Committee weighs bill to resolve septic ‘‘mixing zone’’ conflict between local health rules and subdivision law

The Montana House Local Government Committee on March 11 heard House Bill 180, a measure sponsored by Representative Courtney Sprunger that would grandfather legally permitted septic-system mixing zones and change permitting rules to require new septic-system mixing zones to remain inside parcel boundaries.

Sprunger told the committee the bill addresses a long-running regulatory conflict that can force property owners who legally installed drain fields to abandon or replace systems if they later divide their land. "This is a common-sense bill that will grandfather existing septic system mixing zones that were legally permitted and installed if a property owner wants to divide their property," she said.

The bill aims to reconcile two sections of Montana law. Under current practice, mixing zones reviewed under local health rules (Title 50, MCA) sometimes lack the same property-boundary requirements that apply when a parcel is reviewed under the Sanitation and Subdivision Act (Title 76, MCA). Rachel Clark, engineering bureau chief for the Department of…