GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1545

Short Title:  Subsurface Wastewater Reg. Consolidation.     	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Hackney; Luebke and Stamey.
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Referred to:  Environment.
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June 3, 1992

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CONSOLIDATE THE REGULATION OF WASTEWATER COLLECTION, TREATMENT, AND DISPOSAL SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO DISCHARGE BELOW THE GROUND SURFACE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.   The catch line to Article 11 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"ARTICLE 11. 
Subsurface Discharge Wastewater Management Systems."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 130A-333 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-333. Purpose.
The General Assembly finds and declares that continued installation, at a rapidly and constantly accelerating rate, of septic tank systems and other types of wastewater systems in a faulty or improper manner and in areas where unsuitable soil and population density adversely affect the efficiency and functioning of these systems, has a detrimental effect on the public health and environment through contamination of land, groundwater and surface waters. Recognizing, however, that wastewater can be rendered ecologically safe and the public health protected if methods of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal are properly regulated and recognizing that wastewater collection, treatment and disposal will continue to be necessary to meet the needs of an expanding population, the General Assembly intends to ensure the regulation of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems so that these systems may continue to be used, where appropriate, without jeopardizing the public health."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 130A-334 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-334. Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply throughout this Article:
(1)	'Construction' means any work at the site of placement done for the purpose of preparing a residence, place of business or place of public assembly for initial occupancy, or subsequent additions or modifications which increase sewage flow.
(2)	Repealed by Session Laws 1985, c. 462, s. 18.
(2a)	'Industrial process wastewater' means any water-carried waste resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business.  The term does not include wastewater resulting from groundwater remediation or landfill leachate collection and disposal.
(3)	'Location' means the initial placement for occupancy of a residence, place of business or place of public assembly.
(3a)	'Maintenance' means normal or routine maintenance including replacement of broken pipes, cleaning, or adjustment to an existing wastewater system.
(4),	(5) Repealed by Session Laws 1985, c. 462, s. 18.
(6)	'Place of business' means a store, warehouse, manufacturing establishment, place of amusement or recreation, service station, office building or any other place where people work.
(7)	'Place of public assembly' means a fairground, auditorium, stadium, church, campground, theater or any other place where people assemble.
(8)	'Public or community wastewater system' means a single system of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal owned and operated by a sanitary district, a metropolitan sewage district, a water and sewer authority, a county or municipality or a public utility.
(9)	'Relocation' means the displacement of a residence or place of business from one site to another.
(9a)	'Repair' means the extension, alteration, replacement, or relocation of existing components of a wastewater system.
(10)	'Residence' means a private home, dwelling unit in a multiple family structure, hotel, motel, summer camp, labor work camp, manufactured home, institution or any other place where people reside.
(11)	esewage 
(12)	'Septic tank system' means a subsurface sanitary sewage system consisting of a settling tank and a subsurface disposal field.
(13)	'Sewage' means the liquid and solid human body waste and liquid waste generated by water-using fixtures and appliances, including those associated with foodhandling. The term does not include industrial process wastewater or sewage that is combined with industrial process wastewater.
(14)	'Wastewater' means any sewage or industrial process wastewater discharged, transmitted, or collected from a residence, place of business, place of public assembly, or other places into a wastewater system from which the effluent is designed to be discharged beneath the surface of the ground.
(15)	'Wastewater system' means a system of wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal including approved privies, septic tank systems, connection to public or community wastewater systems, wastewater reuse or recycle systems, mechanical or biological treatment systems, other such systems, or chemical toilets used only for human waste at mass gatherings, construction sites, or labor work camps."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 130A-335 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-335. Wastewater collection, treatment and disposal; rules.
(a)	A person owning or controlling a residence, place of business or a place of public assembly shall provide a wastewater system. A wastewater system may include components for collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater.
(b)	Any wastewater system which is designed to discharge effluent to the land surface or surface waters shall be approved by the Department under rules adopted by the Environmental Management Commission. All other wastewater systems shall be approved by the Department under rules adopted by the Commission for Health Services.
