Thurston County introduces full revision of Sanitary Code Article 4; public comment period opens

Thurston County Public Health & Social Services presented a high-level overview of proposed revisions to Article 4 of the county sanitary code at the Jan. 14 Board of Health meeting and announced the draft is posted for public comment ahead of a planned March public hearing.

Susan Long, environmental division director, said the Board was not being asked to adopt Article 4 at the Jan. 14 meeting; the presentation was an introduction to changes, timelines and the public-comment process. She said the draft was posted on the department'9s website, a septic-professional meeting will be held later in January to review state Washington Administrative Code (WAC) revisions and Article 4 changes, and staff will schedule a March public hearing to adopt the county code with an effective date of April 1, 2025 to match state requirements.

Long walked Board members through highlights in the summary packet (pages 9—19 of the meeting packet). Staff emphasized the county must make its code at least as strict as state WAC changes adopted Jan. 1, 2024 with an effective date of April 1, 2025. Key proposed updates Long summarized include:

- Surface-water protection: extend the code'9s setback language to include all surface water (lakes, streams) rather than limiting the existing 100-foot setback to only certain non-public water sources.

- Design requirements: a number of technical design standards currently applied through internal policy would be moved into code to increase transparency for professionals and the public.

- Inspections and operational certificates: staff proposed making the initial operations inspection by a licensed professional universal, and allowing homeowner self-inspection only thereafter if the homeowner has completed the county certification course; in those situations staff proposes a professional inspection at year nine after installation to provide a periodic professional review.

- Clarification of state intervals: presenters reiterated state code continues to require inspections every three years for gravity systems and annually for proprietary systems or systems with pumps; the county proposal would add the nine-year professional inspection for owners who perform their own interim checks.

- Inspections of establishments: campsite, RV park, mobile home park and adult family home inspection intervals and requirements currently enforced by policy would be memorialized in code for transparency.

- Quality assurance/quality control: new language would allow monitoring the performance of installers, pumpers and certified monitoring specialists as part of a comprehensive QA/QC program.

Long said staff will accept public comment through the posted website form; comments will be incorporated using track changes so readers can see edits. She asked Board members and the public to use the department website (environmental health section) for the most up-to-date draft and supporting materials.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the nine-year professional inspection (Long: the three-year state inspection requirement for gravity systems remains in place; the county would add a professional check at year nine for owners who self-inspect) and about alternative/gray-water systems; staff said they would follow up with detailed answers.

Ending: Staff will host a septic-professional meeting later in January, accept public comment on the posted draft, and return to the Board at a March hearing with a final adoption request and an effective date of April 1, 2025 to comply with state WAC.