The Ohio State Senate, after more than a year of arguments over the plan’s potential cost to homeowners, unanimously approved a bill that would create uniform onsite standards. The legislation approves various treatment technologies based on soil properties, an appeals process for violations, a scientific standard for defining a public-health nuisance, the grandfathering of older systems, and the opportunity for homeowners to repair failing systems — when appropriate — rather than replacing them. The most hotly debated principle requires a vertical separation distance for high seasonally perched water tables and harsh limiting soil conditions. Approved procedures to reduce the distance
