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DEQ and local sanitarians back bill to resolve septic 'mixing zone' conflict
Summary
Rep. Courtney Sprunger presented HB180 to reconcile local health mixing‑zone approvals under Title 50 with sanitation/subdivision requirements under Title 76; DEQ and county sanitarians supported grandfathering legally permitted drainfields and requiring future mixing zones to remain within parcel boundaries.
Representative Courtney Sprunger opened the hearing on House Bill 180, saying a longstanding conflict between local health approvals of septic mixing zones (MCA Title 50) and sanitation/subdivision review (Title 76) was forcing property owners to abandon legally permitted drain fields when dividing land. Sprunger said the bill would grandfather legally permitted mixing zones created before the bill's effective date and align state and local rules to prevent unexpected easement demands or forced system replacement.
Rachel Clark, chief of the engineering bureau at the Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Quality Division, explained that mixing zones are groundwater dilution areas typically 100–500 feet long and that DEQ recommends a 'do pass' for HB180. Clark outlined how mixing zones are currently reviewed under different laws depending on parcel size and use and said technical guidance (potentiometric maps or triangulation wells) is used to assess groundwater direction.
Local public‑health officials and sanitarians — including Shannon Theriault (Missoula Public Health), Britney Krahn (Gallatin County), and several professional engineers — testified that the bill clarifies state law, reduces the need for costly easements, and would help preserve housing supply by avoiding forced system replacement. Committee members asked technical questions on design, inspections and applicability to older parcels; witnesses said many counties handle inspections and installer certification differently and that the bill was amended to exclude very old parcels predating the mixing‑zone rules.
Representative Sprunger closed by framing the bill as a common‑sense fix to a code conflict and asked for committee support. The DEQ and local health officials remained the principal proponents in the hearing.
