Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed 2007-09 budget did not include the request from the state Department of Natural Resources to raise sanitary permit and septage hauler licensing fees. The increase would create revenue to add seven new septage coordinator positions to the agency. Currently, only a small portion of the sanitary permit fee goes to the DNR’s septage program.
A new rule proposed by the state Department of Commerce would provide a reduction or waiver of penalties for small businesses that voluntarily disclose actual or potential regulatory violations. The business must come forward before the violation is disclosed through other methods.
The Commerce Department is developing a timeline for counties to comply with its onsite maintenance tracking regulations. The law went into effect in April 2006. The Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Code Advisory Council recommended counties have two years from publication of the rule change to inventory all properties with onsite systems. The report includes legal description, owner’s name at the time of inventory, tax parcel number, and address.
The council also recommended that counties have five years from publication of the rule change to develop an onsite maintenance-tracking program. Minimum information collected must include items already in the code, if the tank was pumped or inspected, and if surface discharge was present. Counties also must have a follow-up plan with enforcement for non-compliant property owners.
The council further recommended counties have five years from publication of the rule change to develop a program to verify onsite systems were not failing at the time the property was sold.
NATION
Dial 811. It’s the new FCC-designated national number that eliminates multiple Call Before You Dig numbers across the country. According to Common Ground Alliance, this service connects callers with local One Call Centers that notify the appropriate local utilities, which send crews to the requested site to mark the approximate location of underground lines for free. In 2004, about 680,000 underground line strikes resulted in damages, including service outages and injury.
