PARK COUNTY STAFF REPORT On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Regulation Update Public Hearing. Sheila Cross, Director of Development Services

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1 PARK COUNTY STAFF REPORT SUBJECT: 2018 On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Regulation Update Public Hearing DATE: May 21, 2018 TO: FROM: Board of Health Sheila Cross, Director of Development Services EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY: The state adopted new on-site wastewater treatment system (OWTS) regulations in May As a result, the county is required to update local OWTS regulations to be at least as stringent as the state s. Our current regulation has been in effect since July The most substantial change in the state s new regulation is related to permissible soil types. The 2014 regulation rendered many of the county s on-site soils unsuitable for use in soil treatment areas (STAs). The new regulation allows a wider variety of soil types in STAs, which should benefit the county in general. Staff prepared a draft regulation, which can be found on-line here: System-Regulation-Draft. A blast was sent to septic system contractors to inform them of the upcoming change. A public meeting was held on May 14, at which time comments were taken. Attachment 1 is a summary of public comments received as of report preparation, and action recommended by staff as a result of them. The draft regulation was reviewed by the state concurrently. Their comments are included as Attachment 2, and will all be incorporated into the final document. This May 24, 2018, public hearing is required prior to adoption. At the close of the hearing, all appropriate comments will be incorporated into a final document for the Board of Health s approval. The regulation will be effective 45 days after adoption, but must be adopted by June 30, 2018 to comply with state requirements. REQUESTED ACTION: Based on input received from the Board of Health, state, and public, a final document and approving resolution will be provided for your consideration.

2 Attachment 1 Page 1 of OWTS Regulation Revision Public Comments Received as of 5/22/18 Section 43. Defn E E.1.c L.5.a L L 43.4.L.3.h 43.4.L.5.a L.5.a d.1.d Public Comment Define malfunction? Failure - frozen line will not be considered a failure. Saturated field that hasn't surfaced not considered failure Inspections shall be conducted by the engineer of record, or under the direct supervision of the engineer of record Load tix required prior to final septic inspection approval 90 days on tank replacement? What about snow conditions? Case by case verbiage? NAWT inspection with repair - TOT not required but if it is only line repair then the rest of the system will need to be inspected. What if the tank was pumped two years ago? Do they still need to pump for the NAWT report? Documentation of undoc'd field - how far do we want to go? How to do the 24 hour watertightness on an occupied residence Replace 'Higher Level Treatment' with 'Mechanical Addition' Soil gradation requirement - LHA 'May Require" Staff Response Add clarification at end of definition. To be revised as suggested. Add clarification at end of section. Add clarification at end of section. Add clarification to address specific system components. Yes. No change recommended. Proposed Revised Language Frozen wastewater lines, and saturated STAs that have not surfaced, do not constitute malfunction. They shall be conducted by the engineer of record, or under the responsible charge of the engineer of record, Copies of load tickets for all imported material shall be provided at or prior to final system inspection. Leaking tanks shall be replaced within 90 days unless otherwise approved by the local health agency. System components which have received an inspection To the extent possible and practical. Add clarification at, to the extent possible and practical. end of sentence. To be addressed on case-by-case basis. Add clarification, unless otherwise agreed to by the local at end of sentence. health agency. To be modified as suggested. Replace sentence. Systems with mechanical additions must have To be modified. Site-specific gradation test resuls shall be submitted upon request of the local public health agency.

3 Attachment 1 Page 2 of A Repairs - meet or beat existing setbacks Add clarification to end of section. When repairing existing systems, every effort shall be made to meet current setback requirements. However, the local public health agency may approve designs with setbacks no closer than existing conditions where current setbacks cannot be met D D.4.a 43.9.B.4.c 43.9.J B.5.d 43.9.I.4.a 43.9.D.1.g 43.9.D E.1.c E.3 Table 7-1 footnote 2, 43.9.D.1.a, 43.9.E.1, 43.9.I.2.d, 43.8.J 2' min cover might- want to add some verbiage where they can add ridged foam board to reduce cover All riser bolts or srews must be special. Change 6" from access to 12" on tee handle extention and any component that can be removed and serviced Concrete mid-seam tank prohibited (not other materials). Pump system oulet is 18-20" outside the riser so it will be difficult to meet the 24" min depth Allow long sweeping 90's Bedding material specification? Exceeds 13% what about pressure systems with adv that needs to be mounded? Trenches may be hard to install Remove dose siphon from pressure distribution Differ from latest state edition (minor modifications). Requirement applies to new installations, and is necessary to comply with state. Suggested change is Current language is sufficient. No change recommended. To be modified as suggested. Reword section to clarify. Some mounding may be required. No change recommended. Long sweeps are not disallowed. No change No change recommended. Adequately addressed in draft. Add clarification. Modify 3.a. as proposed herein, and delete references to siphons. Will be modified for state consistency where appropriate. (Replace 6" with 12" in all locations.) Mid-seam concrete tanks are prohibited. Unless otherwise approved by the local public health agency, beds shall not be used Design of pressure distribution systems must include the following. Dosing siphons are not permitted in pressure distribution systems. (Modify as appropriate.)

