Water Resources Policies & Guidance

Assisting permittees in assessing combined-sewer-overflow impacts and developing control alternatives in compliance with the federal Clean Water Act and the Massachusetts Water Quality Standards.

The CSO Policy describes a hierarchical menu of options within the Surface Water Quality Standards to accommodate the range of situations in which CSOs are found.

Guidance for homeowners and local officials on authorizing emergency work in the event of a sudden or unforeseen emergency.

Pathways to achieving healthy estuaries and recommendations for attaining them, with a focus on nitrogen reduction.

Technical and reference materials and case studies for the Embayment Restoration Guidance.

Covers industrial wastewater, hazardous waste management and other requirements.

A technical guide for individuals involved in the design, construction, and use of small wastewater treatment facilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Guidance for the Department and applicants in applying nutrient-loading parameters to wastewater permitting.

The requirements for providers of and participants in a chemistry proficiency-testing program. Revised June 2020.

The requirements for providers of and participants in a microbiology proficiency-testing program. Revised June 2020.

Policy on the utilization of blended sludge compost (compost mixed with sand, peat, or other materials).

Preventing drinking-water contamination from stored sludge and septage.

Clarifying the allowable use of wastewater-treatment sludge in horticultural operations.

Hydrogeological evaluations for proposed landfill sites define the geology of the site, groundwater flow paths and rates, design characteristics of the landfill liner, and the location of all proposed groundwater protection and monitoring systems.

Requirements for large publicly-owned treatment works seeking to contract out sludge reuse or disposal.

Allowing a single application for land application of sludge or septage to cover multiple sites under the same ownership.

Plan approval application submittal requirements.

Parameters of a sampling and analysis plan for wastewater treatment sludge and septage.

Technical information required for plans and specifications for sludge compost facilities.

Requirements for back-up facilities for wastewater treatment plants that may not be able to dispose of sludge throughout their design life (20 years).

Guidance for homeowners and local officials on authorizing emergency work in the event of a sudden or unforeseen emergency.

This guideline summarizes salt storage prohibition standards around drinking water supplies and current salt storage practices.

This guide will help communities and businesses dispose of plowed snow without harming the environment. The guide includes a link to an interactive map to locate snow disposal sites.

Communities can use these guidelines in performing I/I analyses for sewer system evaluations.

This document provides responses to comments received in response to the 2016 Draft Guidelines. May 2017.

This document provides answers to common questions regarding MassDEP's I/I regulatory requirements and the 2017 Guidelines. May 2017.

This presentation summarizes MassDEP's Infiltration and Inflow regulatory requirements and the 2017 Guidelines. May 2017.

This document summarizes MassDEP's Infiltration and Inflow regulatory requirements and the 2017 guidelines. May 2017.

Information for state agencies and collection system owners, managers, and operators to manage sewerage-collection systems for optimal performance and reduced overall long-term costs.

Guidelines for sewer systems to optimize system performance, enhance program effectiveness, and reduce overall long-term costs.

This document can be used to identify and document capital projects for a public water system.

Best management practices for controlling erosion and sedimentation.

This document is intended to provide a uniform method for demonstrating stormwater technologies and developing quality-assurance plans for certification or verification of performance claims.

This handbook describes how to follow Massachusetts' stormwater regulations.

A detailed explanation of the revisions made in 2008 to the Massachusetts Stormwater Management Standards, reflecting technological and scientific advancements since the Standards were first issued in 1996.

Standardized method to convert stormwater Water Quality Volume to Peak Flow Rate.

This guidance is intended to explain the types of water management planning reports towns and communities can use when approaching their particular wastewater, drinking water and stormwater issues.

How the antidegradation provisions of the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards (314 CMR 4.00) are implemented.

A mixing zone is an area or volume of a waterbody in the immediate vicinity of a discharge where the initial dilution of the discharge occurs.

This policy sets the program’s goals with regard to toxic pollutants, interpret the water quality standards, and explain the use of biotoxicity tests in the permit process.

Descriptions of the various types of UIC Class V wells that require a MassDEP Registration Number.

This fact sheet is intended to help determine when a discharge from a public water system facility is exempt from a Groundwater Discharge Permit and instead requires UIC registration.

This document provides guidelines for the installation of Ground Source Heat Pump wells in Massachusetts.

These guidelines are for people who are proposing to construct a UIC Class V well or have an existing Class V well.

A general description of the UIC regulations, including descriptions of UIC wells and registration requirements.

A guide for assisting municipal officials, consulting engineers, citizens groups, and other interested parties in developing comprehensive wastewater management plans.

This guidance is intended to explain the types of water management planning reports towns and communities can use when approaching their particular wastewater, drinking water and stormwater issues.

