House shelves tougher septic requirements

BOISE – Tougher septic system requirements for North Idaho will not take effect this year, after the House signed off on legislation Tuesday overturning the rules.

Several North Idaho lawmakers spoke in favor of Senate Concurrent Resolution 121, which stops new Panhandle Health District rules mandating larger tanks and drain fields for some large homes.

Panhandle homeowners and builders, including Coeur d’Alene-based Black Rock Development, mounted a last-minute challenge to the rule change, saying it would prevent construction and expansion of houses, especially expensive lakefront property. The health district last week agreed to support throwing out the rules for a year to allow more time for comment.

The rules had been scheduled to take effect at the close of the legislative session.

While the state calculates septic system requirements based on the number of bedrooms in a home, the rules would have allowed calculations based on a home’s square footage. The change would have required bigger systems for homes 2,600 square feet and larger.

Health district officials developed the rules to protect waterways from pollution, asserting that massive “trophy homes” around lakes may produce large amounts of waste despite having few bedrooms.

Critics contend the square footage method is unrealistic and unnecessary.

The rules would adversely affect other homeowners as well, said Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Wallace. Many people purchased properties years ago when land was cheap enough for a cabin or retirement home, she said.

“The North has been discovered, and we have to acknowledge that,

and we have to be watchful and develop correctly,” but to take away grandfathered rights to build is wrong, she said.

Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, said his engineering firm occasionally designs septic systems. Using a square footage calculation is “really not the way to do it,” he said.

“If you have a very large house, you are essentially going to be penalized,” he said. “This is not a good rule.”

But Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, opposed overturning the rule, saying he was not concerned as much about its technical merits as about helping the health district fulfill its mission to protect waterways.

“There is an issue, and that is water quality in North Idaho is being threatened,” he said.

House sponsor Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest River, urged lawmakers to respect the health district’s willingness to negotiate new rules.

“I hope that this vote does not come down to, ‘I care about water quality more than you do,’ ” he said.

The House voted 52-16 to pass the measure on a primarily party-line vote. Unlike bills, SCR 121 does not require Gov. Butch Otter’s signature after being passed by both houses.