Legislative Update - Sewage Law and Rules
(updated August 14, 2007)
The Ohio General Assembly recently passed House Bill 119, also known as the State Budget
Bill. It was signed into law by the Governor on June 30, 2007. The bill
makes several significant changes to the Ohio Sewage Law and Rules. Although the
majority of the local health departments and representatives of the sewage industry (manufacturers,
installers, haulers, service providers, soil scientists, etc.) were in support of the new sewage
law and the 2007 administrative rules, a small but powerful coalition of companies and associations
lobbied our state legislators to include language in the Budget Bill that rescinds numerous
sections of Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Department of Health’s Sewage Treatment System
Rules. CCBH was successful in working closely with the state legislature and our
partners in public health to preserve essential facets of the sewage code that help minimize the
impact on our local sewage program and our homeowners. The changes that did occur in
the code include:
1. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3718 (Ohio's Sewage Law) is suspended until July 1,
2009 except for sections pertaining to definitions, the state Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
and a manufacturer's approval process.
2. The ODH Director and the Ohio Public Health Council had to rescind the 2007
Sewage Treatment Rules and reinstate the 1977 rules, except for specific rules that establish a
separation distance from the water table and rules that establish soil absorption
requirements. Both of these must now be set locally.
3. Local health departments may adopt more stringent local rules, provided their
adoption considers their economic impact on property owners, the state of available technology and
the nature and economics of available alternatives, and the design and installation of soil
absorption systems to prevent public health nuisances. A copy of the locally
established rules must be sent to ODH. To help protect public health and to bridge the gap
between the outdated state rules and the needs of our homeowners, CCBH adopted its
Sewage Treatment System Rules on July 25, 2007.
These rules can be viewed by following the appropriate link provided on the Household Sewage
Program page.
4. Local health departments can continue to administer the Small Flow On-Site
Sewage Treatment System Program (SFOSTS). These are on-lot sewage systems that service
structures such as vacation rental cabins, dwellings with home businesses, etc. and receive less
than 1000 gallons per day.
5. Restates that no new sewage treatment systems can discharge off-lot
without NPDES permit coverage issued by the Ohio EPA. These discharging
sewage systems must have a service contract.
6. Restates that all sewage tanks and vaults must be watertight.
7. Retains the ability of local health departments to collect appropriate sewage
program fees. The fee transmittal to ODH is now $25 for each new installation permit.
8. New and replacement sewage treatment systems must be inspected to ensure that
they are not causing a nuisance within 12 months of installation (instead of 18 months as
previously required).
9. ODH may file an injunction against any local health department that allows
sewage nuisances to exist.
10. The Sewage Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) remains intact except that
appointments to the TAC will now be made through political appointment instead of by the ODH
Director. The TAC functions remain the same except for added duties related to
research, overseeing pilot projects and the development of a list of alternative systems and their
costs.
11. ODH is require to conduct education and training for local health department staff
related to best sewage system design, installation and operation practices and TAC recommendations.
12. Another Sewage Treatment System Study Commission is established to study issues
concerning sewage systems and to recommend sewage legislation to the General Assembly by December
1, 2008.
13. The ODH Director must submit a report to the Study Commission which contains the
results of a survey of local health department practices and sewage system failure rates no later
than June 1, 2008.
The information below serves as a detailed recap of the events
that led to the passage of sewage legislation and adoption of statewide sewage treatment rules
between 2003 - 2006.
History of Ohio's Sewage Legislation
Ohio House Bill 231 was introduced on June 24, 2003 and was assigned to the Energy and
Environment Committee of the House of Representatives. The primary sponsor of the bill was Rep. Tom
Niehaus (R) of the 88th House District. For well over a year before the bill’s introduction, Rep.
Niehaus met with representatives of private industry and government agencies directly impacted by
this legislation. He utilized the input he received and the concerns he heard from these
individuals when he drafted HB 231.
