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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 276 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 565
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Julian Cyr
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act preserving public trust rights in land affected by ocean erosion.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Julian CyrCape and Islands 1 of 2
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 276 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 565
By Mr. Cyr, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 565) of Julian Cyr for legislation
relative to preserving public trust rights in land affected by ocean erosion. Environment and
Natural Resources.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 463 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act preserving public trust rights in land affected by ocean erosion.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Section 35 of Chapter 91 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting after the word "commonwealth", in line 4, the following words:-
3 Where sea level rise, storms, or other natural processes have caused the landward or
4lateral movement of a barrier beach into an area which was previously occupied by the bottom of
5any Great Pond, the portion of the barrier beach relocated into the former bottom of the Great
6Pond shall be and remain in public ownership. It being the intent of the foregoing sentence that
7the application thereof to any property not be in violation of either Article 10 of the
8Massachusetts Declaration of Rights or the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States
9Constitution, the foregoing sentence shall not convert ownership of any private property to
10public ownership, and, to the extent that applying the foregoing sentence to any private property 2 of 2
11would have such an effect, the foregoing sentence shall not apply to such private property. As
12used herein, “barrier beach” shall have the meaning ascribed thereto in Section 10.29 of Title
13310 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations or successor regulations. Upon petition of ten
14citizens of the Commonwealth that a dispute exists with respect to the location of the former bed
15of any Great Pond or other facts relevant to this section, the department and the attorney general
16or a representative designated by the attorney general shall hold a public hearing and receive
17such evidence thereon as may be presented to them and otherwise proceed in a manner consistent
18with the procedures set forth in Section 18A of this Chapter.