Evaluating CSO and SSO Notifications to the General Public and Board of Health in Massachusetts

Project Abstract
MassDEP is interested in increasing engagement with city and town Boards of Health (BOHs) and community Environmental Justice organizations so they can communicate information on the new sewer overflow notification requirements. We conducted surveys with 87 Boards of Health. We also conducted a short survey of 20 Environmental Justice/Watershed Advocacy Groups to gauge the effectiveness of the new notifications system. We found training along with experiencing an overflow event increased understanding of the new regulations drastically. Consequently, we recommend: 1) MassDEP hold future trainings with scenario-based training, 2) provide supplementary material summarizing the requirements for BOHs and 3) conduct additional research into problems with overflow communication system.