JLC • NEW ENGLAND UPDATE • FEBRUARY 1996 JLC • NEW ENGLAND UPDATE • AUGUST 1996 Mass. Septic Regs Raise a Stink But builders remain optimistic the air will clear When the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection released its new septic regulations in early 1995, it knew the regulations, which require homeowners to upgrade or replace any substandard septic system before selling their homes, would hinder a few house sales. But no one expected the hundreds of stories about real estate deals that went south because the expense of meeting the requirements erased the equity the owners were counting on to upgrade or move. There's no way to count the precise numbers, but no one now really denies that the 15-monthold regulations, known as