After introduction, HB 231 was referred to the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee (a subcommittee
of the House Energy and Environment Committee) for discussion and analysis. Testimony was heard on
the bill beginning in September, 2003. The bill was amended several times and was referred out of
the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee on March 23, 2004 as Substitute House Bill 231. The referral and
discussion on Sub. HB 231 occurred on March 24, 2004 in front of the full Energy and Environment
Committee. Several weeks of testimony followed in April. Nearly all of the testimony presented to
the committee was in support of the bill. Representatives from many organizations such as the Ohio
Department of Health (ODH), Ohio EPA, Ohio Environmental Health Association (OEHA), Ohio
Environmental Council (OEC), Association of Ohio Health Commissioners (AOHC) and Ohio Onsite
Wastewater Association (OOWA) testified in a show of unified public health and industry support for
the bill. Unfortunately, a representative of the Ohio Township Association testified against the
bill, but his claims and opinions of the bill may not have represented the majority of his
association’s membership. On April 28, 2004, Sub. HB 231 was voted out of the Energy and
Environment Committee by a vote of 12 - 1.
On May 25, 2004, Sub. HB 231 was passed on the floor of the House of Representatives by a
vote of 67-32. Representative Niehaus and others provided testimony in support of the bill.
Unfortunately, a few state representatives chose to speak in opposition of the bill. Some of their
concerns were related to issues not even addressed in the bill. They even went as far as to say
that failing sewage systems had little if any impact on the environment and that there was “no
proof that these septic systems have ever made anybody sick”. After the smoke cleared and the vote
was held, over two-thirds of the representatives recognized the positive impacts and benefits of
the bill and voted to support it.
On November 17, 2004, the Ohio Senate Energy, Natural Resources & Environment Committee
heard testimony on the bill and passed it out by a vote of 8-0. It was sent to the floor of the
Senate for a vote on November 30, 2004. The bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of 27-2. Since
several amendments were added to the bill in the Senate, it was promptly sent back to the House of
Representatives for a concurrence vote the next day. On December 1, 2004, the House agreed to the
amendments and passed the bill by a vote of 61-27. The governor then signed the bill into law on
February 1, 2005.
Sub. House Bill 231 will ultimately strengthen and improve the household sewage program in
the State of Ohio. It required the revision of Ohio’s outdated Household Sewage Disposal Rules and
provided a mechanism to ensure that these rules coincide with current technology and industry
practices. These rules established standards for household sewage treatment system (HSTS) siting,
design, installation, operation, monitoring, maintenance and abandonment.
A Household Sewage Treatment System Technical Advisory Committee was created to assist the
Ohio Department of Health (ODH) develop guidelines for the approval and disapproval of new HSTS
designs and products. Sub. HB 231 also allocated to the Ohio Department of Health the authority and
resources to provide consistent statewide oversight of the household sewage program, while still
allowing for flexibility at the local level. It also requires that the purchaser of a home be
advised to contact either ODH or their local health department to obtain information on the HSTS
design, operation and maintenance at the time of real estate transfer.
Passage of Sub. House Bill 231 also represents an essential step in addressing the impact the
USEPA’s Phase II Stormwater Program is having on local household sewage programs. As a result of
these stormwater requirements, thousands of property owners in Ohio currently utilize household
sewage treatment systems that have been deemed “illicit”. Without Sub. House Bill 231 and the
required update of our current statewide household sewage rules, the Ohio EPA had advised that it
could not move forward with the current version of its Draft General NPDES Permit for Household
Sewage Systems. This permit would ultimately allow local health departments to address local water
quality concerns and assist individual homeowners who currently are in violation of the Phase II
Storm Water Regulations.
Sewage Advisory Committee
For nearly a year, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) held a series of Sewage Advisory
Committee meetings to discuss many issues that needed to be addressed in the updated Household
Sewage Treatment Rules. The committee was comprised of representatives from a wide range of groups
and associations involved in various facets of the onsite sewage industry. They included
representatives from local health departments, ODH, the Ohio EPA, ODNR, soil scientists, realtors,
home builders, as well as sewage system manufacturers, pumpers and installers. As draft versions of
the rules were formulated by ODH, committee members reviewed and commented on specific language in
each proposed rule to ensure that the interests of their memberships were protected.
