Title 5 Amendments / Health Regulation Changes

Bulletin from MassDEP June 21, 2023:

If you have any questions, please reach out to one of the points of contact below:

Title 5 Hotline at 617-292-5673, or send an email to DEP.Title5@mass.gov

MassDEP will be filing the final Watershed Permit Regulations, 314 CMR 21.00, and Title 5 Natural Resource Nitrogen Sensitive Area Regulations (“NSA”), 310 CMR 15.214 and 15.215, with the Secretary of the Commonwealth this Thursday, June 22, 2023. These regulations will become effective on July 7, 2023.

MassDEP carefully considered input from over 1,000 public comments, 5 public hearings, 4 information sessions, and more than 45 meetings with municipalities and regional groups and made a number of revisions that have been incorporated into the final regulations. The regulations only address watersheds on Cape Cod. Watersheds on Cape Cod with an EPA-approved TMDL will be automatically designated as NSAs upon the effective date. MassDEP will continue to work with communities on the South Coast and the Islands to plan for and address nutrient pollution to embayments and estuaries and to consider appropriate steps to ensure timely action is taken to address water quality issues.

The two-year period following NSA designation is the Notice of Intent and Application Period for communities. The five-year upgrade requirement for existing Title 5 systems does not begin until the end of that two-year period; for new construction, the requirement for installing the Best Available Nitrogen Reducing Technology begins six months after the NSA designation. The enhanced treatment requirements for both existing systems and new construction will be suspended for designated watershed areas upon the timely filing of a Notice of Intent or an application for a Watershed Permit or De Minimis Nitrogen Load Exemption by the affected municipality or municipalities with the Department.

MassDEP is making the regulations and supporting materials available on our website ahead of filing and publication with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, as we know there is a great deal of interest from the stakeholders impacted by the regulations:
https://www.mass.gov/regulations/310-CMR-15000-septic-systems-title-5
and
https://www.mass.gov/regulations/314-CMR-2100-watershed-permit-regulation

The website includes a Response to Comments document and other documents explaining changes made to the draft regulations in response to the many helpful comments. Those changes include several that are intended to facilitate issuance of a Watershed Permit.