Dolores County commissioners forward proposed septic-system rule (Regulation 43) to state for review

Health staff asked the Dolores County Board of County Commissioners on March 2 to send the county’s proposed Regulation 43, governing on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS), to the state for review, saying the county’s draft largely mirrors the state’s revisions.

The request came during a board meeting where the staff member summarized the state’s periodic update cycle for OWTS rules. “Every 4 years approximately, the state revised its Regulation 43,” the staff member said, and described the local draft as “pretty much the same as the proposed regulation” the county has reviewed. The staff member said the county’s next step is to send the draft up to the state for comment and, if the state finds it acceptable, set a public hearing for local adoption.

Commissioners discussed the procedural steps and approved a motion to forward the proposed Regulation 43 adoption package to the state for review. The motion was seconded and commissioners voiced their assent; the transcript records verbal "all in favor" responses but does not provide a roll-call tally of individual votes.

According to staff, the county’s adoption process will next require state review of the draft regulation, followed by a public hearing in Dolores County before final local adoption. Staff also said that local checkbox options (for example, allowances for vault privies) remain available and that the proposed local regulation would adopt the state regulation in its entirety with those local selections applied.

No final local adoption occurred at the March 2 meeting; the board’s vote was to forward the draft to the state for review and to schedule subsequent public-hearing procedures if the state concurs.