Statewide Household Sewage Rule Approval Process
The Public Health Council (PHC) is a seven member rule-making body for ODH. It is empowered
to adopt, amend and rescind rules pertaining to public health. A public hearing on the proposed
statewide household sewage rules was initially held on March 9, 2006. Nearly 40 individual
testimonies were presented to the PHC at this meeting. After the testimony was presented, members
of the PHC asked ODH to consider and address several issues raised at this meeting and to provide
clarification on these issues at a special PHC meeting planned for March 23, 2006. On that day, a
brief presentation was provided by ODH and additional testimony was heard from a few association
representatives in attendance. The Council then voted unanimously to send the proposed rules
package with any amendments to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR). JCARR is
comprised of five State Representatives and five State Senators. The primary function of JCARR is
to review proposed rules to ensure that:
1. the rules do not exceed the scope of ODH and the PHC’s rule-making authority;
2. the rules do not conflict with any other agency rules;
3. the rules do not conflict with the intent of the legislation that required this rule
update; and
4. the rule-making agency has prepared a complete rule summary and fiscal analysis of the
proposed rules.
At their scheduled April 24, 2006 meeting, JCARR heard testimony regarding the proposed
sewage rules. The Ohio Department of Health, Senator Tom Niehaus (sponsor of House Bill 231) and
several industry representatives agreed to continue to meet through the summer to address some
remaining concerns the industry had with proposed sewage system design standards and the perceived
cost of these systems in the future. As a result, the rules were ultimately validated by JCARR and
sent back to the Public Health Council for final approval, which occurred on May 4, 2006.
Sen. Niehaus coordinated a series of meetings that involved the Ohio Department of Health,
the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners and a coalition of industry members. This “
Coalition” included representatives from the Ohio Home Builders Association, the Ohio Association
of Realtors, the Ohio Manufactured Homes Association and representatives of companies who
manufacture specific types of sewage system components, Infiltrator and Ring Industries.
As a result of these meetings, ODH modified its existing sewage rule package. These
rules were revised to accommodate as many of the Coalition’s concerns as possible. Since the
previously adopted rules were being modified, they were once again required to be reviewed and
approved by the Public Health Council. This amended rules package was introduced at the
Public Health Council meeting held on August 17, 2006. The Council then heard testimony at a
special meeting held on September 28, 2006. They ultimately voted to send the new rules
package to JCARR for validation.
On October 10, 2006, the amended Household Sewage Treatment Rules were presented to
JCARR. Testimony was provided both in favor and in opposition of the amended rules.
Although a total of ten rule changes had been proposed by ODH to accommodate the various concerns
of the Coalition members, as a whole, they were still not satisfied. After many questions
from the JCARR members and detailed discussion to help clarify specific issues related to
discharging systems and the potential cost of modern system designs, the rules were ultimately
validated and were scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2007. Despite their validation,
JCARR Chairman Jay Hottinger (R-31st Senate District; Newark) advised those in attendance that
several legislators had concerns with the rules and were still committed to introducing and
supporting legislation aimed at delaying the effective date of the rules.
On October 12, 2006, the amended Household Sewage Treatment Rule package was approved by the
Public Health Council. These rules went into effect on January 1, 2007. They replaced the
existing Household Sewage Disposal Rules, which were nearly 30 years old and were the oldest in the
country. The existing rules did not recognize many of the sewage system designs, components and
technologies currently in use across the country. The updated Household Sewage Treatment Rules will
ultimately provide more diverse sewage treatment options for local health departments as they work
with homeowners and local community officials to address individual sewage system concerns or
nuisance conditions. They would also provide a more uniform set of statewide standards, while
allowing for flexibility at the local level.
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