A County in Washington State Rules Homeowners Can Service and Inspect their Septic Systems

WASHINGTON

Cowlitz County commissioners proposed septic rules that clarify what is allowed during design and construction, and makes inspection criteria consistent. The rules would let homeowners service and inspect their systems, as advanced treatment technologies are rare in the county. The ordinance also allows owners to install their own systems and does not include an age limit or pumping schedule as long as the systems function correctly. The county also is offering a two-hour class to instruct homeowners on septic care and inspection.

FLORIDA

The Polk County Planning Commission has approved a proposal to regulate treatment plants that lime-stabilize septage. The ordinance accommodates the septic tank industry by being less onerous than current regulations, which do not differentiate between smaller plants and municipal wastewater treatment facilities. Polk County has 100,000 septic tanks and no centrally located municipal plant that accepts septage.

OHIO

The new budget bill signed into law includes a provision that extends the moratorium on the 2007 onsite wastewater rules until Jan. 1, 2010.

OREGON

The state Department of Environmental Quality issued a $76,637 penalty to a waste management contractor in Roseburg, charging that the company’s overloaded sewage lagoons created a public nuisance with offensive odors. In two separate months, inspectors found the lagoons heavily overloaded with organic material, which prevented them from operating properly. The agency’s order requires the facility to develop a treatment plan and install a screen to remove debris from incoming sewage within 60 days. The owners have 20 days to appeal or pay the penalty.

TEXAS

The Texas Onsite Wastewater Association stopped a bill that would require all onsite sewage facility-licensed contractors to carry $1 million of liability insurance. Employees would be covered under their company’s policy.

The Senate passed a bill increasing the small business tax exemption from businesses making less than $300,000 to those making $1 million. Effective in 2010 and 2011, the bill removes the franchise tax burden on approximately 40,000 small businesses that paid franchise tax in 2008.

DELAWARE

A study states that new onsite regulations could create a need for $23.8 million in aid between 2010 and 2014 to help low- and moderate-income families in southeastern Sussex County. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control set new inspection and pump-out rules for the Inland Bays watershed in 2007, and mandated that septic systems meet higher standards by 2015. The new standards could require costly upgrades or replacements, along with annual upkeep contracts averaging $350 a year. As much as $2 million yearly could be needed after 2015 to support ongoing replacements.



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