New minimum rules for septic system construction and operation in Ohio get away from a “cookbook” or one-size-fits-all approach and take into account new designs and technology for home sewage treatment systems, according to a state official.

What that means for many residents in Trumbull County is more options, and not having to automatically replace a system deemed to be broken or malfunctioning.

“The old rules, they were like a cookbook, pretty basic,” said Rebecca Fugitt, program manager of the residential water and sewage program in the Ohio Department of Health’s Bureau of Environmental Health.

Rather than designing a system on the size of the house, the new rules take into account the type of soil – called by Fugitt the biological and mechanical “filter” – to help determine the dimensions of the systems.

In addition, the rules require homeowners to be responsible for maintenance and call on local health districts to create a program to track the operation and maintenance of systems.

Currently, homeowners in Trumbull County are left on their own to do the maintenance on their septic system unless the health department receives a complaint or the property is sold. Either could lead to an order that the system be replaced.

Also, homeowners will be allowed to fix what is causing the nuisance. Replacing the system would be the last option, only “if normal replacements and fixes no longer work,” Fugitt said.

The maintenance tracking program is “so local health districts can have confirmation they (homeowners) are taking care of their system,” Fugitt said.

In Trumbull County, that could take upward of 15 years, said Frank Migliozzi, director of environmental health for the Trumbull County Health Department.

Trumbull County has about 21,000 septic systems. About 4,000 are on some sort or operation and maintenance program.

Septic rules have been a source of controversy back to 2005, when new regulations were created and set to become effective in 2007. Shortly thereafter, Ohio lawmakers rescinded the rules and went back to the guidelines from 1977, when the rules were first made.

For a period of more than two years from 2007, a rule advisory committee of 45 members, including real estate agents, home builders and state township association, met to create the new regulations. Another more than one year after was needed to circulate the draft rules with the new, final rules to take effect on Jan. 1.

The ODH rules apply statewide. However, local health districts were allowed to create some of their own standards.

“Trumbull County will not have regulations. We will follow the state regulations and created some policies in addendum to the state regulations,” Migliozzi said.

Some of the new rules accepted recently by the Trumbull County Board of Health include:

• Adding exemptions from sewer connections to the list of items that could trigger being placed on an operation and maintenance program;

• A new fee schedule that contains some minor changes. Most operational permits will be good for three years, rather than one year, which they are at now and only one level level two permits increases from $85 to $105 for the permit.

• Vertical separation distances to seasonal water tables change from 12 inches to six inches, which means, according to Migliozzi, less of those unsightly above-ground systems. Underground systems are “cheaper to install and cheaper to maintain,” he said.

“It will allow more systems to go in ground instead of above the ground, by doing that it will bring the cost of installation down,” said Migliozzi.

• The new operation and maintenance program will include a homeowner education component, including pre-and post-construction education of options that are available for septic systems and what to expect after one is installed, “so they understand their options,” Migliozzi said;

• The rules also cover sewer connections.

Under them, regardless of the type of sewer project court or consent decree ordered residents must tie if they are less than 200 feet away. If the home is more than 200 feet away, the system, if it a nondischarging system, can be tested and if a nuisance is not found, the system would put on an operation and maintenance program. If there is an issue, the homeowner can repair the system and then get on the operation and maintenance program.

All systems that discharge must either connect to the sewer or convert to a nondischarging system and get on a the maintenance plan;

• The amount of time residents will be given to connect to a sewer line will increase from 90 days to six months;

• To repair or replace incrementally, homeowners will have three years and up to five years if there are specific circumstances for specific sites. The policy calls for the sewage nuisance to be eliminated in the first part of the repair or replacement.

rselak@tribtoday.com