(c)	A wastewater system subject to approval under rules of the Commission shall be reviewed and approved under rules of a local board of health in the following circumstances:
(1)	The local board of health, on its own motion, has requested the Department to review its proposed rules concerning wastewater systems; and
(2)	The local board of health has adopted by reference the wastewater system rules adopted by the Commission, with any more stringent modifications or additions deemed necessary by the local board of health to protect the public health; and
(3)	The Department has found that the rules of the local board of health concerning wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems are at least as stringent as rules adopted by the Commission and are sufficient and necessary to safeguard the public health.
(d)	The Department may, upon its own motion, upon the request of a local board of health or upon the request of a citizen of an affected county, review its findings under subsection (c) of this section.
The Department shall review its findings under subsection (c)	of this section upon modification by the Commission of the rules applicable to wastewater systems.  The Department may deny, suspend, or revoke the approval of local board of health wastewater system rules upon a finding that the local sewage rules are not as stringent as rules adopted by the Commission, are not sufficient and necessary to safeguard the public health, or are not being enforced.  Suspension and revocation of approval shall be in accordance with G.S. 130A-23.
(e)	The rules of the Commission and the rules of the local board of health shall address at least the following: Wastewater characteristics; Design unit; Design capacity; Design volume; Criteria for the design, installation, operation, maintenance and performance of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems; Soil morphology and drainage; Topography and landscape position; Depth to seasonally high water table, rock and water impeding formations; Proximity to water supply wells, shellfish waters, estuaries, marshes, wetlands, areas subject to frequent flooding, streams, lakes, swamps and other bodies of surface or groundwaters; Density of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems in a geographical area; Requirements for issuance, suspension and revocation of permits; and Other factors which affect the effective operation and performance of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems. The rules regarding required design capacity and required design volume for wastewater systems shall provide that exceptions may be granted upon a showing that a system is adequate to meet actual daily water consumption.
(f)	The rules of the Commission and the rules of the local board of health shall classify systems of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal according to size, type of treatment and any other appropriate factors. The rules shall provide construction requirements, standards for operation and ownership requirements for each classification of systems of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal in order to prevent, as far as reasonably possible, any contamination of the land, groundwater and surface waters. The Department and local health departments may impose conditions on the issuance of permits and may revoke the permits for failure of the system to satisfy the conditions, the rules or this Article. The permits shall be valid for a period prescribed by the rules, except that improvement permits shall be valid for a period of five years, and may be renewed upon a showing satisfactory to the Department or the local health department that the system is in compliance with the current rules and this Article.  The period of time for which the permit is valid and a statement that the permit is subject to revocation if site plans or the intended use change shall be displayed prominently on both the application form for the permit and the permit.
(g)	Prior to denial of an improvement permit, the local health department shall advise the applicant of possible site modifications or alternative systems, and shall provide a brief description of those systems.  When an improvement permit is denied, the local health department shall issue the site evaluation in writing stating the reasons for the unsuitable classification.  The evaluation shall also inform the applicant of the right to an informal review by the Department, the right to appeal under G.S. 130A-24, and to have the appeal held in the county in which the site for which the improvement permit was requested is located.
(h)	It shall be unlawful to discharge sewage or other waste from chemical or portable toilets used for human waste at places of public assembly, construction sites, or labor camps except into a wastewater system which has been approved by the Department."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 130A-336 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-336. Improvement permit required.
(a)	No person shall commence or assist in the construction, location, or relocation of a residence, place of business, or place of public assembly in an area not served by an approved wastewater system unless an improvement permit is obtained from the local health department.  This requirement shall not apply to a residence exhibited for sale or stored for later sale and intended to be located at another site after sale.
(b)	The local health department shall issue an improvement permit authorizing work to proceed and the installation or repair of a wastewater system when it has determined after a field investigation that the system can be installed and operated in compliance with this Article and rules adopted pursuant to this Article.  No person shall commence or assist in the installation, construction, or repair of a wastewater system, subject to approval under rules of the Commission, unless an improvement permit has been obtained from the local health department.  No improvement permit shall be required for maintenance of a wastewater system.  The Department and the local health department may impose conditions on the issuance of an improvement permit.
