Section 15.304 - Large Systems which Fail to Protect or which Threaten Public Health and Safety and the Environment(1) A system serving a facility with a design flow of 10,000 gpd or greater but less than 15,000 gpd is failing to protect public health, safety and the environment if any of the conditions identified in 310 CMR 15.303(1) are present, as documented by inspection by an approved System Inspector, or determined by the Local Approving Authority or the Department. Any such system shall be upgraded in accordance with the timeframes of 310 CMR 15.305(1) and the standards of 310 CMR 15.404 and 15.405; provided, that the Department shall be the Approving Authority for all such upgrades.(2) A system serving a facility with a design flow of 10,000 gpd or greater but less than 15,000 gpd is a significant threat to public health, safety and the environment if any of the following conditions are present, as documented by inspection by an approved System Inspector, or as determined by the Local Approving Authority or the Department: (a) the system is located within 400 feet of a surface water supply or within 200 feet of a tributary to a surface water supply; or(b) the system is located within a nitrogen sensitive area as designated pursuant to 310 CMR 15.214;(c) The owner or operator of any such system shall bring the system and the facility into compliance with the groundwater permit program requirements of 314 CMR 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program, including the obligation to obtain a groundwater discharge permit, within the time required by 310 CMR 15.305(2), unless the Department determines after consideration of the factors set forth in 310 CMR 15.304(3) that this requirement would be manifestly unjust, considering all the relevant facts and circumstances of the individual case, and the owner or operator has established that a level of environmental protection that is at least equivalent to that provided by 314 CMR 5.00 can be achieved without strict application of this requirement.(3)(a) In determining whether enforcement of the requirement set forth at 310 CMR 15.304(2) would be manifestly unjust, the Department shall include at a minimum the following considerations:1. The owners of any such system for which permit applications were filed after May 9, 1994, or anywhere new construction occurred after March 31, 1995, shall be deemed to have had knowledge that a groundwater discharge permit would likely be required for such system pursuant to 310 CMR 15.304(2), and to have had a reasonable opportunity to make arrangements to come into compliance within the timeframes of 310 CMR 15.305(2);2. The costs of preparing the demonstrations and implementing control measures required by 310 CMR 15.304 shall be compared to the costs of compliance with the requirement to obtain a groundwater discharge permit; and3. Any other relevant factor.(b) In determining whether the applicant can provide the same degree of environmental protection as required by 310 CMR 15.304(2), the Department shall require at a minimum, the following: 1. inspection reports for the system as required by 310 CMR 15.301;2. an assessment of the groundwater flow at the site, including but not limited to direction and rate of groundwater flow, assessment of saturated flow conditions and concentrations of nitrate and other pollutants associated with the system;3. an assessment of water quality of relevant surface water supply, groundwater supply, or nitrogen sensitive areas;4. a proposed design and engineering plans for upgrade of the system, prepared by a Massachusetts Registered Professional Engineer, that will, at a minimum, a. satisfy the requirements of 310 CMR 15.202 (recirculating sand filter or equivalent alternative technology);b. satisfy the nitrogen loading requirements of 310 CMR 15.215; and c. ensure that the standards applicable to groundwater discharge permits pursuant to 314 CMR 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program are met at the property line and at the point the discharge from the facility reaches any surface water or water supply well.5. a proposed maintenance, monitoring, and reporting plan that will ensure proper functioning of the upgraded system, and detection of any malfunction or failure to attain required discharge quality before discharges from the system leave the property; and6. if size and use of the facility is relevant to the demonstration that an equal level of environmental protection has been provided, appropriate use restrictions shall be granted and recorded in the chain of title for the property served by the system in the Registry of Deeds or Land Registration Office, as applicable, to ensure that such conditions are not changed.(c) An applicant for a determination pursuant to 310 CMR 15.304(3) shall file a request for such determination not less than two years prior to the date by which the owner would otherwise be required to obtain the groundwater discharge permit pursuant to 310 CMR 15.305(2).(d) In making any determination pursuant to 310 CMR 15.304(3), the Department shall impose such conditions as it determines appropriate to ensure protection of public health, safety, welfare and the environment. At a minimum, such conditions shall include upgrade of the system to the standards described in 310 CMR 15.304(3)(b)4., and a maintenance, monitoring and reporting plan as described in 310 CMR 15.304(3)(b)5.(4) Any system serving a facility with a design flow of 10,000 gpd or greater but less than 15,000 gpd shall be upgraded upon the order of the Department or the Local Approving Authority when a specific circumstance exists by which the system threatens public health, safety, welfare or the environment or causes or threatens to cause damage to property or creates a nuisance as determined by the Local Approving Authority or the Department. Where necessary to protect public health, safety, welfare and the environment, the Department or the Local Approving Authority may require the owner to install a recirculating sand filter or equivalent alternative technology in accordance with 310 CMR 15.202 or to obtain a groundwater discharge permit in accordance with 314 CMR 5.00.(5) A cesspool serving a facility with a design flow of 10,000 gpd or greater but less than 15,000 gpd is failing to protect public health, safety, welfare and the environment. The owner of such Facility is required, pursuant to 310 CMR 27.04(4), to notify the Department's Underground Injection Control Program 30 days prior to upgrading the cesspool and to complete the upgrade of the cesspool by April 5, 2005. Amended by Mass Register Issue 1499, eff. 7/7/2023.