21.188 Municipal Guide to Licensing Requirements for USTs
A GUIDE FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS ON LICENSING THE
STORAGE OF FLAMMABLES, COMBUSTIBLE and EXPLOSIVES
Licenses, Registrations and Permits
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to fire departments, local licensing authorities, and municipal
clerks on licenses, registrations and permits for the storage of flammable, combustible, or explosive materials in
accordance with Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 148 and the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations,
Code of Massachusetts Regulation (CMR), 527 CMR 1.00 Table 1.12.8.50.
A license is the permission by competent authority to do an act which, without such permission, would
be unlawful, a trespass, or a tort. A storage license is applied for and granted by the local licensing
authority. The license is granted to the land and not to an individual. Only one license may be issued
to a parcel of land. This license may be amended to reflect changes in quantity, conditions or
restrictions. The license may be revoked or suspended for cause by the issuing authority. Information
pertaining to the license and the license shall be maintained by the city or town clerk.
A registration is the acknowledgement by competent authority of the act of recording a formal or official
record. A storage registration is filed annually with the local city or town clerk. The registration serves
solely to notify the community of the present license holders name and address. Only one registration
may be granted for each license. Records of registration shall be maintained by the city or town clerk.
A permit is a written authority or warrant, issued by a person in authority, empowering a person to do
some act not forbidden by law but not allowable without such grant of authority. The law allows certain
small quantities of flammable and combustibles to be kept or stored on the land without a license, but
with a permit granted by the head of the fire department. 527 CMR 1.00 Table 1.12.8.50 requires a
permit in addition to the license.
The following are definitions related to the terms “flammable or combustible”. 1
Combustible liquid: Any liquid having a flash point at or above 100°F shall be known as a Class II or Class
III Liquid. Combustible liquids shall be divided into the following classifications:
Class II: Liquids having flash points at or above 100° and below 140°F.
Class IIIA: Liquids having a flash point at or above 140°F and below 200°F.
Class IIIB: Liquids having a flash point at or above 200°F.
Flammable Liquids: Any liquid having a flash point below 100° F and having a vapor pressure not
exceeding 40 psia at 100°F. Flammable liquids shall be known as Class I liquids and shall be divided into
the following classifications.
Class IA: Liquids having flash points below 73°F and having a boiling point below 100°F.
Class IB: Liquids having flash points below 73°F and having a boiling point at or above 100°F.
Class IC: Liquids having flash points at or above 73°F and below 100°F.
The authority for the keeping and storage of flammables, combustibles, and explosives, is section 13, of Chapter
148, M.G.L. This General Law is rather lengthy; this document references only the relevant sections. In order to
apply for a new license or to change the conditions or restrictions of an existing license, the applicant must apply for
approval or disapproval from the head of the local fire department. Whether the local fire official approves or
disapproves the application, the next step is a public hearing on the application. Not less than seven days prior to a
public hearing it must be advertised in a newspaper published in the English language. At the applicants expense,
all abutters and owners of real estate must be notified by registered mail not less than seven days prior to the
hearing at which the licensing authority acts on the license application.
A licensing authority may prescribe conditions or restrictions to a license.
Any such license granted hereunder shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be
prescribed in the license by the local licensing authority, which may include a condition that the license be
exercised to such extent and within such period as may be fixed by such authority. 2
A certificate of registration must be filed annually on or before April thirtieth by the owner/occupant of the land who
holds (exercises) the license. This informs the licensing authority that the license is still being exercised, and the
name of the person or entity exercising the license.
The Board of Fire Prevention Regulations has been granted the authority to exempt certain quantities of the articles
(flammables, combustibles, and explosives), articulated in section 9 of Chapter 148, from licensing, and
registration.3 These exemptions may be found in the relevant sections of 527 CMR 1.00 governing the articles to be
stored.
Every license granted, and every certificate of registration filed under Section 13, is deemed to be granted or filed
upon condition that if the land described in the license ceases to be used for the aforementioned uses, the holder of
the license shall within three weeks after such cessation eliminate, in accordance with rules and regulations of the
board, all hazardous conditions incident to cessation. 4
Abandoned, as used here, means any tank and piping without use, either filling or draw off for a continuous period:
(1) Any tank <10,000 gallons for a continuous period in excess of 12 months.
(2) Any above ground storage tank > 10,000 gallons for a continuous period in excess of 60 months and in
compliance with 502 CMR 5: Permit Requirements and Annual Inspection of Above Ground Storage
Tanks or Containers of More than Ten Thousand Gallons’ Capacity.
If it is determined that a fire or explosion hazard exists or is likely to exist as the result of the continued exercise of a
license, the local fire chief may issue a cease and desist order.
The fire chief shall order reasonable measures to protect the safety of the public from the hazards of a fire or
explosion. Any measures so ordered are at the expense of the license holder.
“When a fire or explosion hazard exists or is liable to exist due to the exercise of such license, the marshal
or head of the fire department, shall issue an order to the licensee to cease and desist in the exercise of
such license and said marshal or said head of the fire department shall direct that reasonable measures to
insure safety to the public be undertaken at the expense of the holder of such license. “5
The first paragraph of section 13, Chapter 148, speaks of certain articles named in section 9 of Chapter 148, that
are subject to regulation. Section 9, names the articles subject to regulation by license or permit.
“The board shall make rules and regulations for the keeping, storing, use, manufacture, sale, handling,
transportation or other disposition of gunpowder, dynamite, crude petroleum or any of its products, or
explosive or inflammable fluids or compounds, tablets, torpedoes or any explosives of a like nature, or any
other explosives, fireworks, firecrackers, or any substance having such properties that it may
spontaneously, or acting under the influence of any contiguous substance, or of any chemical or physical
agency, ignite, or inflame or generate inflammable or explosive vapors or gases to a dangerous extent, and
may prescribe the location, materials and construction of buildings to be used for any of the said purposes.
Such rules and regulations shall require persons keeping, storing, using, selling, manufacturing, handling or
transporting dynamite or other high explosives to make reports to the department in such particulars and in
such detail that the quantity and location thereof will always be a matter of authentic record in the
department…”6
The first paragraph of section 9 of Chapter 148, states that the Board of Fire Prevention Regulations shall make
rules and regulations for the keeping, storing, use, manufacture, sale, handling, transportation or other disposition of
the articles name. The Board has made these Rules and Regulations with the Code of Massachusetts Regulations
527 CMR 1.00. These regulations allow the storage of certain quantities of materials to stored without a license, but
subject to permit issued by the head of the fire department.
Regulation 527 CMR 1.00 Section 1.12.8.50.1, requires a permit for the storage of any flammable fluid, solid or
gas. This permit is to be obtained from the head of the fire department, as provided by M.G.L. c.148, s.10A and
23. The head of the fire department may restrict the quantities to be stored under the permit.
What this means is that a permit in addition to a license, a permit is required from the head of the fire department
for the storage of flammable and combustible fluids. The head of the fire department may reduce the quantity of
product allowed by permit but may not increase the quantity beyond that allowed by the regulation.
Exceptions to the permit process are granted to certain persons for the storage and use of and use of limited
quantities of flammables, combustible. These exemptions may be found in the relevant sections of 527 CMR 1.00
governing the articles to be stored.
Important Points
• A license for the storage of flammable or combustible fluids in quantities in excess of those allowed by
regulation is granted by the local licensing authority after approval or disapproval by the head of the fire
department and after a public hearing. A permit is granted by the head of the fire department.
• A license is not owned by an individual as a personal privilege. A license once exercised is a grant which
runs with the land. The permanent record of a license is to be recorded and maintained by the city or town
clerk.
• A permit from the head of the fire department is required in addition to a license for the storage of materials
regulated under 527 CMR 1.00 Table 1.12.8.50 .
• A certificate of registration is annually filed by the holder or occupant of licensed land to inform the city or
town clerk to record (register) the license as still active and being exercised.
• A city or town may develop its own form for the actual license and registration. The form of the license and
registration must contain, as a minimum, that information contained in Department of Fire Services Fire
Prevention Forms, FP-002, License and FP-005, Registration respectively.
• A license, when exercised, is a grant running with the land. A parcel of land may only have one license for
the storage of flammable or combustible fluids.
• If the conditions, capacities or restrictions authorized by a license are changed, an amended license must
be obtained. A new application must be submitted to the local licensing authority, the head of the local fire
department must approve or disapprove, and a public hearing must be held. If granted, the amended
license supersedes and replaces the old license, and will show the aggregate total capacities allowed
under the grant. The terms and conditions of the new license now prevail. The license must be plainly
posted on the premises.
• A certificate of registration is the vehicle used by the license holder or occupant of licensed land to notify the
city or town town clerk annually, before April thirtieth, that a license is in use and currently being exercised.
If a registration is not applied for and issued, after three weeks, it may be viewed as cessation and cause
for review of the license. A registration must be plainly posted on the premises.
1 527 CMR 1.00: Sections 3.3.165.1, 3.3.165.2 2 Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 148 § 13, Paragraph 3 3 Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 148 § 13, Sentence 2 4 Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 148 § 13, Paragraph 3 5 Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 148 § 13, Paragraph 6 6 Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 148 § 9