[Added 3-12-1990; amended 12-10-1990; 7-29-2004; 10-4-2021 by Board of Health]
A. 
A local floor drain discharge prohibition is required under the MA Wellhead Protection Regulations, 310 CMR 22.21(2). The floor drain control, which must be implemented by the municipality, specifically prohibits the following activity: any floor drainage systems in existing facilities, in industrial or commercial hazardous material and/or hazardous waste process areas or storage areas, which discharge to the ground without a MassDEP permit or authorization. Any existing facility with such a drainage system shall be required to either seal the floor drain (in accordance with the state plumbing code, 248 CMR 10.00), connect the drain to a municipal sewer system (with all appropriate permits and pretreatment), or connect the drain to a holding tank meeting the requirements of all appropriate MassDEP regulations and policies. This article has been designed to meet the requirements for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Wellhead Protection "Source Approval" Regulations, 310 CMR 22.21(2)(a)8, within designated Zone II areas. This model regulation also covers the entire Town to be consistent with the state regulations (310 CMR 27.00) prohibiting discharges of the nature discussed in this article.
B. 
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 and ground water quality throughout Massachusetts; and
(5) 
Surface and ground water resources in the Town of Chelmsford contribute to the town's drinking water supplies.
C. 
The Town of Chelmsford adopts the following regulation, under its authority as specified in § 201-42.2, as a preventative measure for the purposes of preserving and protecting the Town of Chelmsford's drinking water resources from discharges of pollutants to the ground via floor drains and minimizing the threat of economic losses to the Town due to such discharges.
The Town of Chelmsford Board of Health adopts the following regulation pursuant to authorization granted by M.G.L. c.111 §§ 31 and 122. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable facilities, existing and new, within the Town of Chelmsford.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL FACILITY
A public or private establishment where the principal use is the supply, sale, 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; hospitals.
DEPARTMENT and/or MASS DEP
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.
FLOOR DRAIN
An intended drainage point on a floor constructed to be otherwise impervious which serves as the point of entry into any subsurface drainage, treatment, disposal, containment, or other plumbing system.
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.
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 of the Town of Chelmsford. 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 Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) Chapter 21C and 21E or Massachusetts Hazardous Waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000), and include such products as 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 materials.
With the exception of discharges that have received (or have applied and will receive) a Mass DEP- issued permit prior to the effective date of this article, 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 industrial or commercial 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.
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 of Health or its agent, 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 article with a prohibited floor drain system as defined under § 201-44 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 hazardous waste shall be disposed of in accordance with state hazardous waste regulations (310 CMR 30.00). Remedial activity involving any excavation and/or soil groundwater sampling must be performed in accordance with appropriate Mass DEP 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 Mass DEP policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted to the Chelmsford Board of Health at the time of hauling.
(b) 
Connected to municipal sanitary sewer line, if available, with all applicable Mass DEP and local permits.
(c) 
Permanently sealed. Any facility sealing a drain shall be required to submit for approval to the Board of Health a hazardous waste management plan detailing the means of collecting, storing, and disposing any 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 separator shall be submitted to the Board of Health at the time of hauling.
C. 
Compliance with all provisions of this article must be accomplished in a manner consistent with Massachusetts Plumbing, Building, and Fire Code requirements.
D. 
Upon complying with one of the options listed under § 201-45A(3), the owner/operator of the facility shall notify the Mass DEP of the closure of said system by filing the Mass DEP's UIC Notification Form (which may be obtained by calling Mass DEP at 617-292-5770) and sending a copy to the Chelmsford Board of Health.
The effective date of this article is the dated posted on the front page of the regulation, which shall be identical to the date of adoption of the regulation.
A. 
Existing facilities.
(1) 
Owners/operators of a facility affected by this article shall comply with all of its provisions within 120 days of the effective date.
(2) 
All applicable discharges to the leaching structures and septic systems shall be discontinued immediately 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 of Chelmsford shall comply with the provisions of this article.
(2) 
Certification of conformance with the provisions of this article by the Health Department 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 § 201-45B.
Failure to comply with provisions of this article will result in the levy of fines of not less than $200, but no more than $1,000. Each day's failure to comply with the provisions of this article shall constitute a separate violation.
Each provision of this article 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.