The Union County Board of Health is considering adopting rules that include changes to the cycle on which local household’s sewer systems must be inspected.
During the board’s meeting Wednesday, Union County Health Commissioner Jason Orcena presented a recap of proposed changes to the group.
At the July meeting, Orcena said they are “very substantial changes, but not a lot of them,” including simplified inspection cycles and the authority to implement a sliding fee scale.
Orcena explained to the board that the household sewer treatment system permit and inspection program is technically the state’s program, implemented by local health departments on behalf of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
The board took action in late 2019, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to delay implementation until 2024.
He noted that ODH estimated 31% of household sewer treatment systems in the state are failing to some extent. Failing systems can pollute surface water and lead to illness.
The permit and inspection program is intended to protect public health, Orcena said.
He added that the Union County Health Department’s goals when implementing the program are to create the least restrictive rules possible while being the most cost effective.
ODH requires permits for household sewer systems to be valid for 10 years or less. UCHD adopted a five-year permit cycle with a $10 per year fee.
Orcena said the program is expensive, but the state does not provide any funding to implement it.
He said the $10 annual fee allows the health department to come “pretty close to breaking even” without creating too much of a financial barrier for homeowners.
Orcena also noted that the fees collected can only be used to fund this specific program. The funds largely go toward the employee hours involved, he said.
The health commissioner said community members often ask why UCHD does not charge only individuals with failing systems. He emphasized that the state does not grant local health departments the authority to do so. Instead, they are required by statute to issue permits and inspect every sewer system.
As far as inspection schedules, Orcena said the proposed local regulations are an attempt to create simplified categories for different types of systems.
Currently, depending on which type of sewer system a homeowner has, they are required to be inspected once, twice or five times per permit cycle, or every five years.
The proposed changes would result in systems being categorized into annual inspections or once every permit cycle.
However, if a system is failing, the health department could assign a more frequent inspection cycle until it is functioning properly.
Orcena explained that inspections can be done by the homeowner, health department employees or a private service provider.
Generally, Orcena said UCHD recommends homeowners use a private company for inspections because they can also repair systems.
If a homeowner chooses to inspect their own system, they must go through a training process, pass a test and be registered. The health department waives any fees to do so, Orcena said.
The proposed changes would also give the Board of Health authority to implement a sliding fee scale, through which homeowners could be charged for inspections based on their income.
In an initial assessment by UCHD, Orcena said inspectors found that approximately one in 10 local household sewage treatment systems are failing.
While the amount of failing systems is not as large as estimated by ODH, Orcena said implementation of the program is extremely labor intensive.
He said it entails between 20,500 and 24,500 inspections and 8,500 permits every five years.
Despite this, the health commissioner said there is currently no state software to manage the information.
“You have a really large paper monster created by this,” Orcena said.
Orcena said UCHD was an early adopter of the program and most health departments throughout the state are not yet at the stage Union County is.
Director of Environmental Health Adam Schultz noted that UCHD has had an Operation and Maintenance Program (O&M) since the 1990s, while many local health departments did not create one until 2015 when required by the state.
Orcena said the Board of Health could continue to review the proposed changes and alter them, if desired, in light of any new information or opinions since implementation was initially postponed.