Short and to the point with this one. The June 23, 2023 finalization of DEP’s regulations governing septic systems and watershed permits was a milestone in the effort to both stop the decline of our marine waters and lay out the path for their restoration. The details are many (Regulations Fact Sheet and Summary), but the headlines are these. We no longer have a septic code that makes legal the installation of new septic systems that we know will continue to degrade our waters. We now have a set of watershed permitting regulations that incentivize and empower towns to obtain permits that let them shape the right mix of nutrient reducing approaches best suited to their community on an enforceable schedule.
After years of knowing that conventional septic systems were the primary driver of water quality degradation, DEP has decisively moved to prevent them from being newly installed in sensitive areas. As for the much-discussed requirement to replace existing systems, there is a seven-year clock that starts ticking on the July 7, 2023 effective date of the regulations. That said, if any time in the next two years a town files a notice of intent to obtain a watershed permit, the clock stops and the state requirement to upgrade existing systems is suspended. All the power here rests with the towns to come up with town-scale remedial plans. It is only if and when a town chooses not to pursue a watershed permit that residents of that town will be subjected to the state timeline to upgrade existing septic systems by 2030. The focus of everyone, now that the rules are clear, should be to work within your town to make sure that it is prepared to pursue a watershed permit.
While the pace of clean up remains slower than we would all like in a better world, the road ahead is clear. DEP did good work on these regulations. The issues they confronted were complex and highly charged but from this view, the department did right by Cape Cod, and APCC thanks the department for charting a regulatory course that will lead to clean water.
