Code of Massachusetts Regulations
310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Title 310 CMR 36.00 - Massachusetts Water Resources Management Program
Section 36.20 - Site-specific Evaluation

Universal Citation: 310 MA Code of Regs 310.36

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

(1) Data Refinements: Any person may submit, for review and approval by the Department, refinements to the following data used in determining the biological category and groundwater withdrawal category for any subbasin within a water source:

(a) Calculation of the August groundwater pumping volume during the 2000-2004 study period:
1. wells that were assumed to be in use, but were not;

2. wells that were pumping at significantly different rates than assumed; or

3. significant reductions in groundwater withdrawals since the 2000-2004 study period due to:
a. wells that have been abandoned; or

b. a public water supply that has transferred withdrawals from its own withdrawal points to a different source(s).

(b) Adjustments to the delineated subbasin boundaries:
1. subbasin drainage boundaries that do not coincide with documented groundwater boundaries; or

2. subbasin boundaries occurring within water bodies rather than at outlet points.

(c) Hydrologic/Geologic Considerations:
1. confined aquifers; or

2. pumping that causes documented groundwater impacts across subbasin boundaries.

(d) Refinements, demonstrated through groundwater modeling, to the assumed 1: 1 August pumping to August stream depletion ratio.

(2) Schedule for Submitting Data Refinements:

(a) For the Hudson, Blackstone, Charles, Ipswich, North Coastal, Boston Harbor, Taunton, South Coastal, Cape Cod, Islands, Buzzards Bay, Concord, Ten Mile, Deerfield, Housatonic and Farmington Basins, proposed data refinements must be submitted to the Department by November 7, 2015. Data submitted will be reviewed by the Department for inclusion in the next scheduled five-year review for permits in these water sources.

(b) For water sources not listed in 310 CMR 36.20(2)(a), proposed data refinements must be submitted to the Department at least 12 months prior to the First Expiration Date for the water source listed in 310 CMR 36.17(1). Permit renewal applicants may submit proposed data refinements with the permit renewal application or as a separate submission.

Water Source

Data Refinement Submission Date

Westfield Basin

Millers Basin

Chicopee Basin

Quinnebaug Basin

November 30, 2015

February 28, 2016

May 31, 2016

August 31, 2016

Connecticut Basin

Nashua Basin

French Basin

Shawsheen Basin

Merrimack Basin

November 30, 2016

February 28, 2017

May 31, 2017

August 31, 2017

November 30, 2017

Parker Basin

Narragansett Basin

February 28, 2018

May 31, 2018

(3) Data refinements, reviewed and approved by the Department, will be incorporated into the determination of biological category and groundwater withdrawal category for the affected subbasin(s) prior to determining the permit tier for applications with withdrawal point(s) in the affected subbasin(s), or prior to the five-year review of permits with withdrawal point(s) in the affected subbasin(s), as applicable.

(4) Site-specific Fish Community Assessment:

(a) A tier 1 applicant with a withdrawal point(s) located in a subbasin(s) having more than 25% August net groundwater depletion may conduct a site-specific fish community assessment for the purpose of demonstrating that the fluvial fish relative abundance in such subbasin(s) exceeds the expected number of fish for that groundwater withdrawal category as determined by the measurement standard in 310 CMR 36.20(4)(d).

(b) An applicant that conducts a site-specific fish community assessment will not be required to implement the otherwise required minimization activities prior to the Department's determination in 310 CMR 36.20(4)(d).

(c) A site-specific fish community assessment shall be subject to the following procedure and requirements:
1. the applicant shall propose for the Department's approval, in consultation with the EOEEA agencies, a geographically referenced point within the subbasin at which the withdrawal will have its maximum impact on streamflow for the duration of the assessment;

2. the applicant shall propose for the Department's approval, in consultation with the EOEEA agencies, a calculation of the upstream impervious cover, simulated flow alteration, percent wetland in the buffer, and channel slope in accordance with the methods used in USGS SIR 2011-5193 and based on the approved geographically referenced point;

3. the applicant shall conduct the site-specific fish community assessment in accordance with a fish sampling and collection protocol approved by the MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (Division);

4. the fish sampling and collection protocol shall, at a minimum, require that fish community sampling be conducted by the applicant once per year for five years at three locations and include the methods, times of year, and effort requirements for such sampling;

5. the sampling and collection shall be conducted in accordance with the protocol; and

6. the applicant shall obtain a separate fish collection permit from the Division as described at 321 CMR 2.02(4): Categories of Permits, which will include the fish sampling and collection protocol approved by the Division and will require the applicant to submit annual monitoring reports to the Division and the Department.

(d) At the conclusion of the five-year monitoring period, the Department, in consultation with the EOEEA agencies, will determine whether the applicant has demonstrated that the average fluvial fish relative abundance for that location over the five-year monitoring period is greater than the average fluvial fish relative abundance in the 75th percentile for the fish sampling locations within the same groundwater withdrawal category as derived from the fish community sampling information found in USGS SIR 2011-5193.

(e) If the Department, in consultation with the EOEEA agencies, determines that the applicant has met the measurement standard in 310 CMR 36.20(4)(d), the applicant will not be required to implement the otherwise required minimization measures for the remainder of the term of the permit.

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