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Nantucket Board of Health receives MAHB training on local public‑health authority, nuisance enforcement
Summary
MAHB trainers told the Nantucket Board of Health that Massachusetts law generally empowers local boards under chapter 111 to regulate public health, including nuisance and noise cases, and described practical enforcement tools — from cease‑and‑desist orders to municipal abatement — while stressing compliance over punishment.
Cheryl Sabara, executive director and senior staff attorney for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, told the Nantucket Board of Health in a Jan. 8 training that federal law sets minimums but Massachusetts delegates broad public‑health authority to local boards under chapter 111.
Sabara said courts give deference to locally adopted health regulations and will overturn a board decision only if it is arbitrary or capricious. She illustrated that standard with recent cases — including an appeals path in which a Yarmouth board’s action against a retailer over a…
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