Senate Bill No. 624

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Snyder)

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[Introduced February 22, 1999;

referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.]

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A BILL to amend article one, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine-b, relating to permit approval by the commissioner of the bureau of public health for individual sewage systems with surface water discharge; consideration for approval under certain conditions; and reserve-area requirements.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine- b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. DIVISION OF HEALTH.
§16-1-9b. Permit approval for individual systems with surface water discharge; reserve areas.
Individual systems with surface water discharge may be considered for approval for a permit pursuant to section nine of this article under the following conditions: (1) To correct existing failures when other means of treatment and disposal have proven ineffective; (2) on a tract, lot or parcel of land that equals or exceeds two acres which cannot qualify for standard or alternative soil absorption systems; and (3) on existing lots which received approval under a prior permit where it has been determined that applicable standards cannot be met to qualify for a standard or alternate soil absorption system.
When installing a standard sewage disposal system, modified system, experimental system or other approved system, the reserve area shall consist of an area for the placement of the original system together with an area for replacement or upgrade of drain fill line for future needs. Testing of the site for approval shall consist of a six foot hole and a perk test of the soils. In order to protect the groundwater, slip trenching across reserve areas to rock ledges is prohibited.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow for permit approval of individual sewage systems with surface water discharge under certain conditions. The bill also provides requirements for reserve areas for those systems, provides testing requirements and prohibits slip trenching across reserve areas during testing.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.