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Board of Health adopts revisions to Thurston County sanitary code and updates environmental health fee schedule
Summary
After public hearings on March 11, the Thurston County Board of Health adopted revisions to Articles 1 and 4 of the county sanitary code and approved an updated environmental health fee schedule, with the fee changes proposed to take effect April 1, 2025.
Thurston County's Board of Health voted March 11 to adopt revisions to Articles 1 and 4 of the county sanitary code and to approve an updated environmental health fee schedule, following staff presentations and a hybrid public hearing.
Staff presented an overview of the Article 4 changes — which govern permitting, installation and long-term operation and maintenance of on-site sewage systems — and explained that the revisions remove state code language that was duplicated, clarify procedures, incorporate current policies and reflect public and industry comments received during the code update process.
Dom Peebles, environmental health program manager, summarized the Article 4 changes in the board packet and noted two specific accommodations: a minor wording clarification in the summary of changes (item 44 on page 43 of the packet) and retention of current renewal dates for septic-system professionals. The board packet also contained a summary of changes to Article 1 (definitions and references), which aligns with the Article 4 updates and a recently adopted hearing officer resolution.
The Board held a hybrid public hearing; staff said no members of the public had submitted comments for that hearing. A motion to close the public hearing passed and the board then moved to adopt ordinance H-3-2025 to enact the revised Articles 1 and 4; the board voted in favor and the motion passed.
Separately, staff proposed updates to the environmental health fee schedule and asked the board to adopt ordinance H-2-2025, with an effective date proposed of April 1, 2025. The fee updates included two new fee descriptions, reductions to several subdivision and land-use fees to align with current hourly rates, and modest increases in some solid-waste permit fees. After the hybrid public hearing on fees — for which staff reported no registered public commenters — the board voted to adopt the updated fee schedule and set the effective date as April 1, 2025.
Why it matters: the sanitary-code revisions clarify county permitting and operations for on-site sewage systems and are intended to align county rules with current practice and state guidance; the fee schedule change updates the county's cost-recovery approach for environmental-health services and sets the timetable for implementation.
Ending: staff will publish the adopted ordinances and update online resources to reflect revised code language and the April 1 fee effective date. The board record indicates opportunity for further rule refinement if future comments or operational issues arise.
