314 CMR 12.03 - Operations of Treatment Works and Sewer Systems

(1) No person shall construct, install, operate, or maintain a wastewater treatment facility, without the written approval of the Department pursuant to applicable provisions of 314 CMR 3.00: Surface Water Discharge Permit Program, 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program, 7.00: Sewer System Extension and Connection Permit Program, 8.00: Supplemental Requirements for Hazardous Waste Management Facilities, and 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.

(2) No person shall make major physical modifications to an existing treatment works, or such modifications as will significantly affect treatment efficiency without the prior written approval of the Department.

(3) No person shall increase the volume or strength or change the characteristics of any discharge in excess of that specified under any existing approval of the Department.

(4) Any person operating a wastewater treatment facility shall comply with 257 CMR 2.00: Certification of Operators of Wastewater Treatment Facilities. Said operating personnel must demonstrate that they are trained and competent to provide services consistent with the equipment's specification, with the operation and maintenance requirements specified by the vendor and the designer, and with any specified by the Department. As appropriate, the operator will receive training from the technology vendor and certification that they are capable of operating the specific technology.

(5) A sewer system authority owning or operating a system of sewers shall prepare and maintain rules and regulations for sewer use that provide for the protection of the treatment works, the wastewater treatment facility, and the receiving waters. The Department may require modification of such rules and regulations as needed to address any violations of any applicable law, regulation or permit. Upon written request, the rules and regulations for sewer use shall be submitted to the Department. The rules and regulations shall be implemented and enforced by the sewer system authority. At a minimum, the rules and regulations must contain the following provisions.

(a) Specific limits necessary for compliance with the provisions of 314 CMR 12.08(1) and (2), including provisions to control discharges of fats, oil, and grease to the sewer system;

(b) Prohibitions against the discharge of groundwater, surface water, stormwater runoff, and subsurface drainage to the sewer system;

(c) Authority to physically access properties connected to the sewer system to ensure compliance with sewer use regulations;

(d) Measures to address non-compliance with sewer use rules and regulations; and

(e) Requirements for a permit or approval from the sewer authority for any new connection to the sewer system, or extension to the system.

(6) All wastes shall receive appropriate treatment as required by 314 CMR 3.00: Surface Water Discharge Permit Program, 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program and 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards.

(7) No person responsible for the operation of treatment works shall permit wastes to bypass the wastewater treatment facility or any portion, unit or part thereof in violation of a discharge permit, except when approved by the Department due to design limitations. If bypassing due to an emergency condition occurs, the Department shall be notified immediately in accordance with 314 CMR 12.03(8). Such notification or its acknowledgement shall not be construed as permission by the Department to discharge wastes in contravention of the Massachusetts Water Quality Standards.

(8) Persons owning or operating a sewer system shall report bypasses and/or overflows as follows:

(a) In the event of an anticipated bypass or sanitary sewer overflow, the owner or operator shall provide notification to the Department on a form approved by the Department, at least ten days prior to the event, if possible.

(b) In the event of an unanticipated bypass or sanitary sewer overflow, as soon as the owner or operator has knowledge of the bypass or sanitary sewer overflow but in no event later than 24 hours after its first occurrence, the owner or operator shall provide notification to the Department, on a form approved by the Department, of such an event.

(c) Within five days of either 314 CMR 12.03(8)(a) or (b), the owner or operator shall provide the following information to the Department, on a form approved by the Department: All the activities that led up to the event; steps taken to minimize the impact of the event on public health, safety and the environment; and, steps taken to prevent such an event from happening in the future.

(9) The Department may require that all valved waste bypass lines or outfalls which discharge to the waters of the Commonwealth have a seal installed that will be broken whenever the valve is opened. Such seals shall not be replaced without the approval of the Department or its authorized representatives. A schedule for periodic testing of valves must be approved by the Department.

(10) All flow regulators and other like devices in a sewer system shall be maintained in a manner preventing discharge at less than the designed overflow rate, and in no instance at less than the dry weather flow conditions if the designed overflow rate is not known.

(11) Any person operating a sewer system or wastewater treatment facility constructed after January 1, 1940 shall maintain a permanent and adequate sets of plans for such facility. Any person operating sewer systems or wastewater treatment facilities constructed on or before January 1, 1940 shall maintain the permanent and adequate sets of plans which were available at the time of adoption of 314 CMR 12.00. Sewer system plans shall indicate location, size, slope and type of material comprising the pipe and any appurtenances.

(12) All records referred to in 314 CMR 12.07 and all plans and descriptions of wastewater treatment facilities and related appurtenances required by 314 CMR 12.03(11) shall be made available to the Department upon request.

(13) Notwithstanding any other provision of 314 CMR 12.00, a POTW may accept and process organic material as defined in 310 CMR 16.02: Definitions, in anaerobic digesters operated at its wastewater treatment facility with prior written approval of the Department. Fish and animal material from slaughterhouses, butchering and processing facilities, pet food production facilities and supermarkets may not be accepted into anaerobic digesters operated at a wastewater treatment facility without specific written approval of such materials by the Department.

(14) The Department may require modification of a presumptively approved submission as needed to address a violation of any applicable law, regulation or permit.

(15) Where the Department determines that any discharge of pollutants or other condition in violation of the provisions of 314 CMR 3.00: Surface Water Discharge Permit Program, 4.00: Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards, 5.00: Ground Water Discharge Permit Program, 7.00: Sewer System Extension and Connection Permit Program, 12.00: Operation and Maintenance and Pretreatment Standards for Wastewater Treatment Works and Indirect Dischargers, or 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards is occurring, or that inadequacies in the design or capacity of a sewer system exist, or that additional extensions or connections to, or the increased use of, a sewer system will result in violations of the provisions of the State Act or regulations promulgated thereunder or contribute to the inadequacies in the design or capacity of the sewer system, the Department may take action it deems necessary to address such conditions, including but not limited to:

(a) Order the person owning or operating the sewer system to:

1.implement a program for connections to the system that requires the removal or ensures the removal of an adequate amount of infiltration/inflow to off-set said connections at a ratio determined in the Order;

2.prohibit further connections to or extensions of the sewer system except in accordance with the terms of the Order;

3.undertake the necessary design, construction and repair work required to eliminate such discharges, violations or inadequacies; and

4.take such other actions as may be necessary.

Notes

314 CMR 12.03

Amended, Mass Register Issue 1259, eff. 4/25/2014.