Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 114, § 34

Except in the case of the erection or use of a tomb on private land for the exclusive use of the family of the owner, no land, other than that already so used or appropriated, shall be used for burial, unless by permission of the town or of the mayor and aldermen of the city in which the same lies; but no such permission shall be given until the location of the lands intended for such use has been approved in writing by the board of health of the town where the lands are situated after notice to all persons interested and a hearing; and the board of health, upon approval of the use of any lands either for new cemeteries or for the extension of existing cemeteries, shall include in the records of the said board a description of such lands sufficient for their identification. For every interment in violation of this section in a town in which the notice prescribed in section thirty-seven has been given, the owner of the land so used shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars.