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Title 5 and Watershed Permitting Regulatory Amendments: EXTENSION of Public Comment Period and Additional Public Hearings

Posted on: December 27, 2022 - 11:10am

Public hearings will be held:

Remote Only, January 24, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Register at: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_veLVS545RCqGZhI6tuN2rQ

Remote Only, January 25, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Register at:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Is2pAS_cR_uXvNhhs5r3oQ

Oral comments will be received at the above public hearings in January 2023 and written comments can be submitted via email to dep.talks@mass.gov.  Please put “Title 5 and Watershed Permitting” in the subject line. Written comments may also be submitted by mail and should be sent to MassDEP, Bureau of Water Resources – Division of Watershed Management, 100 Cambridge Street, suite 900, Boston, MA 02114, Attention: Title 5 & Watershed Permit. 

MassDEP also intends to hold two additional information sessions on: January 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. (remote) and January 18, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. (hybrid). More information about how to participate in these sessions will be provided on MassDEP’s website.

MassDEP has proposed these amendments and regulations to enhance protection of embayments and estuaries—particularly on Cape Cod, the Islands, the southern portion of the South Shore and the South Coast in Southeastern Massachusetts—from nitrogen pollution originating primarily from wastewater. The proposed amendments will allow MassDEP to designate new Natural Resource Area Nitrogen Sensitive Areas (NSA) and add nitrogen reduction provisions within these areas for Title 5 systems.  The new Watershed Permit regulations at 314 CMR 21.00 provide a voluntary watershed permitting approach for communities to control nitrogen and other pollutants from entering the embayments and estuaries.

The draft regulations are published on the MassDEP website at: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massdep-public-hearings-comment-opportunities and at: 310 CMR 15.000: Septic Systems ("Title 5") | Mass.gov and 314 CMR 21.00: Watershed Permit Regulations | Mass.gov

Recordings of previously held information sessions and public hearings can also be found here: 310 CMR 15.000: Septic Systems ("Title 5") | Mass.gov