Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 10 of chapter 220 of the acts of 1912 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 7, the word "meeting" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- election.

SECTION 2. The board of water commissioners of the town of Mattapoisett, established by section 10 of chapter 220 of the acts of 1912, shall act as the sewer commissioners of the town and shall have all the powers and duties of sewer commissioners under the General Laws.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary including other sections of this act, the sewer commissioners of the town of Mattapoisett shall not grant an application to connect land to the town's municipal sewerage system unless there is at the time of the application available unused sewerage capacity in the municipal sewer system. For purposes of this section, "available unused sewerage capacity", shall mean the daily capacity available to the town under permit or municipal agreement, less: (1) the sum of existing daily usage by the town; and (2) the projected daily usage, calculated by the commissioners, that will result from completion of all pending municipal sewer projects, as to which funds have been appropriated at a special or annual town meeting for design or construction. In determining the daily usage expected to result from pending projects, the sewer commissioners may employ reasonable assumptions about the rate at which existing or potential users will connect to the municipal system after completion of those projects, and shall take into account only demand that is foreseeable within 20 years of the date of the calculation.

The sewer commissioners of the town shall determine and report publicly each year the available unused capacity for the system, not less than 30 days before the beginning of each fiscal year. In addition, the sewer commissioners shall make a determination of effective capacity within 30 days of the effective date of this act, and shall not approve any connections to the municipal sewerage system until a determination is made under this section.

SECTION 4. All votes and actions taken by the board of water commissioners acting as the board of sewer commissioners before the effective date of this act are hereby ratified, validated and confirmed in all respect as though this act had been in full force and effect at the time of taking the votes and actions.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.