Health board OKs septic rules

A stricter rule on new septic systems is headed to state lawmakers for approval, after North Idaho health officials compromised with opponents of the change and backed off from an even more stringent proposal.

The Panhandle Health District Board of Health voted Thursday to send the revised proposal to the Legislature for final approval early next year.

The change sets the required amount of wastewater a septic system must handle in a one- or two-bedroom home at 300 gallons a day. The district’s original proposal was to increase the capacity rule to 400 gallons a day. Currently, the health district requires septic systems to handle 150 gallons of wastewater per day for a one-bedroom house and 50 gallons for each additional bedroom.

The new proposal also will require systems that can handle 400 gallons for a three-bedroom home, 500 gallons for a four-bedroom home and 600 gallons for a five-bedroom home. Each additional bedroom would require septic systems to handle 50 gallons more per day.

State Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, has been a critic of the proposed change but agreed Thursday not to oppose the proposal after health district officials agreed to the compromise.

The effort to mandate larger septic systems is intended to prevent the further fouling of surface and groundwater in the five northern counties. If approved by the Legislature, it will go into effect on July 1.

Legislators rejected a different rule governing septic flows in the final days of this year’s session.

“I think we’ve done the right thing,” said Walt Kirby, a health board member from Bonners Ferry and a Boundary County commissioner. “I plan to take this package to my legislators and go to work.”

The board Thursday also approved a rule change that would allow septic systems to be installed before home construction. The North Idaho Building Contractors Association agreed to not oppose that change after the board dropped a requirement that property owners who apply for a septic permit must submit a building permit for the site.

Idaho’s septic standards now are among the lowest in the West. North Idaho has 14 percent of the state’s population but issues 23 percent of the state’s permits for septic systems, according to data presented to the health board. The Panhandle also has a third of the state’s surface water.

The health district spent the spring and summer meeting with builders, architects and citizens to refine its proposal and held public hearings in Hayden and Sandpoint earlier this month.