For the purpose of the Town of Nantucket Board of Health regulations, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise. Terms expressed in the singular shall be construed to incorporate the plural, and vice versa, unless the context otherwise requires.
All terms used in these regulations shall be as defined in 105 CMR 410.000, the State Sanitary Code; 310 CMR 15.002, Title 5; Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 131, Section 40, and 310 CMR 10.00, the Wetlands Protection Act; Town of Nantucket Wetlands Bylaw and Regulations,[1] and other laws and regulations relating to the same subject matter, as may be amended from time to time, unless a different definition is set forth herein.
When interpreting any word phrase of requirement in these regulations, reference shall be made first to these regulations, then to other bylaws and regulations of the Town of Nantucket and then to state regulations. In the case of a conflict between these regulations and such other applicable laws, the requirement that is the most protective of public health and the environment shall apply.
American National Standards Institute.
Shall mean the Town of Nantucket Board of Health or its authorized agent, unless used in the context of an approval required by the Department of Environmental Protection, such as septic systems owned or operated by an agency of the commonwealth or of the federal government, systems serving a facility with a design flow of 10,000 gallons per day or greater, systems subject to a variance granted under 310 CMR 15.416, or on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Department to be necessary to carry out the purposes of 310 CMR 15.000; or the Department with regard to alternative systems proposed in compliance with 310 CMR 15.280 through 15.289.
Any habitable space in a structure suitable for living and sleeping that exists in a structure as a room that provides privacy and consists of the following:
Dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens, halls, bathrooms, closets, unfinished cellars, and unfinished storage and utility spaces are not considered bedrooms.
For the purpose of septic system design, the Board will determine the number of bedrooms based on what is shown on the design plans for the building using the definition in this regulation, regardless of how the room is labeled on the plans or how may have been used in the past; provided, however, that the Board of Health reserves the right to determine the number of rooms and/or bedrooms in a dwelling based on a specific application or circumstance in its sole discretion.
All single-family dwellings shall be presumed to have at least three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and dining room, and/or an open floor plan as defined in this regulation. In dwelling units with seven rooms or less, all other rooms are considered bedrooms. Any room providing privacy with direct access to a full bathroom shall count as a bedroom for design flow calculations.
Where the total number of rooms for a single-family dwelling exceeds seven, the number of bedrooms presumed shall be calculated by dividing the total number of rooms by two then rounding down to the next lowest whole number, or by counting the total number of rooms that meet the definition of bedroom, and the system must be designed to meet whichever number is larger.
"Open floor plan" shall mean any combination of one or more uses for a room or series of rooms which are interconnected and share the same footprint without the benefit of partitions, barriers, or other structural elements which delineate separation. An open floor plan area may be counted as one room only if it has two intended purposes or less and those uses are limited to dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens, and halls. Under no circumstance will a bedroom be counted as part of an open floor plan. The Board may count an open floor plan area as more than one room if counting it as one room will result in a system that is not adequately sized to serve the intended uses of the dwelling.
An undivided room area greater than 50% of the floor area of any single level, exclusive of dining rooms, kitchens, halls, bathrooms, and closets, and greater than 400 square feet in area will be equivalent to two bedrooms for design flow calculation purposes.
Finished basements containing at least one full bathroom will be considered as a bedroom for design flow calculations.
Any building with one room comprised of 70 square feet or more of habitable space and contains a half or full bathroom shall count as a bedroom for design flow calculations.
Each structure on a lot is counted separately.
The Town of Nantucket Board of Health or its authorized agent.
A structure enclosed within exterior walls or firewalls, built, erected, or framed of any material, whether portable or fixed, having a roof, to form a structure for the shelter of persons, animals, or property.
A pit with open jointed linings or tiles in the bottom and/or sidewalls into which raw sewage is discharged, the liquid portion of the sewage being disposed of by seeping or leaching into the surrounding soils, and the solids or sludge being retained in the pit. A cesspool shall be considered a failed system by definition.
The Town's most recent 20-year wastewater planning document completed according to the Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Municipal Finances Guide to Comprehensive Wastewater Management Planning, and any amendments or updates thereto.
Any on-site subsurface sewage disposal system that meets the requirements of 310 CMR 15.000 and this regulation and is not a tight tank, cesspool or innovative/alternative system.
An open pit excavated to a minimum depth of 12 feet, or depth determined by the Board of Health or agent, to permit examination of the soils and to obtain data relative to the depth to groundwater, conducted in accordance with 310 CMR 15.102, as may be amended from time-to-time.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The vertical separation distance between the bottom of the stone or fill underlying the soil absorption system above the high-ground water elevation. Groundwater/water table elevations shall be determined by:
Direct observation of highest groundwater elevation (including seasonal perched and tidally influenced groundwater) in a test pit excavation;
Direct observation of mottling (redoximorphic features) in a test pit excavation; and
USGS Frimpter High Ground Water Adjustment Method (reference "Probable High Groundwater Levels in Massachusetts USGS Water Resources Investigation Open File Report 80 on Open File Report 80-1205). Reference available in Health Department.
