Septic system rule will stand

BOISE – Some North Idaho home-builders worry that a new Panhandle Health District rule will prevent them from building or expanding homes because of increased septic system requirements.

But a Panhandle senator’s attempt Wednesday to stop the rule and give stakeholders more time to negotiate failed in a Senate committee.

The rule changes how the district determines the size of required septic systems, using the square footage instead of the number of bedrooms. And that poses “some significant problems,” said Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene.

The change could require larger homes to expand their drain fields and tanks, and some buildings might need fields four times larger, said Steve West, a lobbyist representing a Panhandle builder.

The new rule requires builders to use whichever calculation method is greater. It is intended to “address the current under-sizing of septic systems serving large homes,” according to a Panhandle Health document explaining the rule.

“There are serious concerns about the reliability of calculating wastewater flow based on square footage that may artificially inflate the septic system requirements,” West said. “Property owners may be precluded from either building on their property or expanding an existing home because of the new, more stringent setbacks.”

Goedde said home-builders and Panhandle Health had agreed to delete the rule for now and work out a compromise, but some members of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee blocked that move. Panhandle Health’s board might still adopt a temporary rule reverting back to the bedroom-based method, he said.

Even home expansions that don’t require additional plumbing could require a septic system expansion, and if new requirements conflict with setback rules, building could be stymied, West said.

Coeur d’Alene-based Black Rock Development asked him to look into the rule, he said. The change is scheduled to take effect at the end of the legislative session, according to the Panhandle Health document.

Builders initially agreed to the change because they didn’t realize its ramifications, Goedde said. Neither the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality nor other Idaho health districts want to change septic requirements, he said.