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The proposed amendments to HB 667, Rep. Eric Anderson’s health district sewage rules bill that’s up for a hearing this afternoon in the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, have changed slightly. As finalized, they wouldn’t do away with an appeal fee that’s now charged by the Panhandle Health District; that would have to be handled separately. They’d provide that appeals be handled under existing state administrative rules, but they’d still go to the health district involved, not to the DEQ. The amendments still would eliminate two existing Panhandle Health rules: The “110 percent” rule on square footage for expansions of homes on non-compliant sewage systems; and a rule that in some cases requires a dual drainfield. Both would be eliminated at the end of the current legislative session - which could be as soon as a week from Friday.
There likely would be no temporary rule to replace the 110 percent rule, though; instead, it would revert to a statewide rule that says expansions are permitted as long as they add no additional bedrooms, regardless of square footage.
Toni Hardesty, state DEQ director, who is in the audience for today’s hearing, said, “I think this bill is going to change dramatically.” The department was concerned that the original bill, as written, by eliminating all local Panhandle Health rules, would have eliminated the institutional controls system for the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, which is handled under the district’s rules. Said Hardesty, “I trust that after these amendments are put in place, that would not be the case.”
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