The actual recorded depth to groundwater shall be the highest groundwater elevation determined by Subsection A(1), (2), and (3) (based on National Geodetic Vertical Datum) as subtracted from the existing ground elevation at the test pit excavation.
The quantity of sanitary sewage, expressed in gallons per day (gpd) for which a system must be designed in accordance with 310 CMR 15.203 and Nantucket Board of Health Regulations.
Written approval issued by the Board in accordance with 310 CMR 15.020 and Nantucket Board of Health Regulations authorizing the construction, upgrade or expansion of an on-site system.
A person licensed in accordance with 310 CMR 15.019 and Nantucket Board of Health Regulations, who constructs, repairs, or replaces an on-site subsurface sewage disposal system.
A permit issued in accordance with 310 CMR 15.019 and Nantucket Board of Health Regulations.
A pit with open jointed lining or holes through which stormwater drainage from roofs, basement floors, foundations or other areas seep into the surrounding soil.
A building or portion thereof which is used, intended, or designed for human habitation, including, but not limited to, houses, hotels, motels, apartments, studios, mobile and modular homes and condominiums.
An account set up with the Town's Finance Department in accordance with M.G.L. c. 44, § 53G 1/2, for the purpose of collecting funds to secure compliance with an order of the Board, such as for the repair a failed on-site wastewater system to Title 5 and local standards, to apportion towards the capital cost assessed to the property owner for municipal sewer or for repair/upgrade of on-site system.
Any area or partially enclosed coastal body of water where freshwater and saltwater meet and mix and where tidal effects are evident.
A system which fails to protect public health and safety or the environment as set forth in 310 CMR 15.303(1)(a)(1) through (6), 310 CMR 15.303(1)(c) and 310 CMR 15.303(2) and as documented on the Town of Nantucket Septic System Inspection Form.
The Massachusetts Groundwater Quality Standards, 314 CMR 5.00.
The total square footage of the floor space of a building used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, or eating purposes, excluding rooms containing toilets, bathtubs or showers and excluding laundries, pantries, hallways, closets, unfinished storage spaces.
The area constituting the watershed for Hummock Pond as delineated on a map entitled "Hummock Pond Watershed," Nantucket GIS, dated July 1, 2010, as may be amended from time to time.
The backflow of effluent within an underground soil absorption system as demonstrated by fluids and/or the observance of fluid levels above the top of the outlet of the distribution box and/or septic tank. The flow or leakage of effluent to the surface of a property above the underground soil absorption system and/or the backflow of effluent into any structure shall also be considered as hydraulic failure.
Also known as "I/A systems," systems designed to provide or enhance on-site sewage disposal which either do not contain all of the components of an on-site disposal system constructed in accordance with 310 CMR 15.001 through 15.293 or which contain components in addition to those specified in 310 CMR 15.100 through 15.293 and which are proposed to the local approving authority and/or the Department for remedial, pilot, provisional, or general use approval pursuant to 310 CMR 15.280 through 15.289, and comply with ANSI Standard 245 for nitrogen reduction.
The Nantucket Board of Health or its authorized agent.
The area constituting the watershed for Madaket Harbor/Hither Creek, as delineated on a map entitled "Madaket Harbor Watershed with Sub-Areas," Nantucket GIS, dated January 13, 2003, as may be amended from time to time.
All activities required to assure the effective and continuous operation and performance of an on-site system, including, but not limited to, solids and scum removal from the septic tank, releveling the distribution box, and the upgrade of one or more of the system components, exclusive of soil absorption systems, all as more fully described in 310 CMR 15.201 through 15.422.
The Massachusetts DEP and the UMASS/Dartmouth School of Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) collaborating together with Coastal Zone Management, the Cape Cod Commission, and several municipalities to classify the nitrogen sensitivity of Southeastern Massachusetts's coastal bays and estuaries.
A publicly owned pipe or conduit used for transporting wastewater.
Publicly owned structures, facilities and conduits intended for the purpose of collecting and conveying wastewater to a wastewater treatment facility. Lateral sewer lines that connect private sewer systems to the municipal sewer system are considered privately owned.
The County of Nantucket Office of Recorder of Deeds is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate.
The area constituting the watershed for Nantucket Harbor, as described in a technical report entitled "Nantucket Water Resource Management Plan," 1990, by Horsley Witten Hegemann, Inc., and as delineated on a map entitled "Nantucket Harbor Watershed," Nantucket GIS, dated January 1999, as may be amended from time to time.
Encompasses the land and water of the Town and County of Nantucket, including Tuckernuck and Muskeget.
Geographic delineation of land/property area that has been determined to be unsustainable in the long-term with on-site wastewater disposal systems in the Town of Nantucket's Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, as may be amended from time to time.
The construction of a new building, addition of habitable space, alteration resulting in additional habitable space, or change of use of enclosed square footage to an existing building for which an occupancy permit or certificate of completion is required, or which increases in the actual or design flow to any nonconforming system or to any other system above the existing approved capacity. New construction shall not include replacement or repair of a building in existence as of March 31, 1995, that has been totally or partially destroyed or demolished, provided there is no increase in design flow, change in use, no increase in design flow above the existing approved capacity to any system, no increase in the number of dwellings or dwelling units or no increase in the number of bedrooms in any dwelling or dwelling unit.
