Washington County adopts revised on-site sewage rules after public hearing

Washington County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to adopt a revised order regulating on-site sewage facilities in the county, contingent on approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The action followed a public hearing held under the Texas Administrative Code, and staff said the order largely reverts to the county's 2009 standards with a single previously proposed paragraph removed.

At the hearing, county staff member Wesley Stokes said the revisions respond to earlier concerns and to comments from a workshop for installers. “This would allow some more transparency in terms of how many installs have been done, how many failed inspections over a period of time,” Stokes said, describing a plan to publish installer histories for the public. He said that transparency would be provided on the county website and via brochures in the county lobby rather than through regulatory language in the order.

County staff also noted they held a workshop for installers who had done more than 10 installs in the last five years and said attendees supported publishing inspection and installation statistics. The court removed a paragraph proposed earlier that would have imposed installer suspensions based on failed inspections over time; staff told the court the revised draft restores the 2009 order's language except for that paragraph.

During regular session the court moved and seconded adoption of the order. After a brief expression of thanks to staff for meeting with installers, the court voted and the motion carried. The order will take effect on the date of the court’s approval and upon approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The record of the hearing and the adopted order will be transmitted to the state agency for its required approval, a step staff said is necessary before local enforceability.