75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1496
House Bill 2080
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
Presession filed (at the request of House Interim Committee on
Energy and the Environment)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Modifies public policy regarding waters of state and subsurface
sewage disposal systems. Requires Environmental Quality
Commission to adopt rules regarding gray water. Allows commission
to appoint advisory committee. Allows permit to be issued for
subsurface or alternative sewage disposal system that reuses or
discharges gray water even if community or area-wide sewerage
system is available.
Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to gray water; amending ORS 454.605, 454.607, 454.610,
454.615, 454.655 and 468B.015; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 468B.015 is amended to read:
468B.015. Whereas pollution of the waters of the state
constitutes a menace to public health and welfare, creates public
nuisances, is harmful to wildlife, fish and aquatic life and
impairs domestic, agricultural, industrial, recreational and
other legitimate beneficial uses of water, and whereas the
problem of water pollution in this state is closely related to
the problem of water pollution in adjoining states, it is hereby
declared to be the public policy of the state:
(1) To conserve the waters of the state { + through innovative
approaches, including but not limited to the appropriate reuse of
water and wastes + };
(2) To protect, maintain and improve the quality of the waters
of the state for public water supplies, for the propagation of
wildlife, fish and aquatic life and for domestic, agricultural,
industrial, municipal, recreational and other legitimate
beneficial uses;
(3) To provide that no waste be discharged into any waters of
this state without first receiving the necessary treatment or
other corrective action to protect the legitimate beneficial uses
of such waters;
(4) To provide for the prevention, abatement and control of new
or existing water pollution; and
(5) To cooperate with other agencies of the state, agencies of
other states and the federal government in carrying out these
objectives.
SECTION 2. ORS 454.607 is amended to read:
454.607. It is the public policy of the State of Oregon to
encourage { + :
(1) + } Improvements to, maintenance of and innovative
technology for subsurface and alternative sewage disposal systems
and nonwater-carried sewage disposal facilities consistent with
the protection of the public health and safety and the quality of
the waters of this state { + ; and
(2) The appropriate reuse of gray water for beneficial
uses + }.
SECTION 3. ORS 454.605 is amended to read:
454.605. As used in ORS 454.605 to 454.755, unless the context
requires otherwise:
(1) 'Absorption facility' means a system of open-jointed or
perforated piping, alternate distribution units or other seepage
systems for receiving the flow from septic tanks or other
treatment units and designed to distribute effluent for oxidation
and absorption by the soil within the zone of aeration.
(2) 'Alternative sewage disposal system' means a system
incorporating all of the following:
(a) Septic tank or other sewage treatment or storage unit; and
(b) Disposal facility or method consisting of other than an
absorption facility but not including discharge to public waters
of the State of Oregon.
(3) 'Construction' includes installation, alteration or repair.
(4) 'Contract agent' means a local unit of government that has
entered into an agreement with the Department of Environmental
Quality pursuant to ORS 454.725.
(5) 'Effluent sewer' means that part of the system of drainage
piping that conveys treated sewage from a septic tank or other
treatment unit into an absorption facility.
(6) 'Governmental unit' means the state or any county,
municipality or other political subdivision, or any agency
thereof.
{ + (7)(a) 'Gray water' means shower and bath waste water,
kitchen waste water, laundry wastes and any other domestic
sewage.
(b) 'Gray water' does not mean toilet and garbage wastes. + }
{ - (7) - } { + (8) + } 'Local unit of government' means
any county or municipality.
{ - (8) - } { + (9) + } 'Nonwater-carried sewage disposal
facility ' includes, but is not limited to, pit privies, vault
privies and chemical toilets.
{ - (9) - } { + (10) + } 'Public health hazard' means a
condition whereby there are sufficient types and amounts of
biological, chemical or physical, including radiological, agents
relating to water or sewage which are likely to cause human
illness, disorders or disability. These include, but are not
limited to, pathogenic viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxic
chemicals and radioactive isotopes.
{ - (10) - } { + (11) + } 'Septic tank' means a watertight
receptacle which receives the discharge of sewage from a sanitary
drainage system and which is so designed and constructed as to
separate solids from liquids, digest organic matter during a
period of detention and allow the liquids to discharge to another
treatment unit or into the soil outside of the tank through an
absorption facility.
{ - (11) - } { + (12) + } 'Sewage' means domestic
water-carried human and animal wastes, including kitchen, bath
and laundry wastes from residences, buildings, industrial
establishments or other places, together with such ground water
infiltration, surface waters or industrial waste as may be
present.
{ - (12) - } { + (13) + } 'Sewage disposal service' means:
(a) The construction of subsurface sewage disposal systems,
alternative sewage disposal systems or any part thereof.
(b) The pumping out or cleaning of subsurface sewage disposal
systems, alternative sewage disposal systems or nonwater-carried
sewage disposal facilities.
(c) The disposal of materials derived from the pumping out or
cleaning of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative
sewage disposal systems or nonwater-carried sewage disposal
facilities.
(d) Grading, excavating and earth-moving work connected with
the operations described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
{ - (13) - } { + (14) + } 'Subsurface sewage disposal
system' means a cesspool or the combination of a septic tank or
other treatment unit and effluent sewer and absorption facility.
{ - (14) - } { + (15) + } 'Zone of aeration' means the
unsaturated zone that occurs below the ground surface and the
point at which the upper limit of the water table exists.
