The Springs Protection Bill would create a pilot program featuring Rainbow and Silver Springs to combat their reduced water flow and declining water quality. It would require the Department of Environmental Protection to establish total maximum daily loads of pollutants and develop a basin management plan. It also would require monitoring and upgrading of onsite systems near basins.
If passed, the state Department of Health would have to inventory septic tanks within each spring zone. Licensed contractors would inspect and certify septic tanks as functioning properly. Homeowners within the zones would be required to pump tanks every five years, and repair or replace failed ones. When and where available, they would be required to connect to centralized water and sewers unless granted a waiver by the department.
The Lee County Board of County Commissioners ordered the Florida Governmental Utility Authority to begin a mandatory sewer connection. Homes with non-functional onsite systems must connect to the sewer. The Lee County Department of Health will not issue a repair permit. Homes with new or working onsite systems must hook up by April 2010, paying an impact fee of $2,840.
The South Jacksonville Beach Redevelopment Agency set aside $50,000 to help homeowners with onsite systems pay the $2,500 impact free to connect to the sewer. The city will pay 50 percent of the cost to fewer than 40 residents with financial problems.
A state advisory panel voted to postpone recommending new septic rules for residents living in the Wekiva River region. The regulations would force property owners to install advanced treatment technology when their old systems failed or they sold or expanded their homes.
COLORADO
The Colorado House Business Affairs and Labor Committee rejected a bill to establish a prevailing or union wage for employees who work for contractors on government-funded construction projects in the state. Business groups and members of the Colorado Professionals in Onsite Wastewater argued that the bill would increase red tape for contractors and discourage small and minority-owned businesses from bidding on state projects. Opponents also contended that the legislation was designed to benefit union contractors over open shop contractors.
IOWA
Members of the Iowa Onsite Waste Water Association oppose a labor bill that would require small businesses (less than 500 employees) to pay union or prevailing wages and benefits to workers on public projects. The association argued the bill would increase costs for taxpayers because it eliminated competition from small contractors. The law would apply to contractors and subcontractors on any public project costing $1 million or more. State-funded projects would have to cost $100,000 or more.
WISCONSIN
Effective March 1, the state septic code allows the recycling of wastewater discharged from private and public lavatories. It recognizes portable restrooms with hand sanitizers as substitutes for lavatories if provided in appropriate numbers to satisfy demand.
GEORGIA
The Georgia Onsite Wastewater Association lobbied to remove language from the draft of the Environmental Protection Division Water Conservation Implement-ation Plan stating that septic tanks were 100 percent consumptive. The definition now states that water is consumed if it takes a specified period of time to return to the surface stream from which it came. The association is requesting removal of the wording “specified period of time,” arguing that no science exists to confirm the loss of water. The Water Conservation Implement-ation Plan calls for all residents to live in nodes — small cities hooked to sewers with the rest of the land left undisturbed. The draft is at www.GeorgiaWCIP.org.
DELAWARE
As of February, the Delaware Class H Inspection Program requires installers to use the new Class H inspection form and guidance document. Notable changes include mandatory pumping during inspections, scaled drawings, and more detailed reports. The new pollution control strategies law prohibits cesspools and seepage pits in the Inland Bays Watershed. As of April, onsite systems for all property transfers within the watershed must be inspected and pumped.
The Delaware Ground Water Discharges Section is amending regulations to allow spray irrigation for systems larger than 2,500 gpd. It also established soil and hydrogeologic criteria, base system selection and sizing based on site-specific soil evaluations, infiltrometer tests, and preliminary groundwater assessments. The amendment states that only licensed individuals may perform soil evaluation and system selection, design, installation, and system operation and maintenance. The draft is at www.wr.dnrec. delaware.gov.
TEXAS
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality adopted proposed revisions to the septic code. Changes include:
• Eliminating certification by aerobic treatment plant manufacturers to maintain their systems.
• Eliminating requiring an Installer II or DR license to renew a site evaluator’s license.
• Basing ATU tank sizing on 120 gallons per bedroom.
• Allowing homeowners to maintain systems without training or filing reports, provided the county has not changed its control orders.
• Allowing designated representatives to inspect any system at any time, and requiring homeowners to obtain a maintenance contract if they fail to correct a violation within 10 days.
• Requiring maintenance pro-viders to have an Installer II or Class C wastewater license or three years of verifiable experience.
• Designating food-serving sites to have a high-strength waste system that produces less than 1,200 mg/L BOD5.
The regulations are at www. tceq.state.tx.us.
VIRGINIA
The Chesapeake Bay Nitrogen Reduction Act of 2009 would strengthen restoration plans for the Chesapeake Bay by requiring new or replacement onsite systems to have nitrogen removal technology. The Bay Restoration Fund would assist homeowners in paying the difference between the cost of conventional septic tanks and those with nitrogen removal systems.
