[Adopted 12-18-2001 (Section 15.00 of Part
VIII of the 1991 Codification as updated through 6-1-1996)]
In accordance with the provisions of Chapter
111, § 31 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
310 CMR 15.003(3), and for the protection of the public health, safety
and welfare, the Town of Barnstable Board of Health adopted the following
regulation after a public meeting of the Board of Health on December
18, 2001.
A.
This regulation shall apply to residential and nonresidential
development meeting or exceeding the following criteria:
(1)
Residential development of single-family or multifamily
homes, lots and/or residential dwelling units held or controlled in
common ownership with a Title 5 design flow of 1,650 gallons per day
or more of wastewater; and
(2)
Nonresidential development with a Title 5 wastewater
design flow of 1,650 gallons per day or more, and the expansion or
change of use of existing nonresidential developments that generate
a wastewater design flow above the existing approved design capacity
of the system; and
(3)
In the case of residential condominium developments
with a total wastewater design flow of 1,650 gallons per day or more,
this regulation shall apply in the case of an expansion or change
of use upon a determination by the Board that the existing system
does not protect the public health, safety and welfare, or, upon a
change of ownership or routine inspection if, upon inspection, the
system fails inspection as defined in 310 CMR 15.00.
B.
This regulation shall not apply to lots serviced by
the municipal sewer.
C.
In assessing whether homes, lots and dwelling units
are in common ownership on or after the effective date of this regulation,
the Board of Health shall consider the factors set forth in 310 CMR
15.011, in effect on September 11, 2001.
A.
Consistent with the applicability provisions set forth
above, the Board of Health may require any new development, and the
expansion, alteration or modification or change in use of an existing
development, to utilize an on-site innovative/alternative septic system
or a shared innovative/alternative septic system.
B.
Nitrogen reduction requirement.
(1)
Consistent with the applicability provisions set forth
above, the Board of Health may require the construction, use and maintenance
of a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection approved
innovative/alternative system capable of nitrogen removal for one
or more development(s). In making its determination, the Board of
Health may consider, but is not limited to, the following criteria:
(2)
In cases where flows render additional nitrogen removal
feasible, the Board of Health may require additional nitrogen removal
(i.e. the Board may require use of an innovative/alternative septic
system approved by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
at an effluent discharge limit that does not exceed an effluent concentration
of 10 mg/l or less of total nitrogen).
(3)
The Board of Health may permit the connection of existing
development(s) to a shared innovative/alternative system in order
to further the goals of this regulation.
(4)
Shared system requirement. Consistent with the applicability
provisions set forth above, the Board of Health may require the construction,
use and maintenance of a shared innovative/alternative septic system
for development(s) held in common ownership, as determined by the
Board. The applicant shall have the burden of proving that lots and/or
dwelling units are not held in common ownership. In making its determination,
the Board of Health may consider, but is not limited to, the following
criteria:
(a)
The proximity of the proposed development to
existing and proposed municipal sewer services; and
(b)
The potential for utilizing municipal wastewater
disposal and the amount of time anticipated before municipal services
may be provided; and
(c)
The capacity of municipal wastewater treatment
works, now or in the future, to accept the proposed flows from the
proposed wastewater disposal system; and
(d)
Site design, sensitive environmental resources
on and off site, and proximity of lots to the proposed shared system.
C.
With respect to shared systems, the applicant shall
demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Board of Health that the design
flow from the proposed development does not exceed the design flow
that could have been constructed in compliance with 310 CMR 15.00,
Title 5, without the use of a shared system.
A.
The Board of Health may allow use of innovative/alternative
and shared innovative/alternative systems, subject to conditions,
when it determines, in its sole discretion, the following:
(1)
For innovative/alternative systems:
(a)
The proposed system satisfies all technical
concerns of the Board of Health;
(b)
The applicant provides an acceptable operation
and maintenance plan;
(c)
The applicant provides a copy of an acceptable
contract with an independent monitoring entity;
(d)
For new construction, as defined by 310 CMR
15.00, Title 5, the minimum vertical separation distance of the bottom
of the stone underlying the soil absorption system above the high
groundwater elevation shall be [1] four feet in soils with a recorded
percolation rate of more than two minutes per inch, or [2] five fee
in soils with a recorded percolation rate of two minutes or less per
inch. This calculation must consider an adjustment for maximum high
groundwater conditions as required by Title 5, as well as groundwater
mounding below the leaching facility.
(2)
For shared systems:
(a)
The applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction
of the Board of Health that the design flow from the proposed development
does not exceed the design flow which could have been constructed
in compliance with 310 CMR 15.100 without the use of a shared system;
(b)
The applicant proposes acceptable institutional
arrangements;
(c)
The applicant provides acceptable financial
assurance;
(d)
The applicant provides an acceptable Grant of
Title 5 Covenant and Easement.
B.
No approval of a shared system shall be final prior
to Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection review and
approval.
C.
The Grant of Title 5 Covenant and Easement shall be
recorded and/or registered with the Barnstable County Registry of
Deeds and/or Land Registration Office within 30 days of MADEP final
approval.
D.
The Board of Health may impose any conditions on the
use of innovative/alternative and shared systems that it deems necessary
to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to carry out
the purposes of the Barnstable Local Comprehensive Plan.
A.
The Board Health, its agent or designee may inspect
and sample the innovative/alternative or shared system and/or the
facility served by the innovative/alternative or shared system.
B.
The Board of Health may require the owner or operator
of a shared or innovative/alternative system to cease operation of
the system and/or to take any other action necessary to protect public
health, safety welfare and the environment.
The following definitions shall apply to this
regulation:
Code of Massachusetts Regulations.
Including but not limited to:
Any system designed to chemically or mechanically
aerate, separate or pump the liquid, semisolid or solid constituents
in the system; or
Any system designed specifically to reduce,
convert, or remove nitrogenous compounds, phosphorus, or pathogenic
organisms (including bacteria and viruses) by biological, chemical,
or physical means.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
A system sited and designed in accordance with 310 CMR 15.100
through 15.293 which serves, or is proposed to serve, more than one
facility or more than one dwelling. A system serving a condominium
unit or units is not a shared system.
[Added 5-10-2005]
As allowed under MGL c. 111, § 31,
the Board of Health of the Town of Barnstable hereby requires that
owners and operators of all innovative/alternative sewage treatment
technologies and all systems where the soil absorption system is designed
for pressure distribution of effluent must report the results of all
operation, maintenance, and monitoring activities to the Barnstable
County Department of Health and Environment. Such reporting must
be performed in the manner specified by Barnstable County Department
of Health and Environment and must occur within 30 days after each
maintenance or monitoring event. Further, when a system operator
performs a system inspection and finds that a sewage treatment technology
has malfunctioning components which have compromised the system’s
ability to treat sewage as designed, the operator shall report on
the system’s status and any planned corrective actions to the
Board of Health and Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment
within 48 hours of inspection.
