Ontario to Adopt Quebec Onsite Standards

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Changes proposed by the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing would bring onsite regulations in line with those recently established by the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec, an accredited standards development council.

The province now uses an American standard that cannot measure how onsite systems perform in Canadian climates. Under the proposals, effluent must be pumped to the drainfields. Installers must use higher-grade sand in the absorption area and wrap the distribution laterals in copper wire for locating without excavation. The proposals, which could take effect by 2012, would affect new homes and remodeling projects.

 

New York

If proposed Westchester County onsite regulations are approved, the Maintenance of Separate Sewage Disposal Systems/Onsite Wastewater Systems ordinance would be added to town codes.

It would implement the state Department of Environmental Conservation municipal separate storm sewer systems permit for towns in the Croton watershed, and would require septic tanks to be pumped and inspected every five years. The permit, effective May 1, was mandated by the state as part of a federal stormwater initiative. It requires towns to have an ongoing program in place to inspect, maintain and repair onsite systems. Towns will use pump-out records collected by the county to enforce the law.

 

Oregon

The Department of Environmental Quality instructed an advisory committee to establish proposed rules allowing citizens to use greywater outside their homes. A permit would allow do-it-yourself installation of commercial greywater systems. The department estimates 10 percent of new homes could be built with these systems. The state Environmental Quality Commission could institute the rule in August.

 

New Hampshire

The Great Bay Community Protection Act would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a peer-reviewed study of the impact of nitrogen released into the Great Bay Estuary. It also would ban the agency from requiring nitrogen removal or taking further action for five years. The legislation was introduced after the EPA mandated that treatment plants in the Great Bay estuary limit effluent nitrogen volume to 3 mg/l. Some officials anticipate similar requirements for onsite systems.

 

Connecticut

A bill proposing time-of-sale onsite inspections for onsite systems died in a committee of the state legislature. The proposal did not state who would perform the inspections, what level of proficiency inspectors would need, or provide a protocol for the inspection process.

 

Delaware

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control entered its third year of rewriting onsite regulations. Some rule changes include accepting Wisconsin at-grade mounds as standard systems, requiring concrete septic tanks to meet OWPA/NPCA standards for structural integrity and water tightness, requiring effluent filters to be cleaned every six months and regulating the size of tire chip aggregate.

The proposal creates a Class I construction inspector to inspect new gravity systems as well as replacements and repairs. It also would establish a tiered approach to licensing soil scientists and system contractors.

 

Washington

Public comment brought revisions to the Ephrata sewer ordinance requiring homeowners with a sewer within 200 feet of the property line to connect to it. Proposed changes would move the requirement to 200 feet from the residence, and would allow existing onsite systems to remain until they fail, the inspection is not reported or the property is sold. Systems outside the 200-foot distance could be replaced or rehabilitated.

The proposal also would require the pumping and inspection of high-use and residential septic tanks every five years, and commercial and low-use tanks every 10 years. Upon sale of the property, new owners would have 60 days to tie to the sewer.



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