Bill to allow sewer hookups outside UGAs centers on Lake Stevens landfill; advocates split

House Local Government Committee members heard public testimony on House Bill 1097, which would allow limited extensions or expansions of urban governmental services into rural areas in four narrowly defined circumstances, including to connect a landfill or a failing on-site sewage disposal system when an existing sewer system is within an estimated quarter mile.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Sam Lowe (39th District), told the committee the measure is narrowly targeted to address public‑health and environmental harms from hauling wastewater from a 40‑acre closed landfill near Lake Stevens. “The site currently collects 4,000,000 gallons of wastewater each year, and that wastewater is trucked across the county several times a week,” Lowe said, adding that trucking costs “several $100,000 a year” and creates truck traffic and safety concerns near housing used by military families.

Michelle Rask, staff to the committee, summarized the bill and its relationship to the Growth Management Act (GMA), noting that the GMA generally discourages extension of urban government services outside urban growth areas except in narrow circumstances necessary to protect public health, safety and the environment. HB 1097 would allow service extension in four circumstances: to connect a landfill or solid waste disposal facility to sewerage; to connect when an on‑site sewage system is at the end of its life or failing; to connect a property outside the UGA when an existing sewer system is within approximately a quarter mile; and to connect where an existing sewer system runs in the public right‑of‑way adjacent to the property.

Committee members asked several practical questions about costs and jurisdictional responsibility. Lowe said the county would bear up‑front costs of extending sewer to the site and installing an on‑site decant pretreatment facility, but that the county already spends about $300,000 a year trucking the wastewater and that the infrastructure would be a net fiscal gain after two to three years. He said the Lake Stevens landfill parcel is county‑owned, not city property, and that county control of UGA boundaries currently prevents connections under existing law.

FutureWise’s Bryce Aden testified in opposition, saying counties already have limited authority under the GMA to extend services in the public‑health and safety context and expressing concern that the bill could enable incremental extensions that encourage sprawl. Aden urged local cooperation to solve site problems without a statutory change. He also suggested narrow technical fixes rather than broad new authority.

The committee closed public testimony and took no action on the bill during the hearing.

Key specifics cited in testimony: Lowe said the landfill is roughly 40 acres, produces about 4 million gallons of wastewater annually, is trucked roughly 2–3 times per week to a decant facility 20–25 miles away, and that the bill references a quarter‑mile distance for allowable connection.