Nitrogen Loading Credit Land Strategy:
If you reside in designated nitrogen sensitive area in a Massachusetts community defined as a “water resource protection district” you may be restricted to a nitrogen loading limitation of 440 gallons of design flow per day per acre restricting the size of your home by the square footage of your available leach field.
A DEP concept of how you may utilize your current septic system to support a larger dwelling with more bedrooms is outlined in documentation referred to as “credit land” strategy. Simply put; If you own undeveloped land within the same nitrogen sensitive zone that you reside, even if these parcels are not abutting your property, you may over burden your existing septic system beyond the current design flow specification as your undeveloped property within the same zone may be considered in the aggregate. (This is a concept similar to the familiar “carbon trading”
theory).
Please CLICK HERE to download The MA DEP Document describing Guidelines for Title 5 Aggregation of Flows and Nitrogen Loading.
Interested parties are highly encouraged to reference the DEP nitrogen loading statutes and to inquire with a qualified engineer and the local permitting office for more information.
Properties scheduled for auction within the nitrogen sensitive area that may qualify as “credit land” are identified and annotated upon their individual website listing. Potential buyers are reminded to perform their due
diligence on any asset of interest.