Designated 2023-07-07

Brewster

Brewster is the only town on the Cape using all four filing routes at once — a granted permit, a full permit application, and two De Minimis Load applications across four watersheds.

What Brewster filed

What that means if you are selling

Every watershed in Brewster is covered by a filing, so the nitrogen upgrade requirement is suspended here. On the MassDEP disclosure form a seller in one of these watersheds would normally tick box 2 — in a Nitrogen Sensitive Area, not currently subject to an upgrade — and name the filing above.

If Brewster were to miss the milestones in its approved schedule, MassDEP could start the five-year upgrade clock, which would run to 8 July 2030. That has not happened. It is the reason this page carries a date and gets re-checked.

Watersheds shared with other towns

These cross town lines, and the neighbouring town did not always file the same way — so two properties in the same watershed can sit in different positions.

• Herring River — also Dennis (Notice of Intent), Harwich (Notice of Intent)
• Swan Pond River — also Dennis (Notice of Intent)
• Bass River — also Dennis (Notice of Intent), Yarmouth (Notice of Intent)
• Pleasant Bay — also Chatham (Permit granted), Harwich (Permit granted), Orleans (Permit granted)

The requirement that applies either way

A passing Title 5 inspection is required before you transfer title anywhere in Massachusetts, and it is valid for two years — three if you have documented annual pumping. That is independent of anything on this page.

Your septic records

Brewster Board of Health holds septic records and Title 5 reports. If you are trying to establish that nitrogen-reducing technology was already installed — box 3 on the disclosure form — that installation date is what you need, and the Board of Health file is where it lives.

Filings from MassDEP watershed application table, 11 June 2026.