Queen Anne’s County recently passed Mary-land’s first law requiring regular septic tank pumping every five years. It became the first county to require nitrogen removal systems for new homes built near Chesapeake Bay, which forms the county’s western border. The ordinance would likely require onsite owners to maintain records and the county to conduct random audits.

Some residents argue there is no third-party scientific proof that the changes will affect the health of the bay. The county’s top environmental health officer, John Nickerson, says it’s unclear how much nitrogen from onsite systems reaches the bay, and says the environmental impact is debatable.

The five-year pump-out requirement, however, could help pinpoint the few homeowners who divert septic waste into nearby ditches rather than pay to have their tanks maintained. Many of the 11,000 properties with onsite systems are summer homes, and angry residents insist their tanks don’t require pumping as often.

They also took exception to a provision in the law that allows county officials to charge residents a fee to cover compliance checks, even though the officials claim they won’t need additional taxes to pay for the septic mandate. The ordinance is at www.qac.org/depts/cmnrs/ord8/ cor0809.pdf.

California

The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board amended its septic code, requiring onsite systems to be inspected every two to five years, pumped out every five years, and operated on alternating drainfields.

Homeowners would have to maintain records of inspections and pumping, while the county would have to track them to ensure compliance. The amendments also suggest that San Luis Obispo County construct a processing facility instead of sending septage out of the county. The changes also would prohibit onsite systems for single-family homes on less than one acre, and homes with secondary units would be limited to two-acre lots. Previously, those limits were merely recommended.

The California State Water Resources Control Board released its draft programmatic environmental impact report, and the California Onsite Wastewater Association is consolidating comments for an official response. Board members must identify the potential environmental effects of the state regulation, then compare them with 58 individual sets of regulations — one for each county —plus nine for the Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and several more from special districts and cities.

The process also does not address speculative conditions, such as when a county adopts the new law at the local level, since each jurisdiction may keep its own setbacks and other prescriptive measures. In effect, the state regulation will become hybrid in at least 58 different ways once applied at the local level.

Pennsylvania

The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Northampton Township to run sewer to more than 400 homes and businesses with failing onsite systems. In 1997, the DEP approved a multimillion-dollar central sewer plan proposed by the township, but no construction occurred.

Last year, the township voted unanimously not to enter an agreement with the department to do what it agreed to 10 years ago. However, the township did allow new homes to be built with onsite systems.

The DEP order stipulates that construction of the sanitary sewer must begin by Oct. 1 and be completed by Oct. 1, 2012. Residents won’t be billed until the project’s true cost is known. Hookup is estimated to cost $15,000 to $40,000. A lien will be placed on properties and interest charged if owners don’t pay.

Ohio

After Fairfield County residents attacked the state Department of Health Ground-water Protection Program, the agency presented an alternative. The original plan proposed monitoring streams and ditches to detect failed onsite systems, and collecting an annual $30 fee from the 17,500 homeowners not on municipal sewers. Residents with onsite systems already pay a $40 fee under the agency’s house-to-house program.

The alternative plan proposes inspecting 6,000 of the targeted homes yearly. Inspections will cost $45 and must be repeated every three to five years. Residents with aerobic systems would be charged $22.50 if they provide proof that a licensed contractor inspected the system in the same year the township is inspecting. The alternative plan, at http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/ 3718, must undergo three readings to be approved.

Wisconsin

Code changes awaiting approval by the state legislature include deadlines for counties to develop comprehensive onsite maintenance programs, implement maintenance tracking programs and inventory all onsite systems within their borders.

The proposed changes also allow counties to establish a different maintenance frequency for onsite systems serving properties occupied for less than 120 days per year. A new section makes homeowners responsible for ensuring that access covers remain secured.

Homeowners with systems installed before July 1, 2000, are responsible for maintaining them according to code. The changes are at http://commerce. wi.gov/SBdocs/SB-CodeDev Comm8187LegDraft0208.pdf.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law a bill prohibiting county regulators with duties related to the onsite industry from competing in the private sector to perform soil testing, onsite installations, repair, design, or sales work. The ruling takes effect Nov. 1.

Virginia

Loudoun County officials in Leesburg are considering banning aerobic treatment units, or ATUs, because 18 of 1,200 systems failed within seven years. The measure also would require the 12,800 owners of conventional systems to have their septic tanks pumped and inspected every five years.

ATUs would need an annual inspection by a licensed professional. After hearing from property owners, homebuilders, and sewage treatment businesses that opposed the ban, the Board of Supervisors sent the ordinance back to the Public Safety and Human Services Committee for further study.

Washington

Responding to complaints about costs from rural homeowners, the Whatcom County Council approved changes to state-mandated onsite inspection rules, which require homeowners to have conventional systems inspected every three years and alternative treatment systems every year.

Under the amendments, homeowners can do their own inspections provided they take a course and submit their inspection reports to the county. After a licensed inspector does the first inspection, qualified homeowners may do their own for six years before another professional visit is required. However, self-inspections may not apply to systems whose manufacturers require licensed professionals.