Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIV Chapter 91
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 91, § 1 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:

''Boston harbor'', that part of Boston harbor lying westerly and inside of a line drawn between Point Allerton on the south and the southerly end of Point Shirley on the north.

''Department'', the department of environmental protection; provided, however, that in sections two, two A, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, nine A, ten, eleven, eighteen A, twenty-five, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, twenty-nine A, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, 43A, 43B, 43C, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, forty-nine A and fifty, the word ''Department'' shall mean the department of conservation and recreation.

''Landlocked tidelands'', filled tidelands, which on January 1, 1984 were entirely separated by a public way or interconnected public ways from any flowed tidelands, except for any portion of such filled tidelands that are presently located: (a) within 250 feet of the high water mark of flowed tidelands; or (b) within any designated port area under the Massachusetts coastal zone management program. For the purposes of this definition, a public way may also be a landlocked tideland, except for any portion thereof which is presently within 250 feet of the high water mark of flowed tidelands.

''Structure'' or ''structures'', as used in sections ten, twelve to twenty-two, inclusive, twenty-eight and thirty-four, shall include pipe lines, wires and cables, and all words used in connection with ''structure'' or ''structures'' shall mean and include their appropriate equivalent as applied to pipe lines, wires and cables.

''Tidelands'', present and former submerged lands and tidal flats lying below the mean high water mark.

''Commonwealth tidelands'', tidelands held by the commonwealth in trust for the benefit of the public or held by another party by license or grant of the commonwealth subject to an express or implied condition subsequent that it be used for a public purpose.

''Private tidelands'', tidelands held by a private party subject to an easement of the public for the purposes of navigation and free fishing and fowling and of passing freely over and through the water.

''Secretary,'' the secretary of the executive office of energy and environmental affairs.

''Substantial change in use'', a use for a continuous period of at least one year of ten per cent or more of the surface area of the authorized or licensed premises or structures for a purpose unrelated to the authorized or licensed use or activity.

''Substantial structural alteration'', a change in the dimensions of a principal building or structure which increases by more than ten per cent the height or ground coverage of the building or structure specified in the authorization or license, or an increase by more than ten per cent of the surface area of the fill specified in the authorization or license.

''Water-dependent uses'', those uses and facilities which require direct access to, or location in, marine or tidal waters and which therefore cannot be located inland, including but not limited to: marinas, recreational uses, navigational and commercial fishing and boating facilities, water-based recreational uses, navigation aids, basins, and channels, industrial uses dependent upon waterborne transportation or requiring large volumes of cooling or process water which cannot reasonably be located or operated at an inland site.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13 cases, 1992–2018 · leading case: Com. Wharf East Condo. Assoc. v. Boston Boat Basin, LLC, 106 N.E.3d 1114 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Com. Wharf East Condo. Assoc. v. Boston Boat Basin, LLC, 106 N.E.3d 1114 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 4× “On appeal, Boston Boat presses its attempt to cast off these restrictions on the ground that they impermissibly "limit the use of [its] marina and inn almost exclusively to private clients" and "restrict the public's ability to enjoy Boston Harbor." Boston Boat claims that the…”
Arno v. Commonwealth, 931 N.E.2d 1 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 5× “See G.L. c. 91, § 1; 310 Code Mass. Regs. § 9.”
All. to Protect Nantucket Sound, Inc. v. Energy Facilities Siting Bd., 457 Mass. 663 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 91, § 1. The portions of Lewis Bay and Nantucket Sound within the Commonwealth’s territorial jurisdiction are Commonwealth tidelands.”
Fafard v. Conservation Comm'n of Barnstable, 432 Mass. 194 (Mass. 2000). · cites it 3× “See G. L. c. 91, § 1; 310 Code Mass. Regs. § 9.”
Navy Yard Four Assocs., LLC v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 37 N.E.3d 46 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 91, § 1. Next, the Legislature clarified the meanings of “Commonwealth tidelands” and “[pjrivate tidelands.”
Arizona Ctr. for Law in the Pub. Interest v. Hassell, 837 P.2d 158 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1992). “See Mass.Gen.Laws Ann. ch. 91, §§ 1, 14, 15, 18 (Supp.”
Trio Algarvio, Inc. v. Comm'r of the Dep't of Env't Prot., 795 N.E.2d 1148 (Mass. 2003). “Commonwealth, supra, the Legislature changed the definition of “Commonwealth tidelands” in G. L. c. 91, § 1, to include “tidelands held by the commonwealth in trust for the benefit of the public or held by another party by license or grant of the commonwealth subject to an…”
Com. Wharf East Condo. Assoc. v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 105 N.E.3d 1207 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). “The plaintiff Commercial Wharf East Condominium Association (CWECA) is an association of owners of condominiums located at the landward end of Boston's Commercial Wharf, but seaward of the historic low water mark, in an area constituting "Commonwealth tidelands" under G.”
Higgins v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 835 N.E.2d 610 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “A definition of water-dependent uses was added to G. L. c. 91, § 1, by St. 1983, c. 589, § 21: “those uses and facilities which require direct access to, or location in, marine or tidal waters and which therefore cannot be located inland, including but not limited to: marinas,…”
Trio Algarvio, Inc. v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 778 N.E.2d 529 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 91, § 1, as amended by St. 1983, c.”
Moot v. Golledge, 19 Mass. L. Rptr. 332 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2005). · cites it 3× “91, §2, to refer to DEP despite provision in G.L.c. 91, §1, that limits G.L.c. 91, §2, to department of environmental management); 310 Code Mass.”
Ritchie v. Massachusetts Dep't of Env't Prot., 24 Mass. L. Rptr. 353 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2007). “…or an increase by more than ten percent of the surface area of fill specified in the authorization or license.” G.L.c. 91, §1 and 310 CMR 9 .02.”
Show all 13 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.