Assembly Bill 885, signed into law by Governor Davis in 2000, directed the Water Board to come up with state standards for the construction and operation of “Onsite Water Treatment Systems” (OWTS), otherwise known as septic systems.  The legislation was meant to protect groundwater and surface waters from septic system contamination, a worthwhile goal. However, in drawing up regulations, the Water Board may have exceeded the Legislature’s original mandate. 

While the new regulations spell out in considerable detail how septic systems should be designed, constructed, and operated, the Board also included rules, which if enacted, would require every property owner in California with a septic system to have his septic tank inspected and his well tested every five years at an estimated cost of $700.00. Water wells are to be tested not only for pathogens but also for a long list of minerals and chemical compounds, and the test results are to be sent to Sacramento. The complete texts of the draft regulations and EIR may be downloaded from the State Water Resources Control Board’s website at www.waterboards.ca.gov. Click on their link, “Septic Tanks – AB 885”

Needless to say, a lot of North Coast residents showed up at a State Water Board workshop in Santa Rosa on February 9, 2009. They were there to learn more about the proposed regulations and to challenge what many members of the audience saw as regulatory overkill. While the DCVA Board of Directors has not taken any position on the Water Board’s proposal, editors of our website felt that our membership might be interested in the controversy, and we are reproducing the following report that we recently received. Submitted by Richard Conrad 

T.K. Hill of Sonoma County Landrights (http://sonomacountylandrights.com)  filed the following report on the Water Board’s February 9 public meeting:

Meeting Report

The two-part "workshop" with the Water Board and the citizens of the North Coast was quite a success.  At least 2,000 citizens turned out and more than 100 spoke their concerns about the current proposed regulations.  99.99% of the comments were in opposition.

Among the speakers were many Environmental Health specialists, engineers, and others with scientific expertise in the area of OWTS-- all of whom spoke to the technical impracticalities, costliness and insufficiencies of both the regulations and the DEIR  (draft environmental impact report).

Attorneys, members of Napa and Mendocino counties' Boards of Supervisors and other professionals spoke to the inadequate provisions for enforcement, the complete disregard of current, effective local regulation and the incredible cost of the proposed  regulation -- as well as the cost of the nine year regulation-writing process.

Many people spoke of the clear and obvious commitment to clean water of those who live with septic systems and wells.  Overall there was overwhelming opposition to the proposed regulations and many speakers wondered if there was any need for another layer of regulations to get in the way of current, local public health ordinances which work well.

A representative from [State Senator] Wes Chesbro's office, Mattie Hershfeld, stated that the government should not be putting more burden on the people in these economic times.  She also pointed out that the level of detail in the proposed regulations was not mandated by the original bill, AB 885.

The State Water Resources Control Board Members in attendance (Tam Dudoc, SWRCB Chair; Todd Thompson, PE, Program Manager; William Rukeyser, Office of Public Affairs; James Giannopoulos, Staff Member) listened quietly.

Update

Tam Doduc, SWRCB Chair, stated that the comment period will close on February 23, 2009.

After that, Ms Doduc said, the SWRCB will consider the comments from citizens and other agencies and re-work the proposed regulations, again. (This is the third set of regulations offered for public comment since AB 885 was passed in 2000.)

When those rewrites are ready, the Board will again open up "workshops" for public and agency comment.  They will notify those who signed up at the meeting and we at SCLRC will notify our members as well.

Ms Doduc stated clearly that she has "no idea what kind of time frame they are looking at."

T.K. Hill concluded her report by suggesting that readers contact their state legislators and Water Board officials to convey their concerns about AB 885 and the draft regulations.

While the DCVA Board has not yet discussed AB 885 or taken any position on the draft regulations, we would welcome comments from our members.