(c)	Unless the Commission otherwise requires by rule, plans and specifications for all wastewater systems designed for the collection, treatment and disposal of industrial process wastewater shall be reviewed by the Department prior to issuance of an improvement permit by the local health department."
Sec. 6.  G.S. 130A-337 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-337. Inspection; operation permit or certificate of completion required.
(a)	No system of wastewater collection, treatment and disposal shall be covered or placed into use by any person until an inspection by the local health department has determined that the system has been installed or repaired in accordance with any conditions of the improvement permit, the rules and this Article.
(b)	Upon determining that the system is properly installed or repaired and that the system is capable of being operated in accordance with the conditions of the improvement permit, the rules, this Article and any conditions to be imposed in the operation permit, the local health department shall issue an operation permit authorizing the residence, place of business or place of public assembly to be occupied and for the system to be placed into use. However, if the system is limited to a single septic tank system without a pump or other appurtenances serving a single one-family dwelling, then a certificate of completion shall be issued instead of an operation permit; also, if the system is limited to a single septic tank system without a pump or other appurtenances serving a single residence other than a one-family dwelling, or serving a place of business or a place of public assembly and having a design daily flow of not more than 480 gallons, then a certificate of completion shall be issued instead of an operation permit. A certificate of completion shall be issued when the septic tank system is properly installed or repaired and is capable of being operated in accordance with the conditions of the improvement permit, the rules and this Article.
(c)	Upon determination that an existing wastewater system has a valid operation permit or a valid certificate of completion and is operating properly in a manufactured home park, the local health department shall issue authorization in writing for a manufactured home to be connected to the existing system and to be occupied. Notwithstanding G.S. 130A-336, an improvement permit is not required for the connection of a manufactured home to an existing system with a valid operation permit or a valid certificate of completion in a manufactured home park.
(d)	No person shall occupy a residence, place of business or place of public assembly, or place a wastewater system into use or reuse for a residence, place of business or place of public assembly until an operation permit or a certificate of completion has been issued or authorization has been obtained pursuant to G.S. 130A-337(c)."
Sec. 7.  G.S. 130A-341 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-341.  Consideration of a site with existing fill.
Upon application to the local health department, a site that has existing fill, including one on which fill material was placed prior to July 1, 1977, and that has sand or loamy sand for a depth of at least 36 inches below the existing ground surface, shall be evaluated for an on-site wastewater system.  The Commission shall adopt rules to implement this section."
Sec. 8.  G.S. 130A-342 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-342.  Aerobic systems.
(a)	Individual aerobic sewage treatment plants that are approved and listed in accordance with the standards adopted by the National Sanitation Foundation, Inc. for Class I sewage treatment plants as set out in Standard 40, as amended, shall be permitted under rules promulgated by the Commission.  The Commission may establish standards in addition to those set by the National Sanitation Foundation, Inc.
(b)	A permitted plant shall be operated and maintained by a certified wastewater treatment facility operator employed by or under contract to the county in which the plant is located.
(c)	The performance of individual aerobic treatment plants is to be documented by the counties and sent to the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources."
Sec. 9.  G.S. 130A-343 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-343.  Experimental and innovative systems permitted.
(a)	The Commission shall adopt rules for the approval and permitting of experimental and innovative wastewater systems.  The rules shall address the criteria to be considered prior to issuing a permit for such a system, requirements for preliminary design plans and specifications that must be submitted, methodology to be used, standards for monitoring and evaluating the system, research evaluation of the system, the plan of work for monitoring system performance and maintenance, and any additional matters the Commission deems appropriate.
(b)	The Commission shall adopt rules governing the operation and maintenance of experimental and innovative wastewater systems approved and permitted under subsection (a) of this section."
Sec. 10.  This act is effective upon ratification.