Montezuma County Board of Health opts out of new provisions in proposed OWTS Regulation 43; board to decide small setback exceptions

The Montezuma County Board of Health agreed Oct. 7 to opt out of several optional provisions in a proposed update to Regulation 43 governing on‑site wastewater treatment systems and to retain authority to grant rare exceptions to the 10‑foot property‑line setback.

The action came after Linda Hill, environmental health staff at Montezuma County Public Health, summarized the three optional changes in the state template for Regulation 43 and recommended local opt‑outs for the county. "There's essentially 3 new options with this regulation, 43," Hill said, adding that the health department does not perform transfer‑of‑title inspections and therefore recommended declining that option.

Hill told the board the department's recommendation was to leave decisions about permit property‑line reductions of less than 10 feet to the Board of Health rather than delegating that authority to the local public health agency. "Prohibiting local public health agency and leaving it to the Board of Health to determine if we will allow for permit property line reductions lesser than 10 feet. And so that is our recommendation because we feel that the board of health is a better body to determine if we wanna do that here in the county," Hill said. She also recommended opting out of allowing composting or incinerating toilets, noting the county does not currently permit them.

Commissioner Gerald Copenhae expressed agreement with the county's recommended opt‑outs: "I agree. Just opt out of it. Okay. Whatever we can." Later in the discussion Hill confirmed, "You agree you 2 agree with the board of health being the 1 to determine if we do the setback? Yes. Okay. Great." No formal roll‑call vote or motion was recorded in the transcript; the meeting reflected consensus support among attendees for the recommended opt‑outs and local review of rare setback exceptions.

Hill described the next steps if the board finalizes the recommendation: she will submit the regulation template to the state for review, post public notice with county staff (Kim), and work through the state review process; she said her hope was to have the regulation approved and finalized by April 2026.

The board did not schedule a separate vote on the record during the Oct. 7 meeting; Linda Hill indicated she would proceed with submitting the draft to the state after the Board of Health's endorsement.

The discussion focused on applying local discretion in limited circumstances where strict setbacks prevent repairs, with one commissioner noting such cases would be "pretty unique" and could cause neighbor disputes. The transcript contains no indication the county adopted any new technical standards at this meeting—only a local decision to opt out of the two state options and to reserve exception decisions for the Board of Health.

The board moved on to other agenda items after the consensus; no additional amendments or motions were documented.