From MassDEP · June 21, 2023
The Healey-Driscoll administration announced final MassDEP regulations meant to reverse decades of nitrogen pollution in Cape Cod’s estuaries, mainly from septic systems. Cape towns have two years to opt into watershed permitting. A watershed permit lasts 20 years and lets a community choose its own mix of solutions, including centralized treatment, aquaculture, innovative/alternative septic systems, permeable reactive barriers and fertilizer reduction; towns with existing Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plans can move them into permits more easily. Where a town does not obtain a permit for a nitrogen-sensitive watershed within two years, new septic systems there must include nitrogen-reducing technology and existing systems must be upgraded within five years. Filing a notice of intent or watershed permit application pauses those requirements.
Compared with the October 2022 draft, the final rules apply only to Cape Cod watersheds, drop a provision for designating watersheds in Southeastern Massachusetts and the Islands, start the five-year upgrade clock only after the two-year opt-in period, and add flexibility to permitting. MassDEP said it held five public hearings and four information sessions and received more than 1,000 comments. The release pointed to funding from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust’s 0 percent loans, the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund, Barnstable County’s AquiFund septic loans and a proposed tax rebate of up to $12,000 for septic upgrades. Waquoit Bay, whose watershed spans Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich, is among the Cape watersheds covered by these rules.
This is CPWB’s summary of an official announcement. The full text is published by MassDEP.
Drafted with AI assistance from the linked source.
