Purpose

(1) Alternative systems, when properly designed, constructed, operated and maintained, may provide enhanced protection of public health, safety, welfare and the environment. The purposes of 310 CMR 15.281 through 15.288 are: to provide an orderly system to facilitate review of proposed alternative systems; to encourage development of alternative systems with performance superior to conventional systems; and to ensure that alternative systems are approved with appropriate conditions to protect public health, safety, welfare and the environment. (2) The provisions of 310 CMR 15.281 through 15.288 shall apply to all proposals to construct, upgrade, or replace on-site systems using alternative systems. (3) Any proposed system which is designed or constructed in any manner other than as described in 310 CMR 15.100 through 15.262 shall be considered an alternative system, unless a groundwater discharge permit is obtained pursuant to 314 CMR 5.00 (groundwater discharge permit program). Alternative systems may include substitutes or alternatives for one or more components of a conventional system as described in 310 CMR 15.100 through 15.262, or may be fundamentally different approaches intended to eliminate the need for a conventional system. The use of an alternative system in accordance with conditions established pursuant to 310 CMR 15.281 through 15.289 may be authorized without a variance. It shall be a violation of 310 CMR 15.000 for any person to sell or install an alternative system which has not been approved by the Department. (4) The review processes established in 310 CMR 15.280 through 15.288 are intended to provide two different mechanisms for approval of alternative systems. Approval for remedial use (310 CMR 15.284) is intended to provide a mechanism for system owners to improve existing conditions at particular sites (including upgrade or replacement of failed or nonconforming systems) through the use of an alternative system. The sequence of approval for piloting (310 CMR 15.285), provisional approval (310 CMR 15.286), and certification for general use (310 CMR 15.288), is intended to provide a process through which proponents of an alternative system may have that system approved for general usage in the Commonwealth, including use for new construction. This sequence is intended to develop information on the performance of the alternative system; if adequate information from other jurisdictions or from systems in remedial use is available, it is unnecessary to proceed separately through all three steps of this sequence.