Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 21d - Massachusetts Hazardous Waste Facility Siting Act
Section 12 - Siting Agreements; Contents

Section 12. No facility shall be constructed, maintained or operated unless a siting agreement shall have been established by the developer and the local assessment committee of a host community pursuant to sections twelve and thirteen and said agreement has been declared to be operative and in full force and effect by the council. After said declaration by the council, a siting agreement shall be a nonassignable contract binding upon the developer and the host community, and enforceable against the parties in any court of competent jurisdiction.
The siting agreement shall specify the terms, conditions and provisions under which the facility shall be constructed, maintained and operated if the developer chooses to construct, maintain and operate a facility on said site, including, but not limited to the following terms, conditions and provisions:
(1) facility construction and maintenance procedures;
(2) operating procedures and practices, the design of the facility and its associated activities;
(3) monitoring procedures, practices and standards necessary to assure and continue to demonstrate that the facility will be operated safely;
(4) the services to be provided the developer by the host community;
(5) the compensation, services, and special benefits that will be provided to the host community by the developer, and the timing and conditions of their provision;
(6) the services and benefits to be provided to the host community by agencies of state government, and the timing and condition of their provision;
(7) any provisions for tax prepayments or accelerated payments, or for payments in lieu of taxes;
(8) provisions for renegotiation of any of the term, conditions of provisions of the siting agreement, or of the entire agreement;
(9) provisions for resolving any disagreements in the construction and interpretation of the siting agreement that may arise between the parties; and
(10) appendices of the compensation to be paid abutting communities established pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen.
The siting agreement may also include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(1) provisions for direct monetary payments from the developer to the host community in addition to payments for taxes and special services and compensation for demonstrable adverse impacts;
(2) provisions to assure the health, safety, comfort, convenience, and social and economic security of the host community and its citizens;
(3) provisions to assure the continuing economic viability of the project; and
(4) provisions to assure the protection of the environment and natural resources.
Any financial benefits received by host communities or abutting communities, other than taxes on real or personal property, shall not be deducted from any amounts of state assistance, reimbursements or distributions provided by general and special laws or under the Local Aid Fund.