This week, MassDEP announced that it had finalized regulatory revisions intended to encourage anaerobic digestion projects in the Commonwealth. The regulations are the culmination of a long stakeholder process . Since our firm knows from personal experience MassDEP’s ability to tie itself in knots on this issue, there is little doubt that this package was necessary as a practical matter.
Highlights of the regulations include:
- An exemption from the site assignment process for anaerobic (and aerobic) digestion operations
- A general permit for digestion operations receiving no more than 100 tons per day (30 day rolling average) – That’s up from a 60 tpd limit in the original proposal
- Site-specific permits for facilities receiving more than 100 tpd
- Revisions to wastewater regulations allowing digesters at publicly owned treatment works to receive organic waste from off-site.…