The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the November 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held via Zoom on November 19, 2024.

Compliance Tip of the Month

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the September 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held in-person on September 12, 2024 at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, MA.  

Practice Tip of the Month

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the June 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on June 18, 2024 via Zoom.  

Are you studying for the LSP exam? 

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the May 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on May 16, 2024 via Zoom.  

Compliance Tip of the Month
 The U.S. EPA has promulgated MCLs for PFAS in drinking water; states are required to establish their own regulations that are no less stringent than the federal standards within two years.

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the March 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on March 14, 2024 via Zoom.  

LSPA Compliance Tip of the Month
Per 310 CMR 40.1406 of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP), an “Informational Notice to Property Owners” BWSC Form 122 must be completed to advise an owner that their property falls within the boundaries of a disposal site. The MCP specifies when such written notices must be provided and what information they must contain. Copies of all written notices required must be submitted to MassDEP with the corresponding Phase II Report or Permanent or Temporary Solution Statement. 

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the February 2024 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on February 13, 2024 via Zoom.  

Practice Tip of the Month
Many municipalities have areas designated for the protection of groundwater quality to ensure its availability for use as a source of potable water supply (e.g., Aquifer Protection Districts).

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the December 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on December 12, 2023 via Zoom.  

Compliance Tip of the Month

The following LSPA compliance tip was introduced at the November 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held remotely on November 15, 2023 via Zoom.  

Compliance Tip of the Month

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the June 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held in-person at the Westborough Doubletree hotel on June 20, 2023.  

Per 310 CMR 40.0006, Historic Fill cannot contain contaminants that are present as a result of on-site activities. If contaminants at a disposal site could potentially have originated from known historical operations or activities at the site, an LSP needs to first determine that contaminants are not from on-site activities before the contaminants can be attributed to Historic Fill.

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the April 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center in Marlborough, MA, on April 4, 2023.  

Each state agency has responsibility for trouble-shooting its own eDEP forms.  While MassDEP suggests contacting [email protected] for help with a BWSC form, doing so will only result in a referral to [email protected].  For more immediate assistance with BWSC forms on eDEP, LSPs should contact [email protected] directly. For time sensitive filings you can call the online filing help desk at 617-626-1111.  

The following LSPA practice tip was introduced at the February 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually on February 15,  2023.  

Practice Tip of the Month: 
Administrative issues with Activity and Use Limitations (AULs) commonly result in the issuance of Notices of Noncompliance. One helpful tool for reviewing an AUL and its exhibits and assessing whether all requirements for submitting an AUL have been met, is the AUL Compliance Assistance Checklist available in Appendix I of MassDEP’s 2014 Draft Guidance on Implementing AULs.

The following LSPA practice tip was presented at the January 2023 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on January 26, 2023.  

Compliance Tip of the Month: 
Pursuant to 310 CMR 40.1403(3)(a), notification to the Chief Municipal Officer and Board of Health of a community in which a Disposal Site is located is required when respirators or other protective clothing (Level A, B, or C Personal Protective Equipment) is used at a Disposal Site. This notification is required at least three days prior to the commencement of such field work or, if the level of protection is upgraded to Level C or above during the course of the work, as soon as practicable.

The following LSPA practice tip was presented at the December 2022 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on December 14, 2022.  

Compliance Tip of the Month: 
Consistent with 310 CMR 40.1003(7), if all other MCP closure requirements are met, a site with NAPL may be closed with a Permanent Solution With Conditions (PSWC) following complete evaluation of the nature and extent of the NAPL, including demonstration of the following consistent with Policy #WSC-16-450:

The following LSPA practice tip was presented at the November 2022 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on November 15, 2022.  

Practice Tip of the Month: 
The LSPA has developed a Climate Change MCP Toolkit to assist practitioners as they consider the potential effects of climate change on site assessment and response actions. This is anticipated to be required by the pending amendments to the MCP.  The toolkit includes a flowchart, checklist, two case studies, glossary, and list of resources.

The following LSPA practice tip was presented at the October 2022 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on October 27, 2022.  

Practice Tip of the Month: 
Did you know MassDEP's position is that discarded carbon canisters, as a generated waste, are a sludge and subject to 310 CMR 30.302: Determination of Whether a Waste is Hazardous? Accordingly, per policy HW94‐007, a spent carbon canister that contains hazardous waste constituents from a listed hazardous waste source must be managed as a hazardous waste, regardless of whether the carbon canisters were used to treat groundwater or vapors from groundwater or soils.

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the June 2022 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on June 21, 2022.  

Compliance Tip of the Month: 
Pursuant to 310 CMR 40.1074(5), in addition to the requirement to incorporate a Notice of Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) into deeds or other instruments of property transfer, a copy of the deed or other instrument (with the incorporated AUL) must be submitted to MassDEP within 30 days of recording. This must be done using Section B, item 11, of the BWSC113 form (note that an LSP signature/stamp is not required for this submittal). Both the former and new property owners have this obligation; however, a submittal provided by either of those parties meets the requirements for both of them.

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the February 2022 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on February 16, 2022.  

Compliance Tip:

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the December 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on December 14, 2021.  

Compliance Tip:
When using a Method 2 or Method 3 risk characterization to establish a condition of NSR, you must consider reasonably foreseeable, as well as current, site activities and uses. In particular, future vapor intrusion exposures could result from changes in building use or altered building conditions. Potentially problematic activities and uses can be eliminated from consideration in the risk characterization through an appropriate AUL, per 310 CMR 40.0923(3)(b).

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the October 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on October 28, 2021.  

Compliance Tip:
Even if you have demonstrated that no Imminent Hazard exists and there is a condition of No Significant Risk at your site, you still need to address a Critical Exposure Pathway (CEP) if one has been identified.  As required by 310 CMR 40.0414(3)&(4), you must conduct response actions to eliminate, prevent, and/or mitigate the CEP, or submit documentation that it is not feasible to do so.  

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the November 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on November 17, 2021.  

Compliance Tip:
Once a Notice of Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) has been filed, the Disposal Site should be reviewed periodically to confirm that the conditions and obligations contained in the AUL are being complied with and/or maintained (310 CMR 40.1070, et seq.). MassDEP routinely performs field audits of sites with AULs, often several years after filing. LSPs should remind their clients that compliance with AUL conditions and obligations is required, and should document these reminders.