under…

Disturbing a quarter acre or more of land in Brockton requires a Land Disturbance Permit and an engineer-stamped…

Chelsea requires every construction project to submit a sediment and erosion control plan to the Department of Public…

Clearing, grading, or excavating one acre or more that drains to Fall River's storm sewer system requires a stormwater…

Any construction project in Lawrence that disturbs more than one acre, or 5,000 square feet in higher-pollutant or…

Leominster's Stormwater and Erosion Control Ordinance requires builders to control soil erosion and sedimentation on…

Grading, filling, or altering drainage within 100 feet of a wetland, bank, or coastal resource area triggers the…

Quincy requires a stormwater management and land disturbance permit before any project disturbs one acre or more of…

Revere requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any land-disturbing construction activity crosses…

Somerville requires a site construction permit from the city engineer before any land-disturbing work, including…

Any construction disturbing an acre or more, or meeting other size thresholds, needs a Stormwater Management Permit…

Taunton requires a stormwater management permit before any construction activity disturbs an acre of land or more, or a…

Anyone permitted to construct, repair, alter or open a public or private way in Worcester must submit an erosion…

New Bedford requires phased developments that must file a Development Impact Statement to describe exactly how…

Massachusetts regulates all tidelands and coastal development statewide under Chapter 91 (MGL c.91) and 310 CMR 9.00…

Building a dock, pier, seawall, or placing fill below the high-water mark along Plymouth County's coast requires a…

Boston enforces FEMA flood zone regulations through Zoning Code Article 25A and the city's Flood Hazard Overlay…

Cambridge participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and enforces a Flood Plain Overlay District covering…

Fall River's Floodplain Overlay District includes all FEMA-designated special flood hazard areas (Zones A, AE, AO, VE)…

Newton participates in the NFIP with FEMA-mapped flood zones along the Charles River and Cheesecake Brook. Construction…

Along Plymouth County's coast, land subject to coastal storm flowage and flooding is a protected resource area under…

Quincy participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and has adopted a Flood Plain District (FPD) in its…

Weymouth is a coastal community with significant FEMA-designated flood zones along the Fore River, Back River, and…

Worcester participates in the NFIP and has significant flood zones along the Blackstone River watershed. FEMA released…

Any filling, dredging or altering of wetlands, floodplains or land subject to flooding in Brockton requires a written…

Chelsea's Floodplain Overlay District (FOD) layers over every underlying zoning district and covers all FEMA-mapped…

Leominster overlays a Floodplain district (FP) on every FEMA-mapped zone A and AE area under City Code § 22-34. Nearly…

Any construction or development in Lynn's Floodplain Overlay District needs a permit before work starts. Section 10.A.5…

New Bedford's Floodplain Overlay District covers every FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in the city and requires a…

Any development in Somerville's Zone AE floodplain, from a new structure to a fence or shed, needs a Special Permit…

Any construction or land-disturbing activity in Springfield's Floodplain Overlay District, new buildings, additions…

Taunton overlays a Floodplain Overlay District on top of every zone A and AE area shown on the 2021 Bristol County FEMA…

Bristol County has significant FEMA-designated flood zones along the Taunton River, Buzzards Bay coast, and Mount Hope…

Lawrence's floodplain district covers all FEMA-mapped zone A and AE areas on the Essex County FIRM, and a development…

Norfolk County has significant flood risk from the Neponset River, Weymouth Back River, and coastal areas. FEMA Flood…

Revere requires a permit before any construction or development in its Floodplain Overlay District, which covers FEMA…

In Cambridge's Open Space District, boat docks are not allowed by right. The Zoning Ordinance's Table of Use…

Revere does not license dock construction, but anyone setting a mooring in city waters must get a harbormaster's permit…

Mooring, docking, or anchoring a boat anywhere in Boston's city waterways, other than a transient boat staying 14 days…

In Fall River, Massachusetts, floats and docks placed in city waters need their own permit from the Harbormaster…

Boston Code § 7-2.3(C) directs police officers, Transportation Department staff and Air Pollution Control Commission…

Leominster bars leaving a car, motorcycle, truck or vehicle-mounted refrigeration unit running for more than five…

New Bedford outlaws letting any parked motor vehicle idle for more than ten consecutive minutes. Emergency vehicles…

Cambridge doesn't write its own idling clock into the General Code: state law already caps unnecessary engine idling at…

Brockton's Floodplain District overlay covers every FEMA Zone A and AE parcel on the Plymouth County Flood Insurance…

Quincy, Massachusetts requires a Board of Appeals special permit for development in its Floodplain Overlay District…

Somerville regulates the FP overlay district covering all Zone AE special flood hazard areas on the FEMA Flood…

Springfield, Massachusetts requires a Board of Appeals special permit for any construction in its Floodplain Overlay…

Any construction, filling, grading, mining or paving inside Taunton's Floodplain Overlay District needs a City permit…

In Boston's Coastal Flood Resilience Overlay District, new and substantially rehabilitated buildings must set their…

Cambridge builds to its own forward-looking flood standard instead of just FEMA's historical base flood elevation. The…

Chelsea's zoning code overlays a Floodplain Overlay District (FOD) on every FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in…

In Lawrence's zone A and AE floodplain areas, new residential construction and substantial improvements must have the…

Lynn requires base flood elevation data for any subdivision or development in the Floodplain Overlay District larger…

In New Bedford's unnumbered A flood zones, subdivisions or developments larger than 50 lots or 5 acres, whichever is…

Revere does not set its own freeboard number: the actual elevation standard for new construction comes from the state…