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 15.215 - Nitrogen Loading Limitations

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
The necessity of providing increased treatment of pollutants
				  and reduction in nutrients discharged from on-site sewage disposal systems in
				  areas designated as nitrogen sensitive areas warrants the imposition of the
				  following nitrogen loading limitations:
(1)
Public and Private Water
				Supply Protection Areas
. No facility owner for New Construction in
				Nitrogen Sensitive Areas designated in
				310
				CMR 15.214(1)(a)  shall
				install a system designed to receive or allow a system to receive more than 440
				gallons of design flow per day per acre except as set forth in
				310
				CMR 15.202 (use of recirculating sand
				filters),
				310
				CMR 15.216 (aggregate flows) or
				310
				CMR 15.217 (enhanced nitrogen
				removal).
(2)
Natural
				Resource Areas
. Any system serving New Construction or an existing
				facility in a Nitrogen Sensitive Area designated pursuant to
				310
				CMR 15.214(1)(b)  on or
				after July 7, 2023 shall incorporate Best Available Nitrogen Reducing
				Technology, as follows:
(a)
Existing Systems
. The owner of a system serving, or
				approved to serve, an existing facility as of the effective date of the
				Nitrogen Sensitive Area designation shall upgrade the system pursuant to
				310
				CMR 15.401 through
				15.405 to incorporate the
				Best Available Nitrogen Reducing Technology within five years of the date on
				which the Notice of Intent and Application Period ends unless:
1. Except as otherwise provided in
				310
				CMR 15.215(2)(c)4. and
				314
				CMR 21.12(5), a Notice of
				Intent, a Watershed Permit application, or a
De Minimis
Nitrogen Load Exemption application is filed for the area during the Notice of
				Intent and Application Period pursuant to
				310
				CMR 15.215(2)(c),
				314
				CMR 21.03:
Application for a
				Watershed Permit
, or
				314
				CMR 21.12:
De Minimis Nitrogen Load
				Exemption
, respectively; or
2. The Nitrogen Sensitive Area is subject to
				a
De Minimis
Nitrogen Load Exemption and the facility is
				within the area covered by the exemption; or
3. The Nitrogen Sensitive Area is subject to
				a Watershed Permit, the facility is within the area covered by the permit, and:
a. The Watershed Permit to which the Nitrogen
				Sensitive Area is subject specifies that the five-year upgrade requirement has
				been suspended on the basis of permit conditions that ensure at least
				equivalent nitrogen reductions within the schedule included in the Watershed
				Permit; or, for Watershed Permits issued before promulgation of
				314 CMR
				21.00:
Massachusetts Watershed Permit
				Regulations
, the five-year upgrade requirement is suspended for each
				permittee's watershed area, unless and until the permit is revoked or
				terminated, in which case
				310
				CMR 15.215(2)(d)  shall go
				into effect for each system in the watershed area of each permittee to whom the
				revocation or termination is applicable; and
b. The watershed permittee(s) is in
				compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit.