APPENDIX M - CCAMP CONSTRUCTION GRANTS, GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT AND 



GROUNDWATER CLASSIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 



December, 1987 Page M-5 



procedures. DWPC should follow the procedures developed by the 

 USGS , USEPA, the consultant community, DEQE and the Cape Cod Plan- 

 ning and Economic Development Commission for working with Class III 

 applicants on their petitions. These procedures (contained in an 

 August 1985 document elaborating the requirements for hydrological 

 studies) describe the timing and content of "scoping sessions" and 

 public hearings to be held for any Class III petition evaluation. 

 CCAMP recommends that these procedures be used by DWPC. 



GROUNDWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT PROGRAM . 



9. * DEQE should consider the adoption of a reduced threshold combined 

 with a maximum density factor of individual septic systems based on 

 environmental concerns for DWPC review of wastewater discharges. In 

 the meantime, the DEQE Southeast Regional Office should develop a 

 mechanism for assisting local agencies in reviewing large wastewater 

 treatment discharges under 15,000 gpd, the current cutoff, as a 

 pilot assistance project on Cape Cod. 



Background: On Cape Cod, most large development projects manage 

 to come in just under the 15,000 gpd limit, thereby avoiding install- 

 ing a treatment system and monitoring discharges. 



10.* DEQE should conduct a thorough review of its policy for holding 

 tanks for industrial waste dischargers in areas with no sewer hook- 

 ups. DEQE should examine the feasibility of some kind of manifest 

 system (which is highly labor intensive) or some other greater state 

 role in septage hauler licensing as ways of increasing its control 

 over this situation. 



Background: On Cape Cod there are currently a handful of holding 

 tanks. The potential exists for there to be many more in the future 

 as the DWPC permit program catches up with different categories of 

 small businesses that may be required to discharge to holding tanks, 

 or for smaller quantities of wastes, to 55 gallon drums. These 

 tanks are pumped out by septage haulers (licensed by the towns) and 

 the wastes are trucked, possibly across several towns, to disposal 

 at a wastewater treatment plant. DEQE approves the disposal loca- 

 tion when it approves each holding tank but has no way of knowing if 

 the wastes actually arrive at the designated disposal location. 

 DEQE should think carefully about the implications of this situation 

 in an area such as Cape Cod where there are numerous unsewered areas 

 and long trucking distances between the pumped tanks and the treat- 

 ment facilities. 



11.* The DWPC Groundwater Discharge Permit program should increase the 

 pace of its review of the impacts and need for regulating several 

 categories of small businesses which may be discharging relatively 

 small quantities of harmful wastes to septic systems in unsewered 

 areas. DWPC should develop a systematic policy to prioritize its 