SECTION 4. ORS 454.610 is amended to read:
454.610. { - (1) As used in this section 'gray water' means
any domestic sewage other than toilet and garbage wastes,
including shower and bath waste water, kitchen waste water and
laundry wastes. - }
{ + (1) The Environmental Quality Commission shall adopt
rules exempting gray water reuse and disposal systems from the
permitting requirements of ORS 454.605 to 454.755 or establishing
separate permitting requirements for gray water reuse and
disposal systems, or both. In adopting the rules, the commission
shall consider the recommendations of an advisory committee
appointed by the Department of Environmental Quality pursuant to
ORS 183.333. + }
(2) { - Nothing in ORS 454.605 to 454.755 except - }
{ + Subject to + } ORS 454.645 { + , + } { - shall - } { +
the rules adopted by the commission under this section may
not + } prohibit the discharge of gray water if:
(a) Soil and site conditions for such gray water conform to the
rules of the department { - of Environmental Quality - }
regarding standard subsurface sewage disposal systems or
alternative sewage disposal systems, except that such systems may
use two-thirds the normal size surface area for a drainfield and
shall be preceded by a treatment facility such as, but not
limited to, a septic tank; or
(b) Such gray water is discharged into an existing subsurface
sewage disposal system or alternative sewage disposal system
{ - which - } { + that + } is functioning satisfactorily, or
a public sewage system { - which - } { + that + } serves the
dwelling from which such gray water is derived.
SECTION 5. ORS 454.615 is amended to read:
454.615. The Environmental Quality Commission shall { - by
September 1, 1975, - } adopt { - by rule standards which - }
{ + rules that + }:
(1) Prescribe minimum requirements for the design and
construction of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative
sewage disposal systems and nonwater-carried sewage disposal
facilities or parts thereof including grading, excavating and
earth-moving work connected therewith, and allow for use of
alternative systems and component materials consistent with the
minimum requirements. Requirements prescribed under this section
may vary in different areas or regions of the state.
(2) Prescribe minimum requirements for the operation and
maintenance of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative
sewage disposal systems and nonwater-carried sewage disposal
facilities or parts thereof.
(3) Prescribe requirements for the pumping out or cleaning of
subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative sewage disposal
systems and nonwater-carried sewage disposal facilities or parts
thereof, for the disposal of material derived from such pumping
out or cleaning, for sewage pumping equipment, for sewage tank
trucks and for the identification of sewage tank trucks and
workers.
(4) Prescribe { + optional + } requirements for { - handling
kitchen, bath and laundry wastes as opposed to human and animal
wastes which - } { + disposal or reuse of gray water that + }
recognize the possibility for separate treatment of different
types of waste.
SECTION 6. ORS 454.655 is amended to read:
454.655. (1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 454.675,
without first obtaining a permit from the Department of
Environmental Quality, no person shall construct or install a
subsurface sewage disposal system, alternative sewage disposal
system or part thereof. However, a person may undertake emergency
repairs limited to replacing minor broken components of the
system without first obtaining a permit.
(2) A permit required by subsection (1) of this section shall
be issued only in the name of an owner or contract purchaser in
possession of the land. However, a permit issued to an owner or
contract purchaser carries the condition that the owner or
purchaser or regular employees or a person licensed under ORS
454.695 perform all labor in connection with the construction of
the subsurface or alternative sewage disposal system.
(3) The applications for a permit required by this section must
be accompanied by the permit fees prescribed in ORS 454.745.
(4) After receipt of an application and all requisite fees,
subject to ORS 454.685, the department shall issue a permit if it
finds that the proposed construction will be in accordance with
the rules of the Environmental Quality Commission. { + Except
for a subsurface sewage disposal system, alternative sewage
disposal system or part thereof that reuses or discharges only
gray water, + } a permit may not be issued if a community or
area-wide sewerage system is available which will satisfactorily
accommodate the proposed sewage discharge. The prohibition on the
issuance of a permit in this subsection does not apply to a
public agency as defined in ORS 454.430.
(5)(a) Unless weather conditions or distance and unavailability
of transportation prevent the issuance of a permit within 20 days
of the receipt of the application and fees by the department, the
department shall issue or deny the permit within 20 days after
such date. If such conditions prevent issuance or denial within
20 days, the department shall notify the applicant in writing of
the reason for the delay and shall issue or deny the permit
within 60 days after such notification.
(b) If within 20 days of the date of the application the
department fails to issue or deny the permit or to give notice of
conditions preventing such issuance or denial, the permit shall
be considered to have been issued.
(c) If within 60 days of the date of the notification referred
to in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the department fails to
issue or deny the permit, the permit shall be considered to have
been issued.
(6) Upon request of any person, the department may issue a
report, described in ORS 454.755 (1), of evaluation of site
suitability for installation of a subsurface or alternative
sewage disposal system or nonwater-carried sewage disposal
facility. The application for such report must be accompanied by
the fees prescribed in ORS 454.755.
(7) With respect to an application for a permit for the
construction and installation of a septic tank and necessary
effluent sewer and absorption facility for a single family
residence or for a farm related activity on a parcel of 10 acres
or more described in the application by the owner or contract
purchaser of the parcel, the Department of Environmental Quality:
(a) Within the period allowed by subsection (5)(a) of this
section after receipt by it of the application, shall issue the
permit or deliver to the applicant a notice of intent to deny the
issuance of the permit;
(b) In any notice of intent to deny an application, shall
specify the reasons for the intended denial based upon the rules
of the Environmental Quality Commission for the construction and
installation of a septic tank and necessary effluent sewer and
absorption facility or based upon the factors included in ORS
454.685 (2)(a) to (j);
(c) Upon request of the applicant, shall conduct a hearing in
the manner provided in ORS 454.635 (4) and (5) on the reasons
specified in a notice of intent to deny the application with the
burden of proof upon the department to justify the reasons
specified; and
(d) In the case of issuance of a permit, may include as a
condition of the permit that no other permit for a subsurface
sewage disposal system or alternative sewage disposal system
shall be issued for use on the described parcel while the
approved septic tank, effluent sewer and absorption facility are
in use on the described parcel.
SECTION 7. { + This 2009 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2009 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
----------