Bill to Transfer Septic System Authority Angers Local Health Departments
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
Local health departments were alarmed and angered by a proposal to give regulatory authority of septic systems to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Kosciusko County Board of Health heard Wednesday. County Health Department Administrator Bob Weaver told the board about opposition mounted against SB 107, which passed the state Senate 41 to 4 in January. The bill would transfer authority over on-site sewage disposal systems from the state Department of Health to IDEM, with the Environmental Rules Board to adopt new regulatory code. The bill went to the House Committee on Environmental Affairs Feb. 4, where Weaver said it was tabled and, for now, looks dead. “It could have been a big change for how the average person gets their (septic system) permit,” he told the board. He also remarked that he doesn’t know the reasoning behind the proposed transfer, but that the prevailing feeling among health officials is that current regulation is an “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” situation. On its website, ISDH notes that IDEM currently does have authority over disposal of petrochemicals and sewage treatment systems that discharge into streams. County Health Administrator Bill Remington Jr. added that the county health department is well acquainted with ISDH guidelines and fears “what can of worms this would open up” if septic systems go under control of IDEM, a different and much larger department. Fear was also expressed in the industry that the combination of eliminating current rules on septic tanks with the now-dead “no more stringent than” limit on state environmental regulators would have resulted in weaker new rules for septic systems. Weaver said the bill caught local health departments and even the state health commissioner by surprise, and that the state director of sanitary engineering told him a gag order prevented them from speaking about it but that his department was upset. Remington credited the grassroots efforts of local health departments in opposing the bill. Also Wednesday, Weaver reported that Medicaid reimbursement for the county prenatal clinic has totaled $40,000 as of last week, which will cover rent for the facility through 2014 and into 2015. Remington said there’s been a push for health departments to find other sources of revenue and that the county “may look for other avenues of fee-for-service growth.” Reactivation as a Medicaid provider required the clinic to charge an $8 administrative fee, though county officials have vowed that no one will be turned away for inability to pay the full fee. And Weaver told the board about a $10,000 emergency preparedness grant the health department received to purchase duplicate water testing equipment. He said they are one of only two or three health departments in Indiana approved by the ISDH and the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct water pathogen testing, and that the state thought it was a great use of the money and was happy to award the grant.
