Section I. Purpose of Regulation
Whereas:
a. floor drains in industrial, commercial and residential facilities are often tied to a
system leading to a leaching structure (e.g. dry well, cesspool, leachfield) or a septic
system; and
b. poor management practices and accidental an/or intentional discharges may lead
petroleum and other toxic or hazardous materials into these drainage systems in
facilities managing these products; and
c. 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
d. 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
e. surface and groundwater supplies; the Town of North Reading adopts the following
regulation under its authority as specified in Section II, as a preventative measure for
the purposes of :
1. preserving and protecting the Town of North Reading’s drinking water resources
from discharges of pollutants to the ground via floor drains, and
2. minimizing the threat of economic losses to the Town due to such discharges
Section II. Scope of Authority
The Town of North Reading Board of Health adopted the following regulation July 24, 2003 effective September 1, 2003 pursuant to authorization granted by M.G.L. c.111 s.31. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable facilities, existing and new, within the Town of North Reading.
Section III. Defininitions
For the purposes of this regulation, 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.
Residential: A public or private property that is zoned residential and whose principal use is residential. It also includes but is not limited to: accessory structures such as garages, car barns, workshops and storage buildings.
Department: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Leaching Structure: Any subsurface structure through which a fluid that is introduced will pass and enter the environment, including, but not limited to, drywells, leaching catch basins, cesspools, leach fields, and oil/water separators that are not water-tight.
Oil/Water Separator: A device designed and installed so as 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 North Reading. Toxic or hazardous materials include, without limitation, synthetic organic chemicals, petroleum products, heavy metals, radioactive and infectious wastes, acids or 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 also 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.
Section IV. Prohibitions
With the exception of discharges that have received (or have applied and will receive) a Department 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 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, or
C. a leased facility without either 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 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.
Section V. Requirements for Existing Facilities
A. The owner of a facility in operation prior to the effective date of this regulation with a prohibited (as defined under Section IV) floor drain system 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
department 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 Department
policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted to the North Reading
Board of Health at the time of hauling;
b. connected to a municipal sanitary sewer line, if available, with all applicable
Department and local permit; or permanently sealed.
c. Any facility sealing a drain shall be required to submit for approval to the North
Reading Board of Health a hazardous waste management plan detailing the
means of collecting, storing, and disposing 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 separator
shall be submitted to the North Reading Board of Health at the time of hauling.
C. Compliance with all provisions of this regulation 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 Section V.A.e., the
owner/operator of the facility shall notify the Department of the closure of said system
by filing the Department’s UIC Notification Form, which may be obtained by calling
(617) 292-5770, with the Department, and sending a copy to the North Reading Board
of Health.
Section VI. Effective Dates for All Facilities
The effective date of this regulation is the date posted on the front page of the regulation, which shall be identical to the date of adoption of this regulation.
A. Existing Facilities:
1. Owner/Operators of a facility affected by this regulation 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 North Reading shall comply with the provisions
of this regulation.
2. Certification of conformance with the provisions of this regulation by the Board of
Health 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 Section V.B.
Section VII. Penalties
Failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation will result in the levy of fines of not less than $200.00, but no more than $1,000. Each day’s failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation shall constitute a separate violation.
Section VIII. Severability
Each provision of this regulation shall be construed as a 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.
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