[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of North Attleborough 6-29-2010. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
Whereas:
(1) 
Floor drains in industrial and commercial facilities are often tied to a system leading to a leaching structure (e.g., dry well, cesspool, leach field) or a septic system; and
(2) 
Poor management practices and accidental and/or intentional discharges may lead petroleum and other toxic or hazardous materials into these drainage systems in facilities managing these products; and
(3) 
Improper maintenance or inappropriate use of these systems may allow the passage of contaminants or pollutants entering the drain to discharge from the leaching structure or septic system to the ground; and
(4) 
Discharges of hazardous wastes and other pollutants to floor drains leading to leaching structures and septic systems have repeatedly threatened surface water and groundwater quality in North Attleborough and throughout Massachusetts; and
(5) 
Surface water and groundwater resources in the Town of North Attleborough contribute to North Attleborough's drinking water supplies;
B. 
Now, therefore, this Board of Health adopts the following regulation under its authority specified in § 344-2 as a preventative measure for the purposes of preserving and protecting the Town of North Attleborough's drinking water resources from discharges of pollutants to the ground via floor drains, and minimizing the threat of economic losses to North Attleborough due to such discharges.
The North Attleborough Board of Health adopts the following regulation pursuant to authorization granted by MGL c. 111 §§ 31 and 122. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable facilities, existing and new, within the Town of North Attleborough.
For the purposes of this regulation, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
BOARD OF HEALTH or BOARD
The North Attleborough Board of Health, including its officers, agents and assigns.
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL FACILITY or FACILITY
A public or private establishment where the principal use is the supply, sale, storage and/or manufacture of services, products, or information, including, but not limited to: manufacturing, processing, or other industrial operations; service or retail establishments; printing or publishing establishments; research and development facilities; small or large quantity generators of hazardous waste; laboratories; and nursing homes.
DEPARTMENT or MDEP
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
DISCHARGE
The accidental or intentional disposal, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, incineration, or placing of toxic or hazardous material or waste upon or into any land or water so that such hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the land or waters of the commonwealth. Discharge includes, without limitation, leakage of such materials from failed or discarded containers or storage systems and disposal of such materials into any on-site leaching structure or sewage disposal system.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREA
Any natural feature or natural resource regulated by or through an agency of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
FLOOR DRAIN
An intended drainage point on a floor or an elevator sump constructed to be otherwise impervious, which serves as the point of entry into any subsurface drainage, treatment, disposal, containment, or other plumbing system.
INTERIM WELLHEAD PROTECTION AREAS or IWPA
A one-half-mile radius around a well or wellfield that lacks a DEP-approved Zone II and whose approved pumping rate is 100,000 gpd or greater.
LEACHING STRUCTURE
Any subsurface structure through which a fluid that is introduced will pass and enter the environment, including, but not limited to, dry wells, leaching catch basins, cesspools, leach fields, and oil/water separators that are not watertight.
OIL/WATER SEPARATOR
A device designed and installed to separate and retain petroleum-based oil or grease, flammable wastes, as well as sand and particles from normal wastes while permitting normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the drainage system by gravity. Other common names for such systems include MDC traps, gasoline and sand traps, grit and oil separators, grease traps, and interceptors.
TOWN
The Town of North Attleborough and its authorized agents.
TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Any substance or mixture of physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics posing a significant, actual, or potential hazard to water supplies or other hazards to human health if such substance or mixture were discharged to land or water in the Town. Toxic or hazardous materials include, without limitation: synthetic organic chemicals; petroleum products; heavy metals; radioactive or infectious wastes; acids and alkalis; and all substances defined as toxic or hazardous under MGL c. 21C and c. 21E, or Massachusetts Hazardous Waste Regulations, 310 CMR 30.00, and also include solvents, thinners and pesticides in quantities greater than normal household use.
USE OF TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
The handling, generation, treatment, storage or management of toxic or hazardous material.
ZONE II
The area of an aquifer which contributes water to a well under the most-severe pumping and recharge conditions that can be realistically anticipated (180 days of pumping at safe yield with no recharge from precipitation), as defined in 310 CMR 22.00.
With the exception of discharges that have received (or have applied and will receive) an MDEP-issued permit prior to the effective date of this regulation, no floor drain(s) shall be allowed to discharge, with or without pretreatment (such as an oil/water separator), to the ground, a leaching structure, or septic system in any commercial or industrial facility if such floor drain is located in either:
A. 
An industrial or commercial process area;
B. 
A petroleum, toxic, or hazardous materials and/or waste storage area; or
C. 
A leased facility without either Subsection A or B of this section, but in which the potential for a change of use of the property to a use which does have either Subsection A or B is, in the opinion of the Board, sufficient to warrant the elimination of the ground discharge at the present.
A. 
