Solid waste disposal facilities; financing authorities; organization; consolidation and dissolution; bonds; contracts; production and sale of steam as a by-product; applicable laws; government grants or loans
M.G.L. c. 40D, § 21
in effectc. 40D, § 21. Solid waste disposal facilities; financing authorities; organization; consolidation and dissolution; bonds; contracts; production and sale of steam as a by-product; applicable laws; government grants or loans
Section 21. (a) A municipality acting by and through an authority may finance solid waste disposal facilities in the same manner provided by this chapter for industrial development facilities, except as otherwise hereinafter provided.
(b) A city or town, acting in the manner specified in section two, may by vote declare that an authority is needed therein for the financing of solid waste disposal facilities under this chapter but shall not be empowered to so finance said solid waste disposal facilities, except as an incident to industrial development facilities, unless such declaration is made. Such vote shall be made separately from a vote declaring that an authority is needed to finance industrial development facilities, except such as constitute or are incidental to said solid waste disposal facilities. Such declarations may be made successively but only one authority shall be organized under this chapter in any city or town except as otherwise provided with respect to consolidated authorities.
(c) A certificate of organization issued by the state secretary shall indicate whether the authority has solid waste disposal powers or industrial development powers or both. When a new power is added by city or town action under this chapter, an amended certificate of organization shall be issued accordingly. Certificates of organization so issued by the state secretary shall be conclusive evidence that the authority has solid waste disposal powers or industrial development powers, or both, as set forth therein.
(d) A vote to consolidate authorities taken prior to the adoption of this section shall not be deemed to include the function of financing solid waste disposal facilities. A vote taken thereafter to so consolidate may include said function of financing solid waste disposal facilities or industrial development facilities, or both. If said vote does not specify the function or functions, it shall be taken to refer only to the financing of industrial development facilities.
(e) Dissolution proceedings in the manner provided for in section two shall apply to authorities having functions relative to solid waste disposal facilities or to industrial development facilities, or both.
(f) The requirements of clauses (e), (g) and (k) of subsection (2) of section twelve shall not apply to solid waste disposal facilities projects. It shall be necessary, however, that the state industrial finance board find, after consultation with the departments of natural resources and highways, that a substantial public benefit will result from the project and that the proposed facilities are consistent with state plans for the conservation of the natural resources of the commonwealth and with plans of the department of highways for the construction of such solid waste disposal facilities.
(g) All cities, towns and other public agencies and private parties are authorized from time to time to contract with users or operators of solid waste disposal facilities established or to be established under the provisions of this section for the disposal of refuse, garbage and waste or for the purchase or use of by-products or residue resulting from the operation of such facilities. Such contracts may be for such periods as agreed upon by the parties and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may include provisions for the delivery of minimum amounts of refuse, garbage and waste and payments for the use of the facilities to be based thereon; provided, however, that such provisions do not result in the imposition of a contract penalty for municipal participation in a commonwealth approved program of residential source separation of recyclable materials, for unit prices, which may be graduated, and for adjustments thereof. Such contracts may also include provisions for the payment or performance of obligations imposed on cities, towns or other public agencies notwithstanding the interruption, curtailment or abandonment of construction or operation of the facilities; provided, however, that it shall be contrary to public policy to enforce such obligations against a city, town or other public agency unless notice of an operating permit granted approval by the department of environmental protection for the facility shall have been recorded as provided in section one hundred and fifty A of chapter one hundred and eleven, and the interruption, curtailment or abandonment is attributable to circumstances which are beyond the control of the contractor or operator of the facilities and which render it physically or commercially impracticable or legally impermissible to operate the facilities even if the facilities conformed to the operating plans and specifications for which said operating permit was recorded. Such payments, unit prices or adjustments need not be specifically stated in said contract but may be determined by formulae if set forth therein. Such contracts may include provisions for arbitration and reasonable restrictions against other disposal by cities, towns, or other public agencies of the substances covered thereby while the contract is in force and disposal under the contract is practicable. In the case of a city or town, such contracts may be entered into by officers acting under the authority of the city council of a city or the town meeting in the case of a town, which authorization may be general. The obligations represented by the payments to be made in such a contract shall not be included in any determination of the borrowing capacity of such city or town under any limitation on its indebtedness. Such a contract shall not be subject to section four of chapter forty and shall not be precluded by the acceptance of section nine A of chapter ninety-two. To the extent of uncommitted capacity, any municipality shall be entitled to contract with a user or an operator of solid waste disposal facilities established or to be established hereunder.
(h) The establishment and operation of solid waste disposal facilities hereunder shall be subject to applicable laws except as otherwise provided herein. Reasonable requirements may be imposed thereon by proceedings or regulations pursuant to section one hundred and fifty–A of chapter one hundred and eleven but the assignment of a site may not be rescinded, other than on appeal from the original assignment, pursuant to said section or otherwise. In the event that solid waste disposal facilities financed in whole or in part hereunder include or are to include facilities for the production of steam as a by-product, either the financing authority or a corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or other person owning, occupying or operating the facilities shall have the powers granted by section 12 of chapter 158 but the production and sale of the steam and the foregoing grant of powers shall not cause the corporation to be otherwise subject to chapter 158 or excluded from chapter 156 or chapter 156D or cause the corporation to be considered a heat or power company for the purposes of the corporation laws of the commonwealth.
(i) A municipality acting by and through an authority in connection with a project for solid waste disposal facilities financed under this chapter may apply for, accept and use any federal or state grant or loan for such project.
Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40D/Section21Fetched: 10/20/2026