[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:
(a) 
The location of the proposed wastewater disposal system within the watershed to fresh water or marine water resource(s); and
(b) 
The proximity of the proposed wastewater disposal system to fresh water and marine water resources and to sensitive environmental receptors.
(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:
CMR
Code of Massachusetts Regulations.
INNOVATIVE/ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM
Including but not limited to:
A. 
Any system designed to chemically or mechanically aerate, separate or pump the liquid, semisolid or solid constituents in the system; or
B. 
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.
MADEP
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
SHARED SYSTEM
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.