Massachusetts has announced new regulations which require wastewater treatment plant permitees to notify the public whenever a plant discharges untreated or partially treated wastewater into the Commonwealth’s surface waters. The new rules aim to ensure that the public has the most up-to-date information on water quality.
“Our Administration continues to take significant steps to implement these new public notification regulations to ensure both greater transparency and awareness of when discharges into local waterbodies occur,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Importantly, Massachusetts residents will now know in a timely fashion when water quality is impacted and potentially unsafe to use, providing the Commonwealth with an important tool to protect public health.”
Notifications must be issued within two hours of the discovery of the discharge to specific local, state, and federal government agencies, as well as to any individual who has subscribed to receive such notifications. The regulations also require notifications to be sent to the two largest news organizations that report on local news in nearby communities and be published on permittees’ websites. Follow-up reporting to MassDEP will be required monthly.
Permittees with combined sewer overflows (CSOs) will also be required to maintain signage at public access points affected by CSO discharges. Furthermore, the regulations will also require municipal boards of health or health departments to issue public health warnings and post signage under certain circumstances.
“With aging infrastructure, discharges of untreated and partially treated sewage into the Commonwealth’s waterways continues to be a significant challenge for many of the state’s cities and towns,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “With these new regulations, public awareness will be further raised as we work with our local partners to address infrastructure improvements.”
MassDEP kicked off the regulation development process with stakeholder meetings in April 2021. The draft regulations went out for public comment in early October 2021, with two public hearings held in late October. The final regulations benefitted from extensive public comments from watershed advocacy organizations, municipal wastewater officials, and municipal health officials.
