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The committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by petition, Senate, No. 2379 ), relative to water protection, reported, recommending that the same ought to pass, with an amendment substituting a new draft of the same title (Senate, No. 2491). Pamela P. Resor, |
SECTION 1. Section 6 of chapter 29C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 34, after the words “2 per cent”, 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 belowshall 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, 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; and
(2) The applicant is not currently subject, due to a violation of a nutrient-related Total Maximum Daily Load standard or other nutrient-based standard, to a department 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; and
(3) The applicant has a Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan approved pursuant to regulations adopted by the department; and
(4) The project has been deemed consistent with the regional water resources management plans if one exists; and
(5) The applicant has adopted land use controls, subject to the review and approval of the department 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 bylaws and wastewater regulations as of the date of the approval of the CWRMP; and
(6) The applicant has adopted the provisions of section 1A of chapter 83.”
SECTION 2. Chapter 83 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding, after section 1, the following new sections:-
Section 1A. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1 and 3 of this chapter to the contrary, any municipality, sewer district, or commission established pursuant to sections 28 through 36 of chapter 21, 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 public or private 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, district or commission and subject further to said entity having an approved Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan, hereinafter referred to in sections 1A through 1H as the CWRMP, as defined by the department of environmental protection, hereinafter referred to in sections 1A through 1H as the department.
Section 1B. At the commencement of operation of a sewer system authorized by section 1A of this chapter, 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 if and only if:
(1) the land in question is within the area or areas of concern identified in the department approved CWRMP 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
(2) the board of health determines that 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
(3) the connection is necessary to service affordable housing constructed pursuant to chapters 40B or 40R.
The municipality, district or commission 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 said municipality, district or authority implements a monitoring and inspection plan approved by the department 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 provisions of sections 1 and 3 of this chapter to the contrary, owners of land not identified in the CWRMP as needing to be connected to the municipal treatment works shall not be permitted to connect to the sewer system, except as provided for in section 1C. Said CWRMP may be amended from time to time by the board or officer having charge of sewers, after conducting a public hearing to consider said amendment, and upon approval of the department. 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 this chapter, connections not provided for in Section 1B shall be permitted within the final area of concern by such board or officer having charge of the maintenance and repair of sewers, only if:
(1) Said board or office determines that there is available capacity; and
(2) The board of health certifies that either:
(a) 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
(b) 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 flow determined by said regulations, 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.
Section 1D. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapters 80 and this chapter to the contrary, a municipality, sewer district, or commission established pursuant to sections 28 through 36 of chapter 21 acting pursuant to section 1A of this chapter 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 this chapter. The municipality may make equitable adjustments to the annual charges established pursuant to section 16 of this chapter 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 this chapter 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 this chapter, a municipality, sewer district, or commission established pursuant to sections 28 through 36 of chapter 21 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, sewer district, or commission established pursuant to sections 28 through 36 of chapter 21 with a CWRMP under review or approved by the department 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 or phosphorus discharge from said system as long as the property in question is identified in the CWRMP as being a priority for the installation of a wastewater collection and treatment system for the purposes of reducing the impacts of excessive nutrients on surface 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 section 7 of chapter 44, a municipality, sewer district, or commission established pursuant to sections 28 through 36 of chapter 21 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, 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.
