Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 111, § 126

If the city council of a city, or a town having a population of more than one thousand, accepts this section, or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, no privy vault shall be constructed upon premises connected with a common or private sewer or abutting on a public or private street, court or passageway in which there is a common sewer opposite thereto, without permission in writing having first been obtained from the board of health. And if, in the opinion of said board, a privy vault so situated is injurious to the public health, it shall declare the same a nuisance and forbid its continuance, and the three preceding sections shall apply thereto.