4 Attachment 2 Dedicated to protecting and improving the health and environment of the people of Colorado May 15, 2018 Sheila Cross, Director of Development Services Park County P.O. Box 1598 Fairplay, CO Subject: Pre-Local Adoption Review of Proposed Regulation Comments On-site Wastewater Treatment System Regulations Park County Dear Ms. Cross: The Water Quality Control Division (Division) has received and reviewed the proposed revisions to Park County On-site Wastewater Treatment System Regulations (local regulation) received May 2, The Division s review of this document was conducted pursuant to section 43.4(A)(2)(a) of the On-site Wastewater Treatment System Regulation 5 CCR (Regulation 43). During review, the Division identified the following inconsistencies or conflicts in the proposed revisions to the local regulation with regard to the On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems Act (Act) Article 10 of Title 25, C.R.S. or Regulation 43: 1. Pg. 55, Section 43.8.D.2, this section of your regulation has omitted the requirement that a new septic tank installation may be no deeper than 4 feet below finished grade; see Section 43.8.D.2 of Regulation 43. This maximum depth requirement must be included in your local regulation. 2. Pg. 65, Section B.1; this section of your regulation seems to indicate that all OWTS systems must be designed by a professional engineer. However the proposed language does not clearly state your intent. Your submittal states: At proposed soil treatment areas and locations must be designed by a Colorado-licensed professional engineer and approved by the local public health agency. This section must be revised to clearly state your intent. Recommendations: 3. Pg. 18, Section 43.4.B.3.e; this section of your regulation identifies two separate requirements as sub-section, e. The item noting, Report from Site and Soil Evaluation should be noted as subsection f, and so on Pg. 21, Section 43.4.F.4, this section of your regulation has omitted a requirement of identifying the system contractor. Noting that you have inserted this requirement in Section 43.4.B.3.e, Application Requirements, it is recommended that you also include this item in Section 43.4.F.4, with the following addition: Identification of system contractor, if different than contractor identified on the application Cherry Creek Drive S., Denver, CO P John W. Hickenlooper, Governor Larry Wolk, MD, MSPH, Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer

5 Shelia Cross, Director of Development Services May 15, 2018 Park County On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems: Pre-Local Adoption Review Comments Page 2 of 3 5. Pg. 67, Table 10-1; as you are requiring that all OWTS be designed by a professional engineer, you may remove the shading from this table. Further, you have decided to delete the Note directly below this table that referenced the engineer design requirements. For clarity purposes it is recommended that you insert a Note at the same location as the one removed, which states: All OWTS must be designed by a Colorado-licensed professional engineer. 6. Pg. 82, Section A.2.a, and B; these sections of your regulation indicate that, public domain technology systems are not permitted. While this would be more stringent than Regulation 43 and thus allowed, it should be noted that unlined sand filters, lined sand filters, recirculating sand filters, and mound systems are considered public domain technology systems. As you have included requirements for the aforementioned systems in your regulation, it seems that there may be some confusion regarding terminology or definition. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me. 7. Pg. 106, Section D.4.b.2; as you have chosen to be more stringent than the requirements of regulation 43 in your proposed section D.4.b.3 by requiring inspections at six-month intervals for the life of the system, you may delete Section D.4.b.2 as they refer to an allowance for more stringent local requirements. 8. Pg. 109, Statement of Basis and Purpose; this section may be removed from your regulation as it is stated in Regulation 43 and does not define a regulatory requirement for the permitting, installation or maintenance of an OWTS. 9. On May 3, 2018, I contacted Sarah Dunn of your office to discuss your proposed edits to Regulation 43 on the following items: Pg. 2, Definition of Cistern; your regulation proposes to remove the word, underground. Regulation 43 included this specification in the definition as an above ground cistern does not carry the public health concerns regarding setbacks to a component of an OWTS as does one buried underground. Should you choose to move forward with your proposed edit, you may want to modify the setback requirements in Table 7-1 to reference an underground cistern. Pg. 25, Section 43.4.L.5.a.1; this section references a 24-hour water tightness test for certain septic tanks. Note that all inspections conducted by a NAWT certified inspector should include a complete evaluation of the septic tank as part of a normal Transfer of Title inspection. Pg. 55, Section 43.8.D.2; this section of your regulation provides a requirement that the top of all tanks must be at least two feet deep. Regulation 43 states that no new tank installation may be deeper than four feet deep to the top of the tank, as noted in item #1 above. Your two foot minimum requirement may not allow enough flexibility for tank installations on many sites. If freezing is a concern, certain construction practices can be implemented to address these issues. Further note that any modification to this section must also include an edit to Section 43.9.D.1.g, which states that all sewer pipes must be installed at least 24 inches below grade. These may be added to your regulation. Please modify the proposed local regulation to comply with and be as stringent as the Act and Regulation 43. Please note that Regulation 43 became effective June 30, Local public health agencies have one year to adopt local on-site wastewater treatment system regulations that are as stringent as Regulation 43. Only after the Division has determined that the local board of health s revised regulations comply with the OWTS Act and Regulation 43 may the local board of health s revised regulations take effect and be published [Section 43.4(A)(3)(e)].

6 Shelia Cross, Director of Development Services May 15, 2018 Park County On-site Wastewater Treatment Systems: Pre-Local Adoption Review Comments Page 3 of 3 If you have any questions regarding the Division s review or findings, please contact me at (303) or chuck.cousino@state.co.us. Sincerely, Charles J. Cousino, REHS On-site Wastewater Treatment System Coordinator Engineering Section Water Quality Control Division Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment cc: Files