Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Septic Systems Groundwater topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montana lawmaker seeks streamlined septic approvals where groundwater is absent
Summary
Rep. Lou Jones introduced House Bill 923 to let the Department of Environmental Quality adopt alternate review rules for septic systems in areas where usable groundwater does not exist, aiming to reduce cost and delay while retaining environmental safeguards.
Representative Lou Jones, sponsor of House Bill 923, told the House Natural Resources Committee that the bill would authorize the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to adopt tailored rules for septic-system reviews in parts of eastern Montana where usable groundwater is absent. “Were giving DEQ a smart tool to acknowledge whats obvious to everyone on the ground in those areas and give families out there a far more efficient pass to get in their system approved,” Jones said.
The measure responds to complaints from county sanitarians and residents who face the states existing nondegradation review process even where no drinking groundwater exists. Jones described homeowners hauling water or piping it long distances and said the geology in several counties means test wells either never find drinkable groundwater or reach it at prohibitive depth.
Rachel Clark, chief of DEQs engineering bureau, appeared as an informational witness and described DEQs role during questions. She confirmed the agency conducts nondegradation analyses to protect drinking and surface waters and said in areas where there is essentially no groundwater that factor would not be part of that analysis. Clark told the committee she and policy staff are available to answer technical questions and that the bills amendment was prepared with DEQ staff involvement.
Committee members pressed on details. Representative France asked what the "discharge" would be when no groundwater exists; Clark explained the term refers to household wastewater that flows from the septic tank to a drainfield and then percolates into subsurface soils. France and others asked whether skipping background nitrogen sampling or other elements of the nondegradation review could risk contamination; DEQ staff and the sponsor said the bill would limit the modified review to areas with no nearby drinking groundwater and would preserve setbacks and septic-system design standards.
Representative Jones said the bills amendment narrows authority for DEQ to write rules that apply only in those locations and intended the change to balance environmental protection with reduced cost and delay for residents who have no practical source of groundwater.
The committee did not take final action on the bill during the hearing; Jones closed the hearing and listed proponents and opponents for the record.
