SENATE, No. 2379

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

AN ACT RELATIVE TO WATER PROTECTION

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 83 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following new sections:

SECTION 1A. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1 and 3 of chapter 83 of the General Laws to the contrary, any municipality or sewer district adopting this section is  hereby authorized to lay out, construct, maintain and operate a system or systems of common sewers and main drains in public or private ways for that part of its territory as it adjudges necessary to reduce or eliminate the impacts of nutrient enrichment on surface water bodies or sources of drinking water with such connections and other works as may be required for a system or systems of sewerage and drainage, and sewage treatment and disposal. Adoption of this section is subject to majority vote of the municipality and subject further to said municipality having an approved Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan (CWMP), as defined by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

SECTION 1B. At the commencement of operation of the municipalities’ sewer system authorized by section 1A of chapter 83 of the General Laws, the owner of land abutting upon a private or public way in which a common sewer has been laid shall be required by the board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers to connect such land with a common sewer only if the land in question is within the area(s) identified in the DEP approved CWMP and has been specifically identified in the plan as requiring wastewater collection and treatment for flows in existence on said properties at the time of adoption of this act in order to protect surface waters or drinking water resources from the effects of nutrient enrichment; or the on-site subsurface sewage disposal system serving said land fails to comply with the provisions of 310 CMR 15.000, et seq. and an on-site subsurface sewage disposal system cannot be constructed on the property in compliance with said regulations and an enhanced treatment system under remedial use cannot be designed and constructed to adequately treat sewage from said property; or to service affordable housing constructed pursuant to chapters 40B or 40R of the general laws. The town shall not allow an abutting property owner utilizing an enhanced treatment system under remedial use to opt out of connecting to the sewer system unless the town implements a monitoring and inspection plan approved by the department of environmental protection for such remedial system or systems. Such plan may include the assessment of a reasonable fee by the board of health to implement the monitoring and inspection plan

Notwithstanding any provision of sections 1 and 3 of Chapter 83 to the contrary, owners of land not identified in the CWMP as needing to be connected to the municipal treatment works shall not be permitted to connect to the sewer system. Said plan may be amended from time to time by the board or officer having charge of sewers, after a public hearing conducted to consider such amendment, and upon approval of the department of environmental protection. The board or officer having charge of sewers shall adopt regulations within 120 days after the adoption of this act establishing publication and notification procedures to carry out the purposes of this section.

SECTION 1C. After commencement of operations of the sewer system authorized pursuant to section 1A of chapter 83 of the General Laws, additional connections shall be permitted within the final area of concern by such board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers, subject to available capacity, only upon certification by the board of health that the on-site subsurface sewage disposal system on land abutting upon a private or public way in which a common sewer has been laid cannot comply with the provisions of 310 CMR 15.000, et seq., or in the case of new construction, expansion of an existing structure, a change in use, or increases in flow from said land, such expansion, change in use, or increase in flow does not result in sewage flow in excess of the amount of said regulations flow capacity or actual flow resulting from a legal use of said land, whichever is greater, which existed on the date of adoption of this act as determined by the board of health. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers may at any time permit extensions, new connections or increases in flow to the sewer system, subject to capacity, to serve municipal buildings, public restrooms, or other public service uses, including but not limited to affordable housing constructed pursuant to chapters 40B and 40R of the general laws, as defined by the municipality.

SECTION 1D. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapters 80 and 83 of the General Laws to the contrary, a municipality acting under section 1A of Chapter 83 may make assessments upon owners of land abutting upon a private or public way in which a common sewer has been laid only at the time of actual connection to the common sewer. Nothing herein shall preclude the town from making estimated sewer assessments pursuant to section 15B of said chapter 83. The municipality may make equitable adjustments to the annual charges established pursuant to section 16 of said chapter 83 for the use of common sewers by owners of land who connect under this act for the purpose of insuring an equitable distribution of the total sewer system costs, including assessments and sewer use charges.

SECTION 1E. Every decision by the board or officer having charge of sewers permitting or denying a connection to the sewer system pursuant to sections 1A-1D of chapter 83 of the General Laws shall be made in writing. Any person aggrieved by such a decision may appeal said decision within 30 days of issuance pursuant to the provisions of section 14 of chapter 30A.

SECTION 1F. In carrying out the provisions of sections 1A-1E  of chapter 83 of the General Laws, a municipality shall not discriminate against any person on the grounds of race, color, marital status, physical disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ancestry or national origin in any manner prohibited by the laws of the United States, the commonwealth.

SECTION 1G. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, a municipality with a Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan under review or approved by the Department of Environmental Protection is hereby authorized to establish and maintain a separate account into which it may collect and deposit and expend funds from property owners for the difference in cost between a conventional subsurface wastewater disposal system as required in 310 CMR 15.00, et seq, and the cost of a subsurface wastewater disposal system designed to reduce the nitrogen discharge from said system as long as the property in question is identified in the CWMP as being a priority for the installation of a wastewater collection and treatment system for the purposes of reducing the impacts of excessive nitrogen on marine waters and drinking water supplies. Funds from this account may be used only for the purpose of the construction, maintenance and operation of said wastewater treatment and collection works and shall be applied to toward the costs of connection and or betterment assessed to the property(s) in question.

SECTION 1H. Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter 44, section 7, a municipality or sewer district adopting the provisions of Section 1A is authorized to borrow and assess betterments for a term not to exceed 50 years or the useful life as approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, whichever is shorter, for the construction its wastewater treatment systems and conveyances determined; and provided further that short term borrowing may extend for a period not to exceed 5 years.

SECTION 2. Section 6 of chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “2 per cent”, in line 34, the following words:-

, but all permanent loans and other forms of financial assistance made by the trust to finance the costs of certain water pollution abatement projects on the department’s intended use plan for calendar year 2009 and any subsequent calendar year up to and including 2019, that meet the criteria listed below shall provide for a subsidy or other assistance in the payment of debt service such that the loans and other forms of financial assistance shall be the financial equivalent of a loan made at a zero rate of interest, and  the costs of water pollution abatement projects on an intended use plan that are eligible for a permanent loan or other financial assistance from the trust at the financial equivalent of a loan made at a zero rate of interest shall not exceed 35 per cent of the total costs of all water pollution abatement projects on the intended use plan. Projects that meet the following criteria, as verified by the Department of Environmental Protection, are eligible for the zero rate of interest loans:

1. The project is primarily intended to remediate or prevent nutrient enrichment of a surface water body or a source of water supply;
2. The applicant is not currently subject, due a violation of a nutrient-related Total Maximum Daily Load standard or other nutrient based standard, to a Department of Environmental Protection enforcement order, Administrative Consent Order or Unilateral Administrative Order, enforcement action by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or subject to a state or federal court order relative to the proposed project;
3. The applicant has a Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan approved pursuant to regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection.
4. The project has been deemed consistent with the regional water resources management plans if one exists.
5. The applicant has adopted land use controls, subject to the review and approval of the Department of Environmental Protection in consultation with the Department of Housing and Economic Development and, where applicable any regional land use regulatory entity, intended to limit wastewater flows to the amount authorized under zoning and wastewater regulations as of the date of the approval of the CWMP.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage.