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March 19, 2024 Clouds | 35°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 150A1/2: Standards and criteria for siting of facilities; rules and regulations

Section 150A1/2. The department of environmental protection, in cooperation with the department of public health, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the siting of facilities pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred and fifty A. Said rules and regulations shall establish site suitability standards and criteria and shall include, but not be limited to, the following considerations:

(1) the location, nature and extent of any existing or potential sources of public or private drinking water supplies in relation to the site, including the recharge area of a sole source aquifer;

(2) the relationship of the site to groundwater elevations;

(3) the proximity of wetlands, as defined in section forty of chapter one hundred and thirty-one;

(4) the proximity of surface water bodies;

(5) the proximity of flood plains;

(6) the nature and extent of residential areas in proximity to the site;

(7) the availability and suitability of access roads to the site;

(8) whether areas adjacent to the proposed site have been previously used for solid waste disposal;

(9) the potential for adverse impact on air quality;

(10) the potential for creation of a nuisance from noise, windblown litter, or the proliferation of rodents, flies or other vermin;

(11) the potential for the adverse public health and safety impacts;

(12) the potential impact on agricultural uses;

(13) the potential adverse impact on wildlife or on wildlife habitat;

(14) the potential impact of increased traffic volume on roads to the site;

(15) the extent to which existing solid waste disposal facilities are located within a municipality. Site assignments for new facilities are preferred in municipalities without existing facilities;

(16) the extent to which the solid waste disposal needs of the municipality in which the site is sought are met as a member of a regional refuse disposal district. Site assignments in municipalities not participating in regional refuse disposal districts are preferred.

(17) the potential adverse impacts on communities within one-half mile of the proposed site including the potential adverse impacts on the considerations stated within this section for which site suitability standards and criteria are established.