National Geodetic Vertical Datum.
Shall be as defined in 310 CMR 15.000, as may be amended from time to time, provided that, to be considered for use in Nantucket, the system shall be comprised on an I/A treatment system that reduces nitrogen by creating conditions that promote nitrification — the conversion of ammonia (NH3) to nitrate (NO3), followed by denitrification — the conversion of nitrate to inert nitrogen gas (N2). The I/A systems qualifying for a nitrogen reduction credit under Title 5 must be able to reduce nitrogen in wastewater to 19 to 25 mg/liter from an average influent concentration of 40 mg/liter.
Areas which have been determined by the Department or the Nantucket Board of Health to be particularly sensitive to the discharge of pollutants from on-site sewage disposal systems, including nitrogen, nitrogen as nitrate, phosphorous and pathogens. Such areas are depicted on a plan entitled "Board of Health Nitrogen Sensitive Areas," which is hereby incorporated by reference herein and as may be amended from time to time, and as such warrant the imposition of the loading restrictions set forth below. All existing lots shall, by right, be allowed to discharge 220 gallons per day.
Any system which is not in full compliance with the standards and requirements of 310 CMR 15.00, Nantucket Board of Health Regulations, and for which a variance or local upgrade approval has not been obtained. Nonconforming systems include, but are not limited to, cesspools, privies, failed systems, and systems with a design flow above 10,000 gallons per day.
A person who, alone or together with other persons, has legal title to any facility served by a system or control of the facility, including but not limited to any agent, executor, administrator, trustee, lessee, or guardian of the estate for the holder of legal title.
Includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust, estate, the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof subject to Town bylaws, administrative agencies, public or quasi-public corporations or bodies, the Town of Nantucket and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
A structure used for the disposal or temporary storage of human waste with or without water transport consisting of a self-contained shelter with a sealed cleanable and reusable effluent vault.
Coastal areas of special flood hazard (V and A FEMA flood zones) which extend from the mean low water line to the inland limit of the 100-year floodplain supporting waves greater than three feet in height (V Zone) and flood depths of one foot to three feet (A Zone). The boundary of these flood zones shall be determined by reference to the National Flood Insurance Program [currently administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)] flood data and Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the Town of Nantucket.
Graywater and blackwater from domestic, commercial and other nonindustrial sources.
Any system of pipes, conduits, pumping stations, force mains and all other structures and devices used for collecting and conveying wastewater to a public or private treatment works facility.
A person licensed by an approving authority to remove septage from on-site sewage disposal systems and transport it to an approved disposal location in accordance with 310 CMR 15.500 et seq.
Any subsurface sewage disposal system that includes both a holding tank and a soil absorption system or a cesspool. A cesspool is considered a failed system.
Material including but not limited to solids, semi-solids, scum, sludge, and liquid waste from sanitary facilities. The term "sewage" does not include any material which is considered hazardous waste.
A system of trenches, galleries, chambers, pits, field(s) or bed(s), together with effluent distribution lines and aggregate which is installed in appropriate soils to receive effluent from a septic tank and transmit it to a soil interface for treatment in a biological mat and disposal to the underlying soils; and as defined in 310 CMR 15.000, Title 5, as may be amended from time to time.
A building or a room or rooms that include a bathroom and/or half bath facilities. Each such room complying with the requirements for a studio shall be calculated as a bedroom.
Separation distances less than six feet between the bottom of the soil absorption system and groundwater in documented nitrogen-sensitive areas.
Separation distances less than five feet between the bottom of the soil absorption system and groundwater in areas outside documented nitrogen-sensitive areas.
A watertight vessel having an inlet to receive raw sewage but no outlet and which is designed and used to collect and store sewage until it is removed for disposal.
310 CMR 15.000, as amended.
Disposal apparatus used for the removal of human waste products, including the room or rooms utilized to house such apparatus.
The modification of one or more components of an on-site system or the design and construction of a new on-site system which is intended to bring a nonconforming or failed system into conformance with 310 CMR 15.000 and Nantucket Board of Health Regulations to the maximum feasible extent. An emergency repair is not an upgrade.
Any geographic area on which or under which surface water and/or groundwater flows into a stream, a body of impounded surface water (except man-made ponds), a coastal embayment or a water supply well as defined on the Horsley, Whitten and Heggemin groundwater contour maps, the United States Geologic Survey maps, "Water Resources of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts Atlas HA - 615," or a more detailed map duly adopted by the Board at a public hearing.
All freshwater and coastal wetlands as defined in the Town of Nantucket Wetlands Protection Bylaw (Chapter 136 of the Code of the Town of Nantucket) and accompany regulations, and/or as defined in the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and 310 CMR 10.00, as may be amended from time to time and whichever is most protective of public health and the environment. Verification of the delineation of wetland resource areas falls within the jurisdiction of the Nantucket Conservation Commission.