Sale, Transfer of Property Interest, or Change in Use of Water Supply Land

(1) No supplier of water may sell, lease, assign, or otherwise dispose of, or change the use of, any lands used for water supply purposes without the prior written approval of the Department. The Department will not approve any such disposition or change in use unless the supplier of water demonstrates to the Department's satisfaction that such action will have no significant adverse impact upon the supplier of water's present and future ability to provide continuous adequate service to consumers under routine and emergency operating conditions, including emergencies concerning the contamination of sources of supply, failure of the distribution system and shortage of supply. (2) Land Transfers Any sale, transfer of property interest or change in use of land acquired for water supply purposes may also require approval by a b vote of the Legislature, in addition to Department approval. (Massachusetts Constitution Amend. Art. XCVII, Section 243) 22.23: continued (3) Easements The Department will not approve any grant of easement for pipelines, or other conduit, carrying liquid petroleum products within the Zone I of a PWS. For other public utility easements within Zone I, the Department may require as a condition of any grant of such easement an express perpetual prohibition on the use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and other non-mechanical means of vegetation control within the area subject to the easement. (4) The owner/operator of any public water system shall notify the Department in writing at least 30 days in advance of any: (a) proposed sale, change of system ownership, or transfer of the system; and/or (b) changes that impact the classification of the system. Changes in system classification are subject to Department review and approval. For non-community systems, changes that impact the classification include changes in the type of facilities, service connections, population served or operating hours that may result in a change of transient use to non-transient use, or non-community use to community use according to the definition of a public water system pursuant to 310 CMR 22.02 and the Guidelines and Policies for Public Water Systems.