Information for Public Water Suppliers regarding the siting of a new source of drinking water or the expansion of an existing source.

This model bylaw/ordinance is intended to help municipalities and water districts implement seasonal water-conservation rules for public and private water supplies.

Wetland hydrology monitoring is required for compliance with the terms of water-withdrawal permits issued under the Water Management Act.

MassDEP's approach to evaluating Water Management Act permits for golf courses.

This policy outlines the regulatory requirements for the withdrawal of saline or brackish water under the Water Management Act regulations.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Commission develops water-needs forecasts for communities seeking increased water withdrawals under the Water Management Act, in order to ensure that water supplies remain adequate. Updated March 2017.

Streamlining the review and approval process for dredged sediments proposed to be reused or disposed at Massachusetts permitted landfills.

This Technical Update limits the area over which sediment concentrations can be averaged for the purpose of evaluating the risk of harm to benthic invertebrates.

Assessment endpoints are specific effects that will be evaluated in a risk-assessment process examining the risk of harm to the environment from exposure to contaminated sediments.

MassDEP recommends that longer-term toxicity tests be conducted at sites to evaluate the potential effects of sediment contamination.

MassDEP recommends an organism-level assessment endpoint for evaluating the risk of harm to benthic invertebrates from exposure to sediment contamination

Sediment screening values are used to evaluate the potential risk of harm to the environment from sediment contamination. This Technical Update revises the Stage I sediment screening criteria for metals except mercury.

A surface water body is functioning as an ecological resource if it is supporting or providing habitat for aquatic organisms or wildlife and it has become integrated into the natural landscape and the local hydrogeologic system.

This Technical Update proposes a minimum area over which sediment contamination would be considered extensive enough to require a site-specific risk assessment or remediation.

On June 24, 2020, EEA Secretary Theoharides declared a Level 2-Significant Drought in the Western, Connecticut River Valley, Central and Northeast Drought Regions. The declaration affects the implementation of the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations during this time period.

MassDEP is evaluating the most recent precipitation-frequency statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with the goal of updating the Wetlands regulations to accommodate the use of newer data in the permitting process.

Guidance for the review of projects proposed to control aquatic-vegetation growth, under provisions of the Wetlands Protection Act.

Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act's (MEPA) guidance for the development and review of airport vegetation removal projects in wetlands to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Guidance for homeowners and local officials on authorizing emergency work in the event of a sudden or unforeseen emergency.

Guidance for beach-nourishment projects to maintain habitat, stability, and ecological health.

Guidance for conservation commissions to manage flooding problems caused by beaver and muskrat activities.

Creating and maintaining vegetated buffers along waterbodies to control pollution, protect habitat and water quality, and benefit the property owner.

Conservation Commissions may use this guidance to evaluate projects proposed in coastal resource areas for their potential to impact the storm damage prevention and flood control interests of the Wetlands Protection Act.

Guidance for dam-removal projects to benefit the ecological health of the waterway.

A revised Handbook (2022) for determining boundaries of vegetated wetlands. This revision replaces the former Handbook released in 1995.

The USACE’s 2020 National Plant list is cited in the revised Handbook.

Use this form to delineate the boundary of a Bordering Vegetated Wetland.

These revisions establish requirements for structures in areas particularly vulnerable to damage from coastal storms.

Best management practices for controlling erosion and sedimentation.

Assisting conservation commissions and other municipal officials in protecting wetland resources through effective enforcement of the Wetlands Protection Act.

Provisions of the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations that cover exempt and regulated agricultural activities, the permitting process for regulated activities, and resources for farmers, regulators, and the general public.

This manual is intended to assist conservation commissions in evaluating the hydrologic impacts of proposed activities on wetland function and statutory interests.

The revised Guidelines (2022) increases the effectiveness of wetland replacement to meet performance standards for mitigation projects.

Guidance to identify important wildlife habitat in wetlands and ways to protect it while evaluating proposed projects in wetlands.

Simplified habitat-evaluation form from the Massachusetts Wildlife Habitat Protection Guidance. This form applies when a field evaluation determines that a project will have no adverse effect on the habitat features specified in the form; otherwise the Detailed Habitat Evaluation Form is used.

Detailed habitat-evaluation form from the Massachusetts Wildlife Habitat Protection Guidance, to be submitted when a proposed project triggers habitat-protection provisions in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.

Criteria for maintaining river and stream continuity, to enable environmentally-critical movement of fish and wildlife through river and stream corridors. March 2012.

Guidance to determine if mosquito control work (e.g. application of pesticides) is exempt or requires an Emergency Certification under the Wetlands Protection Act, and whether application of pesticides to a public water source for mosquito control can go forward.