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.