Feedback From The AB 885 Scoping Meeting

(Cross posted at The Weimarian)

This afternoon I took a trip to Sacramento. I thought it would be a good idea to attend the State Water Boards feedback meeting on the framework that they will hang new AB885 draft regulations on.  Having read the scoping document I personally felt that they were going in the correct direction but I wanted to see how others felt.  After listening to the comments made by representatives from about five or six agencies I think that there is consensus that the direction is a good one but the devil will be in the details.  If you read the Scoping document there weren't any surprises at the meeting.  It is expected that 95% septic systems will be affected by the new regulations.  There are no proactive septic or well inspections included.  Several questions were asked about large business or community septic systems, currently these regulations are only scoped for systems with an output of three thousand gallons or less per day.

We can relax for a bit as the draft regulations are not scheduled for release until September.  After the release there will be a 90 day comment period where they will collect feedback on the latest draft.  The SWRCB will be sticking to a rigorous schedule for this next release.  It appears that a greater sense of urgency was fostered by a lawsuit filed over the time it is taking to get AB885 regulations in place.  You can see some detail on the legal action here.   

I would suggest that those interested check the link at the bottom.  Next week you will be able to view the presentation slides from the scoping document feedback meetings and there is a link there to add yourself to an email list so that you can get updates via email.  It is important to note that an informed public providing feedback to the SWRCB is the reason for this positive change in direction.  The SWRCB should get credit for listening and we the people should continue to track the process and make sure that it is a working solution.  The devil will be in the details.


Onsite Waste Water Treatment Systems (OWTS)