a) Who may become a DEP approved Soil Evaluator? b) How does someone become a DEP approved Soil Evaluator - will an application to DEP be necessary? c) When will the next soil evaluator course and exam be given? |
a) Persons meeting the following criteria qualify to take the DEP approved
soil evaluator exam and those who pass the exam may be approved as Soil
Evaluators: Massachusetts Registered Sanitarians, Massachusetts Registered
Professional Engineers, Engineers in Training, Massachusetts Registered
Land Surveyors, Certified Health Officers, Board of Health Members and
Agents, and employees of the Department involved in the administration
of Title 5 (310 CMR 15.000). [310 CMR 15.017]
b) To become a soil evaluator, a person in one or more of the categories presented in a) above, must take and pass the examination for soil evaluators, currently administered by DEP's agent, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst . An application to take the course and examination must be submitted to UMass. Courses are given before each set of examinations. c) The Soil Evaluator course and examination is given regularly. For information on the upcoming schedule, please contact the DEP Training Center, Route 20, Millbury, Massachusetts 01527, telephone 508/752-8648. |
What about individuals who do not fulfill the requirements listed for qualification to take the Soil Evaluator Examination? |
Although DEP is currently considering adding geologists, soil scientists, and others, to those qualified to become DEP approved Soil Evaluators, the current criteria apply. Only those individuals who are qualified to take and those who pass the examination may become DEP approved Soil Evaluators. |
Will the Soil Evaluator be responsible for performing the evaluation of all site conditions required by the Code in 310 CMR 15.100 through 15.107? |
No. The Soil Evaluator is responsible for performing or observing the deep observation hole test, determining the soil profile, completing the soil logs, and determining the high groundwater elevation, as required by 310 CMR 15.103 and in accordance with 310 CMR 15.018. A Soil Evaluator is also qualified to perform percolation tests, but other qualified professionals may do the percolation test portion of the site evaluation instead. A Soil Evaluator is not required for completion of the other site evaluation requirements in the Code -- e.g. landscape position, hydrogeologic properties. These other siting considerations are the responsibility of the person qualified to do the system design. |
Who will hire the Soil Evaluator - for whom will the Soil Evaluator be working? |
The Soil Evaluator usually is hired directly by the applicant or the applicantÕs system designer. In such cases, the Soil Evaluator must not be a Member or Agent of the Board of Health that would be the approving authority for the system. Also, the Soil Evaluator would be required to perform the soil evaluation in the presence of the approving authority. Alternatively, the Soil Evaluator may be a member of the approving authority (the Board of Health); the approving authority may charge a fee to the applicant for the service. Or, the Soil Evaluator may be a person retained by the Board to perform soil evaluations. This could occur, for example, when a Board does not have a Member or Agent who is a Soil Evaluator. In this case, the Board would pay the evaluator and then could charge a fee to the applicant for the service. Accordingly, in both of these cases, the Soil Evaluator would be acting as an agent of the Board and not an agent of the applicant. |
Who may perform percolation tests? |
The Code provides that percolation tests "shall be performed by a Massachusetts Registered Professional Engineer, Massachusetts Registered Sanitarian, a Soil Evaluator, or a person who: (a) in the opinion of the approving authority is qualified to perform such tests; (b) has one year of documented experience in satisfactorily performing such tests; and (c) has used or gained skills that demonstrate sufficient competence to perform such tests. All percolation testing shall be performed in the presence of an authorized representative of the approving authority." (See 310 CMR 15.104(3).) |
May a Soil Evaluator, as a member of the Board of Health, complete the soil profile and then conduct the percolation tests for the applicant - or would this present a conflict? |
The Board of Health Soil Evaluator may perform both the percolation tests and the soil evaluation for a site as long as s/he is not directly paid by the applicant. In this situation, the Board of Health may charge the system proponent a fee for performing these services. The Board of Health Soil Evaluator may not, however, conduct the soil evaluation for the Board of Health and then perform the percolation test as an agent of the applicant. That is, the Soil Evaluator may not act as an agent for both the Board of Health and the applicant for work done on the same site. |
If a Soil Evaluator who is a Board of Health Member performs percolation tests, must another member of the Board be present? |
As long as the Board of Health Member is not working for or is not being paid directly by the system proponent, no, the presence of another Board of Health Member is not required. |
Are percolation tests that were performed in compliance with the 1978 Code and prior to January 1, 1996, valid under the current Code? |
If percolation tests were performed prior to January 1, 1996, and the tests comply with the requirements of the 1995 Code, then the tests may be used in connection with an application for a disposal system construction permit filed under the 1995 Code. Percolation tests are valid for an indefinite period of time when the soils within the site remain undisturbed and when the tests have been performed in compliance with the current Code requirements. |
As part of the 1995 Code revisions, why was the fill provision changed? |
The Department revised the fill provision, 310 CMR15.255(3, to allow a greater variety of types of fill to be used. The Department found that the previous narrow language resulted in too limited a supply of acceptable fill material. The new language, while being as environmentally protective, affords greater flexibility for the construction of systems in fill. |