San Miguel commissioners weigh local choices under Colorado’s new septic regulation; staff to open public comment

Kevin Chetty, the county’s environmental health specialist, told commissioners on Jan. 14 that Colorado’s updated Regulation 43 for on-site wastewater treatment systems took effect in 2025 and requires counties to submit selections from Appendix A by June 15, 2026. Chetty framed the meeting as a working session to identify county preferences before a public comment period and a Board of Health vote.

Chetty described Appendix A as a binary checklist of opt-ins and opt-outs. He highlighted two state-level removals: slit trenches will no longer be permitted, and effluent screens have largely become industry standard for new tanks. The presentation centered on four county choices—variance allowances (including property-line setback reductions), transfer-of-title inspection programs, local licensure of installers and pumpers, and whether to allow soil-treatment-area reductions for alternative wastewater systems such as composting or incinerating toilets.

On variances, Chetty recommended keeping San Miguel County’s existing variance program, which he said has been used “to great effect” in prior cases where parcels were too small for standard setbacks. He noted administrative costs: an estimated $800 permit plus a $350 variance fee. Commissioners indicated support for retaining the variance route as it allows safe use or repair of legacy systems on constrained lots.

Chetty advised against creating a county-specific licensure system, citing redundancy with neighboring counties (Montezuma, La Plata and Montrose) and national certifications that many local contractors already hold. Commissioners agreed in the resumed afternoon session to forgo a county licensure program and instead lean on regional reciprocity and national credentials.

For transfer-of-title inspections, Chetty said neighboring counties already require time-of-sale inspections and recommended additional study of a similar program for San Miguel—both for public health benefits and as a potential revenue source to offset administrative expense. He agreed to calculate potential fee revenue and staffing needs (e.g., 0.5–0.75 FTE estimates) for commissioners to review.

On legacy noncompliant systems, Chetty recommended not creating a continued-use permit program; his staff typically learns of such systems through failures or renovation triggers and brings them into compliance during repair or upgrade work. For graywater and alternative wastewater systems (Regulation 86), Chetty said inquiries have been rare and that, while alternative systems may reduce black‑water loads, graywater plumbing and engineering complexities mean he could not yet recommend automatic reductions of soil-treatment-area requirements without further engineering analysis.

Chetty said staff will open a 30-day public comment period and tentatively return in late February or March for a Board of Health vote after completing follow-up research, including hypothetical engineering studies comparing footprints for alternative systems.

Next steps: commissioners asked Chetty to (1) prepare public-notice materials that indicate the county’s preliminary leanings, (2) model revenue and staffing for a transfer-of-title inspection program, and (3) provide engineering comparisons on whether composting/incinerating toilets and graywater configurations can safely reduce soil-treatment-area requirements.