Section 49B. The department shall remove or cause to be removed any wharf or pier located in the tide waters or tide lands of the commonwealth, which in the opinion of the department is dilapidated, unsafe, a menace to navigation or is a source of floating debris that is, or is liable to become, a menace to navigation.
If the owner of record of such wharf or pier is known to the department, the department shall give such owner written notice to remove such wharf or pier within a reasonable time therein specified. Such notice shall be deemed sufficient if delivered to the owner in hand, if left at his usual place of business or abode or if sent by certified mail to his last known post office address.
If such wharf or pier is not removed in a manner satisfactory to the department within the time specified in such notice, the department may revoke forthwith any license or authority applicable to such wharf or pier issued or granted under the provisions of sections fourteen through eighteen, inclusive. If such wharf or pier is not removed in a manner satisfactory to the department within the time specified in such notice, or if the department has been unable to make sufficient service of such notice, the department shall remove, complete that removal or cause to be removed such wharf or pier. The owner of such wharf or pier shall be liable to the commonwealth for the costs and expenses for such removals, and the sum so received shall be credited to the Harbors and Inland Waters Maintenance Fund established by section ten B. If the owner fails to reimburse the commonwealth within thirty days of such removal, the department, in the name of the commonwealth, may take a lien on any real property held by the owner of said wharf or pier. The commonwealth shall place on record in the proper registry of deeds or registry district of the land court, as the case may be, an instrument in writing and under seal executed in common form and acknowledged in the same manner as deeds for real property creating a lien upon such real estate for the amount of the costs and expenses of such removal. The instrument shall be recorded or registered without fee. Such lien shall be enforceable by a petition or bill in equity filed by the attorney general in the superior court or in the probate court for the county wherein the real estate is situated. The subpoena shall be returnable not more than thirty days subsequent to the entry of the bill and shall contain a brief description of the property, sufficient to identify it, and a statement of the amount alleged to be due. Upon reimbursement for the amount due under the terms of such lien, the attorney general shall execute and deliver a satisfaction thereof, and, upon its being recorded or registered, the lien shall be dissolved as of the date of such recordation or registration.
The department may make application to the government of the United States for reimbursement of any amounts expended under any provision of this section.
Structure Massachusetts General Laws
Part I - Administration of the Government
Title XIV - Public Ways and Works
Section 2 - Duties of Public Works Department Relative to Commonwealth Lands
Section 3 - Powers as to Boston Harbor
Section 4 - Improvement of Boston Harbor; Access to Piers, Railroads, Etc.
Section 5 - Power to Take or Purchase Real Property
Section 6 - Power to Lease Piers, etc.; Port of Boston Fund
Section 7 - Piers, etc.; Freight Loading Equipment; Rules and Regulations
Section 8 - Acquisition of Apple Island and Shore Lands
Section 9 - Utilization Plans for Acquired Property
Section 10 - Powers and Duties Relative to Harbors, Etc.
Section 10c - Docking of Commercial Vessels; Permits; Applications; Appeal
Section 10d - Scuba Divers and Skin Divers; Access to Commonwealth Tidelands
Section 11 - Improvement and Preservation of Rivers, Streams, Harbors, Etc.
Section 12 - License for Structures in Connecticut, Westfield and Merrimack Rivers
Section 13 - Licenses for Booms in Connecticut River and Structures in Great Ponds
Section 15 - Revocation and Expiration of Authority or License; Exception; Mortgageable Interest
Section 16 - Cessation, Determination of Authority or License for Non-Use
Section 17 - Construction of Licenses; Approval
Section 18 - Application for License; Notice; Hearings; Records
Section 18a - Public Access to Great Ponds; Petition
Section 19 - Restriction on Structures in Great Ponds
Section 19a - Lowering Waters of Great Ponds; Penalty
Section 20 - Supervision by Department of Erections Under Legislative Grants
Section 21 - Compensation for Displacement of Tidewater
Section 22 - Compensation When Title to Land Is in Commonwealth
Section 23 - Unauthorized Work in Public Waters; Public Nuisances
Section 24 - Money Paid Into General Fund
Section 25 - Supervision of Province Lands
Section 26 - Exemption of Portion of Province Lands From Certain Provisions of Law
Section 27 - Bounds of Province Lands; Regulations
Section 28 - Unlawful Existing Structures
Section 30 - Removal of Gravel, Sand, Stones, Etc. From Beaches; Notice; Penalty
Section 31 - Surveys and Improvements for Preservation of Harbors
Section 32 - Survey of Connecticut River
Section 33 - Improvement of Topographical Survey of Commonwealth; Sale of Maps
Section 34 - Establishment of Harbor Lines
Section 35 - Great Ponds; Definition
Section 36 - Applications to Congress for Appropriations for Harbors
Section 37 - Enforcement of Stipulations in Deeds From Commonwealth
Section 38 - Definitions Applicable to Secs. 38 to 48
Section 39 - Willful Abandonment of Vessel on Public Lands or Shores of the Commonwealth
Section 41 - Failure of Owner or Lienholder to Claim Vessel; Application for Title by Claimant
Section 42 - Granting of Title to Claimant
Section 43 - Removal, Destruction or Sale of Vessel by Claimant After Receipt of Title
Section 43a - Removal of Obstructing Vessel by Department; Department as Claimant
Section 43b - Penalty for Willful Abandonment of Vessel; Exceptions
Section 43c - Fraudulent Claim to Abandoned Vessel; Penalty
Section 43d - Rules and Regulations Relating to Secs. 38 to 43c
Section 44 - Liability of Insurer
Section 45 - Application to Federal Government for Reimbursement
Section 46 - License for Breaking Up and Disposing of Floating Structures
Section 46a - Violations of Sec. 46; Penalty
Section 47 - Application for License; Issuance; Conditions; Bond
Section 48 - Failure to Comply With Terms of License; Completion of Work by Department
Section 49a - Removal of Whales or Other Mammals From Tidewaters
Section 51 - Impairment of Right or Authority Derived From Federal Government
Section 54 - Dumping; Notice; Inspector; Cost of Supervision
Section 55 - Penalty for Violating Secs. 52 to 54
Section 56 - Application of Secs. 52 to 55 to Federal Government and Its Agents
Section 57 - Jurisdiction of Supreme Judicial Court
Section 58 - Arrest Without Warrant
Section 59a - Tort Liability for Discharge or Deposit of Crude Petroleum or Products; Double Damages