Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 15.000 - The State Environmental Code, Title 5: Standard Requirements for the Siting, Construction, Inspection, Upgrade and Expansion of On-site Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems and for the Transport and Disposal of Septage › Subpart C - DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR, AND REPLACEMENT OF ON-SITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS › Section 15.281 - Purpose

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1) Alternative systems, when properly
				designed, constructed, operated and maintained, may provide enhanced protection
				of public health, safety, welfare and the environment. The purposes of
				310
				CMR 15.281 through
				15.288 are: to provide an
				orderly system to facilitate review of proposed alternative systems; to
				encourage development of alternative systems with performance superior to
				conventional systems; and to ensure that alternative systems are approved with
				appropriate conditions to protect public health, safety, welfare and the
				environment.
(2) The provisions of
				310
				CMR 15.281 through
				15.288 shall apply to all
				proposals to construct, upgrade, or replace on-site systems using alternative
				systems.
(3) Any proposed system
				which is designed or constructed in any manner other than as described in
				310
				CMR 15.100 through
				15.262 shall be considered an
				alternative system, unless a groundwater discharge permit is obtained pursuant
				to 314 CMR
				5.00 (groundwater discharge permit program).
				Alternative systems may include substitutes or alternatives for one or more
				components of a conventional system as described in
				310
				CMR 15.100 through
				15.262, or may be
				fundamentally different approaches intended to eliminate the need for a
				conventional system. The use of an alternative system in accordance with
				conditions established pursuant to
				310
				CMR 15.281 through
				15.289 may be authorized
				without a variance. It shall be a violation of
				310 CMR
				15.000 for any person to sell or install an
				alternative system which has not been approved by the Department.
(4) The review processes established in
				310
				CMR 15.280 through
				15.288 are intended to
				provide two different mechanisms for approval of alternative systems. Approval
				for remedial use (310 CMR 15.284) is intended
				to provide a mechanism for system owners to improve existing conditions at
				particular sites (including upgrade or replacement of failed or nonconforming
				systems) through the use of an alternative system. The sequence of approval for
				piloting (310 CMR 15.285), provisional
				approval (310 CMR 15.286), and
				certification for general use (310 CMR 15.288),
				is intended to provide a process through which proponents of an alternative
				system may have that system approved for general usage in the Commonwealth,
				including use for new construction. This sequence is intended to develop
				information on the performance of the alternative system; if adequate
				information from other jurisdictions or from systems in remedial use is
				available, it is unnecessary to proceed separately through all three steps of
				this sequence.