Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title II Chapter 21E
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 21E, § 13 (2026)

Liens on property of persons liable; priority; releases

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Section 13. Any liability to the commonwealth under this chapter shall constitute a debt to the commonwealth. Any such debt, together with interest thereon at the rate of twelve percent per annum from the date such debt becomes due, shall constitute a lien on all property owned by persons liable under this chapter when a statement of claim naming such persons is recorded, registered or filed. If a fiduciary, city or town, redevelopment authority, redevelopment agency, community development corporation, economic development and industrial corporation or a secured lender has title to or possession of the property, and if the fiduciary, city or town, redevelopment authority, redevelopment agency, community development corporation, economic development and industrial corporation or secured lender is not a person liable under this chapter when a statement of claim is recorded, registered or filed, such debt, together with interest thereon at the rate of twelve percent per annum from the date such debt becomes due, shall constitute a lien on the property in question when a statement of claim describing such property is duly recorded, registered or filed. If the site described in such statement comprises real property, such lien shall be effective when duly recorded and indexed in the grantor index in the registry of deeds or registered in the registry district of the land court for the county or district wherein the land lies so as to affect its title, and describes the land by metes and bounds or by reference to a recorded or registered plan showing its boundaries. In addition, such lien shall be effective with respect to such other real property owned by such person when notice thereof is duly recorded and indexed in the registry of deeds or registered in the registry district of the land court for the county or district wherein any such other land lies. If the site described in such statement is personal property, whether tangible or intangible, the statement shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of article 9 of chapter 106 as if the debtor were located in the commonwealth under said section 9–307 of said chapter 106. Any such statement shall be sufficient if executed or approved by the commissioner of the department. Any lien recorded, registered or filed pursuant to this section shall have priority over any encumbrance theretofore recorded, registered or filed with respect to any site, other than real property the greater part of which is devoted to single or multi-family housing, described in such statement of claim, but as to other real property shall be subject to encumbrances or other interests recorded, registered or filed prior to the recording, registration or filing of such statement, and as to all other personal property shall be subject to the priority rules of said chapter one hundred and six. Such lien shall continue in force with respect to any particular real or personal property until a release of the lien signed by the commissioner is recorded, registered or filed in the place where the statement of claim as to such property affected by the lien was recorded, registered or filed. In addition to discretionary releases of liens, the commissioner shall forthwith issue such a release in any case where the debt for which such lien attached, together with interest and costs thereon, has been paid or legally abated. If no action to enforce or foreclose the lien is brought by the deadline prescribed in subsection (1) of section eleven A, the lien shall be dissolved after said deadline. This section shall not apply to any property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, any money, fees, charges, revenues or otherwise, owned payable to or by, held in trust by or for, or otherwise owned, operated or managed by the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company established pursuant to chapter seven hundred and seventy-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-five, Massachusetts municipal light departments organized under chapter one hundred and sixty-four or any other special law, or with respect to any property real or personal whatsoever of municipal light departments administered pursuant to chapters forty-four and one hundred and sixty-four A. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the aforesaid Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company and municipal light departments shall use their authority as provided by applicable statutes to assess, contain or remove any such oil or hazardous material release for which they are responsible under this chapter.

The provisions of this section shall apply to any site or vessel which has been the subject of a response action and which is owned or possessed by a fiduciary, city or town, redevelopment authority, redevelopment agency, community development corporation, economic development and industrial corporation or secured lender, except that nothing in this section shall be deemed to allow the commonwealth to take any action otherwise authorized by this section with respect to any property while it is owned or possessed by a secured lender except to (1) record, register or file a lien or release of a lien as provided in this section, (2) in the case of real property, foreclose upon a lien and subsequently sell the property in question in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter two hundred and forty-four, and (3) in the case of personal property, take possession and sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the secured property in accordance with the procedures for the disposition of collateral set forth in part 6 of article 9 of chapter 106. If the property is sold for less than the amount of the lien, a secured lender who meets the requirements of clause (b) of the definition of owner or operator in section two shall not be deemed an owner or operator of the site or vessel in question and shall not be liable to the commonwealth for the deficiency.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2022 · leading case: In Re Microfab, Inc., 105 B.R. 152 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1989).
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In Re Microfab, Inc., 105 B.R. 152 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1989). · cites it 26× “record a lien pursuant to G.L. c. 21E, § 13 against the Debtor’s real property.”
229 Main Street Ltd. P'ship v. Massachusetts Dep't of Env't Prot. (In Re 229 Main Street Ltd. P'ship), 262 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2001). · cites it 7× “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 21E, § 13 (the environmental superlien statute).”
Acme Laundry Co. v. Sec'y of Env't Affairs, 575 N.E.2d 1086 (Mass. 1991). · cites it 7× “G.L.c. 21E, § 13 (1990 ed.). Both sides moved for summary judgment.”
Juniper Dev. Grp. v. Kahn (In Re Hemingway Transp., Inc.), 73 B.R. 494 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1987). · cites it 5× “The Trustee debunks two possible theories upon which count II may be predicated: 1) that the Olympia Avenue property was encumbered by the Massachusetts “Superlien,” see Mass.Gen.Laws ch. 21E, § 13; and 2) that the debtor-in-possession breached warranties with respect to the May…”
In Re Microfab, Inc., 105 B.R. 161 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1989). · cites it 3× “If the Common *164 wealth records a superpriority lien pursuant to G.L. c. 21E, § 13, the Site will also be subject to a lien securing the Debtor’s liability to the Commonwealth under G.”
229 Main Street Ltd. P'ship v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dep't of Env't Prot., 251 B.R. 186 (D. Mass. 2000). · cites it 4× “The sole issue on appeal is whether the Bankruptcy Court correctly held that the post-petition creation and perfection of the environmental superlien by the Commonwealth pursuant to Mass. Gen. L. c. 21E, § 13 is excepted from the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay provision…”
Rood v. Commonwealth Land Title Ins., 936 A.2d 488 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2007). “2d 154 (1987), a landowner alleged that release of hazardous material was a defect in title within the meaning of his title insurance policy and that the Commonwealth’s power to impose a future lien under Mass. Gen. L. ch. 21E, § 13 (1986) rendered his title unmarketable.”
Heaney v. Lamento (In re Whiz Kids Dev., LLC), 576 B.R. 731 (Bankr. D. Mass. 2017). “In its Objection, the Mass-DEP asserted a super-priority lien on the property in the amount of $202,484 pursuant to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 21E § 13, the Massachusetts environmental super-lien statute, for recovery costs, associated with the remediation of a fuel leak originating…”
Chicago Title Ins. v. Kumar, 506 N.E.2d 154 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). “The mere possibility that the Commonwealth may attach a future lien under G. L. c. 21E, § 13, as a result of the release of hazardous material (existing but unknown at the time a title insurance policy is issued) when the Commonwealth has neither expended moneys on the property…”
Nazar v. Allstate Ins. (In Re Veazey), 272 B.R. 486 (Bankr. D. Kan. 2002). “Moreover, any such filed lien is accorded priority status over any other previously filed encumbrance.”
In Re Charles George Land Reclamation Trust, 30 B.R. 918 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1983). “Trustee himself, to become Chapter 7 trustee of the estate is understandable in view of the potentially unlimited and untested liability standards of both the State and Federal Superfund statutes.”
South Shore Bank v. Stewart Title Guar. Co., 688 F. Supp. 803 (D. Mass. 1988). · cites it 2× “2d 154 (1987), a landowner alleged that release of hazardous material was a defect in title within the meaning of his title insurance policy and that the Commonwealth’s power to impose a future lien under Mass.Gen.L. ch. 21E, § 13 (1986) rendered his title unmarketable.”
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