The owner of a facility in operation prior to the effective date of this regulation with a prohibited floor drain system (as defined under § 344-4 herein) shall:
(1) 
Disconnect and plug all applicable inlets to and outlets from (where possible) applicable leaching structures, oil/water separators, and/or septic systems.
(2) 
Remove all existing sludge in oil/water separators, septic systems, and, where accessible, leaching structures. Any sludge determined to be a hazardous waste shall be disposed of in accordance with state hazardous waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000). Remedial activity involving any excavation and/or soil or groundwater sampling must be performed in accordance with appropriate MDEP policies.
(3) 
Alter the floor drain system so that the floor drain shall be either:
(a) 
Connected to a holding tank that meets all applicable requirements of state and local policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted to the Board at the time of hauling;
(b) 
Connected to the municipal sanitary sewer line, if available, in accordance with all applicable state and local permits; or
(c) 
Permanently sealed. Any facility sealing a drain shall be required to submit for approval to the Board a hazardous waste management plan detailing the means of collecting, storing, and disposing of any hazardous waste generated by the facility, including any spill or other discharge of hazardous materials or wastes.
B. 
Any oil/water separator remaining in use shall be monitored weekly, cleaned not less than every 90 days, and restored to proper conditions after cleaning so as to ensure proper functioning. Records of the hauling of the removed contents of the oil/water separator shall be submitted to the Board at the time of hauling.
C. 
Compliance with all provisions of this regulation must be accomplished in a manner consistent with all Massachusetts Plumbing, Building, Fire and Public Health Code requirements.
D. 
Upon complying with one of the options listed under § 344-5A(3), the owner/operator of the facility shall notify MDEP of the closure of said system by filing a UIC notification form with the MDEP and sending a copy to the Board.
The effective date of this regulation is the date posted on the front page of this regulation,[1] which shall be identical to the date of publication specified in § 344-10 herein.
A. 
Existing facilities.
(1) 
Owners/operators of a facility affected by this regulation shall comply with all of its provisions within 180 days of the effective date.
(2) 
All applicable discharges to the leaching structures and septic systems shall be discontinued within 30 days of the effective date through temporary isolation or sealing of the floor drain.
B. 
New facilities.
(1) 
As of the effective date of the regulation, all new construction and/or applicable change of use within the Town shall comply with the provisions of this regulation.
(2) 
Certification of conformance with the provisions of this regulation by the Board shall be required prior to issuance of construction and occupancy permits.
(3) 
The use of any new oil/water separator shall comply with the same requirements as for existing systems, as specified above in § 344-5B.
[1]
Editor's Note: The date posted on the front page of the originally adopted resolution is 7-13-2010.
A. 
Except that no variances to this regulation shall be granted in environmentally sensitive areas, including Zone II recharge areas, variances may be issued unilaterally by the Board or formally requested by any party affected by this regulation. Every request for a variance shall be made in writing on a form provided or specified by the Board and shall be subject to a public hearing before the Board. The requesting party must, at his or her sole expense, notify all abutters by certified mail at least 10 days prior to the public hearing. Any variance granted by the Board shall be in writing. Any denial of a variance by the Board shall also be in writing and shall contain a brief statement of the reasons for such denial.
B. 
The Board may vary the application of any provision of this regulation, unless otherwise prohibited by state law or regulation, in any case when, in the sole opinion of the Board: 1) the requesting party has demonstrated a degree of environmental protection equivalent to that otherwise required under this regulation; 2) enforcement of this regulation will do manifest injustice; or 3) the requesting party can demonstrate that the provision will impose an extraordinary or unreasonable burden. Any variance or other modification authorized by the Board to be made may be subject to such qualification, revocation, suspension, or expiration as the Board shall express in its grant.
A. 
The provisions of this regulation shall be enforced by the Board. The Board may enter upon any facility by this regulation at any time to inspect for compliance with this regulation. Upon request of the Board, the owner or operator of the facility shall furnish the information described in § 344-5 of this regulation.
B. 
The Board may issue administrative orders, violation notices, requests for compliance and other documents or correspondence to enforce this regulation.
C. 
Failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation will result in specific penalties pursuant to the noncriminal method of disposition as provided in MGL c. 40, § 21D, or to a criminal complaint that may be brought through Attleborough District Court. Noncriminal disposition penalties will begin with the levy of fines not less than $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second, and $300 for each successive violation; a criminal complaint will result in a fine of not more than $1,00;, and each day's failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation shall constitute a separate violation.
Each provision of this regulation shall be construed as separate to the end that, if any provision, or sentence, clause or phrase thereof shall be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of that section and all other sections shall continue in full force and effect.
This regulation was approved by the Board at a legally posted and regularly scheduled meeting held June 29, 2010. This regulation shall take effect immediately upon publication of a summary in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town, which date shall be posted on the front page of this regulation.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The date posted on the front page of the originally adopted resolution is 7-13-2010.